There were too many cliches in the opening chapter for me to finish this. I wanted the Phantom of the Opera, but this wasn't it.

As a huge fan of "The Phantom of the Opera", this book unfortunately did not meet my expectations. I found the plot-lines to be rather cliche and the characters flat and unbelievable. While the writing was fine, I, personally could not connect to it. The biggest issue I had with "Roseblood" was that it was an appropriation of "The Phantom of the Opera" story and never truly explored the deeper themes presented in the original.

Well, I tried really hard to like this book. I started reading this and restarted three times to try and get into it but sadly this one just isn't for me. I didn't enjoy the characters, I didn't enjoy the plot, and I just thought it was badly written. I hate writing that, especially since I liked the author's Splintered series, but this one was just not on par with those.

I loved this book! A fantastic Phantom of the Opera retelling :) full review on my blog!

You tell me that a book is inspired by Phantom of the Opera and expect me to just let it stay untouched on the shelf? I don't think so!

I adore Phantom and when I heard about RoseBlood, a twisted re-telling of the story, my hands couldn't get a hold of it soon enough. Unfortunately, my expectations were a bit too high and I didn't enjoy the book nearly as much as I had hoped.

Rune is a young woman with an unnatural skill for song. Her family sends her to a school in France in order to help her gain control of this power, but stories of the mysterious Phantom from old abound. RoseBlood really captures the mystery and darkness that I've always associated with Phantom, following as a sequel of sorts form the original events.

Unfortunately I really struggled to finish this book. This is my first attempt at anything by A.G. Howard and I've heard wonderful things about her Splintered series. Combined with the inspiration for RoseBlood, I was excited to see this new spin on the tale. What I found were excessive info dumps, writing that circled and circled around an idea without ever really reaching it (as if it was meant to be over the top and a bit flowery to fit the Phantom vibe but didn't quite reach it), and characters that I really didn't care about.

I neither liked nor hated Rune. I honestly didn't feel much toward her period. I wasn't rooting for her or shipping her with the love interest (a.k.a. Thorn). There was no connection and even the ending was a "meh" moment.

The thing with RoseBlood is that the concept is intriguing, captivating, enticing. The writing isn't all that bad either, though some of the elements didn't work for me. When it came down to it, I was simply bored. I didn't find the magical realism business going on in any way believable, nor did I buy into the romance between Rune and Thorn even in the soulmate-type sense that you tend to see in YA paranormal romances (not really sure if this was more paranormal or fantasy but you get the idea). Honestly, it kind of gave me a stalkerish vibe after a while.

Frankly, I should've trusted my gut with this one. I have this habit of rating a book within the first 10-20 pages. I had this one pegged from about page 3 and nothing changed after that. And I think that if I allowed myself to DNF books more often, this would have made that list. I just found nothing special about it, though it hasn't turned me off of the author's work since it was only one book (and a standalone at that), so I'll be giving her Splintered books a try someday. But as for this one, RoseBlood was too much like a stage play. Beautiful on the outside, on display, a bit of a chaotic mess behind the scenes and beneath the cover.

While this book was not a good fit for me, I think YA lovers will definitely enjoy this one. The author's writing is lovely, and it is through no fault of hers that I was unable to connect to the characters and storyline. This particular book may not have been my cup of tea, but it will not keep me from seeking out more of the author's work.

RoseBlood is a novel for fans of gothic literature and The Phantom of the Opera, but also for those who can suspend their disbelief. Unfortunately for me, I'm not one of them. There were so many contrivances in this story, so many unbelievable twists and turns, that I ended up DNF at a little over 50%.

ROSEBLOOD is, for lack of a better word, a bit weird. Billed as a young adult retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, it reads more like a sequel to its inspiration, rather than a retelling. Dark and mysterious, ROSEBLOOD has a lot going for it, but it just didn't live up to what I felt it could have been.

One thing that is important to me when I read is the cast of characters of the book. Unfortunately, the characters of ROSEBLOOD never felt more than one-dimensional, and all could easily fit into a nice little box - none were very complex, save one adult who mostly just went from heartbroken to scary.

The magic in ROSEBLOOD felt almost like an afterthought, like halfway through the book the author decided they needed a reason for something and added it in. What I felt was "the big reveal" was casually remarked upon and then not explored much further.

As the original phantom is a character in ROSEBLOOD, but the main characters are two teenagers, like I mentioned, it reads more like a continuation of the original Phantom of the Opera story, which could have been quite cool, but ended up failing in a few major ways. The ideas were creative, and the story well written, but the characters fell flat and the mythology just wasn't developed enough. If you liked the original Phantom of the Opera, you might like ROSEBLOOD out of curiosity, but I wouldn't recommend it for everybody.

Roseblood is the first book I've read by author A.G. Howard, though I've had her Splintered series on my TBR for way too long. I was super excited when a copy of Roseblood showed up on my doorstep one afternoon, and I absolutely couldn't wait to get started on the story. That cover, it's almost too gorgeous to resist! I'm thrilled to have finally read something by A.G. Howard.

The storyline for the book is based around The Phantom of the Opera, which I ashamedly know next to nothing about. (When I say next to nothing, I seriously mean next to nothing. Sigh.) This book definitely left me curious to know more about the original though, and one day I'll have to make sure to check it out. While the book is a modern retelling, it also has an interesting paranormal twist to it that I really didn't expect, but found rather interesting. I also liked that this was a standalone novel, and everything wrapped up rather nicely in the end.

There are a lot of fascinating characters in the story, including the two main characters, Rune and Thorne, who both have had great sadness in their pasts. I was curious to discover how the bond between them came about, and why it was already so strong when they finally meet in person. It's a pretty interesting story! There were a lot of great secondary characters in the story as well, some I wish we could have read more about, like all of Rune's friends, for instance. They were seriously the best!

Overall; Roseblood was definitely an interesting story! And now that I've finally reading something by Howard, I'm totally curious to read more! I'm hoping to start the Splintered series, hopefully soon. Check these books out for yourself!

Happy Reading!

Rune’s mother has decided to send her to a special boarding school to develop her beautiful voice. Rune, however, is terrified at the talent she views as a curse. Compelled to sing, Rune is convinced her voice has the power to drain the lives of others, including her beloved deceased father. When Rune encounters a strange masked man who wants to help her conquer her voice, the legend of the Phantom that haunts the school becomes more than fiction. A great update on the Phantom of the Opera, couldn’t put this one down. Just the right amount of horror/romance/mystery.

Pub Date Jan 2017

A Phantom of the Opera retelling? *grabby hands* I went crazy for this book’s cover and then the synopsis! I was all for it, you guys! But then… I started reading the actual book and… I got bored. It was a snooze-fest for me. I tried and tried to keep reading, but it was impossible. Finally, I admitted defeat and marked it was DNF.

When I started the book, I was actually very intrigued by Rune and what she could do when she would hear some type of melody from anything. I wanted to learn more about her and her voice so I kept reading. When Thorn was introduced, I was all giddy, waiting for them to meet. Well, I couldn’t even get to them meeting because everything moved at an extremely slow pace. I kept drowsing off, confusing the characters because I couldn’t care for any of them. I simply wasn’t liking anything. Nothing held my interest.

I got to the 29% and I was planning on reading some more to see if it could get better, but a blogger saved me from wasting my time! She shared her thoughts on her blog and I immediately read the review, which pretty much said what I thought: I wasn’t going to get any better.

One thing that bothered me was that until the 29% mark, there was barely any dialogue! It was mostly just reading Rune’s thoughts. I love when I get to spend time reading a character’s thoughts but this took it to a whole other level. I haven’t read any other book by this author, but I’ve heard this is her writing style, and it’s definitely not for me. Maybe it could be a perfect read for you, though!

Overall, RoseBlood really disappointed me. I was looking forward to reading this retelling, but it kept boring me to no end.

Something you should know about me: I love The Phantom Of The Opera. LOVE IT. The first time I encountered the story was an animated version on TV when I was probably 10 or 11. I was completely swept away.

Several years later my friends and I bought tickets to see it downtown Chicago as our post-prom activity. That is when I really fell in love with it. A few years later I got to see it on Broadway again and it's place in my heart grew ever more secure. The music sweeps over me like nothing else. I can get teary eyed just thinking about All I Ask Of You. Gah.

When I saw the cover for RoseBlood, I wondered if there was a connection to the Phantom. And when I saw it was, I immediately begged for an ARC. I needed to read this. Did it ever blow me away!

RoseBlood is part YA, part gothic novel, and 100% unputdownable. I was spellbound from the start, wondering how much influence the original story would have. This is almost a spin off because while the Phantom does indeed have plans for Rune, this takes place after the original story.

When Rune arrives at her new French boarding school, she is grieving the death of her father a couple years prior and still untangling complicated family dynamics...like her grandma trying to drown her. Grandma's in jail not to far from Rune's new school and while Rune welcomes the opportunity to get to know her aunt (her father's sister), she has no interest in giving her grandmother another chance. At the same time, she's trying to figure out her unusual singing ability. She becomes ill if she doesn't sing but is also left physically drained when she does. She also worries her voice could harm others. And she's also caught up in the mystery of the school itself, as well as the disappearing gardener Thorn.

I loved Rune's friends at the school and the part each ultimately plays. I also loved her burgeoning friendship with Thorn and getting to see things from his point of view as well. The way Rune and Thorn bond over music is beautiful, as is the way Thorn's virtuoso violin playing helps Rune better understand her gift.

There's some solid character growth and I was seriously agonized at some points, wondering how it would all work out, particularly Thorn's battle over what his heart wanted vs. what his foster father wanted.

I don't want to spoil the plot so I'll leave it here. Even if you know the Phantom of the Opera well, you'll be surprised by the story's twists and turns. It's obvious Howard loves her source material and it plays off in such wonderful ways. I loved how much history was included- from Leroux, Paris itself, and Rune's family tree.

One of the best parts of this book was the way the author brought music to life. The descriptions were incredible, not only in how Rune and Thorn felt about their gifts but the actual musical pieces themselves. It made me want to track down more than a few operas so I can aurally experience the ones Howard included. It also made me want to read Gaston Leroux’s novel and see how it differs from the Broadway show.

I haven't read anything else by A.G. Howard before but I plan on diving into her backlist. Based on how much I loved this one, I'm sure to enjoy the rest of her work.

Roseblood was a beautifully descriptive book that had some intricate details. While the words were beautiful, I felt the story dragged on a little too long. The moment for Rune and Thorn to meet took forever. Thirty percent into the book and they barely meet? Plus I felt some scenes were unnecessary and did not need to be put into the story. Overall, it wasn't a bad book and I enjoyed most of it. I liked that this was an original story because I have never read a retelling of the Phantom before. I can't wait for the author's next book.

I haven't read or seen Phantom of the Opera so I was really interested to learn about it in this retelling. I also enjoyed A.G. Howard's Splintered so I was excited to read another book from her.
There was quite a bit of info dumping, especially in the first few chapters. I thought there was more complicated backstory than necessary but once I got past that, I enjoyed the book a lot more.
I really liked the concept of this book. It was so weird but I loved the odd and creepy aspect of the RoseBlood. The whole book was really creative and different.
The characters were fine. I didn't hate them or find them annoying but I didn't fall head over heels with them either. But I think others could really love Rune.
There wasn't a whole lot of action like I expected (I don't even know why I expected a lot of action and excitement but I did) so it did get a bit slow for me but it wasn't terrible.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think if I had connected with the characters more and there had been more action, I would have loved this book. But that's totally a personal preference so that shouldn't really stop you from trying this book out. If you're a fan of Phantom of the Opera, I think you'll love RoseBlood.

This was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2017. I thought it a little present that I was getting for Christmas. Roseblood. Roseblood. Another phenom coming from the talented A.G. Howard. I have to respectfully say, that I couldn't stomach this book. I honestly felt that another author wrote this one...and surely not the one that delivered the Splintered series to the world.

The book is based on the legend of the Phantom of the Opera. Which I love. I thought it would be some tragic love story based on this...but frankly it was nothing of the sort. I actually had to stop reading on my eReader, click off to the home page and check that I was actually reading THE ROSEBLOOD by A.G. Howard and not some similarly named rip-off that I had accidentally requested. Can you see my surprise here at the tragedy that was this book? I truly am. I expected to be amazed. I got cliches, clumsy plotting, wishy-washy characters, nefarious evil villains that confess their plot while plotting evil for evil's sake...if ever there was a hot mess, it would be this book. It was like a forced idea that was forced into a YA algorithm:

Insert "chosen one" YA female character here. Insert boarding school here. Insert mean girl here. Insert supernatural element here.

I regretfully must state that Roseblood by A.G. Howard was just another typical YA paranormal romance and I could have looked past this if it was delivered properly. But, it wasn't. The story was clumsy and forced and it broke my heart. I wanted to love this book.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
This was my first A.G. Howard novel and I can't wait to read more! If you don't already know, this is a Phantom of the Opera retelling and I had huge expectations for it. I was beyond excited since I absolutely love the original story and the huge role that music plays in it. The beginning of this story was immensely intriguing and my mind was soon making leaps into predictions. A.G. Howard showed us a unique twist on this classic love story and I basically loved every moment of it.
This book follows Rune, our heroine who is possessed by music in every definition of the word. Her upbringing was a bit unorthodox and I was invested in it right from the start. Her hardships were so unique; I've never read about a character who has such an intense and negative experience with music. I loved seeing her character development play out and it might just be one of my favorites. I also really liked her relationship with her mom and would have liked to see more of it. I also wished I had seen Rune's friends more than we did, they were all so distinguishable and interesting that I couldn't get enough.
Speaking of distinguishable character, Thorn, our evading male character, was S.E.X.Y and the most unforgettable one. JEEZ-us, that guy drove me off the wall with his attractiveness and his beautiful heart. Give me a man in a sexy mask any day and I will love you forever, but give me Thorn in a mask one day and I will die of bliss forever. His tragic childhood had me crying without mercy and my brother can vouch for me. I read most of this book in our living room and he was there as I broke into pieces. I couldn't stop crying whenever they so much as mentioned his childhood, let alone when they went into detail.
The chemistry between these two was nothing short of INTENSE. It was off the charts and it made me seethe with jealousy, repeatedly. I had to take breaks in order for the temperature in my room to become bearable again. I was surprised my Kindle didn't catch fire in my hands.
This book did have a slow start but that might have been the fact that I had a splitting headache for the first few days I tried reading it, which in turn made me focus on something else other than the story. Besides the 'slow' start, it did have an unrelenting dark tone from the very first word that had me yearning for more. The entire time that the Opera school was being described had me itching to explore it and become one with it.
I was a bit confused by a couple of things and was going to give this 6 stars but I had to hold back since the ending wasn't as fulfilling as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful just... not what I expected? I was proud of every character in this story by the end but I also wanted more drama than I was given.
I think the fact that I didn't read this in one sitting enabled me to miss the story with a passion whenever I wasn't near it. I couldn't stop thinking about it in every second of the day and I was replaying the story in my mind for more. If I had read it all in one sitting, I don't think I would have felt the same way about it as I do. All in all, I am in love with this world and I would most definitely recommend it to every one who loves Phantom of the Opera!
5.5/5 stars!

I'm sorry but I didn't enjoy this book, and especially didn't enjoy the usage of the word "gypsy." It's not correct to use that word and it's hurtful. Even if it's "historically correct" to say, it's wrong for a white author to use the word.

I don't know why, but I BARELY made it through this book. I just wasn't engaged and nothing happened. Until the end of the book, literally almost nothing interesting (in my opinion) happened. It was all Thorn creepily watching Rune and Rune worrying about a boy she hurt with her magical opera voice. I nearly DNF'd at 50% but I was curious how it ended up, so I skim-read the second half, only reading carefully when something exciting happened. I did a lot of skim-reading.

Lots of my friends enjoyed this book, so maybe it was just me? I simply couldn't connect to it, though I will say that the ending got a lot more interesting. I'm giving this one 1/5 Stars because it was as close to a DNF as I get.

The Phantom of the Opera is my favourite musical ever. I’ve seen it so many times, and I’ve watched the movie more times than I could probably count. I love the story, I love the Phantom himself. I love everything about it. So when I heard that Howard was writing a retelling of this story I love so much I was so excited, as I loved her Splintered trilogy.

Alas, I didn’t end up loving RoseBlood one as much as I had hoped I would.

For one, RoseBlood is not a retelling. The Phantom is very much still alive. And there are references to the canon text and the people the people that inspired it, too. When I go into a book expecting a retelling and instead am reading an interpretive sequel I’m always disappointed. This hasn’t happened too many times, but I am never a fan of when it does. Especially since I was looking forward to a retelling of PotO so very much.

I understand that with every “retelling” the author brings their own elements, otherwise it would be boring and not to mention just straight up plagiarism of someone else’s story. But some of the elements that were brought into RoseBlood were just … weird. I guess what I’m about to say next is a spoiler, so just jump to the next paragraph if you don’t want to read ahead. As it turns out, Rune and the Phantom, and the Phantom’s adopted son are all psychic vampires. Yep – psychic vampires. Except the terms succubus and incubus are also used to describe them, incorrectly since succubi and incubi have sex with sleeping people rather than draining life force from auras as the psychic vampires in RoseBlood do. When I came across this part of the story I was just weirded out, to be honest. I didn’t even know what to make of it because it was so incredibly odd.

I really and honestly feel like RoseBlood needs trigger warnings on the back, or the first page or something. Because, around halfway through, it’s revealed that Thorn, the Phantom’s adopted son (which he treats like shit, fyi) was in a sex trafficking situation when he was about ten years old. I don’t know about anyone else, but I think if you’re going to put something that extremely heavy into a YA book for ages fourteen and up, there needs to be some kind of warning. On top of that, there is no exploration of Thorn’s feelings on the topic – it’s all very removed and it seems like that part of his life hasn’t even affected him at all.

Continuing on from this, the Phantom treats him absolutely terribly, and once again there was no exploration of this. He was hit by the Phantom when he was a child, and the Phantom continually emotionally abuses and manipulates him. Again, I’m not on board for introducing these themes to create a “broken, fragile, tortured” love interest and just leaving them at that. There needed to be so much more exploration of the effects these things can leave behind on the person that’s experienced them. Beyond just making them someone that the MC wants to fix with their love.

Rune, the MC, was pretty much your run of the mill special snowflake who hates the very things that makes her so special. I didn’t really feel much of anything towards her, especially since she was making outrageous decisions, being a terrible friend to people who randomly decided to care deeply about her after knowing her for a few weeks, and was completely selfish as far as I’m aware (the ‘I’m being terrible but for the benefit of my friend!!11!’ thing didn’t change this).

There is more that I could mention that made me not fall in love with this book – like the casual use of the word g*psy instead of just not being racist and using the word Romani, the way the Phantom turned into a horrible person (I know he was completely not perfect, but I didn’t like the portrayal of his character in this book), the lack of diversity beyond one half Asian side character and a bitchy girl who was very lightly inferred to be in love her female best friend, and the way it dragged on and on without anything happening.

Overall, I was really disappointed in RoseBlood, probably more so because I had been so very excited for it.

© 2017, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.