Reviews

Roseblood by A.G. Howard

lara_bookish_turtle's review against another edition

2.0

The writing was beautiful, and very lyrical.

I LOVED that the writing was red. It was so cool and TBH like 87% of the reason I picked it up.

I don't think I hated it, I just never got that into it.

Also, the soul mate idea was a bit cringe. She called them twin flames, because she said that sould mate sounded corny, but I don't think it makes a difference. Still a bit cringe.

But the plot was good, very twisty. Quite nice.

Also, did I mention the words are red?!

wisecraic's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

dinamillerman's review against another edition

DNF at page 170

emleemay's review against another edition

1.0

TWO AND A HALF WEEKS. I gave this book two and a half weeks. I literally do not remember the last time it took me this long to read a book. And I'm including 1000+ page classics in that.

I wanted to like this book so much. I kept forcing myself to continue to the end, trying to find excuses to bump up the rating and justify buying a finished copy to look gorgeous on my bookshelf. I love [b:The Phantom of the Opera|480204|The Phantom of the Opera|Gaston Leroux|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867727s/480204.jpg|2259720]. I wanted to love this, but it was just one cliche after another.

Maybe if you're completely new to paranormal YA then you'll enjoy this more, but most readers will recognize all the familiar elements. Howard has done nothing new here. How many times have we read versions of this:

1) Mary Sue protagonist (Rune) with special abilities moves to new school.

2) Despite being bland as all hell, she is the SPECIAL one that is key to everyone's plans.

3) A mysterious HOT guy keeps appearing and disappearing. Rune thinks he seems familiar.

4) Rune instantly becomes enemies with the resident beautiful, popular blonde girl and her friend (literally called the "diva duo" by Rune).

5) Said beautiful girl is bitchy, evil for no reason, and characterized by her overt sexuality as she attempts to seduce a hot male student (how dare she?!) In contrast, Rune refers to her own single lusty encounter as "degrading".

6) Rune soon discovers that her eccentricities are linked to a

Spoiler

secret supernatural ability

- oh my, who saw that one coming?

This whole set of tropes might be inserted into a [b:The Phantom of the Opera|480204|The Phantom of the Opera|Gaston Leroux|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867727s/480204.jpg|2259720] retelling, but I felt just like I was reading the exact same story that I've read a thousand times before. The use of Erik, the phantom, was just window dressing on yet another cliched YA romance with forgettable characters.

Also, it's really obvious what Rune's deal is, right? I won’t spoil it, but to give a similar example: if a character doesn’t go out after dark and needs to drink human blood to survive… ooh, what could they be? I'm pretty sure anyone at all versed in paranormal creatures will know what’s going on here. The clues have all the subtlety of flying bricks.

So disappointing. If you haven't already, just read [b:The Phantom of the Opera|480204|The Phantom of the Opera|Gaston Leroux|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327867727s/480204.jpg|2259720] instead - a dark tale of obsession, beauty and ugliness.

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shanaj99's review against another edition

3.0

So much potential but DNF at 45%

summerseeds's review against another edition

1.0

DNF

This is just bad. The writing is bad. The story is bad. I read a review and it apparently only gets worse. Life is too short to read bad books.

bloodlover18's review against another edition

4.0

It was a very nice spin off of Phantom of the Opera. This author here is one of my favorite authors. Can't wait to read the other books that I haven't read by her.

ashezbookz's review against another edition

3.0

I - had words for this book - and my husband had to sit there and just listen to me rage lol

I didn't mind the last portion of the book but this one, though beautifully written, had strange coloured text, which I DESPISED, and was slow, agonizing in some areas, but alas.... did I hate it, no.

Oh Thorn and his adorableness was just... I couldn't help but fall for that character so I guess that's the point - I did enjoy reading mostly his parts of the book, her parts were meh for the most part. I really loved the cat too - I'm a sucker for pets in books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall not bad !

derikabailey's review against another edition

3.0

slow start but gets better

mchristinepo's review against another edition

2.0

I had high hopes for this novel, but I was not impressed. The elements of what made this a "fantasy" novel was just... weird to me and it did not fit the theming.