Review Wednesday: RoseBlood by A.G. Howard

Title: RoseBlood

Author: A.G. Howard
1st Date of Publication: January 10, 2017

ISBN: 9781419719097
# of Pages: 432

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Age Rating: 13+

Buy on Amazon

Book Description:
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.

Setting: Paris, France in the 21st century
Point of View: 1st person- Rune Germain, 3rd person- Thorn

Goodreads Rating: 3.36

My Rating: 2.0

 

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Cover

View on the Cover: It is absolutely beautiful yet haunting. The thorns might mean that she is stuck and tangled in something that she can't get out of. Is the mask a reference to Phantom of the Opera.
View on Title: Isn't the color of blood the same as the color of roses? I think that's redundant.

Pros:

• The writing was the only good thing about this book. The style is beautiful and that was the only thing keeping me reading. It made me hope things would possibly get better.

Cons:

• The jumping from the first person as Rune to the third person as Thorn was really confusing at first and made it extremely difficult to read even after figuring out what happened at the point of view switch. The concept of switching seemed like it was cool but it wasn't executed properly.
• The Phantom of the Opera is a classic and this novel did no justice to it. The novel was filled with so many cliches that weren't executed well either.
• The Rune's superpower through the use of her voice was pretty ridiculous and didn't really fit well into the story.
• The vampires were by far the worst thing in this book. It was awful.
• There was a lack of description, purpose, and action for the opera school RoseBlood.

Critics' Reviews:
"A rich, atmospheric story that readers will be hard-pressed to put down." -Kirkus
"This is an accomplished undertaking... A good purchase for paranormal romance collections, and the connections to a classic work of literature add appeal." -School Library Journal
"Part vampire lore and part love story, this will appeal to those who enjoyed titles like Beautiful Creatures and Vampire Academy." -School Library Connection

A.G. Howard's Website:

http://www.aghoward.com/

Other Recommendations:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan