[A quick note: I am pretty pleased with how this photo turned out. I wanted a beautiful photo to match the beauty of this book. I used some of my piano sheet music as the background. I love how the bottle of glitter also looks sort of like one of the vials of memory elixir mentioned in the book and on the cover. I was THRILLED when Inkyard Press Sent me a copy of this book to review. I literally squealed. No lie. It was a privilege reading and reviewing this for you guys. And i plan to post and gush more about it over the coming months on my Instagram.]
**please note that quotes are subject to change based on the final version. These came from the arc. I will check them against the final version once this book is out**
โ๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐งโ๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ.โโJessica S Olson
MY QUICK SUMMARY:
Through song, Isda lives a thousand lives, but never a life of her own. Isda exists within the opulent walls of Channeโs opera house, a prisoner of the worldโs making, hunted for what she isโfor the magic she possesses. She is one of the rare few who can manipulate a personโs memories. They need only sing. She is bound to this fate, forever, until Emeric appears. With a voice unlike any other, she sees a path to freedom in his memories. A way to live a life that might finally be her own.
MY THOUGHTS:
Beautiful. Staggering. Lyrical. These words only begin to describe the poetic quality found in Jessica Olsenโs portrayal of Isda, the opera ghost haunting Channeโs opera house. Modeled after Paris, Channe immerses the reader in a French setting filled with late nights at the opera, pages full of music, and a fight for freedom that Isda is willing to kill for. This story gave me joy and brought me to tears.
Cursed with a misshapen face, Isda spends her life hidingโhiding the monster-magic she bears. She works her magic night after night for a man who saved her life, altering the memories of opera-goers to enhance their experience. In this way, the opera business remains steady. Yet, through music, Isda has found happiness, eked out an existence, managed to survive in the shadows. All this changes when she discovers that freedom might be possible for someone like her. Thatโs where Emeric comes in. He shows her that there is more, fills her with hope, and gives her something worth fighting for.
At the heart of Isdaโs struggle is the hatred she contends with. People like her are killed at birth. Feared for her magic, she was dumped in a well as a baby, only to be rescued by Cyril to live at the opera. But she cannot show her face. Cannot step out into the open. And remains hidden and masked. It is an awful way to exist. This made for a compelling story.
โ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค, ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐. ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ค, ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐, ๐ ๐จ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ซ๐, ๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ . ๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ .โ
This story isnโt all beauty. There are some gritty parts. Death. Darkness. Murder. There is also a deep personal conflict that make Isda monstrous in some ways, but truly human in others.
As a gender-bent phantom of the opera, this story was so unexpected! But in a good way. I really didnโt know what I was in for. I absolutely loved it. I couldnโt stop highlighting and marking passages. When I read the last page, I closed the book and held it against my chest, simply to savor the final words. For a debut author, Jessica Olson has impressed me on every level! Please read this book. ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐ฑ/๐ฑโญ๏ธ
A HUGE thank you to Inkyard Press for the advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion on this book. Thank you!