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3.15 AVERAGE
3.15 AVERAGE
I really loved this book A.G Howard never disappoints I always love her books. I really liked the characters especially Rune and Thorn I really liked hoe their romance was developed and I really liked the other characters as well like Sunny and Rune's other friends they were all very well written. I really loved the story even though I know very little about the phantom of the opera I really enjoyed all aspects of this story very much. So overall I really enjoyed reading this book and will read more by this author.
I just finished this book and...I have no words, so for now a gif will have to do:
And now that I've had some time to process what I've just read I just want to say yikes. Yikes to how this book deals with Runes romani heritage, yikes to how this book deals with female sexuality but above all yikes to the romanization of Eric and to some extent Thorn, but mostly Eric. The more I read this book, the more it read as someone who'd missunderstood the original book and it's messages on every level. When I read the "authors note" my suspicions were confirmed as A.G Howard writes that she thinks the bulk of the plot took place in 1863-64 but that the phantom died in 1881, something that based on all of the original book this does not add up, as the entire plot took place in the 1880s.
And if she missed something like that it makes a lot of sense that she also missed some of the finer points of the original story, like when Leroux say that even through we feel bad for the phantom, his backstory does not redeem him and that the closest he gets is when he let's everyone go, but even then it's up to the author.
This and more will be in my actual review, but first I want to do more re-search on a few things, so that at least one of us has done that.
And now that I've had some time to process what I've just read I just want to say yikes. Yikes to how this book deals with Runes romani heritage, yikes to how this book deals with female sexuality but above all yikes to the romanization of Eric and to some extent Thorn, but mostly Eric. The more I read this book, the more it read as someone who'd missunderstood the original book and it's messages on every level. When I read the "authors note" my suspicions were confirmed as A.G Howard writes that she thinks the bulk of the plot took place in 1863-64 but that the phantom died in 1881, something that based on all of the original book this does not add up, as the entire plot took place in the 1880s.
And if she missed something like that it makes a lot of sense that she also missed some of the finer points of the original story, like when Leroux say that even through we feel bad for the phantom, his backstory does not redeem him and that the closest he gets is when he let's everyone go, but even then it's up to the author.
This and more will be in my actual review, but first I want to do more re-search on a few things, so that at least one of us has done that.
Very interesting context and adds another layer to the class Opera Phantom story. Quite dark so will be on the older end of YA.
3 starts! Spoiler-free review!
Quick Synopsis: Rune Germann has an incredible gift for opera that comes at a terrible price. Certain arias will literally possess her, and when she sings them, the music leaves her physically weak. Her grandmother has made two attempts on her life, believing her to be possessed by some kind of evil spirit. After her father passes away from cancer, Rune's mother sends her to RoseBlood, an academy in France, specifically training American students in opera. RoseBlood is rumored to have been renovated from the old opera house that inspired Gaston Leroux's novel, The Phantom of the Opera. Superstitious as she is, Rune doesn't like to entertain the idea of being around opera--which may force her to burst into song against her will--nor does she like the idea of walking the halls that first spawned the Phantom. When strange occurrences begin happening to Rune, she might have to acknowledge that the Phantom of the Opera may be more fact than fiction.
I enjoy A.G. Howard and her writing style. I thoroughly enjoyed the Splintered series, as well. I love the darker elements to her novels, and how she can take something familiar, and turn it on its head, yet still make it recognizable. The original Phantom of the Opera was already brilliantly dark, and the Phantom a disturbed individual. A.G. Howard took a strong, already-existent foundation and built onto it. While it did seem to be a bit lighter than her Splintered series, I don't feel that her writing or the book suffered for it. As for the characters, I thought that Howard did a great job of capturing the essence of Leroux's Phantom. He and Rune's aunt were the best characters, in my opinion. The Phantom was just as depraved, desperate, and tragic as in Leroux's novel. As such a compelling and dynamic character, I think that the Phantom would have been one of the harder aspects of this story, even with the foundation already laid. The pacing of the novel was decent. At times, the book did feel clunky and awkward to read, or extremely rushed, but I do feel these instances were few and far between.
With all of that being said, most of the major plot lines were easy to predict, especially for those interested in mythology and mythological creatures. It seemed like certain plot reveals, while being very transparent, were written to shock the reader. I found these reveals to be lacking, as I had very little difficulty in guessing most of them. As such, not much surprised me in this book, even with the one plot line that did stump me for awhile. I did end up guessing it before it was revealed later. The book also seemed to be written for a slightly younger audience. While the Splintered series was, very obviously, a YA novel, it still read like it was meant for a slightly older audience. This one almost seemed to be more middle grade to teen, at times. Granted, the novel is set in the life of a 17 year old girl, in a fictionalized version of the real world, so I honestly might be a bit harsh on that particular complaint. Most of the characters were also something you would absolutely expect from the cast of a YA novel, complete with a heroine who is shy and standoff-ish because of a dark secret, a mean girl crowd (who are pretty, rich, and blonde), and the outcasts, that are drawn to the main character because she doesn't fit in. Not to mention a super cute, brooding, yet confused love interest who does all of the wrong things for the right reasons. I think that the only character that had any true depth was the Phantom. The aunt, while not ocean-deep, was also a pleasant surprise and had less than shallow moments. There seemed to be a healthy dose of worn-out trends that you can find in any YA novel, just made up with a Phantom of the Opera twist. The result is exactly what one can expect from that description: the answer to "What if Phantom of the Opera had an entirely teenage cast?"
Overall, the book was pretty average, even though I did really enjoy the original take on Phantom of the Opera. I love the incorporation of the fantastical and magical with something otherwise ordinary, and the dark tones of the novel, which seems to be a delightful calling card for A.G. Howard's writing.
I think that if you are a fan of A.G. Howard, this novel will be right up your alley. However, if you are trying to steer clear from burn-out YA novel trends and cliques, this might not be the book for you.
Quick Synopsis: Rune Germann has an incredible gift for opera that comes at a terrible price. Certain arias will literally possess her, and when she sings them, the music leaves her physically weak. Her grandmother has made two attempts on her life, believing her to be possessed by some kind of evil spirit. After her father passes away from cancer, Rune's mother sends her to RoseBlood, an academy in France, specifically training American students in opera. RoseBlood is rumored to have been renovated from the old opera house that inspired Gaston Leroux's novel, The Phantom of the Opera. Superstitious as she is, Rune doesn't like to entertain the idea of being around opera--which may force her to burst into song against her will--nor does she like the idea of walking the halls that first spawned the Phantom. When strange occurrences begin happening to Rune, she might have to acknowledge that the Phantom of the Opera may be more fact than fiction.
I enjoy A.G. Howard and her writing style. I thoroughly enjoyed the Splintered series, as well. I love the darker elements to her novels, and how she can take something familiar, and turn it on its head, yet still make it recognizable. The original Phantom of the Opera was already brilliantly dark, and the Phantom a disturbed individual. A.G. Howard took a strong, already-existent foundation and built onto it. While it did seem to be a bit lighter than her Splintered series, I don't feel that her writing or the book suffered for it. As for the characters, I thought that Howard did a great job of capturing the essence of Leroux's Phantom. He and Rune's aunt were the best characters, in my opinion. The Phantom was just as depraved, desperate, and tragic as in Leroux's novel. As such a compelling and dynamic character, I think that the Phantom would have been one of the harder aspects of this story, even with the foundation already laid. The pacing of the novel was decent. At times, the book did feel clunky and awkward to read, or extremely rushed, but I do feel these instances were few and far between.
With all of that being said, most of the major plot lines were easy to predict, especially for those interested in mythology and mythological creatures. It seemed like certain plot reveals, while being very transparent, were written to shock the reader. I found these reveals to be lacking, as I had very little difficulty in guessing most of them. As such, not much surprised me in this book, even with the one plot line that did stump me for awhile. I did end up guessing it before it was revealed later. The book also seemed to be written for a slightly younger audience. While the Splintered series was, very obviously, a YA novel, it still read like it was meant for a slightly older audience. This one almost seemed to be more middle grade to teen, at times. Granted, the novel is set in the life of a 17 year old girl, in a fictionalized version of the real world, so I honestly might be a bit harsh on that particular complaint. Most of the characters were also something you would absolutely expect from the cast of a YA novel, complete with a heroine who is shy and standoff-ish because of a dark secret, a mean girl crowd (who are pretty, rich, and blonde), and the outcasts, that are drawn to the main character because she doesn't fit in. Not to mention a super cute, brooding, yet confused love interest who does all of the wrong things for the right reasons. I think that the only character that had any true depth was the Phantom. The aunt, while not ocean-deep, was also a pleasant surprise and had less than shallow moments. There seemed to be a healthy dose of worn-out trends that you can find in any YA novel, just made up with a Phantom of the Opera twist. The result is exactly what one can expect from that description: the answer to "What if Phantom of the Opera had an entirely teenage cast?"
Overall, the book was pretty average, even though I did really enjoy the original take on Phantom of the Opera. I love the incorporation of the fantastical and magical with something otherwise ordinary, and the dark tones of the novel, which seems to be a delightful calling card for A.G. Howard's writing.
I think that if you are a fan of A.G. Howard, this novel will be right up your alley. However, if you are trying to steer clear from burn-out YA novel trends and cliques, this might not be the book for you.
DNFed because it was simply too boring and I got through 30% of the book and still couldn't understand anything or even learn of the characters properly. The world building/story was incredibly convoluted and not immersive at all.
~after my 2nd reading~ I still love this book it's fantastic!
***first reading***
First and foremost, a gracious thank you to the Abrams Kids Book Team and Netgalley for providing me an early electronic copy of this book for my honest review.
Wow, this book was one heck of a ride. I was super excited to read this because The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite stories. The second I saw that RoseBlood was an inspired retelling, I jumped on requesting to read it right away.
This is the first novel I've read that's been written by A.G Howard. I've known and heard many great things about her Splintered series but hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Now after reading this, I just might pick it up sometime sooner rather than later.
This standalone novel is about a teen-aged girl named Rune who is obsessed with the Phantom of the Opera story, is sent to a performing arts school in France despite her many arguments against it. While there, she makes friends, finds romance with her very own OG, and learns many secrets about herself and her family.
I'm going to leave it at that because saying more would ruin the fun for you.
I"m actually quite impressed with the romance aspect of this book. Through about two thirds of the book I was waiting for the love triangle that I was sure was bound to happen, but surprisingly, it didn't.
There was something about this book that made me keep coming back. It could have been the writing style, or the romance, or the heroine but I definitely enjoyed reading it. I also had the insane urge to re-read the original POTO book.
One thing I could negatively comment on it is that the cat, Diable, could arguably be seen as the deux ex machina of the story. It is mostly there to get the MCs out of a jam (ex. unlocking doors and leading them to the doors they need to go to). I'm also not entirely sure of what the swan, Ange, was there for other than just being there and providing distraction when the plot needed it.
And I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. It felt kind of off in its execution, like it was rushed or something. However this could be tied to the fact that it's been a VERY long time since i've read a standalone that I'm used to novels taking a bit longer to reach a "poetic and happy" ending.
Overall I still quite enjoyed this book, as I said and very much recommend for your own readings and TBR piles. I for sure am planning on picking up myself a physical copy of this when it releases.
***first reading***
First and foremost, a gracious thank you to the Abrams Kids Book Team and Netgalley for providing me an early electronic copy of this book for my honest review.
Wow, this book was one heck of a ride. I was super excited to read this because The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite stories. The second I saw that RoseBlood was an inspired retelling, I jumped on requesting to read it right away.
This is the first novel I've read that's been written by A.G Howard. I've known and heard many great things about her Splintered series but hadn't gotten around to reading it yet. Now after reading this, I just might pick it up sometime sooner rather than later.
This standalone novel is about a teen-aged girl named Rune who is obsessed with the Phantom of the Opera story, is sent to a performing arts school in France despite her many arguments against it. While there, she makes friends, finds romance with her very own OG, and learns many secrets about herself and her family.
I'm going to leave it at that because saying more would ruin the fun for you.
I"m actually quite impressed with the romance aspect of this book. Through about two thirds of the book I was waiting for the love triangle that I was sure was bound to happen, but surprisingly, it didn't.
There was something about this book that made me keep coming back. It could have been the writing style, or the romance, or the heroine but I definitely enjoyed reading it. I also had the insane urge to re-read the original POTO book.
One thing I could negatively comment on it is that the cat, Diable, could arguably be seen as the deux ex machina of the story. It is mostly there to get the MCs out of a jam (ex. unlocking doors and leading them to the doors they need to go to). I'm also not entirely sure of what the swan, Ange, was there for other than just being there and providing distraction when the plot needed it.
And I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. It felt kind of off in its execution, like it was rushed or something. However this could be tied to the fact that it's been a VERY long time since i've read a standalone that I'm used to novels taking a bit longer to reach a "poetic and happy" ending.
Overall I still quite enjoyed this book, as I said and very much recommend for your own readings and TBR piles. I for sure am planning on picking up myself a physical copy of this when it releases.
*4.5 stars*
This book was excellent! It definitely met my expectations and exceeded them at certain points, as well. I was a bit nervous to read this book because with having such high expectations, I was worried that I would be disappointed. However, that was not the case. This retelling was truly unique, and it surprised me how different it was from the original storyline, but it still stuck to the general theme.
This is the first book I have read by A.G. Howard, and her writing style is wonderful! It is descriptive without going overboard, and it is so poetic, and I just…*chef’s kiss*. So good! She put just enough detail when describing the scenery that I could create a picture in my head easily.
The romantic interest between the two main characters was perfection! There were times where it was so tense that it made me antsy, and I just wanted them to get together. Also, some of the things they said to each other made the hopeless romantic in me want to bawl.
If you are a fan of Phantom of the Opera and/or enjoy retellings, I would definitely recommend getting your hands on RoseBlood! It was such a good book, and I have nothing to complain about. This was a perfect novel to read in October, and I am happy that I finally got to it!
This book was excellent! It definitely met my expectations and exceeded them at certain points, as well. I was a bit nervous to read this book because with having such high expectations, I was worried that I would be disappointed. However, that was not the case. This retelling was truly unique, and it surprised me how different it was from the original storyline, but it still stuck to the general theme.
This is the first book I have read by A.G. Howard, and her writing style is wonderful! It is descriptive without going overboard, and it is so poetic, and I just…*chef’s kiss*. So good! She put just enough detail when describing the scenery that I could create a picture in my head easily.
The romantic interest between the two main characters was perfection! There were times where it was so tense that it made me antsy, and I just wanted them to get together. Also, some of the things they said to each other made the hopeless romantic in me want to bawl.
If you are a fan of Phantom of the Opera and/or enjoy retellings, I would definitely recommend getting your hands on RoseBlood! It was such a good book, and I have nothing to complain about. This was a perfect novel to read in October, and I am happy that I finally got to it!
I have been reading this book for over a week and I am still not into it. I can't anymore. I have to DNF.
*Provided with an eARC from Netgalley for a honest review. Thank you Netgalley*
I really wanted to like this book. I really, really wanted to like it because The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite and when I saw this was a modern twist/retelling I couldn’t be more excited (regardless of the fact that I didn’t like Howard’s first trilogy). I was hoping this would be some improvement However, this was just a repeat of disappointment.
First of all, the first half of the book dragged on. And on and on. I was falling asleep while reading this and kept having to force myself to pick it back up to read. If I have to do this, I immediately need to DNF but I decided to at least make it to the 50% mark. However, I am still confused with where the plot was going because it just seemed so lackluster. This book had every YA Paranormal trope that we have all seemed many times before.
Rune moves to a new school where she is obviously the “special one” that is going to solve everyone’s problems. She falls for a mysterious handsome guy who keeps disappearing but seems to be the guy in her dreams. Rune has a special ability and hopes that her mysterious hot guy will help her control her ability so she can “finally be normal.”
Regardless of all these familiar tropes, I thought I would be entertained for the simple fact that this included The Phantom and even brought some examples and pieces from the original story. But, it just didn’t measure up. The writing and setting was dark and I can see why many would find this appealing, but it didn’t work for me personally. I couldn’t connect to the characters or the storylines. The only one I felt a smidge of empathy for was Thorn when his childhood was revealed. Other than that, everything felt so bland.
So it gives me great sadness that I had to DNF this book. Given that I did not enjoy Splintered, I think I will stay away from these gothic retellings by Howard from now on.
*Provided with an eARC from Netgalley for a honest review. Thank you Netgalley*
I really wanted to like this book. I really, really wanted to like it because The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite and when I saw this was a modern twist/retelling I couldn’t be more excited (regardless of the fact that I didn’t like Howard’s first trilogy). I was hoping this would be some improvement However, this was just a repeat of disappointment.
First of all, the first half of the book dragged on. And on and on. I was falling asleep while reading this and kept having to force myself to pick it back up to read. If I have to do this, I immediately need to DNF but I decided to at least make it to the 50% mark. However, I am still confused with where the plot was going because it just seemed so lackluster. This book had every YA Paranormal trope that we have all seemed many times before.
Rune moves to a new school where she is obviously the “special one” that is going to solve everyone’s problems. She falls for a mysterious handsome guy who keeps disappearing but seems to be the guy in her dreams. Rune has a special ability and hopes that her mysterious hot guy will help her control her ability so she can “finally be normal.”
Regardless of all these familiar tropes, I thought I would be entertained for the simple fact that this included The Phantom and even brought some examples and pieces from the original story. But, it just didn’t measure up. The writing and setting was dark and I can see why many would find this appealing, but it didn’t work for me personally. I couldn’t connect to the characters or the storylines. The only one I felt a smidge of empathy for was Thorn when his childhood was revealed. Other than that, everything felt so bland.
So it gives me great sadness that I had to DNF this book. Given that I did not enjoy Splintered, I think I will stay away from these gothic retellings by Howard from now on.
I read A. G. Howard's Splintered, but never really got into it. This book, however, was mysterious and seductive, just like the Phantom the story retells. Loved slowly piecing details and history and questions together. It made for a compelling read. I didn't devour it quickly, but I think that's because of the amount of beautiful detail put into the world of the opera house. If only I could draw well enough...oh the fanart I'd create!!