Skip to main content

Fridy In Review: Roseblood by A.G. Howard

Hey everyone! So I didn't get a post up on Wednesday. I've had a cold all week and just have been feeling tired and weird because of it. Anyways, right before we got on the plane for Disney, like at the airport in the terminal I finished Roseblood and it was great and I wanted to share what I thought with you guys!




I went into Roseblood having waited forever to read it! I love A. G. Howard's Splintered series and own all of them on the Kindle. The only reason it took me so long to finish Roseblood (like it's taking forever for me to finish Starfall) is because I've been so buys with writing and class work (plus TV shows are just as important to me as books) otherwise I would have finished it much sooner.


When Howard came out with her New Adult novel I bought it and started reading it expecting to be wowed like I was with Splintered. It wasn't as... good as I thought it would be but that may because I'm eighteen going on nineteen and I love me lots of Young Adult and not so much adult stuff still... not even New Adult (I'm a child at heart). But anyways when I heard Roseblood was coming out I was like yes! Finally another YA book by Howard! Plus I mean it's a retelling of Phantom of the Opera! I have never read the book or saw the movie but I listened to the one song... yeah I know I'm not really into the classics unless its old folklore and myths and stuff but I loved that one song and I loved the idea and the plot and the feel of what the Phantom of the Opera is. So I was psyched to hear she was making a Phantom of the Opera retelling, especially after seeing the amazing things she did with Alice in Wonderland. And I was not disappointed.




I was surprised, and taken aback, and inspired by all the twists and turns the book held but definitely not disappointed.




I won't give any spoilers but I love Thorn. He is the love interest and the second protagonist of the book and Howard did such an amazing job with him. Thorn is an extremely complex character with deep meaning, unique personality and an even deeper internal struggle that leaves you emphasizing with him and loving him. A war is always going on in his head between the two people he loves the most and it was very intriguing to see who he chose, if he did "choose" at all because how could you choose between two people you love so much that it would pain you to lose either of them?


The main character Rune was pretty much just what I expected from A.G. Howard. Quirky, three dimensional, with fears and loves and hates and who has an eye for fashion. I loved the unique, dark, sort of Goth but also sort of steampunky fashion of Alyssa in the Splintered books and was hoping for more descriptions of the same sort of quirky, vibrant outfits from Rune and yet again I was not disappointed. Rune herself with her gift of music that slowly unravels and reveals itself and it's secrets to you and Rune as the book goes on took me by complete surprise. By the middle of the book you'll stop and be like whaaat?? I was not expecting the book to go that way! At least I didn't anyways. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book except for a great story so I was taken off guard by the big twist in the middle.


But besides the vibrant and very real, quirky characters the story itself that Howard created is rather dark and macabre. Yet again something I was expecting... only not to the point she took it. I loved how the Splintered series was a darker and slightly more morbid version of Alice in Wonderland and was yet still beautiful and mystical at the same time. Roseblood had the same feel to it, though some of the things -- most of the things -- in the backstory was much more disturbing and dark and slightly creepy than I was expecting... Not to mention some of the content is kind of mature. I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to any 13 or 14 year old.


Without giving any big spoilers away this Roseblood was great and a twisting and turning ride of secrets revealed and magic. I highly recommend it to anyone who loved her Splintered or New Adult series.


Wishing you all a great weekend!!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cover Reveal: Golden Touch!!

 Happy Tuesday!!  Today's the day! I turn 23 and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than to share the cover for Golden Touch! I think this is by far my favorite cover my mom has ever done. It's crazy to think that this time last year Golden Touch was still just a first draft and I was in the middle of writing book 2 of the series. A defining part of my twenty-second year will always be having revised Golden Touch and written almost the entire Archive Series. And now I get to open up my twenty-third year with sharing the cover and writing book the first draft of book 5, the very last book in the series. God is so good guys. I really think He gave me Golden Touch and this whole series a few months before the events of 2020 started. He gave me a story I could get lost in, I could find joy in even during some of the hardest times of the year. And now I get to share the cover and I get to close out the series and I just pray and hope that God will use Golden Touch and...

How to Write A Survivalist Character During The Apocalypse

Hello friends! It's been a while... The last two weeks have been kind of nuts. The entire world is freaking out, everything's been turned upside down. Last week was rough... I had wanted to write out a birthday blog post and do something special on here for turning 22, but then everything happened and I was too stressed and I forgot to write anything, so that's kind of a bummer. I guess I could do it this week, but I feel like something else is needed for this week. I was thinking I should write some meaningful, hope-filled blog post. Write about what's going on in the world... but then I realized, everyone is already doing that. Social media is saturated with hope-filled positivity. And don't get me wrong, that's great! It's needed right now. To be honest though, Sunday night and into Monday I was getting pretty fed up with all the positivity. I think I was just overwhelmed and stressed, but I got pretty bitter and told my mom I was sick of hearing all th...

Five Tips for Getting in the Writing Mood

Happy June everyone!! I am both excited and a little anxious for this month... Excited because the twenty one pilots concert is at the end of the month and because my college class starts at the end of the month too (while also being a little anxious about it as well haha). Honestly, I don't know why I'm feeling a little off about this month... Maybe just cuz it feels like there's going to be a lot going on... I have an over the phone adviser meeting tomorrow and am helping at my church's VBS from 8 to 3 Monday through Friday next week. It'll be good but it's still a little daunting to think about :o But anyways! There's been this weird trend going on right now in my life. Just in the past week I've watched several live videos and authortube videos and read blog posts (most all of them about pantsers or having to do with pantsers in some way) and they all have included, well, pantser stuff but also how to stay in a writing mood. No one has mentioned h...