by Morgan Shamy
My rating: 3.5 hearts
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery
Publication date: June 9, 2020
Publisher: The Parliament House
Synopsis:
Fans of The Phantom of the Opera and Black Swan will enjoy this thrilling debut.
When Megan Van Helsburg gets kicked off the U.S.A. Climbing Team, she has no choice but to return home and leave her climbing career behind. With no coach, no money, and no prospects, she joins the corps de ballet determined to improve her strength and agility. But the ballet theater is in dire straits. Not only do a series of murders break loose, but the ballerinas are becoming deathly thin and brain-dead. As Megan investigates, she meets Bellamy, a tortured young man who lives beneath the depths of the theater. Megan falls hard and fast for Bellamy, who becomes her mentor, but something is off about him.
It isn't until the company announces they're doing Giselle for the fall performance that Megan realizes the parallels between the ghost story and the lives around her. Megan must find a way to not only save her climbing career, but balance her feelings for Bellamy, and stop the murders and dying girls before she, too, is numbered among the dead.
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When I saw the synopsis, calling this perfect for fans of The Phantom of the Opera, I was immediately sold. I am a huge fan of The Phantom of the Opera, so this was a must-read for me. Comparing a book to it makes my expectations sky-high, so when I dived into The Redpoint Crux, I was equal parts excited and equal parts worried it wouldn't live up to my expectations.
It lived up to my expectations. Sure, there were parts I didn't like much - the characters failed to make me invested and the ending was hurried and quite disappointing - but the overall mood and the mystery was really interesting and made me quite enjoy it, despite the issues.
The characters were kind of... flat to me. The main character was boring and uninteresting, and she was pretty one-dimensional. All of this, while it didn't make me dislike her, also didn't make me care much about her or what happened to her. And the same goes for the rest of the characters. The only character that caught my interest was Bellamy. He was exactly what I would expect of a character very clearly inspired by the Phantom; interesting, layered, morally grey, but at the same time you can't help but feel for him.
The plot was great. I mean, the mystery is really interesting (I loved the connection to the ballet, Giselle). It was dark and unexpected and really refreshing. Mind you, this isn't the book for you if you want something light and fun, but if you want a dark mystery, this is the book for you.
The ending was really disappointing, to be honest. It felt hurried and left some loose ends (one, in particular, that bothered me was introduced very early in the book, and it bothered me a lot that I didn't get any answers). It left me feeling unsatisfied.
If you love The Phantom of the Opera, I would definitely recommend this one. If you love dark mysteries, I would recommend it, too.
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