LOVE SHOULD DIE
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Press Reviews

Professional theatre critics all around the world took a swing at the Coney Island clowns. To view their unedited reviews, select an article from the list below. If you're more interested in mainstream audience reviews and their reaction, check out unedited audience reaction here. 

The UK production closed  twice. First to extremely negative reviews, and again after a failed attempt to make minor changes to the script and choreography. A few months later, the production reopened in Australia to a new set and costume design, more changes to the script and 
choreography. As expected, the Melbourne production closed after an unsuccessful run. They tried to revive the show again in Sydney, but the production failed again, closing just after 12 weeks (from a scheduled 20 week run). Altogether, there were 4 different versions and each attempt failed. 

The 2017-8 North American Tour is currently leveraging the 4th Australian production version and is still being panned by critics & audiences alike.  

Updated July 22, 2018
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Click a production link below or just scroll through to read all reviews!
- North American Tour (2017-8)
- London Production v1.0 - Press Reviews (Mar-Dec 2010)
- London Production v2.0 - Press Reviews (Dec 2010 - Aug 2011)
- Melbourne Australia Production v3.0 (May 2011 - Dec 2011)
- Sydney Australia Production v4.0 (Jan 2012 - Apr 2012)
- DVD Reviews (March 2012 - May 2012)
North American Tour (2017-8)
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Broadway World Houston
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“Love Never Dies is an unmitigated disaster of such epic proportions that it is nearly unwatchable and entirely unworthy of your time and money...I'll never understand why a touring production was mounted.” 
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Buffalo News
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“Love Never Dies is just an absurd mess, a ridiculous, self-indulgent, hastily written, on the back of a napkin, kind of stupid, silly mess... Suffice it to say, the thing makes negative-zero sense, and it will never make more sense than that.” 
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Broadway World Seattle
​“There are just so many things wrong with this show that I could go on for days…[at least the cast] can keep up with their car payments and keep their medical insurance for being in this. They're very talented singers and I hope someday they'll get to be in a good show again...with my three-letter rating system I give "Love Never Dies" the dreaded but all too deserved WTF.  Read More

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On Stage & Screen LA
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“This misguided, messy, melodramatic musical fails to live up to the legacy of its predecessor at every turn...There are maybe 15 minutes of solid plot, and an additional cumbersome two hours and 25 minutes of the characters singing repetitive, unmemorable songs at each other.​”  Read More

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StarTribune
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“The problems with Love Never Dies are not only moral but aesthetic. The show feels like something made up mostly of leftovers, with a few new things thrown in — the stage version of a salad with the last of the Thanksgiving turkey.” 
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Houston Chronicle
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This torrid production...is weepy, unironic and impossible to believe. There isn’t a single relatable character in it, nor any moment of true feeling...The actual story isn’t worth the space to recount. The singing is so overdone and the lyrics so listless that it’s difficult to follow what the musical is trying to present scene to scene."  Read More

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Broadway World National Tours
​“Sadly, doesn't offer much else to audiences beyond its superficial surface beauty...Filled with perplexing story trajectories, odd motivations, & over exaggerated character discrepancies. I found myself mostly dumfounded and even a little frustrated by the audacity of this musical---a sequel that feels wholly unnecessary.” 
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Berkshire Fine Arts
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“The plot is over-wrought; any good melodrama author would be embarrassed by the inconsistencies and illogic... I have to admit that when, near the climax, Meg says “it’s almost over,” I wanted to applaud. Unfortunately we still had several scenes to go." 
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LA Times
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Love Never Dies is "messing with the original in ways that will taint some fans' memories. That's a dangerous thing to do with such a valuable property. Those responsible should hope that the public's love indeed never dies.​"  Read More

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PheonMNal Twin Cities
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“Alternate titles for this production could include: "Greed Never Dies", "Stockholm Syndrome Never Dies", and "Misogyny Never Dies. At least the costumes and set are glorious eye candy." 
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Journal Inquirer
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“I’d much rather have seen Webber write a show about turn of the 20th-century Coney Island than suffer with the audience through what is a failed attempt at bringing tragedy to a story that never wanted it in the first place.”" 
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Houstonia Magazine
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“I only wanted to go listen to [the original] Phantom again to get this stuff out of my head. And the next morning, I did exactly that.” 
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Connecticut's Arts Connection 
​“If the first act has you feeling dissatisfied (and weak, predictable lyrics by Glenn Slater contribute to this state), the second act is mind-blowingly bad...Some action is so ridiculous that it is laughable, including what is supposed to be a very dramatic ending. " Read More

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Providence Journal
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“Webber should have quit while he was ahead. For his much touted sequel to “Phantom of the Opera,” is an embarrassment, an overblown tearjerker whose tawdry finale is just too painful to watch.” Read More

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Chicago Sun Times
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“...a disappointing world apart from the original on almost every level.​”  Read More

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Broadway World Minneapolis
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“The relationship between Christine and her angel of music feels less like a love affair and more like a co-dependent and mostly abusive situation, perhaps more noticeable in this age of "#MeToo."...This show dies a long, slow death.”  Read More

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Orlando Weekly
​“'Love Never Dies' is a maddeningly misguided sequel to 'Phantom of the Opera'...skip out on this fatally flawed follow-up. ” 
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Broadway World - California 
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“...sadly, doesn't offer much else to audiences beyond its superficial surface beauty...Filled with perplexing story trajectories, odd motivations, & over exaggerated character discrepancies...a sequel that feels wholly unnecessary.”  Read More

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CleveScene
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“Too bad they didn’t follow their own advice as spelled out in “Why Does She Love Me?” That’s when Meg counsels Raoul, “You should have never come to America/It’s not a place for people like you and Christine.” Amen to that.”  Read More

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News-Herald Morning Journal
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“In the final, climactic moments of “Love Never Dies,” a woman holds a gun to her head and threatens to end it all. While some audience members may root for her to do just that — and wish they had the same option earlier in the evening”  Read More

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WBUR ARTery
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“It turns out “Love Never Dies” is a highly stylish, colorfully rendered mess...The numbingly rhyme-drunk lyrics...are trite. Mainly, the whole thing is just schmaltzy and preposterous.” 
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Orlando Sentinel
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“The plot is both painful and tedious...The actors — God bless them — do what they can. They thankfully have strong voices — and keep straight faces. In a musical this misguided, that alone could be considered an achievement.” 
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Broadway World Chicago
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“Love may never die, but sometimes you do need to let it go, dude...most of the characters in the show seem to be suffering from collective amnesia...and the character motivation and plausibility are stretched so thin, one realizes the entire show -much like its masked anti-hero, is just a tad bonkers.”  Read More

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Creative Loafing - Tampa Bay
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“...it’s been rewritten, scrapped, and reopened several times, and is only now touring the U.S. The only thing that hasn’t been killed off is Lloyd Weber’s enthusiasm for the project.” 
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Broadway World Boston
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“I doubt that this show would ever have come about if not for the original. Either way, I'm still shaking my head and asking why.” Read More

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Tuesday Pause
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“The optimism faded with the opening number, and unfortunately never returned...The story was predictable and not particularly interesting, the setting seemed silly, the song lyrics were not convincing, and the performances were exaggerated...” Read More

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The Oakland Press
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“Love may never die, but it’s time for this tale to be put to an eternal rest.”
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BroadwayWorld.com Orlando
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“It was like watching a telenovela with the extreme over acting and totally unnecessary characters. All of the charm from the original has been wiped clean.”
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Pittsburgh Post Gazzette
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“The story lags...The hand-to-forehead drama that plays out in “Love Never Dies” never quite caught my imagination, but the spectacle was a sight to please even the Phantom’s lofty standards.” Read More

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BroadwayWorld Rhode Island
​“Love Never Dies feels like an opportunity missed...With a slapdash plot and a dearth of coherent ties to its predecessor, Love Never Dies ultimately results in a case of style over substance.” Read More

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Hollywood Reporter
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“...still missing, despite the rewrites and the four librettists now listed in the show's credits, is a gripping narrative, notably at the start.” 
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London Production v1.0 (Mar-Dec 2010)
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New York Times - 0 out of 5 stars
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“So now he’s back in the West End with a big, gaudy new show. And he might as well have a “kick me” sign pasted to his backside.”
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Jewish Chronicle - 1 out of 5 stars
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“Apart from Bob Crowley's design, this sequel to the hit Phantom of the Opera misses on all fronts.”
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Time Out London - 1 out of 5 stars
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“With its sickening swirls of video imagery, pointless plot, and protracted, repetitive songs, 'Love Never Dies', directed by Jack O'Brien, is punishingly wearisome.”
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West End Whingers - 2 out of 5 stars
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“The Whingers could think of many reasons not to see Love Never Dies, the long-awaited (although by whom is unclear) sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.​”
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Daily Mail - 2 out of 5 stars
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“Love may never die but West End shows will come perilously close to disaster unless they have some oompf and bongo — and preferably a decent tune — in the first 15 minutes.”
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Times Online - 2 out of 5 stars
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“...oh, how time and a dismally implausible plot have altered [Phantom] and his life.”
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Sunday Times - 2 out of 5 stars
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“None of this villainy was remotely hinted at in Phantom. It’s one of the many excruciating ways in which the original characters have had to be deformed to fit this childish and cheesy melodrama.”
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Evening Standards - 2 out of 5 stars
​“Admirers of Phantom are likely to be disappointed, and there’s not enough here to entice a new generation of fans.”
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Metro - 2 out of 5 stars
“...a sentimental love story in which the psychological darkness of its predecessor has aged into hammy gothic kitsch.”
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Financial Times - 2 out of 5 stars
“I can’t see it winning over the “Love Should Die” Facebook group.”
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The Scotsman - 3 out of 5 stars
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“...you’ll wish you’d got a ticket for the original Phantom instead.”
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Theatremaina.com
“...turns out to be muddled and baffling, and full of moments of unintentional humor.”
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Variety
“Watching the sequel only makes you appreciate the achievement of the original.”
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Guardian - 3 out of 5 stars
“The problems lie within the book, chiefly credited to Lloyd Webber himself and Ben Elton, which lacks the weight to support the imaginative superstructure.”
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EW.com 
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““UK critic Mark Shenton's verdict is out, too---and it's a pan.”
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NewStatesman
"Reports Mr Y should be renamed Mr YOY (as in 'why oh why did we need to have a sequel?')."
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London Production v2.0 (Dec 2010 - Aug 2011)
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Variety Magazine
“The story itself, and thus the show, remains weak. Love Never Dies has the tired feel of an attempt merely to continue the story.”
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Daily Mail
“...Exhale too deeply and it’ll fall over...this one’s got no real oomph to get it going. It also has little at stake to sustain it until well into the second half...”
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Evening Standard
“...it is still repetitious, lacks real suspense and suffers from the fact that several key characters feel one-dimensional...with all the revisions that have been made Love Never Dies, though elegant, doesn’t feel sufficiently dynamic.” 
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A Younger Theatre
“With an obvious plot, little dramatic tension, and an ending that lacks any real emotion, Love Never Dies sadly does die for me and so has a part of my appreciation of what a new musical should bring to the West End.”
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Time Out London
“The new mask does little to hide the ugliness beneath; the problems are integral... The lyrics...are terrible and the story (a hotchpotch from Webber, Ben Elton, Slater and Frederick Forsyth) simply silly.”
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Melbourne Australian Production v3.0 (May 2011 - Dec 2011)
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The Australian 
“...the story is as rickety and jerry-rigged as a Coney Island roller coaster...”
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The Age
“The songs aren't as memorable ...and there's only so much you can do with recycled goods.”
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Crikey
“banal lyrics...the implausible plot...You can’t build a show on one great song. Or the memories of an old fantastical piece of musical theatre”
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Sydney Morning Hearld
“An inspired, often ravishing production for sure, though of a sequel that doesn’t make a strong enough musical or narrative argument for its own existence.”
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Australian Arts Hub
“At its heart, Love Never Dies has no heart. It is a hollow spectacle, grandly distracting but unengaging, lacking depth, drama and genuine emotion.”
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Time Out Melbourne
“Without the bedrock of Leroux, it looks suspiciously like Love Never Dies is simply cannibalising its parent”
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Aussie Theatre
“the paper thin story and the utterly unconvincing melodramatic and ridiculous final scene (which brought giggles from many people around me) is still there”
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Sydney Australian Production v4.0 (Jan 2012 - Apr 2012)
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Time Out Sydney - 2 out of 5 stars
“[Andrew Lloyd Webber] step away from your piano, hang up your crown and quietly exit stage left. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.”
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Theatre People Australia
“There is only a single subplot to speak of, and it’s one which rarely threatens to become engaging.”
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Daily Telegraph
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“While a steady string of showstoppers helped catapult the original [Phantom] into the musical theatre stratosphere, Phantom Part II boasts a far less remarkable score.”
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Stage Noise
“It’s all terrific, aside from the book, lyrics, and music, all of which are mediocre at best and risible the rest of the time.”
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Sydney Morning Hearld
“The Phan-boys will never come around to loving it...” “...The story’s climax stutters...”
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DVD Reviews (March 2012 - May 2012)
As the writing was on the wall after a 4th failed attempt of the stage production,  Andrew Lloyd Webber released a DVD version of production with the hopes to capitalize on home-viewing, seeing as families and theatregoers refused to buy tickets to the failed productions. Not to our surprise, the DVD was welcomed with more negative reviews and quickly became a bargain-bin staple, selling for under $5USD.
Detroit News
“Love Never Dies” is perhaps best watched with a stiff drink in hand. Yes Love Never Dies is bad. And it also doesn’t help that the show is ill-conceived from the start.”  ​Read More

BC Video
“I am of the opinion that Andrew Lloyd Webber was drunk...when he sat down to scribble out the storyline for this one...I wouldn't see this one live even if the tickets were free, the booze was copious and complimentary,”   ​Read More

Big Picture Big Sound
“If you hold the [Phantom of the Opera] up on a pedestal, you may want to steer clear of this production. It really does nothing for the legacy..”   ​Read More

Oklahoma News
“Lloyd Webber proves that unnecessary sequels aren't just for movies anymore with “Love Never Dies,” his woefully undesirable follow-up to his theatrical smash “Phantom of the Opera.””   ​Read More

TheMovieForum.org
“"The Phantom of the Opera" was never meant to end this way...it’s better to put it off for as long as possible.”   ​Read More

Miss Montoya
“This musical is a disgrace to the name of Phantom!”   ​Read More

Disc Dish
“Love Never Dies may be great to look at, but clocking in at just over two hours, it’s difficult to sit through.” ​Read More

Twitch Film
“Awful, just awful. the songs and the story - book, lyric and score - that are just so truly, head-banging-against-wall bad.” ​Read More

Film Jabber
“it is a bigger and more extravagant production that lacks the intrigue and conflict of the original. In other words, it’s like so many other sequels. Bigger does not mean better.” ​Read More

Musical Chronicles
“The problem here is that we don’t care much for the characters and everything is very predictable...everything is kind of tedious and uninteresting.” ​Read More

Official Love Should Die Merchandise

Dislike Love Never Dies? Show the world with our official Love Should Die merchandise.
​Products ship worldwide and proceeds help the LSD team maintain this website! 
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