Name: Roseblood
ISBN: 9781419727238

A. G. Howard

A. G. Howard returns with a creepy, clever novel that will thrill readers. Rune has a mysterious affliction that's linked to her musical talent. Her mother believes creative direction will help, so she sends Rune to a French arts conservatory rumored to have inspired The Phantom of the Opera. When Rune begins to develop a friendship with the elusive Thorn, she realizes that with him, she feels cured. But as their love grows, Thorn is faced with an impossible choice: save Rune or protect the phantom haunting RoseBlood, the only father he's ever known. Fans of Daughter of Smoke & Bone and the Splintered series will adore this retelling of one of the most famous stories of all time.

Roseblood

"Rune Germain moves to a boarding school outside of Paris, only to discover that at this opera-house-turned-music-conservatory, phantoms really do exist."--Amazon.com.

RoseBlood

Gisela Ayala 

Halfway through the book was a solid 3 stars, but then after I just couldn't wait to finish reading the book. So horrible, I know! I feel horrible in saying this because I had such high hopes and expectations for this book. Let me explain why...

A.G. Howard's Splintered Series was so amazing, so great. I loved everything in that series - the characters, the plot, the writing, EVERYTHING. Maybe it was my mistake to think the same of another book by the same author, but again, I had high hopes for Roseblood. The thing about Roseblood, it is a really cool idea. I love Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and I love when authors take a classic story and make it their own (kind of how she did with her other series). The concept was cool, but her writing in this book really threw me off. It was just a bit too flowery, so much that I felt like it took away from the plot (which was good). 

I also couldn't really connect with the main character, Rune or the Phantom. I didn't really get their chemistry. The timeline also felt a bit off to me too - some scenes were stretched out (due to the flowery language) and some scenes were a paragraph where there could have been a bit more. 

Well, I did read it, but would I recommend it? Probably not. It was an extremely slow read for me. Maybe it would have done better as a series? We'll never know.

Maria Banning

Oh my...oh my... AG Howard is a gifted stroy teller!

Steysha

Elizabeth Garza

The ONLY reason this book did not get 5 stars from me was due to its overly teasing nature. I loved to be teased by books, but the build up was a wit bit slow for me at the beginning. HOWEVER, once that hump is got over, this book is pure MAGNIFICENCE. If you are a Phantom of the Opera fan you will Love and Appreciate this book. It's, like, superb PoO fan-fiction.

Aleena Korell

2 1/2 stars. I hoped against hope for more, but this ended up being pretty much what I expected: wish-fulfillment-filled Phantom of the Opera fan-fiction. Nothing inherently wrong with that-- I'm a huge Phantom fan, that's why I picked this one up in the first place-- but PoTO is so bittersweet, so darkly romantic and I was craving that tone. I wanted something deeper, darker, less cliche YA. 

There were a few intriguing moments in the second half-- especially any of Thorn's backstory and finding out what Erik had been up to all this time. But it focused too much on a largely cliche Mary Sue (who complained so. much.) and her veeeery tortured, broody, mask-wearing (view spoiler)[albeit unnecessarily...? (hide spoiler)] YA love interest. (Don't get me wrong, I'm all for tortured and broody. I mean, O.G. wrote the book on it. But these YA brooders are bleeding into one for me.) 
Overall, this one is very teenage-soap-opera instead of dark gothic masterpiece. Not quite the type of opera I was craving.

Rune Germain moves to a boarding school outside of Paris, only to discover that at this opera-house-turned-music-conservatory, phantoms really do exist. RoseBlood is a Phantom of the Opera-inspired retelling in which Rune's biggest talent--her voice-

Stephanie V. Sather

What I expected to be a charming take on Phantom of the Opera turned into a fanfic go awry. Self insert character that is a ill-done chosen one, plots of resurrection...it hurt to read. I didn't get past chapter 3. 

Alex Landau

I love the original Phantom of the Opera so I was really excited to read this. It met my expectations and provided some surprising twists along the way. The author clearly (to me) had a character she favored writing because the parts that focus on that character are far more compelling and frankly, I was also excited to read those parts over others. I was very happy with this book and would be more than willing to read it again.  

laura

I really enjoyed this book. i loved that it was a stand alone but really enjoyed the classic story told in new way. i loved how much "real" life tied into this story. It was a very cool read as well.

Paula Espinosa

Oh my god. This is honestly one of the best written books I've ever read. I love to read, but in the past few months I haven't as much. RoseBlood pulled me in. I got so hooked on this book that I finished it super quickly. There are cliffhangers and plot twists everywhere so be prepared. I love the elements this books presents: mystery, romance, madness, and darkness. There's tons of details, and the plot thickens after every page. You're enjoy this book, trust me. Have fun.

Sarah Jackson

I think the concept was really interesting and unique. I’d never really seen a Phantom of the Opera retelling and that made me excited to read it. Unfortunately the story just didn’t live up to what I hoped it would. Rune was boring, Thorn was mildly creepy and the other characters were forgettable. The only character I really liked was Diablo the cat. He was an icon

Rune, a seventeen year old with mysterious operatic talent, gets shipped off to a French school named Roseblood. It's a conservatory that's rumored to have ties to the famous tale, The Phantom of the Opera, one of Runes favorite story. There she makes friends while figuring out what's so different about her. She finds answers to long kept secrets in the halls of this school. Along the way, she finds friendship, love, and herself. 

I wasn't sure about reading this book. It's a great idea and I liked that part, but when I had read the first book in the Splintered series, I was disappointed and ended up DNFing it. So I wasn't too excited to read this one. Yet, I read it anyway and I'm glad I did. 

The Good:
This story is both creepy and awesome. Which I love in the books I read. A psychotic phantom and maybe some donuts for the cream of the crop. I was obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera and watched the movies so many times, I basically became the phantom, minus the killing part. Because of this, I had high expectations.

I think this was a retelling but it almost felt like a sequel of sorts. It's set in modern day and follows Rune (duh), who has the uncontrollable urge to break into opera singing like a Disney movie. Plus its set in an old opera house. Not sure how that happens, but I'll go with it. I wish I had gone to school there!

This is has dual POV's! When I ended Rune's chapter, I was so happy to see one from Thorn's POV. He totally stole the show with his. He was so cute and logical, and I loved how he thought about Rune.

I love how creepy this is. Haunting music, old buildings, graveyards, and bleeding roses. It all added to the atmosphere of the story. There are monsters in this book, and animals with different voices and it's all just so weird and different. Its an original, that's for sure. 

Also, the moments between Rune and Thorn are adorable. This isn't a hot, smexy read, but it didn't need to be. Anymore and it would have ruined the interaction between them. I looked forward to their scenes the most, and fell in love with them. I liked that it wasn't instant, but you could feel the attraction between them. 

The villain I wasn't too fond of but his part made sense. His reasoning was real ad believable, and while I didn't enjoy him, he was a great character. He was very gray in the way that it wasn't black and white. I felt that he wasn't traditionally evil, yet he was mad and chaotic, but sad and vulnerable. 

The Bad:
This is a standalone. Usually I love standalone books because annoying strife happens in the others and the characters get torn apart and whatnot. I just wish there was more Tune (Rune, Thorn;) time. The story was very much centered around who she is, which is great don't get me wrong, but I would have loved more of the romance. 

There are a bunch of opera terms used in this book, and unless you're really into that genre, a lot of it won't make sense. I had to google a few words and it was distracting. 

I found it a bit hard to connect with Rune. I couldn't find myself liking her, but I didn't dislike her either. I just felt kind of meh toward her. 

The ending felt kind of abrupt. The whole climatic part felt rushed and it still felt a little but unfinished. 

I did enjoy this story way more than I thought I would, and I totally recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good retelling with monsters, romance, and music.

Kristin Gray

I did not love this book. I really, really wanted to. The concept of a Phantom inspired story written in new YA fantasy style by A.G. Howard really intrigued me. I read her Splintered series and enjoyed that one. The "twist" in Roseblood was just too much for me... too far fetched.

Roseblood

Reviews

Highlights