Music of the night
“Phoenix of the Opera” by Sadie Montgomery
Like two-thirds of the women out there in the free world, I am in love with Gerard Butler. (The other one-third have either (a) clearly never seen him in “Phantom of the Opera” or (b) are oppressed by a totalitarian regime and not permitted to watch “Phantom.”) Did I think he was cheated in Phantom when Christine that spineless doormat with a marshmallow spine chose Raoul over him? Most assuredly.
Seeing as how I didn’t like the ending of “Phantom” (movie and musical), Lola called on her imaginative powers bequeathed to her at birth by the good fairies to invent a happier ending. So when I hear about books which give “Phantom” a new spin, I’m always eager to check them out. Which led to my rather disastrous foray into “Unmasqued: An Erotic Tale of Phantom of the Opera.” (see pained description here.) So when I stumbled across a new series of Phantom while surfing Amazon, I was torn between checking it out (Could be really good!) and staying far, far away (God, what if there’s another freaky encounter with a harp?)
Since I am nothing if not a risk-taker, I ordered all four books from Amazon. And boy am I glad I did.
First, I’m really glad I ordered all four books at once, because if I had just ordered the first book and waited to see how I liked it, I would never have ordered the other three books. Which would have been a shame because I would have missed out reading some great books. Lola is giving a resounding thumbs-up to this series. Seriously, for anyone who’s ever loved the tale of POTO, run out and grab these books. But since I’m doing stand-alone reviews of each book, I’ll have to say, that I didn’t like the first book at all.
For those of you who watched the movie, you’ll remember that at the end of the film, Meg, the blonde dancer and Christine’s best friend, stepped through the mirror and picked up the white mask left behind by Erik (aka Phantom, aka the man whose pain Lola longs to soothe away with her gifted hands). Clearly when I read the books, it’s Phantom as played by Gerard Butler that comes to mind. When I read that Meg was to be Erik’s love interest, Lola pffted in derision. She’s blonde and mousey! To be worthy of Gerard/Erik’s tortured genius? Impossible!
But Meg as written by Sadie Montgomery, is a much stronger character. She’s passionate and feisty and determined to love Erik even when he can’t love himself. She’s seen him from the shadows as he spies on Christine, but he never notices her, all his attention caught by Christine instead.
I can’t reconcile that blonde actress who played Meg in the movie, with the character in my head. So I thoughtfully ran through a list of possible women who could play Meg. And then it finally dawned on me, an answer so obvious I should have slapped myself on the forehead.
Me!
I would be the perfect person to play Gerard/Erik’s love interest! So that being settled, Lola happily settled back to read “Phoenix of the Opera.”
The bare bones are these: Meg follows Erik into the labyrinth of the opera where he has gone to die, and bullies him back to life. She makes him tutor her and pay attention to her training. And he starts to notice the little dancer whom he had always looked at as Christine’s best friend and shadow. But he can’t believe that Meg could really love him because of his disfigured face. And besides, he’s still obsessed with Christine, who’s newly married to Raoul. (Marriage has sadly not made her any less of an annoying ferret but she improves throughout the series.)
Erik is more of an anti-hero than a typical dashing, stereotypical hero. He’s obsessed with his music and Christine, he’s rude and egotistical and prone to bouts of violence and depression. He’s also unbelievably complex and heartbreakingly vulnerable because of his past. There are scenes which show Erik’s childhood and tormented past, and it would be highly advisable to keep a box of Kleenex on hand (make that two, if you have hyperactive tear ducts like Lola does.)
This first book, “The Phoenix of the Opera” isn’t so much a love story, as an insight into Erik’s character. You do get to see the developing relationship between Erik and Meg, but that’s only truly explored to much heart-twingey effect in the later books. Instead, Erik spends most of this book hung up over Christine, and you do want to conk him on the head at times for not seeing that I/ Meg am the one for him.
*spoiler*
At one point, Meg sleeps with him, while he thinks that she’s Christine. (Must have been really dark.) She holds him as he calls her Christine, and doesn’t tell him the truth. OK at this point I temporarily take myself out of the place of Meg because no way would La Lola be (a) stupid enough to sleep with the man that I love, letting him think I was somebody else (b) pathetic enough to let him call me by her name, and after that weep for the pain I caused him when he realises the truth. Let me tell you this, if any pain is caused by me at this point, it would most assuredly be of the physical sort.
And if at the end of this book, you expect that Erik realises that Meg is the one he loves, you’re doomed to disappointment. Because he only realises this later on in the series. (Again, to great heart-twingey effect.) I was SO glad I had the other three books sitting on my nightstand, because even though I thought Erik was a bit of an ass in this book, the romance between him and Meg blossomed beautifully later on. Their relationship isn’t without its pitfalls and there came many times in the later books when Lola was frantically looking around for a heavy object to throw at Erik and thinking that having the chandelier drop on him wouldn’t be such a bad idea, but it was really an emotionally-wrenching roller-coaster ride.
A word of warning though: Sadie Montgomery has this style where she explores the characters’ thoughts and emotions at several points in the book (no punctuation and loads of run-on sentences). And she also tells parts of the story from the first person point of view, at other times from the third person. At first it takes a little getting used to, but eventually you get the hang of it.
So again, if you want an angsty, highly engaging read (although you may have to work a little for it in the beginning), and if you think Gerard Butler’s Phantom should be bottled up and used as chocolate sauce, give Sadie Montgomery’s series a try.
Shannon said,
October 3, 2008 @ 9:59 am
Too funny. I just watched POTO this past week and posted about it (sort of) over on my blog. It is such cheesy fun. Gerard is The Hawtness. Give me an hour with him and a bottle of caramel sauce and he will never pine for Christine again!
La Lola said,
October 3, 2008 @ 4:17 pm
This is true Shannon. I have no earthly clue what Erik sees in Christine (besides the fact she can sing like an angel. Pfft. Whatevs.) But strangely enough, after finishing this series, I no longer picture Erik/ Gerard with Christine. I now see him with Meg/me!
lauren said,
October 3, 2008 @ 10:34 pm
This is a tough one, angsty books are my favorite but I’ve always been a Phantom hater, yes there’s my deep dark secret! I made the mistake of reading the book prior to seeing the movie, and well let’s just say don’t read the book. But this sounds very good I wonder iif I can get over myself enough to enjoy this book and buy into the Phanotm of hte play/movie.
La Lola said,
October 4, 2008 @ 12:27 am
*gasp* A Phantom hater Lauren?! That’s ok, we still love you. Do not read this book if you have high blood pressure though. The number of times I would get so incensed by Erik and his actions, and have to go make myself a nice cup of calming Darjeeling, were too many to count. But boy, if you’re looking for angst, this is the series for you!
Sayuri said,
October 4, 2008 @ 2:39 am
Can I just tell you my big secret….Phantom is the only Gerard film I ain’t seen. It’s just never floated my boat…ever.
I’m not sure even your glowing review could make me want to read it…..am I being to harsh? Probably!
lauren said,
October 4, 2008 @ 6:20 am
Oh gosh, I love jerk heros almost as much as angst, because one usualy leads to the other. Hummmm, well my Phantom problems all really have to do with his past, so I’m guessing this author has made up a new past for Erik, nad thus they would really be two different people. I think I will have to look into that.
Dulce said,
October 4, 2008 @ 7:34 am
Sayuri, you should give POTO a chance. I love its music and GB in those snug fitting pants he wears throughout the movie; hubba hubba! I would like to read this book series but come on it takes the Phantom practically all the cuatro libros to realize that he truly loves Meg! I don’t know if I have the patience.
Meg is a saint for putting up with all that crap!
La Lola said,
October 5, 2008 @ 12:25 pm
*Gasp* How could you not have seen GB in Phantom Sayuri?!? You’re Scottish!
Just to let you know Lauren (coz we here at RMB believe in full disclosure) Erik’s past in this series is the same as that in the movie, but even worse, if possible! Because Sadie Montgomery expands on his childhood, which is truly horrific. But if you’re looking for angst, this is definitely the book for you!
And Dulce, it IS a long and impatient wait indeed for Erik to realise that he loves Meg. But when the realisation does hit him, it’s good times ahead! (Comes in the second book)
Sheridan Sakura Carlotta said,
October 5, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
*chants* “Gerard! Gerard! Gerard! Gerard!!”
Shannon said,
October 6, 2008 @ 12:28 am
Hmmm, I wonder if she based his childhood on the original Phantom of the Opera (by Gaston Leroux). It was grisly. If you love Erik/Phantom I would not suggest reading the original novel. He is not very likeable. Quite twisted, actually. I like to think that Gerard was playing a different Phantom
One who is hot and sweet and mine.
La Lola said,
October 6, 2008 @ 9:08 am
Well, Erik in this series of books is still a little twisted. But strictly in a “all he needs is the love of a good woman to stop him being twisty” kind of way. “I like to think that Gerard was playing a different Phantom One who is hot and sweet and mine.” Hahahaha! No.
livlife said,
October 13, 2008 @ 2:10 am
Hi all! It’s been a while since I stopped by (sorry). But I am back now and I brought some news.
Did anyone see this?
http://omg.yahoo.com/photos/week-in-photos-october-5-11-2008/2355?nc#id=10
I am sure (given the above conversation) that you will very much enjoy.
Sheridan Sakura Carlotta said,
October 13, 2008 @ 8:50 am
livlife, I see picture, I likey very much. Now is it wrong that I am pleased to have noticed a slight straining of the pants around Mr Butler’s manly bits? Whoo-Ha! *pumps fists in the air, ignoring the stares from Lola and Mimi*