RoseBlood

By: A. G. Howard

Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel

Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

This YA novel from New York Times best-selling author A. G. Howard marks the beginning of a new era for fans of the Splintered series. Rune Germaine moves to a boarding school outside of Paris, only to discover that at this opera-house-turned-music-conservatory, phantoms really do exist. RoseBlood is a Phantom of the Opera-inspired retelling in which Rune's biggest talent - her voice - is also her biggest curse. Fans of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and the Splintered series will find themselves captivated by this pulse-pounding spin on a classic tale.

Rune, whose voice has been compared to that of an angel, has a mysterious affliction linked to her talent that leaves her sick and drained at the end of every performance. Convinced creative direction will cure her, her mother ships her off to a French boarding school for the arts, rumored to have a haunted past.

Shortly after arriving at RoseBlood conservatory, Rune starts to believe something otherworldly is indeed afoot. The mystery boy she's seen frequenting the graveyard beside the opera house doesn't have any classes at the school, and vanishes almost as quickly as he appears. When Rune begins to develop a secret friendship with the elusive Thorn, who dresses in clothing straight out of the 19th century, she realizes that in his presence she feels cured. Thorn may be falling for Rune, but the phantom haunting RoseBlood wants her for a very specific and dangerous purpose. As their love continues to grow, Thorn is faced with an impossible choice: lead Rune to her destruction, or save her and face the wrath of the phantom, the only father he's ever known.

A. G. Howard brings the romantic storytelling that Splintered fans adore to France - and an entirely new world filled with lavish romance and intrigue - in a retelling inspired by a story that has captivated generations. Fans of both The Phantom of the Opera musical and novel, as well as YA retellings such as Marissa Meyer's Cinder, will devour RoseBlood.

©2017 A. G. Howard (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Not the Phantom Story I was Hoping For

I was disappointed by this story. The concept was interesting, but I felt it was poorly carried out. While the author had a beautiful way with words, the pacing was incredibly slow, and many scenes were explained in narrative after the fact instead of letting the reader experience them as they happened. I was also not a fan of the twist, especially since the overly supernatural/fantastical elements were not hinted at in the book description. Finally, I was disappointed by the overly-sensationalized emotions that pretty much amounted to heightened lust in a YA book.
I do feel the author portrayed Erik's character in a way that was fairly consistent with the original novel, so kudos to her for doing her research. And really, the way she wove together the connection between the main characters and the original characters was interesting and obviously took a lot of work. I just wish it had been executed in a different manner.

The narration was superb.

Too slow

Great premise, however he story moved too slowly for me to enjoy this book fully.

Okay story

The story was okay, though it was hard to follow. Not because of the writing itself, but because of the narration. The pauses between each and every sentence were too long. It's like they were put there to make the audio file much longer than it should have been. I had to give up after an hour because I couldn't take it any longer.
Skip this audio and go for the ebook or print edition instead.

captivating

I love this book I couldn't put my headphones down! Can't wait for what A.G. Howard has next!

Amazing take on Phantom!

Such a great story. I loved that it wasn't just an updated version of the original. It took the original and built on the story.

Super proud to have a fellow Texan with such great talent for storytelling share her imagination with us.

Quite a bizarre story

A girl with an operatic voice just begins to sing when she hears opera music. She meets a boy who's had his throat burned out from swallowing caustic material. Rune's mother doesn't understand her daughter and she decided after her fiancee asks for her hand puts Rune in a boarding school. This story is very slow and I hated what the characters are doing. Rune meets a girl at school who is a thief. Altered animals. A phantom of the opera retelling story. A crazy aunt and grandmother who tries to drown her. Weird story. Too long.

Good Book

This book definitely wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was still good. Kind of fluffy, definitely a teen romance fantasy but still good!

The writing style is beautiful and the plot. ..

The plot is as expected with a few surprises thrown in, overall a good story.

LOVED IT!!!

my favorite author and my favorite reader all around amazing story had me captured from the very beginning to the very end

I thought it was A.G. Howards best novel yet!

The narrator did a fantastic job, and the story was amazing! I have never been a huge fan of opera, and honestly, when I read the first chapter preview at the end of "Unhinged," I was a bit skeptica and was not going to read this book...but curiosity got the better of me, and boy am I glad it did!

Incredible.

Incredible, this newly “Phantom of The Opera” -inspired retelling of Gaston Leroux’s classic crime novel is just BEYOND WORDS. A.G. Howard’s writing and descriptions are awe inspiring. The story flows naturally and expands Leroux’s original work, adding more supernatural elements to the original “O.G”. As a huge fan of the original I appreciated this work and like the original this book has gothic themes, investigation and also a slight romance story beneath it, building to a climax and sets the stage for a dramatic crescendo.

Um it's just average

It's ok but I preferred the author,s other series which is narrated by Rebecca Gibble too.
People who like retellings might like or just skip it