Our Strange Duet follows Christine Daaé, a young soprano who works at the Paris Opera House. She catches the eye of the masked figure that lurks beneath the place, a mysterious person who has, for years, made demands on those that run the Opera House. He falls in love with Christine and decides to do whatever is necessary to help nurture her singing ability and get his music out into the world.
The writing was extraordinary, there was never any doubt in my mind about that. It was haunting and atmospheric. I could see every location so clearly in my mind from the way it was described in the book to the dusty room that Christine was moved to where the Phantom first makes contact to the lake hidden down in the depths beneath the Opera House. Everything seemed so beautiful, drawing the reader in with the setting, and I was so impressed with all of the visuals. Craig was able to make the characters sing when they were hitting their cues, the connection between Christine and Erik, the opera ghost, being a little more believable than the connection to Raoul. When Christine and Erik were together, I could see how much Christine wanted to believe in Erik as her Angel of Music thanks to the way that Craig wrote them, showing the growing tide of emotion overtaking Christine in a way that felt like the best of romances.
What bothered me was the characters. I was looking forward to a story showing everything the way that Christine saw it but in the end, I didn't really like her as a character. It felt like her choice in Erik or Raoul changed with a flick of her hand. I didn't believe her passion for either of them being a lasting thing, something she truly felt had changed her in the deepest parts of her being, because it felt like she kept choosing the one who could better her situation for the moments she considered her choices. Erik was an option because of the way he could help her with her music and singing. Raoul was an option because he made her remember a past where she was happy when her father alive. I believed she felt desire for them in the moment but it didn't seem to last once she was on her own. They both felt like horrible choices for her, one being a murderous villain and the other thinking he could make Christine want a life as just his wife, and I wanted the story to end with her choosing herself and leaving the both of them behind. If neither of them was truly making her happy, what was the point?
Also her friendship with Meg seemed very surface level. Christine would reminisce about Meg, how they were very best friends, almost sisters, and that they shared everything together but they were barely together on the page. Then when they were together, they were working on their parts in the opera production or they were out with a group. Christine would lament the loss of Meg and I would just shake my head because the relationship was not developed enough for me to believe that Meg was actually important to her. It felt like we were constantly being told that this was the truth but Christine never did anything more to keep the friendship she had with Meg strong so I didn't believe her when she felt "bad" about the distance growing between them. It almost felt like her constant lamentation was to convince herself that she was a good friend and not someone who would leave behind what she once treasured in order to gain something out of reach.
That brings me to the pacing. It felt like there was so much that was glossed over with words like "months" or "weeks" placed somewhere to indicate the passage of time. One moment we're meeting the Angel of Music for the first time and the next page, it has been months of lessons where Christine has been developing her singing voice, getting stronger under the tutelage of her teacher. At another point, Christine is staying with Raoul while the Opera House is being repaired and it has been weeks since Christine tried writing to Meg. I was surprised when Christine woke up and it was actually the following morning. It felt like the focus was too much on hitting the points made in the opera leaving only so much time to fill in the in between bits with Christine. With the issues with pacing, I felt like the development of the tragic love story didn't have the time it needed to expand correctly on the page. I didn't care for Christine in the end, I thought she was a bit selfish and extremely, if not naive, then at least foolish for continuing to back and forth with the two men she was stringing along. She knew the truth about the both of them and yet somehow, kept going back to them both, and I didn't believe her when she claimed she couldn't bear to be apart from either of them.
I wish I loved this more. There is no easier way to say that. There were some brilliant moments in the book and that final line almost made me reconsider my entire view of the story. Still, I had too much swimming in my head about the characters and the pacing to make me change my mind and believe me when I say, no one is more heartbroken about that fact than me.
Rating on my Scale: Solid 5 Stars. I still love Erin A. Craig and will continue to follow and read every book that Craig writes unto the end of time. This one, however, will not be the favorite I was hoping to read.
My thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's Books, Delacorte Press and Erin A. Craig for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
