Ghost: Retelling the Phantom of the Opera

by Alydia Rackham

A grieving soprano becomes entangled in a web of magnificent music and secret revenge—and the climax will either exceed all her greatest dreams, or crush her in inexpressible tragedy.When Christine Daae` became a member of the chorus of the Paris Opera after the death of her father, she never imagined she would find comfort in a tenuous friendship with an aloof stagehand who always remains cloaked and masked. Nor did she ever expect that her childhood sweetheart, Raoul de Chagney, is now the owner of the opera—and both Raoul and her mysterious friend seem to be guarding terrible secrets. Before long, Christine is drawn into a spectacle of spell-binding drama, haunting music and spectacular theatrics, all woven together by treachery and tragedy, building to an inevitable finale that may destroy everything Christine has come to love—unless she can unravel the mystery behind the Phantom of the Opera.“ Retelling the Phantom of the Opera” is part of Alydia Rackham’s thrilling series of epic retellings. If you like gothic mystery, heart-pounding romance, gorgeous and immersive settings, and satisfying conclusions, you will love this unexpected reimagining.Discover the haunting romance of “ Retelling the Phantom of the Opera” today!

Genres: Retellings, Romance, Fiction, Historical

430 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 8, 2020

About the author

You don’t have to be afraid when you read my books. Well—you might be terrified for the hero, because his arch-nemesis has him at gunpoint with his back to the river Thames, demanding that he hand over the code that could spell the downfall of Europe…
But you’ll never have to squint, worrying that the romantic scene is about to get FAR too steamy—or that, in a tirade, someone is about to spew a stream of obscenities that will make you want to shut the book and go take a shower.
I don’t write sexual scenes in my books. EVER. And I do not use profanity. EVER. And yes, God lives in my stories. He is the deep foundation—you can FEEL Him.
Yet, I can prove without a shadow of a doubt that WITHOUT ANYTHING risqué, you can still have the adventure of a lifetime between these pages. You’ll hold your breath, you’ll laugh, you’ll sit on the edge of your chair, you’ll stay up till two in the morning pinned to the page—and you might even cry. In fact, I’ll bet on that. And I HATE it when writers are lazy and tacky and beat you over the head with some philosophical or theological point they’re trying to make, instead of just TELLING THE STORY. So, I avoid that at all costs. Still not sold? Well, give one of these books a try. Go ahead—any of them! Whether we’re speeding through space, breaking through the ice on a frozen river, galloping on a chariot across the desert or running up the Asbru bridge chased by wolves…you’re still safe with me.

Reviews

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all Phans!!

I am a huge phantom of the opera fan. I spent many, many hours reading phan fic in my youth and I was very intrigued when I saw this book.

I am also pleased to say that this was a wonderful retelling. The author has beautiful prose that I ate up like candy. The story is fresh and different than any phantom story I had ever read but I loved every bit of it.

If you are a Phan like me, check it out!

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, with an extra half-star for weaving Richard III into the story.

[Goth Gone Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fa la la tra la la brava

I'm enough of a Phan that I approach much PhanFic with a cynical eye. This one intruiged me from the start, a wounded Erik struggling to safety. The story builds, complete with the lyrics to an opera about Camelot. (Thou shall
not cross the fan fic streams!)

Truth be known, I was struggling through the opera. Erik and Christine fa la la and tra la la'ing their way through induced extreme eye rolling, which slowed my normal speed reading.

The cast of familiar characters is light by quite a few, including some of my favorites - not a Giry in sight, and the Persian noticeably absent. The remaining ones are reborn in new, fascinating incarnations. The managers working with Erik, happy to pay him, and Raoul - I won't spoil his character arc, other than to say it's well beyond the typical cheerful fop he's typically portrayed as. Christine saw the least change, while Erik's not his Gothic, maniacal self.

It took time to build; once it did I was page flipping madly, both wanting to see what would happen next and not wanting it to end. I really enjoyed this version, and found some unique ideas, well executed. An example of the writing:

"He stood up, turned to the left and swept through a narrow, secret passage between the walls. He pushed through a panel, and found himself just outside the highest box, right beneath the feet of two angels. He slipped into the box, catching his breath, and pressed himself into the shadows on the left hand wall, venturing all the way to the front guard, looking down at the stage.

​Christine still stood there, white as a sheet, staring wide-eyed out at the theatre."

[Angelica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. There was a lot I liked about it but I didn't feel much chemistry between Erik and Christine and that's kind of an important factor in any POTO retelling. I liked the plot, the atmosphere, Christine's character, the ending, and the inclusion of a King Arthur themed opera. The writing usually flowed pretty well but sometimes she stacked adjectives ("well-dressed, towering, bearded, middle-aged man") in a way that was kind of clunky. Erik felt a little flat and I would've appreciated more from his perspective. She characterized him as quiet and sad, and he seemed a bit bland. Their relationship made sense as a kind, blossoming friendship but I didn't really believe it as a romance.

[Angela Hibbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite!
A haunting tale of loves and sorrows that wraps its readers up tightly. The music of the opera winds its way through the tale. Heartbreak and healing are both displayed in sweeping drama. I couldn't put it down!

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully rewritten story about Erik, the Phantom at the Opera Garnier. He's had a dreadful life, hideously disfigured, living in a circus, used and abused. Erik learns about architecture, music and magic/illusions.
The Vicomte de Chagny buys Erik from the circus and keeps him prisoner at the top of his family home. Erik writes beautiful music, but Raoul takes the works as his own. When Erik's Guinevere is to be staged, trouble is not far away.
The male lead has a beautiful voice, which is complimented by Christine's clear soprano. Erik has made an arrangement with the managers, but the only person to know the truth is Christine.
We follow Erik as he plans accidents to happen, and recasts the male lead for Guinevere for closing night.
The opera goes well, but Christine knows something is different.
The audience love the production.
The ending of the book is nicer than the original by Gaston Laroux.
The ghost is portrayed, not only as a disfigured, vengeful man, but a sad, depressed and sensitive person, too. He is not to be pitied, but sympathised/empathised with.

[Darling Charming · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be honest—The Phantom of the Opera has one of the creepiest and most pointless plots I've ever seen. However, Alydia Rackham truly outdid herself and spun a magical story out of the sad tale. It is a must-read, especially if you love fairy tale retellings but have grown tired of reading the same clichéd storylines over and over again.

From the very beginning, as soon as I started reading the retelling, I was hooked. I loved all the musical references when Erik coached Christine, making everything seem more realistic and believable. I loved how even the French titles were kept and how detailed her beautiful descriptions were. I loved that Erik was depicted as someone other than just the villain of the tale, someone with a life and backstory before everything went wrong.

The novel has some dark aspects but is overall very clean and enjoyable to read. I have never once regretted devouring it.

[Janet Welling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful!

What an absolutely amazing retelling of “The Phantom of the Opera.” The author gives the reader a sweet and suspenseful alternative to the original story. We see Erik not as a monster but as a tortured soul gifted with music that permeates every fibre of his being. His relationship with Christine develops slowly but it is filled with kindness and love. Wonderful world building, an intriguing plot and multifaceted characters. This book was a pleasure to read from start to finish.

[Abigail Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Masterpiece

I am in awe of Rackham's skill and talent. This story was absolutely amazing, captivating, breathtaking. I have not read a story as unique, creative, or incredible in quite some time. It was so moving, so well-written, truly art at its finest. The ending was everything I dared to hope it to be and more. This is an absolutely MUST read, in my opinion. What a tribute to the original story.

[Cheyenne Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just what I wanted and needed!

I'm a big fan of Phantom of the Opera: the book, the play, the movie--all of it. And it's so heartbreaking. But this retelling is basically what my "happily ever after" addicted heart could hope for in this story (besides for Raul, but he's always been my least favorite anyway). I enjoyed the nods to the play, but I loved the little and large changes even more! This book just made me so so happy. Definitely a book I'll go back and reread!!

[Slee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet

Loved so much of this. The attention to musical detail was a joy.
Didn't adore how much time was spent in long quotations which were in many cases repeated. (Lyrics/poetry)
The shift of the usual roles, hero and villain, in this piece was refreshing, though Erik as the good guy is a new idea for me to sit with.
I think it's a great choice for anyone who really needs phantom to have a better ending.

[Dawn Hester · Rating 5 out of 5]

A happy ending

The Phantom the Opera, Erik, finally gets his happy ending. He only meant to help Christine with her singing not to have her fall in love with him. Afterall who could love a monster? Erik has marked his course, get revenge and then perish but Christine has other plans. What a wonderful remake!

[Karen Buchele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely; so much heart in this story!

Christine is distraught in every way after her fathers death. She has no heart to sing. Her new "friend" gives her strength and courage to overcome her sadness and fears. Little does her new "friend" know that she will do the same for him. Beautiful writing that had me in tears several times. A very unique and wonderful retelling. ❤️❤️

[April May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Ghost! From an enthralling start to a brilliant end, the book had me in its grasp the entire time I was reading. Through the entire book, I could empathize with Christine, and I cried with her when Erik stopped contacting her. Would totally recommend!

[Karen Marilyn Earnest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning

What lovely cadence in dialogue and homage to art and literature. I greatly enjoyed the care and clever intelligence given to Christine’s character.

[Xoffelokin · Rating 5 out of 5]

cw: suicidal love interest.

[Stephanie Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Phantom

This was a story beyond the phantom, giving him a much needed human quality and showing Roaul what he truly is, a wimp!

[Smasher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content:

Profanity: None, though there was a moment of exclamation using what some would consider blaspheme.

Violence: High mild. There is a man beaten off screen, showing up in a hospital with multiple broken bones and such at a later time. There is some blood from a prior wound where someone had been shot (told in past tense) There is a fire, and also a fake dead body portrayed. Some abuse is talked of in past tense from a side-show circus. Everything is factually described so it wasn't graphic or disturbing on that count.

Sexual: High mild. There is one almost rape. Specifically: a man corners a girl and he is seen with his hand reaching up under her skirt. Nothing further than that. There is some kissing, mostly stage kissing (one stage kiss is pretty forceful, leaving a bruised lip).

Triggers: Betrayal. Attempted rape (see above). Suicidal thoughts/ideation (no suicide happens though it's hinted that there might've been a suicide in one character's past in their family). One character is controlling and tries to domineer and take over the life/time of another character they claim to love.

I grew up listening to the original Broadway cast singing Phantom of the Opera. It was my Mom's favorite and thus, I knew the words to every song before I knew the story. It wasn't until high school, when I finally got to see a professional production of the show.

I fell in love.

Fast forward another twenty years, and I find this gem on my recommended reads on my kindle, and you can bet I snatched it up (knowing I could trust the author to be clean and well-written).

I ended up reading it aloud to my Mom, and we both were more than a little excited.

After a slow start, which I was disappointed about, we decided to keep going for a good amount of time before crying off, and I found myself captivated.

Alydia Rackham gave me the story of the Phantom as I wished he'd been, as I wished it had gone, and how sweet it might've been if he'd chosen differently.

My heart was wrapped up in the warm sweet friendship garnered between Christine and Erik, the understanding and compassion there, as well as the heart-wrenching truths revealed. Alydia Rackham did such an amazing job of visiting the original story but adding to it and embellishing, making it exciting to read and me wanting to find out how it all would play out. She softened some characters, hardened others, gave some new characters a delightful debut, and others the comeuppance we always wanted!

Also, I was *dying* to hear the score for "Guinevere" all through the read! I heartily enjoyed her using Motzart's "Don Giovani" as well, and just kept hearing that in my head (as well as forcing Alexa to play it between reads). She did such a great job of choosing music to fill my head, as well as my imagination, and also using Camelot was a master-stroke. I loved how she incorporated The Lady of Shalot by Tennyson, (which always makes me think of Anne Shirley!)

To be succinct (after rambling, hahah) if you're a Phantom fan, you've just gotta give this a whirl. I was sighing with contentment and moved at the story Alydia Rackham provided for one of the best loved anti-heroes of all time.

AUDIOBOOK:

The audiobook was produced using Virtual Voice, an AI program. The voice was a female British narrator, and I thought it was pretty darn good for AI, though nothing compares to a real person voicing a book for me. The thing that irritated me was the HUGE pauses where the formatting spaced the lyrics for the music (which is prevalent throughout the story). AI reads that spacing as gigantic pauses, which literally last for 5 or more seconds, which I thought my audible app had crashed a few times waiting for that pause. And I had the playback at 1.4 times speed, so if it wasn't sped up it would've been so much worse.

There were a few pronunciation issues, but nothing too bad or too often. You'll find that in most audios honestly. So, while I 1000% prefer real narrators, I understand the expense is tremendous and I appreciate the opportunity to have a book on audio with a decent AI narration. Most of Alydia Rackham's books are now available with Virtual Voice.

[Raquel (Silver Valkyrie Reads)]

Retellings of my favorites often seem to fall flat for me. I thought this might be an improvement on the original book (which I enjoy far less than the musical version) but it only bores me.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book in which it becomes clear that the Phantom has control of the opera house behind the scenes, try as Raoul might to cover it as his own greatness

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.