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3.15 AVERAGE
3.15 AVERAGE
Really liked Splintered... Adore Phantom... this... not so much. Too wordy, the first half-3/4s of the book was completely boooring. The bizzaro-ness of the Phantom's plot was just .... wrong. I was really hoping she would kill the phantom and replace him, after being disfigured herself, and she would be the new phantom. Alas, they had HEAs.
Actual Rating: 1 and a half.
Spoilers Throughout.
I have loved and adored Howard's writing since reading the Splintered trilogy and its companion Untamed. I have reread that trilogy countless times now and it never fails to pull me in.
Reading RoseBlood felt like an entirely different author, one who created a Mary Sue main character and was overly obsessed with sets of 3 describing words, and metaphors. I could not stand the main character, she bugged and irritated me the whole way through, came across as a massive hypocritic, went back on opinions she had voiced earlier in the book and her internal monologue the whole way through had me tearing my hair out.
The romance between her and Thorn felt completely forced, out of the blue and quite frankly made no sense. Even with the inclusion of the whole 'dream-sharing-all-our-lives' scenario, it still felt like a horrendously tiny amount of time for them to fall in love.
Super Spoilers Throughout:
Psychic Vampires? Seriously? Twin souls? Seriously? I genuinely nearly spat my tea everywhere when I actually read the line 'Psychic Vampires'. I don't even know how to accurately express my hatred and contempt for that whole plot line. It felt like there were 5 or 6 different ideas for this novel, and Howard couldn't decide which one to use so she mushed them all together. I don't know what the singing had to do with being a psychic vampire, a magical violin that can trap voices makes no sense, twin souls being reincarnated/recycled but only those of psychic vampires makes no sense. The whole thing felt like it was all over the place and all these plot lines and ideas seemed sketchily sewn together but were coming slowly undone. The over explanation of various plot reveals took brought you ouy of the book and to me at least, made me feel like Howard knew this wouldn't make sense withouy an entire page of explanation. Nothing flowed or fit together well at all.
It genuinely pains me to write this because the Splintered trilogy absolutely blew my mind. I had my qualms but on the whole it was a beautiful, dark, twised and intricate series, is one of my absolute favourites and one that I will continue to reread to the day I die.
RoseBlood however will undoubtedly sit on my bookshelf gathering dust until I am 6 feet under.
Spoilers Throughout.
I have loved and adored Howard's writing since reading the Splintered trilogy and its companion Untamed. I have reread that trilogy countless times now and it never fails to pull me in.
Reading RoseBlood felt like an entirely different author, one who created a Mary Sue main character and was overly obsessed with sets of 3 describing words, and metaphors. I could not stand the main character, she bugged and irritated me the whole way through, came across as a massive hypocritic, went back on opinions she had voiced earlier in the book and her internal monologue the whole way through had me tearing my hair out.
The romance between her and Thorn felt completely forced, out of the blue and quite frankly made no sense. Even with the inclusion of the whole 'dream-sharing-all-our-lives' scenario, it still felt like a horrendously tiny amount of time for them to fall in love.
Super Spoilers Throughout:
Psychic Vampires? Seriously? Twin souls? Seriously? I genuinely nearly spat my tea everywhere when I actually read the line 'Psychic Vampires'. I don't even know how to accurately express my hatred and contempt for that whole plot line. It felt like there were 5 or 6 different ideas for this novel, and Howard couldn't decide which one to use so she mushed them all together. I don't know what the singing had to do with being a psychic vampire, a magical violin that can trap voices makes no sense, twin souls being reincarnated/recycled but only those of psychic vampires makes no sense. The whole thing felt like it was all over the place and all these plot lines and ideas seemed sketchily sewn together but were coming slowly undone. The over explanation of various plot reveals took brought you ouy of the book and to me at least, made me feel like Howard knew this wouldn't make sense withouy an entire page of explanation. Nothing flowed or fit together well at all.
It genuinely pains me to write this because the Splintered trilogy absolutely blew my mind. I had my qualms but on the whole it was a beautiful, dark, twised and intricate series, is one of my absolute favourites and one that I will continue to reread to the day I die.
RoseBlood however will undoubtedly sit on my bookshelf gathering dust until I am 6 feet under.
A bit longer review to hopefully come soon but here are some things about the book out of context
~spoiler warning of course~
1. The Phantom of the Opera owns and runs a Rave. Yes you read that correctly. A rave.
2. He has an Emo son.
3.The Phantom of the Opera runs away to Canada to live his life with his fellow vampires.
Oh and 4. He’s a vampire
(This book was bad don’t get me wrong but it was the type of bad where I didn’t mind as much? I guess I’m just a sucker for anything Phantom of the Opera related (•}_•)
~spoiler warning of course~
1. The Phantom of the Opera owns and runs a Rave. Yes you read that correctly. A rave.
2. He has an Emo son.
3.The Phantom of the Opera runs away to Canada to live his life with his fellow vampires.
Oh and 4. He’s a vampire
(This book was bad don’t get me wrong but it was the type of bad where I didn’t mind as much? I guess I’m just a sucker for anything Phantom of the Opera related (•}_•)
*I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
4 Stars
I started reading this book expecting to be completely blown away. I was about 200 pages in before I couldn't put it down.
While the main character, Rune, is very likeable, her actions don't always seem to follow her personality. Without giving away spoilers, she seems to accept her fate more quickly than I thought she should. Some of the other characters, such as Jax and the other students at the conservatory, seemed somewhat cookie-cutter. However, my favorite character of those had to be Audrey for her hardworking personality.
That's not to say that this book isn't mesmerizing. Howard has taken the original myth of the Phantom and spun it into a delightful fantasy. I loved the mystical elements woven into the plot, and was in awe of the backstories she created.
Overall, anyone who is a fan of the musical or original novelization will enjoy this book.
4 Stars
I started reading this book expecting to be completely blown away. I was about 200 pages in before I couldn't put it down.
While the main character, Rune, is very likeable, her actions don't always seem to follow her personality. Without giving away spoilers, she seems to accept her fate more quickly than I thought she should. Some of the other characters, such as Jax and the other students at the conservatory, seemed somewhat cookie-cutter. However, my favorite character of those had to be Audrey for her hardworking personality.
That's not to say that this book isn't mesmerizing. Howard has taken the original myth of the Phantom and spun it into a delightful fantasy. I loved the mystical elements woven into the plot, and was in awe of the backstories she created.
Overall, anyone who is a fan of the musical or original novelization will enjoy this book.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5
~~Synopsis~~
In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.
At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.
~~My Review~~
I really wanted to like this book because I usually love the author's writing. After reading this Splintered series, I thought that there was no way I wouldn't like this story. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Don't get me wrong, the first couple of chapters really gave me hope. I think Howard really knows how to build a good atmosphere within the story. However, there was a couple of issues.
1) It became boring. ~ Unlike the Splintered series, the setting wasn't very dynamic. About halfway through, I realized that wasn't hooked anymore.
2) The main characters started to fall flat for me. ~ Some of the logic for the things that they did (Especially Rune) didn't make sense to me in some instances.
3) I didn't like the switch of the POV's.
4) The ending felt rushed.~ More things could have been explained.
I think this story could have been a lot better.
~~Synopsis~~
In this modern day spin on Leroux’s gothic tale of unrequited love turned to madness, seventeen-year-old Rune Germain has a mysterious affliction linked to her operatic talent, and a horrifying mistake she’s trying to hide. Hoping creative direction will help her, Rune’s mother sends her to a French arts conservatory for her senior year, located in an opera house rumored to have ties to The Phantom of the Opera.
At RoseBlood, Rune secretly befriends the masked Thorn—an elusive violinist who not only guides her musical transformation through dreams that seem more real than reality itself, but somehow knows who she is behind her own masks. As the two discover an otherworldly connection and a soul-deep romance blossoms, Thorn’s dark agenda comes to light and he’s forced to make a deadly choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or face the wrath of the phantom who has haunted the opera house for a century, and is the only father he’s ever known.
~~My Review~~
I really wanted to like this book because I usually love the author's writing. After reading this Splintered series, I thought that there was no way I wouldn't like this story. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Don't get me wrong, the first couple of chapters really gave me hope. I think Howard really knows how to build a good atmosphere within the story. However, there was a couple of issues.
1) It became boring. ~ Unlike the Splintered series, the setting wasn't very dynamic. About halfway through, I realized that wasn't hooked anymore.
2) The main characters started to fall flat for me. ~ Some of the logic for the things that they did (Especially Rune) didn't make sense to me in some instances.
3) I didn't like the switch of the POV's.
4) The ending felt rushed.~ More things could have been explained.
I think this story could have been a lot better.
Rated this 2 stars because it was just "ok" and is going in my for sale pile.
This is my first A.G. Howard novel and I have to say the writing was actually really beautiful. I couldn't love this book because Rune as a first person character was extremely annoying. Thorn/Etalon was much more interesting and compelling. The story also had some really frustrating issues happening with timing. Some major parts of the story are just skipped over and then recalled as Rune just kind of fills you in on what happened.
Also - this story is DARK! I appreciated the gothic flavor and this would make an excellent Halloween read.
This is my first A.G. Howard novel and I have to say the writing was actually really beautiful. I couldn't love this book because Rune as a first person character was extremely annoying. Thorn/Etalon was much more interesting and compelling. The story also had some really frustrating issues happening with timing. Some major parts of the story are just skipped over and then recalled as Rune just kind of fills you in on what happened.
Also - this story is DARK! I appreciated the gothic flavor and this would make an excellent Halloween read.
I loved this book, but I feel like execution was poor. It could have been written better, there were just too many musical references where there shouldn't have been (in my opinion). I loved the idea though
I'm about to wrap up reading this, but I don't need to totally finish it to know my opinion.
This was pretty dismal.
This is the 55th book I have read since January 1st, and I have read a lot of different things with those 55 tomes. Of all of the books I have accomplished thus far, this was by far and large the very worst. I love Phantom of the Opera, I always have. I even saw it on Broadway when I was around 12-13, and yeah. This didn't do it for me. It's just so dull that it's been hard to slog through. I don't really care for any of the characters, it is one giant cliche, and yeah.
If this hadn't come in my Owl Crate box last month, I never would have bothered. Usually Owl Crate books are at least somewhat okay, enough for me to feel entertained. All I'm feeling today, with this book, is sleepy. Is it over yet?
This was pretty dismal.
This is the 55th book I have read since January 1st, and I have read a lot of different things with those 55 tomes. Of all of the books I have accomplished thus far, this was by far and large the very worst. I love Phantom of the Opera, I always have. I even saw it on Broadway when I was around 12-13, and yeah. This didn't do it for me. It's just so dull that it's been hard to slog through. I don't really care for any of the characters, it is one giant cliche, and yeah.
If this hadn't come in my Owl Crate box last month, I never would have bothered. Usually Owl Crate books are at least somewhat okay, enough for me to feel entertained. All I'm feeling today, with this book, is sleepy. Is it over yet?
I’ll link my full review later, when it’s up but holy Opera Ghost, what the hell did I read?