I didn't want to read this. I didn't. But I finally said 'Just f* do it'; so I did.

Apart from certain moments that are word-for-word the original work, I loved the new magic system, new characters and new events that the author introduces. Even with all the new things we're introduced to, I also still enjoyed the same things I already knew.

Now, it's still tough to call this a romance, I will say. But maybe that's just my inability to understand dark romance as love or romance, in general.

That last line still killed me just the same.

Honestly, you can put a new cover on a potion, but it still tastes like the fanfiction you read at 2 A.M. in 2021 (or 2024, for me).

It was good, I liked the buildup to the upcoming fight, but I think it felt too much like a bridge between two books and not so much a strong story just by itself. It's a lot of prep and not much action, I think.

Also, I missed the Darkling.

Cleanup on carriage 6.

Also, I want that jacket that Seba wears. It's so cool.

I'm a massive fan of The Phantom of the Opera as a musical and I haven't had the opportunity to watch the film, so it was a no-brainer that I wanted to read this book. Now, I already knew this was different from the ALW musical, but I wasn't expecting THIS much change. It's almost as if they are two completely different stories with some likeness in between. The Venn diagram of book and musical is not very Venn-y, I must say.

I did like the original, but I often found myself making comparisons, even when I didn't want to. And I guess in those comparisons I realised that I enjoyed the musical more than the book; I found the book a little all over the place which proved somewhat hard to focus on at times. I do love the aspect that the story is told as something real, it always strikes me as super interesting when the authors created this little bubble of reality in their books, almost making us doubt what we know.

Last book of 2025 and first book of 2026, let's hope for a good reading year and maybe a little less headache-y than this one gave me.

Signing off, B.

PII!

Full review to come closer to release date.

I loved it, that's all I'll say for now.

Reading this book after watching the film and expecting them to be the same/close? Yeah, no. Not at all the case. I would call it more inspiration and not an adaptation, because there is so so much that doesn't happen in the book that happens in the film and vice-versa. Love both, though.

Bella Baxter is so much more of a strong woman than I recall her being in the film. Though, to be fair, the book is incredibly different from the film, so I guess her character was not the only one to suffer changes.

The writing is so incredible, it's fiction yet it isn't presented like it. Even the division of parts is so well-structured to give us multiple retellings of the same events yet not making it overdone. I will say that is it a bit exhausting to read, especially when you're trying to get a hang of things at first.

I'm amazed. I have to rewatch the film as soon as possible. This was a great classic to start wrapping up 2025.

Signing off, B.