Harder than the movie to follow

The Phantom if the Opera is heartbreaking. He suffers so much. He only wants love but never gets to know it.
It has been quite some time since I read it but it is a permanent fixture on my shelf. I will read it again one day and hopefully find a few copies to give my girls when they are older.

This book was a hard read because the beginning was slow and uninteresting to me. I also didn't like the case study format of this novel even though I know it's part of the Gothic Horror genre; it was jarring to have the author butt in at times, and it ruined the story for me in many places. Were the author/narrator not constantly tell me that the Phantom was definitely real and this story was based off true events, I think it would've been better.

It wasn't until near the end where Daeé talks with Raoul on the roof and tells him about the Opera Ghost that things finally started to pique my interest. His adventure with the Persian is exciting to read through - especially when we learn about Erik's past - and the end was aesthetically pleasing, satisfactorily solving everything.

It is different from the movie and the musical, and it's unfortunate because I feel like my perception of the book is tainted by my having seen them before (perhaps because of the music). I still did enjoy the book when things started to get heated, though, and if I judge it separately from the movie it was still a worthwhile read. I was disappointed throughout a lot of it, though, but the ending was exciting enough for the book to retain readability.