The Redpoint Crux Review

This book was very well written! I enjoyed the pacing as well as the phrasing of the story. It was very atmospheric, and I had “Angel of Music” constantly running through my head as I read it.

This book was interesting to me because I had a hard time connecting with Megan, yet I sped through the book. Usually if I don’t connect with/like the main character I find myself messing around on Facebook or Instagram instead of reading because I just don’t want to read it. But in this case, I still really wanted to know what would happen, and before I knew it I was finishing the book. The romance also didn’t work for me because I would have been too creeped out by the situation to actually fall for anyone.

There is also a mystery involved with the book, and I have to say I didn’t guess at all what was going to happen at the end of the book! I was a little confused though; the police didn’t seem to be involved, even though there were apparently quite a few murders.

I really appreciated that the romance was clean and that there was no swearing (at least I didn’t notice any) in the book.

Even though I didn’t connect with Megan and I didn’t personally care for the romance, I still really enjoyed the book, which is a testament to the author’s talent. I will definitely check out future books by this author!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thought I'd like this. I wanted to like this. But here we are.
It felt rushed and confused and it made very little sense to me, like the pages didn't link together to make a story but it was just random things after random things. It felt out there and the writing didn't feel right to me either. It sounded so dramatic, every dialogue, every scene felt like an overplayed drama. The mystery didn't grab my attention at all and I just couldn't. From beginning to end, I rolled my eyes so many times. I don't know, I guess it really wasn't for me.

After an incident at a climbing competition gets her dropped from the USA Climbing Team, Megan "Red" Van Helsburg is forced to drop her career in climbing and return home to Nova Scotia. Determined to rise above the situation Megan decides to join up with a corps de ballet to enhance her dexterity and overall power because on top of losing her place on the team she lost her coach, sponsors and possible prospects which left her without income. The ballet theater of her childhood home has seen better days, a murderer stalks the streets and the other ballerinas are wasting away in both body and mind. Megan meets a mysterious young man named Bellamy during her investigation and he just so happens to dwell underneath the theater. Even though there is something not quite right with Bellamy he becomes her mentor and Megan finds herself falling for him.

Realization dawns on Megan when the theater announces the corps de ballet's performance will be Giselle and the similarities between the events going on at the theater and the play take on an eerie tone. Can Megan shoulder the precarious balance of investigating the murders and husks of ballerinas while sorting through her attraction to Bellamy on top of rebuilding her climbing career?

The blurb for The Redpoint Crux implied that fans of The Night Circus and The Raven Boys would like this book - I honestly can't attest to that because I haven't read either (I have read The Wolves of Mercy Falls series though). I would say that this book reminded me more of The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame vibe but with ballet with a serial killer twist. This story is intriguing and fast paced but sometimes I felt like it could've slowed down a bit and explained a little more. I wouldn't really categorize it as supernatural, paranormal or even magical (even though there are instances that aren't fully explained) but I would put it in a category with ghost stories and serial killers.

This book is predominantly about Megan "Red" Van Helsburg so naturally she is the most developed character in the book. The characters in the book often seem a little bit more emotionally mature than their age and it seemed to be a running theme of having to grow up quicker because of their parents or loss. I wish there was more relationship and backstory building to the characters to make them feel more cohesive. Liam definitely falls under the pretentious and entitled ass umbrella. It's only once everyone stops being selfish that the relationships tend to go anywhere. I really liked Bellamy and his connection with Red, I just wish that he was fleshed out more as a character rather than just his backstory (eventually). The plot did keep me guessing until the end and I was not disappointed by the ending of the book other than it left two things hanging in the wind - possibly for a sequel?

I happen to love ballet, it's excruciatingly beautiful - this book revolves around it. I have a friend that has been in ballet since she was little and I am obviously not an expert in any way I do know a thing or two. Colorado doesn't really have a big ballet scene but I would absolutely love to see a big production one of these days. My favorite has always been The Nutcracker.

I really did enjoy this book and while yes it does have some flaws it was vastly different than anything that I have read this year and that is a solid positive for me. This book contained an element you don't normally see in mysteries and thrillers - ballet. I would recommend reading this book to those who enjoy ballet, murder mysteries, serial killers, thrillers and ghost stories. A big thank you to NetGalley and The Parliament House for putting this title in Read Now.

Did I watch The Phantom of The Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011) right before I read this book? Yes. Did it perhaps influence my take of this book in anyway. Possibly.

Did I love this book nonetheless? Yes!

THE REDPOINT CRUX was a theatrical performance that drew me in from the very first sentence all the way to the end. It was a perfectly constructed ballet that swept me off my feet and held me mesmerized until I finished. Morgan Shamy skillfully wove the classic narrative of The Phantom of the Opera into this story and though I know very little about the Black Swan, I do know ballet and I know how beautifully challenging it is.

What a fresh, modern, beautiful take on The Phantom of the Opera! Highly recommend to all who love and adore the play!

5/5 stars

I received a free ARC e-copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

So I started off reading this book thinking it was a paranormal/horror genre; but it wasn't. I couldn't get myself to like the characters; there were no proper emotions that you would normally get, for example, when a close family member dies! Also, many it times some of the scenes mentioned seemed overly dramatic, making me think I'm reading a screenplay for a movie or something, which was annoying.

Overall, the story could have been great. It had me trying to guess who the real murderer was. But I wasn't too fond of the characters or the book.

Thanks again to NetGalley for providing me with this copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

DNF at 17%.

I don't see The Night Circus-Raven Cycle combo. The Phantom of the Opera would be more accurate.

The book has just started and I'm already confused as to what's happening in the novel. Liam and Nathan seem to be the same person and I couldn't tell the difference between them.

Describing characters by their nationality felt super weird. At first, I thought it was almost a characters/actors' thing. Turns out that's not the case and I'm not a big fan.

There seems to be a timeline issue, too.

Should I give this more time? Maybe, but I'm already frustrated and confused with it.

3.86 out of 5 Stars

***Lets out a long, low whistle.***
So, first things first, holey moley I got some really great creepy vibes out of this book. In terms of genre, I think it may be a little confused. It's most clearly a mystery, but there are paranormal undertones that are roped in and out of the story a bit inconsistently for me to decisively say that this book is also a paranormal. A part of me also wants to call it a horror story, but that could just be me getting easily creeped out. The atmosphere was great though. It was excellently creepy and cold and added to the paranoia around the city.

The Redpoint Crux was a surprising twist in my reading schedule. I didn't realize it was going to be as dark as it ended up being, but creepiness aside, the way Shamy describes the theater and the ballet was beautiful. I seriously want to see a live performance of Giselle now. I don't know that I would ever pick it up in a bookstore for myself, but I could definitely see myself recommending this to some friends that are more into creepy/mystery/horror(?) genres.

I'm not sure I completely enjoyed the character development. There were times when I thought the relationships could have been drawn out a bit more, or even have more scenes between the characters to draw out the connections and the plot more. I also don't buy that Liam, a 19-year-old, would be running a theater. I could be very wrong about that and maybe that sort of situation could happen in reality. But, I just had to swallow it in this book and it didn't go down easily. I do however, know that I liked the banter between Meg and Bellamy. I'm not sure if it was an entirely good relationship, but they definitely had strong chemistry on the page.

The biggest issue I took the book was that, and I'm about 85% sure about this, there's a massive plot-hole. I don't want to spoil the book so I won't say what it is, but I finished the book and was like, "But. . . what about. . ." It wasn't super frustrating because I really liked the ending as a whole, but it still is just dangling in my mind unresolved.

I loved the mystery. I had a lot of fun trying to figure out the murderer with way the characters were laid out and introduced. I also really loved how ballet was described in the book. I have never done ballet; I have never studied ballet; I don't know anyone in ballet. There's something so potent though about a niche or fine art like that being described by someone who lived it.

Thanks for reading!

The Redpoint Crux is advertised for fans of the Night Circus and The Raven Boys. This intrigued me, having loved both of these books and their dark, dreamy magic. I was drawn in by The Redpoint Crux's intriguing description of a horror-tinged mystery full of murder and intrigue within a ballet theatre setting-- but after reading this one, the description and comparisons seem misleading, and it seems to me much more accurate to market this one as a non-fantasy (despite comparisons to the contrary) Phantom of the Opera retelling.

I love the Phantom of the Opera, so once I saw the parallels in the narrative, I went into this optimistically. However, due to pacing, writing style, and no fantasy (outside of one moment of brief and unexplained something-that-might-be-magic), it ended up not being my cup of tea.

If you love the Phantom of the Opera and are down for a retelling that, although told with ballerinas instead of opera singers, sticks rather closely to the source with a few extra twists-- I might recommend this one to you!

This creepy story was right up my alley. I adore Phantom of the Opera and this gothic romance retelling brought me into a similar dark setting with mysterious characters, but with ballet performances, experiments, and murders. The author has a vast knowledge of ballet and rock climbing, two things I know nothing about. The pace picked up for me after the first few chapters and then I couldn’t put it down until I knew what happened. I truly didn’t see the ending twists coming! Yes, there's more than one twist!

I was given a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

1.5 stars

Unfortunately, I really did not enjoy this book. There were waaaay too many subplots so none of them get nearly enough attention, the pacing of the whole thing was rushed, the dialogue was weirdly info-dump-y and not at all like real people talk, the characters are all really surface level and there's no subtlety to their motivations and overall it was pretty nonsensical. I really wanted to like this book but there content barely seemed to match the description, which implied that the book was somehow going to be like the Night Circus? It was just a disappointing read.

Phantom meet Ballet! The Redpoint Crux was a true gothic romance. The story is definitely in the vein of Phantom of the Opera with hits of greats such as Edgar Allen Poe and Mary Shelley. Morgan Shamy takes you on a ride from the rocks of Colorado to a small theater in Nova Scotia. The writing is dark, atmospheric, and completely spellbinding. Red and Liam's friendship is to die for while Bellamy gives me the dark brooding type vibes meets Gerard Butler's Phantom. I didn't see the plot twist coming and for me that's what makes a book. This is definitely on my to buy physical copy list and my highly recommended list.

The Redpoint Crux by Morgan Shamy was touted for fans of The Night Circus (oh that’s me!) and The Raven Boys (Oh, boy, that’s me too!) however, I just can't see how it’s like those books at all. I was really disappointed, I’m not sure if was the writing style I wan’t a fan of or just how annoying I thought Megan “Red” was in this story or even how convoluted the plot turned out to be. I also felt that other characters where only half developed and some just left the story in ways that could have added more drama to the story but were so blunt... yep he died, so it is and next chapter. So the story is about Megan who is drawn back to the theater where she grew up and murder surrounds her there, can she find out who the killer is and stop the next killing?

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Redpoint Crux reminds me of a light re telling of The Phantom of the Opera. I enjoyed this book immensely. I felt like all the characters were really well developed and the mystery involved in the killings was well done. I look forward to reading more books by Morgan Shamy

This book kept me interested and on my toes as I tried to figure out who was committing the Murders. Brilliant and well written book. Really enjoyed it.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book.properly in the near future with an honest teview.

3.5 Stars

If you took The Phantom of the Opera, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and the X Games and threw them in a blender you might come up with something similar to The Redpoint Crux. While the book does seem to borrow bits and bobs from these iconic works, it re-imagines them in way that is both modern and classic. I can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason this book feels very old fashioned, in a good way, harkening back to its predecessors in what I would characterize as a "light gothic" tone. The book has a lot of moving parts but they weren't unnecessary or difficult to keep track of. I will say that at times the story moved a little slowly for me but all in all it was an enjoyable read.

I've always been fascinated by the world of ballet, so I was so excited when I read the blurb of this book and got approved for an ARC. But that excitement quickly turned into disappointment as I got around to reading it.

The book had so much potential. Unfortunately, it felt like the idea did not solidify enough. The first chapter had me confused already. I felt that the characters were underdeveloped, and it was very hard to connect with them. The main characters came off as very bratty, entitled, and yet world-weary, that I had to pause my reading at times. With regards to the story progression, the transitions between the chapters felt very abrupt. I've read several books where the chapters transition between different characters/periods/settings, and yet it all flowed seamlessly. This was not the case with this book. Each chapter felt like a full stop. I guess the writing style is just not for me.

I really did not enjoy this book. It continually annoyed me on so many different levels.
I wanted to read this book because the blurb intrigued me but apart from a few points the actual book doesn’t seem to match the description at all. It’s not until the climax, when The Bridegroom Killer explains certain points, that Megan connects the dots between the performance of Giselle and what is actually happening around her. Megan doesn’t meet Bellamy as she investigates anything instead he contacts her. Also the blurb doesn’t mention that it isn’t just any corps de ballet she joins but the theatre in which she grew up. She also didn’t seem to join it to help with her climbing.
I didn’t understand who Bellamy was for the longest time, or how he was connected to anything – why did he follow her? Why did he save her life?
That was another point of annoyance for me: In the first chapter Bellamy seems to save Megan's life with magic or something. She goes from being impaled on a rock to having no wounds at all but by the time Don is killed he's just like everyone else? Despite her asking him so many straightforward things outright he has to be all mysterious and refuse to answer just then?
Apart from Megan wanting to be a climber I don't even really know the motivation of the other characters. So Liam was studying in Russia, surely paid for using his college fund but now he's back at the theatre because his parents have vanished and apparently taken his college fund with them? Is that why he left Russia? There was so much about Liam’s motivations and reasons for being there that I didn’t understand; there was so much about his parents that I didn’t understand. Obviously they knew Megan’s parents, did they not care about Stewart’s death?
A mystery is only satisfying when there is a conclusion, when there is decent payoff but so little of the mystery was explained. We had so little pay off. It just ends up annoying and frustrating.
There was so much that was just left unexplained: Coach’s odd switching of character; sometimes so supportive and loving other times a dick? Or how did Megan get her sponsors etc. back at the end if she messed up one competition and refused to be on the U.S.A. climbing team? Or the fact that Bellamy could save her life with some unexplained magic but he couldn't save his own? When did he think to put the music box in the clock tower?
There were also instances where it felt like just mistakes in continuity or editing that really took me out of the story:
When Megan first leaves Bellamy’s lair then heads to the chapel, one minute she's in bare feet after removing her pointe shoes and next she's in heels? Or that it was midday one minute, moonlight the next then bright sunshine again? Is this book not working on a 24 hour day like the rest of us?
I was completely thrown when, as Bellamy was describing his life he used the term Carpentering. It felt wrong; after a bit of googling my feeling was confirmed: why hadn’t she just used Carpentry?
I read all of it, but I think I was pulled out of the story so early when we were first introduced to Thomas and Don in the Theatre Bar: it annoys me in books written by Americans that anyone not American is described solely by their nationality. I can't remember reading a book written by an Australian or British author that does nothing but describe the character by their nationality. Unless it's vital to the plot (although I'm not sure how) surely there is a better way of describing a character other than "The Scot"
Also, side note – Thomas MacDaniel? You can't just add Mac or Mc to the beginning in the hopes of producing a Scottish surname. It is in fact a variation of an actual Scottish name, butchered by Americans in the Southern states during the 18th and 19th centuries. So not really Scottish at all.
Why did Thomas wear nothing but a kilt? Especially when doing carpentry? I did not understand these characters.
Then we have "The Spaniard" urgh. Why has Liam only ever called Don what his character was called? Just because he starred in Don Quixote – couldn’t he be bothered to find out Don’s real name?
This was a really disappointing read; there were times I struggled to continue. The mystery was more confusing than anything else. It sometimes felt like she was trying to force so many mysteries into one book. Okay, I can sort of get on board with George trying to find a “cure” for her mental illness – obviously he was dealing with a whole lot of grief around Natalia’s death but why in the hell did Stewart agree? As Megan points out, it’s a chemical imbalance and no amount of shock therapy is going to help that. I think medicine has moved on since then.
It so often felt like Shamy was adding all these elements and after realising how unconnected and confusing everything was she tried desperately to shoehorn a connection between things. Instead we just ended up with loads of different threads and no sense from any of them.
3 stars and would not recommend.