Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Flat characters, same obsessive love in Phantom adaptation.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In OUR STRANGE DUET, Christine is a dancer in an opera company who enrages the temperamental prima donna one day by singing in the dressing room while practicing steps. To avoid immediate firing, she accepts a creepy storage closet as her new dressing room, one that comes equipped with a grand piano, a giant mirror, and a disembodied voice that encourages her to train her voice and become the best singer the Opera Populaire has ever known. Christine calls him her Angel of Music, but soon finds he's also known by other names including the feared and dangerous Phantom of the Opera.
Is It Any Good?
This adaptation of the classic musical is ideal for theater kids who think of the Phantom as more angel than vengeful ghost and the obsessive romance as an artistic journey rather than a big red flag. These readers are out there, and will enjoy the escapism and should escape this review toot de suite, as the French would say. Everyday romantasy fans, however, may wish to exit this book stage left. The attraction Christine has for her Angel of Music is hard to fathom, and so is her inconstancy. Suddenly it's all about her first love Raoul again, and then she fears the Phantom, and then she wants him captured, and then she's in his thrall again. Perhaps if her character were more fleshed out it would be easier to understand her changes of heart, but unlike the beautiful music she produces, she's more than a little flat. So are her friendships. More could have been made of Christine's relationship with Meg, the dancer, but every time Meg enters the story and you expect a follow-up, the subplot is dropped. This happens with other minor characters as well. And then there's Christine's lengthy trip to Raoul's country estate that feels so separate from the main story that maybe it should have been a brief aside instead. This version of Phantom of the Opera needed the grounding of the opera setting and more depth of character to truly sing.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the love triangle in Our Strange Duet. Why does Christine love each of her suitors? Who would she be the happiest with? For whom does she show the most empathy? Why?
Near the end of the story, why does Christine's aging rival decide to make peace? How are women in different stages of their lives often pitted against each other in other professions? Is it the same for men?
If you've watched the musical, how does this reimagining compare? If you haven't watched it, does it make you want to?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Arts ( Music and Sing-Along ) , Fantasy
- Character Strengths : Curiosity , Empathy
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Delacorte Press
- Publication date : September 1, 2026
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 18
- Number of pages : 400
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 1, 2026
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