Customer Reviews

Angel of Music

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having read the stellar reviews of this book, I bought it and eagerly awaited for it to arrive. I love Phantom of the Opera spin-offs, even though I have yet to read one that I think is true to either Leroux or ALW, and I was hoping to be impressed by this one. Sadly enough, I wasn't.

The book is set directly after Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ends. Having read Leroux and seen the musical over a dozen times, let me first say that I have NEVER doubted that Raoul, to the best of his abilities, loves Christine. In this book, however, Raoul suddenly becomes very out of character and turns into a drunken jerk. Many fan fiction writers seem to use this cheap ploy to get Christine and Erik back together again and I'm tired of reading about it. Perhaps they feel that they can only get Christine and Erik together if they write Raoul horribly out of character - that says something.

So now that the author has conveniently eliminated Raoul as a romantic rival by zapping his true character and replacing him with his evil twin, Christine leaves him and returns to the Opera to get the monkey music box that once belonged to Erik - oh, I'm sorry, the Angel of Music (AoM). Poor Erik isn't called by his name in this book; only one character knows his name and he doesn't even say why he knows it when no one else does. It apparently wasn't enough to rob Erik of his charm, backbone, and personality - his name must be taken away too.

Anyway, Christine manages to make her way down to the AoM's lair and finds him there. She initially thinks he's dead but once she discovers he's alive she is determined to make him better. She enlists the help of her conveniently-never-mentioned-until-now-but-so-dear-to-her-heart friend, Dr. Joseph Graham, and somehow AoM survives. AoM decides to see if he can convince Christine to love him - except this time he's going to use romance instead of intimidation. Throw in a priest and a marriage, and that's the book in a nutshell.

The author needs an editor very badly; the numerous punctuation errors were quite distracting, especially the author's fondness of commas. After one hundred glaring punctuation errors I gave up and stopped counting for the sake of my sanity, but I was still irritated by the numerous spelling errors and incorrect verb tenses.

I never got involved with this story - there was just something about how the book was written. I felt as I was being told the story, rather than being allowed to immerse myself in it. The pacing was confusing - the first few chapters dragged but by the end of the book years were passing by with just a sentence or two to mark them.

The characterizations, or should I say lack of them, are horrible. AoM is just a shadow of his former self - gone is his allure, his power, his charm. He's just a devoted puppy who runs after Christine and begs for attention. Once in a while things get interesting but it's always too little, too late. Christine is even worse - she is a complete child and never grows up in this book. She had no reason to act mature - if things didn't go her way, she'd pout like a spoiled brat and enlist the aid of the priest and/or the doctor to back her up and make AoM see the error of his ways, for she was always right and anyone who disagreed with her was always wrong. I swear, if I EVER again have to read about how beautiful Christine is and how ugly AoM is (and how he should never forget this), I will scream. Raoul, as I have previously mentioned, was apparently taken over by his evil twin. The doctor is a classic Sue - he was a combination psychic/psychologist, for he seemed to know what everyone was thinking and how they could solve all of their problems with ease.

This book really enforces the prejudice against self-published authors with good reason. I have read much better fan fiction for free online and I have read fan fiction of the same poor caliber for free as well. Do yourself a favor - skip this book and spend your money on something else.

When I discovered that the Angel of Music was actually a continuation of the Phantom of the Opera..I was thrilled! This story is excellently written and immediately draws you into the dark world of the disfigured spectre haunting the Paris Opera house. I've seen the musical Phantom in Toronto and London several times and this book continues to provide the account of Erik's struggle to prove his love for Christine is worth her love in return. The author's details and descriptions are very down to earth and so realistic that you begin to believe that you are a confidante of Christine Daae. The romance is old world and as Victorian as the time period itself...very reminiscent of a Cary Grant vehicle. I hated being interrupted during the read and was saddened when the last page was turned. Oohhh to be romanced by the Phantom !! This book is a must own and a definite re-read!

This book was a disappointment...and I am sorry that I even paid full price for it. I have read better FanFiction for free online...and I was really, really hoping that I might find something "phantom" to read...I was actually excited about reading this title (as I have literally read EVERYTHING Phantom out there...even if it is remotely suggestive of The Phantom of the Opera). This book has its promising spots, but they cannot out-shine the bad. There were places that I actually cringed! One being the "after the loving" sections of the book...*scream!*
If you wish to read this book, try borrowing it from your library first...then purchase it if you like it. Not the best, and not the worst....but definately NOT one that I would run right out and buy brand new again.
Very disappointing...why can't people just leave Erik alone...and adhere more to what Leroux gave us? The original novel was not a story with a "happily ever after" ending. Raoul was NOT evil (as this book paints him), nor a Fop...Christine was never worthy of Erik's love and she & Raoul deserved each other...and in the end Erik died of Love; period. I wish authors would stop drawing so much from ALW and stop trying to shove a square peg in a round hole. Stop with all the Erik/Christine shipping.....
After reading so many "Phantom spin-offs", I have often walked away with a bitter taste in my mouth...and only "Journey of the Mask", "Phantasy" and "Phantom of Paris" have given me more fits than this book. Oh, woe! Oh, woe! My dear Erik...what have they done to you????

. . .there are bound to be comparisions to the original writing, and we certainly see this in the reviews of D M Bernadette's "Angel of Music".

I had heard much good about this book on various "Phantom" (POTO) message boards, and eagerly hoped to find my own copy. It was much disappointing when the first order didn't come through, but finally, I was able to get a copy. I wasn't disappointed.

Apparently, my copy didn't have a lot of glaring errors as one of the other reviewers; sometimes those who perform the copy sitting can be more to blame for puncuation and spelling errors than can the author.

While I had a little difficulty accepting the idea of Raoul as a drunk, it wasn't too far fetched to find him "kissing up" to the so-called fine society of Paris, and telling tales of what happened between Erik and Christine and him in the lair, even embellishing things to an extent. One needs to remember that at that time, the opinion of one's peers in high society was extremely important, and Raoul would be hard pressed not to attempt to "save face", even if it were at the expense of Christine's dignity.

It also wasn't that much of a surprise that Christine would find a reason to return to the opera house, and that she would find Erik still in the lair (as this had been done in other professional and fan fictions). In this case, he had allowed himself to become extremely ill, so she nurses him back to health, enlisting the help of a sudden "father figure"/physician, an old family friend in the process.

It was interesting to see that Erik, now called "Angel" by Christine, quite capable of having human and uniquely male physical needs and reactions to loving and being loved, something he had hoped for and had never come his way.

There were times when I wanted to shake Christine a bit, especially when she seemed to shut Erik out in favor of their offspring later on down the line, but for Erik to make the supreme efforts to change his lifestyle for her love was moving. The many things he would do to show his love for her warmed the heart.

There is one point where we see a reminder of what made the Opera Ghost the awesome personage he is, when he has reason to believe his beloved of cheating, that Erik goes back to what he knows best. Christine, in this instance, though innocent of any betrayal and/or dalliance, brings out the beast in Erik by her secrecy, even though she had a reason for this secret, another surprise that Leroux never brought out in his book.

It wsa also interesting that Ms Bernadette worked in a murder mystery that Erik himself solves for the police. Again, we see him use his Opera Ghost persona to clear his name and bring the real killer to justice. And we're not just talking about legal justice!

Still and all, this effort was well worth the read, if one is looking to see what might have been after Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Weber left off, and Christine chose to return to her Angel of Music.

Anyone who feels they can write better, professionally or not, should sit down in front of their own PC and try doing so.

Angel of Music by D.M Bernadette is a continuation of The Phantom of the Opera Broadway stage sensation. At first, when I saw this book online and read the reviews, I was interested in getting it. But I never really rushed myself to buying it for I didn't really know that much about what the story was about.
When I did get it, it was quite a long time after I jad known it was for sale. Truthfully, I really wish I hadn't waited so long to buy it!
When I got the book, I put it with all my other Phantom novels and came back to it a few days later. Due to a major headache and pneumonia, I was never able to enjoy the first part of the story very much.
The story begins out with Raoul and Christine leaving the Paris Opera House. Going to Raoul's estate, Christine is arranged to be married to Raoul. Throughout the two weeks she stays with Raoul, Christine comes to realize that she does not love Raoul the way she actually thought she did and Raoul realizes the same thing. Raoul was not able to meet Christine's emotional needs and does not really support her and help her through the emotional trauma of what had happened between all three of them that fateful night.
Breaking off the engadgement after a particilary bad night with Raoul, she leaves and moves into her father's house. The entire time that Christine had been seperated from Erik, she could not erase the kiss they sjared from her mind. She secretly missed him and thought he was dead. She goes to the market one day and passes by the Opera House. Since the night the chandelier crashed, the Opera House had been on hold for a while and no one ever went in there anymore. Christine made her way into Erik's home because she remembered the little monkey music box and she wanted to take it back home with her.
When she went down there, she found Erik slumped in his chair. So, she helps him and has aide from a family friend who is a doctor. It takes while for Erik to recover and when he does, Christine still lives with him. Erik still loves Christine a lot but is not forceful with her and does not really make any indication that he does love her. Christine comes to realize that she loves him too, but she thinks that Erik does not love her anymore.But one night they confess each other's love and from then on, their love story unfolds.
This book is supremely romantic and I think every Phantom phan should read this book. If you are not an E/C phan however, then don't read it. A lot of people do and they just end up getting P.O.E.D. I don't even know why they would read it if they don't want Erik and Christine to be together. If you like to see Raoul and Christine together, then read the following books:
1. The Phantom of the Opera by David Bischoff
2. Angel of Music: Tales of The Phantom of the Opera by Carrie Hernandez. In the second one, Erik actually goes for Little Lotte which really made me P.O.E.D because I think Erik only ever loved Christine.
Angel of Music is a great novel that everyone should read. It's the only one where it actually comes close to describing Erik's love for Christine.

I am not going to rehash the plot of this book. That has been done by other reviewers. But I have a few comments. First of all, I didn't find the spelling errors others have noted. What I did find were inappropriate words in the context for which they were used. It reminds me of a character who, wishing to sound more educated or sophisticated, uses fancy sounding vocabulary, and instead ends up making themself sound just the opposite. This was not a frequent problem, but it was done enough that I noticed it. My main complaint is one that I have had with other books, both in and out of the POTO genre; the ending was rushed. With many of these books, the author has an interesting premise, spending much of the book setting the scene, introducing us to the cast of characters, and then it is as if they either run out of ideas to adequately end the book, realize that the book was getting too long, or just lose interest and abruptly stop.

**SPOILERS**

For example, 19 chapters, or 493 pages, deal with getting Erik and Christine back together, married, cleared of murder charges and working in the opera house (8 years, more or less). The last 70 pages (4 chapters) rush thru the life (and death) of their only child, Christine's breakdown and desertion of Erik, their reconciliation, Raoul's return to their lives, and Erik's then Christine's subsequent deaths; approximately the last 22 years of their lives. The book, IMHO, could have easily and satisfactorily concluded at the end of chapter 19. If the author couldn't or wouldn't spend the same amount of time or detail on the information contained in the last 4 chapters, why bother including them at all?

It was as if the author had a good idea and started to build on it, but didn't have the time or inclination to give the entire story the same amount of detail. It almost appears that she lost momentum, and just hurried to be over and done with it. I didn't think the book was too long. Maybe it wasn't long enough to deal with all of the author's ideas (write another book?). There were several other "flaws", but none of them, in and of themselves, were bad enough to decrease my enjoyment of the story. It's up to you whether or not you want to spend the time on this book. Overall, I don't think it was as bad as several other reviews have suggested.

Before I begin with a synopsis, I'd like to say that this book was so long and convoluted that I had a difficult time getting through it. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I was unable to read the whole thing. I would read sections, then skip pages and pages of run-on dialogue that I didn't have the patience to read word-for-word. I've never read a book where the characters would relate the most intimate, personal details of their lives to virtual strangers. The author seemed to use this technique to relate much of the backstory. I can't tell you how many times I stopped reading to either laugh out loud or cringe. There is very little story development here. The author just throws things out will-nilly - or so it seemed to me.

I'm not a professional writer, but basic paragraph structure is taught in grade schools. However, the writing technique used in this novel didn't even incorporate that fundamental. A paragraph should relate one train of thought. Points of view should be consistent and not thrown together in one lump - or one paragraph - that are guaranteed to confuse the reader. Also - if there is a significant time span between paragraphs, then there should be some sort of divider or extra space between the paragraphs to denote such. I got the impression that the author was really "into" her story during the first three quarters of the book, then was in such a hurry to finish it that she threw all of her thoughts, musings, dreams, and ideas into the last quarter of the book.

Anyway, the story begins as Raoul and Christine flee the Phantom's lair. From there, it chronicles how Christine eventually returns to the lair and nurses the near-dead Phantom back to health, the romantic relationship that ensues and culminates in their eventual marriage, and their lives as a married couple living in the depths of the OH.

There were so many things that I had problems with in this book that I hardly know where to begin. Christine and the Phantom (Angel as she refers to him) are both innocent but in their love, they find that they can't keep their hands off each other. I'm guessing that the reason they didn't sate their desires was because the author didn't want her characters to consummate their love until they were married, although I probably missed that tidbit in the myriad pages of run-on musings. I, for one, saw it as a cheap means to build up sexual tension between the hero and heroine. In any case you'd think in their frenzied desire for each other and their chaste need to wait until they were married, they'd have the common sense not to sleep together!

Another thing that bothered me about the book was the author's strange penchant for stressing Angel/Christine's sex life through the POV of other characters. Like their good friend, the doctor for instance:

(Quote from book): "In his professional practice, Joseph had been privy to the intimate details of hundreds of people's private lives. No one's passion and love life could hold a candle to the Angel's love of Christine. There was, albeit, a long wait to find her and a tremulous start when he did, but the Angel had the most exquisite courtship and glorious, lust-quenching marriage of anyone Joseph knew, himself included..."

Spare me! And this example is mild - there were others, including older Christine's discourse to an aging Raoul of her Angel's passionate love and his all-consuming sexual prowess.

Christine's character drove me up a wall; Angel wasn't much better. After they are married, Angel is insecure in her love and distrusts her. Christine is oftentimes immature, shallow, and cruel. It's difficult to feel any empathy for the characters as the entire diatribe comes across as pretentious and trite.

In writing these reviews I try to keep in mind that, for the most part, the majority of POTO-based books are written by other phans whose books are self-published. Therefore, the stories are not written by professional, previously published authors and shouldn't be held to as high a standard. But if the author is going to the expense of having a book self published, I would think that said author would go the extra mile to produce as high quality product as possible. The author may have had an interesting story in mind for our Angel, but it doesn't sound like much thought went into its development. The sad thing is, I probably put more thought into this review than the author put into her entire book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Christines discovery of her love for the phantom along with his discovery that he could be loved. The way they both worked through their innocence to move to a deeper level of love and commitment was fun to experience. My only real criticism would be Christines complete obsession of their child from birth to the exclusion of the phantom. I do not believe that she would not be able to balance them better than she did. It would have been great for the phantom to have left a legacy in the form of his son who was so promising. But even so he was able to enjoy being loved as a man and to be a part of the world that had always shunnned him even if he did have to do so still somewhat from the shadows. It was a fun read if you are a phantom lover!

When I first heard that a sequel was written to the Phantom of the opera , I must admit I was skeptical. I did not think that after seeing the story as it was presented in Totonto, that anyone could step right in, and follow up right where it ended so fittingly. But I must say with out any reservations, that the author's way with words have proved me false. I , am amazed with the way I felt upon reading it. I am really looking forward to the day when this book will also be transformed to the stage, so I can relive the events . But in the meantime you must read this one.

once i picked it up, i didn't want to put it down. what a story! i was really impressed. To be able to read about the adventures of Erik and his love Christine is a true romance.
for all of you Phantom fans out there, don't let this book slip by. it is a must read for anyone, even if you have never seen or heard about the phantom before.