The more Christine is around him, the more educated she becomes, the more deeply she thinks about things. Despite his tendency to murder people and kidnap people and act like a sociopath, Erik becomes the enlightened figure in Kay's novel. In those versions, it's Christine who shows him love and kindness and helps him find the good in himself. In other versions, the Phantom has the shadow of his disfigurement hanging over him and it distorts his soul. He's continually trying to cut Christine's ties with Erik, and all the while it's not what Christine REALLY wants, but she goes along with Raoul because she's confused.

Since Christine seems to have mysteriously lost her fear of the Phantom, and therefore doesn't need to turn to Raoul for protection, Raoul becomes nothing more than a prodding figure. In Phantom, when Christine won't let him have his way, he stalks off to sulk until his next encounter with her. He sticks by her side like the loyal guy he is. In the other stories, he's patient and kind to Christine. Raoul becomes little more than a tool for a tempermental little girl to punish her would-be lover. In this novel, Christine only runs to Raoul when she's angry at Erik because she's jealous of his cat or because he's scared her. In other versions, Christine turns to Raoul for help because of her fear of the Phantom. Once Christine and Raoul entered the story, I moved from wariness, to shock, to disbelief, to tears.įirst of all, the relationships are not at all true to the characters. However, I kept reading, and there's my problem. In fact, if you stop reading the book before Christine comes in, I'd imagine it's pretty enjoyable. Despite turning Erik, the Phantom, into a terrible Gary Stu, she did give him an interesting and detailed history.

If Kay had stopped where The Phantom of the Opera book and musical started, she would have had a decent book on her hands.

The phantom of the opera susan kay