Review Detail

WHAT I LOVED:
Something tells me more than a few actresses could read this book and say afterwards "yep, some of this is 100% accurate." Zara's audition for the role of Echo in Echo and Ariston on Broadway sees her get the part regardless of her lack of experience and in the weeks leading up to her moving to New York City, she develops a close relationship with Leopold, the show's director. I think you already know what kind of things he inflicts upon Zara, like propositioning her and trying to control her offstage and generally being a massive creep.

That is honestly just the start of how awful Leopold is as a person and how many lives he's wrecked. Trust me, there's a lot more. (Honestly, I did not plan to focus on this, but look at the entertainment industry's wave of sexual harassment, abuse, and assault allegations against so many major players. Echo After Echo knew what was going on in Hollywood as well as on Broadway.)

But Zara and Eli, our two main characters, share the majority of third-person POV duties and their unfolding romance is the real focus of the story. Though Zara worries Leopold will find out when he explicitly told her not to get into a relationship because he thinks he has that right to dictate her love life, something else looms: the curse on the Aurelia, the theater where Echo and Ariston is performing.

Through stellar writing and an incredible sense of atmosphere, the Aurelia is practically a character itself whispering into Zara's ear about what's happened within its walls. For a century, every production there has been cursed with accidents and deaths. The curse, according to the rumors, always comes in threes and it always ends on opening night--and from the looks of it, the death of the lightning designer Roscoe is just the first curse incident out of three.

Though there's no one living in or under the theater making these things happen, Echo After Echo has a very Phantom of the Opera feel to it as it builds up to the second strike--another death--and third strike of the curse. The strong characterization of Eli and Zara ups the tension as well, making you worried the third strike might fall upon one of them.

WHAT LEFT ME WANTING:
At 432 pages, Echo After Echo is a bit too long, however. There's a significant lull in events during the book that may make you put it down for a while. Though I love when Ariston's actor Adrian Ward gets POV sections that strengthen his characterization, he's a minor player in the overall story. The climactic scene sees everyone of note involved somehow, but Adrian is the least involved of all. All he does there is give a letter from Zara to Eli! Though he's characterized like a main character, he's very nearly a bit player.

FINAL VERDICT:
Echo After Echo is an intelligent, dark, and haunting book starring gay girls who get their happy ending, the wonderful and terrible world of theater, and the possibility of a curse. You shouldn't need to hear anything more to convince you of this book! Skipping it means missing out on one of the most memorable, atmospheric settings of the year and so much more.