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3.15 AVERAGE
3.15 AVERAGE
DNF. I'm not a fan of Academy books. I really tried to get into this book. Just no.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow. This was... something else.
I went into this totally blind - mea culpa, I should have at least looked at the cover! I only got it from BorrowBox because someone suggested buddy reading it and I love buddy reading... apologies to my buddy reader if she disagrees with this review, as I've been very, ahem, tactical, up until now.
This book is... how do I even begin to explain...? For a start, it went on FOREVER. Seriously. I kept thinking: 'How am I still reading this? Hasn't it finished already??' But, unfortunately, it continues over 400 pages (I was delighted to find that the last section of the book was actually an extract from Splintered, by the same author, so I didn't have to read it! I did read some of it - enough to remind myself that I had actually read the first chapter before - that one's an Alice in Wonderland retelling - and fortunately decided that I didn't owe the book anything to read any more).
It's an exciting premise - I love the idea of a Phantom of the Opera retelling; I adore opera, and I was looking forward to a modern take on it... oh god. No. Just no. Spare yourself and don't bother, particularly if you like music, because it's consistently wrong about vocal coaching, about how you sing, about what music is ABOUT and how you feel it (I'm a music geek, okay, this really got me!), and some rubbish that could have been researched better about Stradivarius violins.
I don't usually write damning reviews, but I really don't want anyone else to waste their time on this, so I need to persuade you!
Okay, let's think of all the annoying, overused tropes/characteristics of female YA protagonists and start from there...
- MCs with a 'cool', individual, sort of artsy name for no reason ✅ (Rune? Where does that come from?)
- MC is ridiculously talented at something with NO EFFORT needed ✅ (So unfair to all the other students at the weird-ass conservatoire)
- MC has a tragic backstory ✅
- At least one parent is dead ✅
- Other parent is conveniently absent for the entirety of the novel, because why would we want a sensible adult getting involved in the ridiculous shenanigans coming up? ✅ (Mum in the US)
- Forced into going somewhere REALLY DAMN COOL, but she doesn't want to go ✅ (who wouldn't want to go to an amazing music conservatoire near Paris??)
- MC is white, and beautiful (bonus points if she doesn't think she's beautiful) ✅
- 'NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME' vibe; 'I'm not like all the other girls!' ✅ (gah!)
- Sacrifices herself beautifully for her friends, but for some reason doesn't tell them why; oh, isn't she so worthy? ✅ ✅
- Insta-love ✅ (Oh, YES, and - even better - it's DESTINED. They're soul mates. Sorry, they're "twin flames." Bonus points for it being in French and trying to pretend that it's something original and unique, but, um, we STILL NOTICED, okay??)
- Romance completely overtakes all of her perfectly nice friends, yet somehow they still kind of like her... ✅
There's a taste of why I didn't like this book. Let's just add in a few more YA cliches:
- liberal amounts of purple prose (eyes always being described as orbs; everyone also incidentally has really unusual eyes - do you know anyone with lavender eyes? Because I don't. And this is a normal, non-supernatural character)
- some plot aspects NOT EVEN EXPLAINED PROPERLY (because why should we need proper explanation when we're so carried along by the, ahem, beauty of the romance?)
- ridiculous dialogue (eg. 'We are destined to be lovers, Rune.' Not only cliched, but CREEPY, right??)
- adding 'super meaningful' quotations from famous authors at the beginning of each chapter that don't actually fit (Who cares, they have the right key words, yeah? What do you mean that isn't enough?)
- stupid and confusing dream scenes (It didn't go as far as 'waking up and it was all a dream'. THANK GOD)
- INFO DUMPS (SO many of them. I get that A G Howard actually did do some decent research for this novel, which is in the afterward. That's great. Do your research, then hide it as much as you can. You don't have to tell the reader every little piece of interesting information you came across in prepping because WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW. The writer does. The reader doesn't.)
- token Queer character (Just no, okay? Particularly if they're the antagonist. But not even the IMPORTANT antagonist, just a random bitchy girl at school who's in love with her best friend, one of the best singers in the school. Actually, I'd get behind reading that book...)
- inconsistent PoV (DO SOME EDITING!)
Okay, have I convinced you not to read this? I'm actually critiquing this from a writer-ly PoV as well; this feels like something you might find on FanFic.net written by a thirteen-year-old back in the day. Wow, that was so harsh! Sorry...
I haven't even really touched on the plot - that's a whole other thousand word review... Just chuck in all the urban fantasy and supernatural things you can POSSIBLY think of, add some more that you would never even consider (for example, The Phantom of the Opera - yep, the actual one - owns a rave club where he uses a giant octopus with tubes to suck up the ravers' energy. I have no words.)
Anyway, I feel kind of bad. If you haven't read my reviews before, this is NOT typical. I am usually much kinder to authors, but I just couldn't resist having some fun with this one. It's a classic case of an author thinking they're doing something amazing by scribbling over classic literature with a 'totally unique idea'; you end up with a mess.
Oh, two more things (sorry, I somehow can't stop now I've got going): (sort of spoilers? But surely you're not going to read this book, so you don't care - RIGHT?!):
1. The original Christine from Phantom is actually BLAMED for how screwed up this Phantom-esque parody is. Because she "wasn't ready for the selfless, soul-deep level of love he required." Victim blaming?! C'MON!
2. "After our encounter, I realized why I was enchanted by the spider's feeding rituals, that there was something in my gypsy blood-something tainted and wrong." Okay, wow. Can we unpack this? Does Howard know how racist she's being? Tainted gypsy blood. Romani people were persecuted in WW2 because of their 'tainted blood' in Hitler's Aryan campaign. Do I need to say anything else? Just no.
If you've made it this far, then... well done, I guess! Give me a comment to let me know lol?
Honestly, I'm usually a nice reviewer - I promise. I'm a writer (or wannabe writer at least) and I generally cut people a lot of slack, but... well.
(I realise now that I could have spent this time working on my own book and would have had a few thousand words more, which is kind of ironic. I guess it is much easier to criticise than to write, but I SINCERELY hope I never write anything like this, and if I DID, I would seriously hope that someone would TELL me. Does Howard even know what she's written??)
I went into this totally blind - mea culpa, I should have at least looked at the cover! I only got it from BorrowBox because someone suggested buddy reading it and I love buddy reading... apologies to my buddy reader if she disagrees with this review, as I've been very, ahem, tactical, up until now.
This book is... how do I even begin to explain...? For a start, it went on FOREVER. Seriously. I kept thinking: 'How am I still reading this? Hasn't it finished already??' But, unfortunately, it continues over 400 pages (I was delighted to find that the last section of the book was actually an extract from Splintered, by the same author, so I didn't have to read it! I did read some of it - enough to remind myself that I had actually read the first chapter before - that one's an Alice in Wonderland retelling - and fortunately decided that I didn't owe the book anything to read any more).
It's an exciting premise - I love the idea of a Phantom of the Opera retelling; I adore opera, and I was looking forward to a modern take on it... oh god. No. Just no. Spare yourself and don't bother, particularly if you like music, because it's consistently wrong about vocal coaching, about how you sing, about what music is ABOUT and how you feel it (I'm a music geek, okay, this really got me!), and some rubbish that could have been researched better about Stradivarius violins.
I don't usually write damning reviews, but I really don't want anyone else to waste their time on this, so I need to persuade you!
Okay, let's think of all the annoying, overused tropes/characteristics of female YA protagonists and start from there...
- MCs with a 'cool', individual, sort of artsy name for no reason ✅ (Rune? Where does that come from?)
- MC is ridiculously talented at something with NO EFFORT needed ✅ (So unfair to all the other students at the weird-ass conservatoire)
- MC has a tragic backstory ✅
- At least one parent is dead ✅
- Other parent is conveniently absent for the entirety of the novel, because why would we want a sensible adult getting involved in the ridiculous shenanigans coming up? ✅ (Mum in the US)
- Forced into going somewhere REALLY DAMN COOL, but she doesn't want to go ✅ (who wouldn't want to go to an amazing music conservatoire near Paris??)
- MC is white, and beautiful (bonus points if she doesn't think she's beautiful) ✅
- 'NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME' vibe; 'I'm not like all the other girls!' ✅ (gah!)
- Sacrifices herself beautifully for her friends, but for some reason doesn't tell them why; oh, isn't she so worthy? ✅ ✅
- Insta-love ✅ (Oh, YES, and - even better - it's DESTINED. They're soul mates. Sorry, they're "twin flames." Bonus points for it being in French and trying to pretend that it's something original and unique, but, um, we STILL NOTICED, okay??)
- Romance completely overtakes all of her perfectly nice friends, yet somehow they still kind of like her... ✅
There's a taste of why I didn't like this book. Let's just add in a few more YA cliches:
- liberal amounts of purple prose (eyes always being described as orbs; everyone also incidentally has really unusual eyes - do you know anyone with lavender eyes? Because I don't. And this is a normal, non-supernatural character)
- some plot aspects NOT EVEN EXPLAINED PROPERLY (because why should we need proper explanation when we're so carried along by the, ahem, beauty of the romance?)
- ridiculous dialogue (eg. 'We are destined to be lovers, Rune.' Not only cliched, but CREEPY, right??)
- adding 'super meaningful' quotations from famous authors at the beginning of each chapter that don't actually fit (Who cares, they have the right key words, yeah? What do you mean that isn't enough?)
- stupid and confusing dream scenes (It didn't go as far as 'waking up and it was all a dream'. THANK GOD)
- INFO DUMPS (SO many of them. I get that A G Howard actually did do some decent research for this novel, which is in the afterward. That's great. Do your research, then hide it as much as you can. You don't have to tell the reader every little piece of interesting information you came across in prepping because WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW. The writer does. The reader doesn't.)
- token Queer character (Just no, okay? Particularly if they're the antagonist. But not even the IMPORTANT antagonist, just a random bitchy girl at school who's in love with her best friend, one of the best singers in the school. Actually, I'd get behind reading that book...)
- inconsistent PoV (DO SOME EDITING!)
Okay, have I convinced you not to read this? I'm actually critiquing this from a writer-ly PoV as well; this feels like something you might find on FanFic.net written by a thirteen-year-old back in the day. Wow, that was so harsh! Sorry...
I haven't even really touched on the plot - that's a whole other thousand word review... Just chuck in all the urban fantasy and supernatural things you can POSSIBLY think of, add some more that you would never even consider (for example, The Phantom of the Opera - yep, the actual one - owns a rave club where he uses a giant octopus with tubes to suck up the ravers' energy. I have no words.)
Anyway, I feel kind of bad. If you haven't read my reviews before, this is NOT typical. I am usually much kinder to authors, but I just couldn't resist having some fun with this one. It's a classic case of an author thinking they're doing something amazing by scribbling over classic literature with a 'totally unique idea'; you end up with a mess.
Oh, two more things (sorry, I somehow can't stop now I've got going): (sort of spoilers? But surely you're not going to read this book, so you don't care - RIGHT?!):
1. The original Christine from Phantom is actually BLAMED for how screwed up this Phantom-esque parody is. Because she "wasn't ready for the selfless, soul-deep level of love he required." Victim blaming?! C'MON!
2. "After our encounter, I realized why I was enchanted by the spider's feeding rituals, that there was something in my gypsy blood-something tainted and wrong." Okay, wow. Can we unpack this? Does Howard know how racist she's being? Tainted gypsy blood. Romani people were persecuted in WW2 because of their 'tainted blood' in Hitler's Aryan campaign. Do I need to say anything else? Just no.
If you've made it this far, then... well done, I guess! Give me a comment to let me know lol?
Honestly, I'm usually a nice reviewer - I promise. I'm a writer (or wannabe writer at least) and I generally cut people a lot of slack, but... well.
(I realise now that I could have spent this time working on my own book and would have had a few thousand words more, which is kind of ironic. I guess it is much easier to criticise than to write, but I SINCERELY hope I never write anything like this, and if I DID, I would seriously hope that someone would TELL me. Does Howard even know what she's written??)
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
RoseBlood is a modern, Phantom of the Opera–inspired retelling that follows the story of Rune Germaine, a young girl whose extraordinary voice is both her greatest gift and her most dangerous curse. After her mysterious vocal affliction leaves her physically drained after every performance, Rune is sent to RoseBlood, a boarding school and former opera house just outside of Paris. There, Rune hopes to find healing, but instead discovers that the opera house holds dark, supernatural secrets—including an elusive boy, Thorn, and the presence of a real phantom.
At the heart of the story is Rune’s relationship with Thorn, a boy who seems to come straight out of the 19th century and who mysteriously appears and disappears at will. As Rune and Thorn grow closer, she begins to feel strangely cured in his presence. However, Thorn is connected to the phantom of RoseBlood, who has his own plans for Rune’s talent—plans that put her in grave danger. Thorn is then faced with an impossible dilemma: protect the girl he's falling for or obey the only father he's ever known.
I LOVE Phantom of the Opera and I was really excited for this book. Though RoseBlood is atmospheric and beautifully written, with vivid descriptions that capture the gothic setting of the opera house, the pacing is slow and can be difficult to get through. The first half of the book drags, as the plot jumps between past and present and shifts between different points of view. While this method attempts to provide a well-rounded perspective on each character, it felt distracting and prevents the story from moving forward at a satisfying pace.
Rune, the protagonist, is meant to fill the role of a modern Christine, cursed by her incredible vocal ability. Despite her intriguing backstory, I struggled to connect with her, which may make it difficult for some to fully invest in her journey. The romance between Rune and Thorn is an interesting dynamic, but the love story feels secondary to the mysterious plotline involving the phantom’s sinister plans.
At the heart of the story is Rune’s relationship with Thorn, a boy who seems to come straight out of the 19th century and who mysteriously appears and disappears at will. As Rune and Thorn grow closer, she begins to feel strangely cured in his presence. However, Thorn is connected to the phantom of RoseBlood, who has his own plans for Rune’s talent—plans that put her in grave danger. Thorn is then faced with an impossible dilemma: protect the girl he's falling for or obey the only father he's ever known.
I LOVE Phantom of the Opera and I was really excited for this book. Though RoseBlood is atmospheric and beautifully written, with vivid descriptions that capture the gothic setting of the opera house, the pacing is slow and can be difficult to get through. The first half of the book drags, as the plot jumps between past and present and shifts between different points of view. While this method attempts to provide a well-rounded perspective on each character, it felt distracting and prevents the story from moving forward at a satisfying pace.
Rune, the protagonist, is meant to fill the role of a modern Christine, cursed by her incredible vocal ability. Despite her intriguing backstory, I struggled to connect with her, which may make it difficult for some to fully invest in her journey. The romance between Rune and Thorn is an interesting dynamic, but the love story feels secondary to the mysterious plotline involving the phantom’s sinister plans.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Blood, Trafficking
Like many others, I was absolutely stoked for this book. Unfortunately, I found myself somewhat disappointed by A.G. Howard’s latest retelling, ROSEBLOOD. The Phantom of the Opera is a favorite story of mine but this version was filled with cliches. It had big plans plans but a not-so-great execution.
We are immediately introduced to the heroine, Rune, who is being sent off to a boarding school in France (which would be a dream for some of us) that has ties to the Gaston Leroux novel (which is already kind of meta) but of course doesn’t want to be there (which is a similar plot to many other YA books). We also learn she has a special power that makes her stand out and be disliked by the other characters e.g. the “mean girls.”
On the first day before she even gets out of the car on the way there, she sees a mysterious man that she is automatically intrigued by. Of course, this will be the love interest that the rest of the story pretty much revolves around and it can pretty much be defined as insta-love, but don’t worry – it’s justified because these two are soulmates that have been dreaming out each other for their entire lives.
From there, it just gets sort of … odd. The explanations for everything that is going on with Rune and behind the scenes with the other characters are fairly farfetched. At that point, getting through the rest of the book was a serious challenge, which is sad considering how much I adored the author’s other series SPLINTERED.
We are immediately introduced to the heroine, Rune, who is being sent off to a boarding school in France (which would be a dream for some of us) that has ties to the Gaston Leroux novel (which is already kind of meta) but of course doesn’t want to be there (which is a similar plot to many other YA books). We also learn she has a special power that makes her stand out and be disliked by the other characters e.g. the “mean girls.”
On the first day before she even gets out of the car on the way there, she sees a mysterious man that she is automatically intrigued by. Of course, this will be the love interest that the rest of the story pretty much revolves around and it can pretty much be defined as insta-love, but don’t worry – it’s justified because these two are soulmates that have been dreaming out each other for their entire lives.
From there, it just gets sort of … odd. The explanations for everything that is going on with Rune and behind the scenes with the other characters are fairly farfetched. At that point, getting through the rest of the book was a serious challenge, which is sad considering how much I adored the author’s other series SPLINTERED.
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?!
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?!
*2.5 stars....
Ugh, I wanted to enjoy this book... and I tried! I was intrigued by the selling point of it being a retelling of Phantom, but upon reading it, that is not the case. This story was all over the place, and had too many plot points going on to really hold your attention which made me feel bored rather early on. I feel this could have been so much better, if there wasn’t so many other plot points that we actually unnecessary.
Ugh, I wanted to enjoy this book... and I tried! I was intrigued by the selling point of it being a retelling of Phantom, but upon reading it, that is not the case. This story was all over the place, and had too many plot points going on to really hold your attention which made me feel bored rather early on. I feel this could have been so much better, if there wasn’t so many other plot points that we actually unnecessary.
Eh this one was not my fave. A great idea, just not executed well. Would def be better as a dark romance and not a YA tbh.