I have always enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera story and when I read the description I thought oh my is this a retelling of it?! Yes, it was, just gender-switched and of course with a different reason for why she is hidden, and technically she is the Opera Ghost. The reason Isda is hidden is that she was born with powers, and these powers make you look deformed and she has to keep her face hidden, especially since she wasn’t even supposed to be saved. I liked that her powers were different than you were expecting, it is cool she is able to put images into people’s minds, although also scary because she can always put bad stuff in there.

I thought the book flowed well and it was written well. I like that we learn more background on people like Isda as she learns memories from other people when they sing. I thought Isda and Emeric’s relationship was a good one. Emeric made me laugh, especially when he kept talking to the skull outside her door. I do wish there had been more time with them together to where you really got to see how good they could be together, but it isn’t easy when she has to stay hidden and Emeric has a voice that needs to be heard.

I thought the characters were fairly well written. Isda seemed kind of typical to me in the sense that she is wanting to have a life outside of what she knows and she blindly trusts the wrong person, then when she finds out it is a lie she wants to break free, but also at the same time she wants to protect those she cares about and gives up some of her happiness to do that. Emeric was likable and he did truly love Isda for who she was. Cyril was a good bad guy character as well. I think mainly the characters seemed just kind of typical, I know it is a retelling but I wanted some more from them.

The book overall though was a fun read and I enjoyed a different take on the story. I am curious to know what happens to Isda after this story takes place! Does she find what she is looking for, a world where she can be somewhat free in to not live in the shadows? Do her and Emeric cross paths again, and what becomes of his sister?

What a amazing book! I feel in love with this one. The story is spectacular, all the characters are super vivid. I recommend with my heart.

This was such an entertaining story, fast paced, and quick to the action. I absolutely loved the way the story was told, the characters, and how complex Jessica S Olson wrote the story. The characters relationship was what really drew me to this novel. I wouldn’t say that they’re making out or throwing heart eyes at each other the entire book, but their dynamic friendship and how they plan to work together was what kept me reading.
Full review to come on YouTube.

It took over half the book for me to finally be enthralled with the tale. I found that it was slow to start and took awhile to pick up. Then when everything starts to come together the book ends, and is rather disappointing.

This was a nice book, I enjoyed the writing and the characters were fun to read about, would surely recommend!

I loved the premise of this story! It was such a unique spin on... the Phantom of the Opera!?! I was engrossed in this magical story and could not put the book down. What a beautiful story.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have been a fan of Phantom of the Opera since my aunt played me a recording of when I was very young. That is the feeling I get from this only the main character is female. This book did all kind of things for me. There is a lot of dark emotions especially for Isda. She was saved by Cyril from drowning and he wants her to use her gifts to make the guests of the opera house praise the show, but in doing this she must remain hidden and masked. That is until she meets Emeric. She helps train him to sing and she is discovering there might be a way to freedom for her. Though it might come at a price that she is not willing to pay.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Inkyard Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Also, a huge thanks to Jessica S. Olson for writing Sing Me Forgotten.
First off, I adore the Phantom of the Opera, so I loved all the little odes to the original while still making this book unique. I laughed at the names because anyone who has read The Phantom of the Opera can see the similarities, and it put a smile on my face. It might have also been the reason it took me forever to actually read this book because I thought it would ruin the Phantom of the Opera vibes, but I am kicking myself now because it did not disappoint.
My only issues with the book is that I wanted to know more about the Les Trois and the world, which is hard when the mc is stuck in the catacombs of the opera (she does rebel and go out some times, but it is not enough to fully grasp the genius of the world). And the ending while it did rip my heart out and make me gulp down lots of water to prevent myself from ugly crying felt rushed and unfinished. I have so many questions and no answers.
Emeric stole my heart and is the main reason (besides The Phantom of the Opera vibes) that this book is getting such a high rating from me. He is such a sweetheart and I want to wrap him in bubblewrap.
I will add one more thing about the ending and that the cover and title make so much sense after that, but that was the only thing that made sense in that ending.
This book reminds me of Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine, and The Phantom of the Opera. If you love/like these books I would highly recommend this book.
4.5 out of 5 stars.
For the spoiler version of my review https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com/2021/08/sing-me-forgotten-all-hail-opera-ghost.html

Gender switched Phantom of Opera: a monstrous girl hid behind the shadows, was born with marks on her face, using her powers connected to the enchanting magic of music, extracting memories and she falls for a sunshiny boy, wearing pendant, singing like an angel in the middle corrupt kingdom and growing threat of political angst.


I absolutely LOVED Isda, for so many reasons. First of all, she’s super morally grey… in the best way possible. Throughout the book, she tricks, manipulates, and hurts other characters, and while her actions were clearly wrong, I couldn’t help but understand and empathize with her anyways. The world has treated Isda with nothing but hatred, cruelty, and disgust, so how could I blame her for expressing her anger in immoral ways? I can definitely see people having negative reactions towards Isda’s character, but in my opinion, the most interesting characters are always the flawed ones. The ones that aren’t good, and not bad either, but somewhere in between. And that’s exactly the type of character Isda is!

ok i don't have enough comprehensible brain cells to write a proper review, but just trust me when i say that YOU NEED TO READ THIS. i very rarely give books 5 stars but I AM COMPLETELY ENAMOURED WITH THE STRUCTURE OF THIS STORY, THE CHARACTERS, EVERYTHING. my heart? belongs to the operahouse now.

4.5 Stars
Trigger Warnings: child abuse, kidnapping, torture, discrimination & Stockholm syndrome.

As someone who did Phantom of the Opera in High School and has been consumed by it since and this book just adds to my love! We had this magically reimagined story where the phantom IS the main character, and we see just how society has mistreated them.
Did this book make me reconsider my feelings on the Phantom? Yes, because if he were like Isa, I would have fully supported his revenge plan, like I was with Isa. We loved revenge plans in this house!
My only wish for this book was as if the love had more time to develop; it was sweet, and I adored it, but I know with maybe a hundred more pages, that ending would have DEVASTED me inside, making me ache.

That ending! I love and hate bittersweet endings, and that one was perfect!

I was intrigued by the premise of the story but did not find the initial world building interesting enough to follow more than six chapters into the story.

This was a fun twist on phantom of the opera. The way magic works in this world is fascinating and Isda is a great character. The cover is also beautifully eye catching and will definitely tempt a lot of readers.

I got a ARC of Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olsen through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olsen is, a Phantom of The Opera retelling that tells the story of Isda has she falls in love and she searches for answers.

I would give Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olsen a 3 star review because, the concept is, riveting but things like the world where we can imagine it in our head while reading needed a little work, there were some pieces that I could understand but didn't make since in the book, the characters were okay but I didn't root for them, and the ending was good but it didn't connect with the rest of the book.

I was really excited for a Phantom of the Opera inspired tale. This just didn't work for me; can't even narrow down why. Totally a "it's me not you" kind of situation - most likely was a mood-reader thing at the time. Definitely down to give this another shot again in the future. Love that cover though.

The storyline really intrigues me - a gender-bent Phantom of the Opera sounds so cool! While I enjoyed what I had read, due to a multitude of things I had to set the book down and unfortunately haven't had the chance to pick it up again. While I'm not dnfing the book, I don't know when I'll feel motivated to pick it up again.

I really enjoyed this book. It is an unusual retelling and kept my attention. I will be buying it for the library.

I absolutely loved the cover art for this book. It's the first that made me interested in reading it. The second thing was the description. Did it live up to the hype? Yes, I think so. I'd read more from this author.

Such beautiful Phantom of the Opera vibes but with that lovely twist of her voice being able to make people feel things and forget things.

This AU, gender swap, fantastical retelling of Phantom of the Opera had big ambitions, but I can't help but think that this fell just a little short. I mean, for a debut author, there is a lot she tries to do and I can't help but be impressed with the effort though.

CW: child abuse, drug use, kidnapping

Outstanding, powerful, magical and painful because it slowly breaks your heart and makes you deeply invested in the story.