"ROSEBLOOD," by A.G. Howard, Amulet Books, $18.95, 432 pages (f) (ages 14 and up)
A.G. Howard's newest novel "RoseBlood" is a "Phantom of the Opera" retelling in modern times. Rune Germain moves to France to attend a private, opera-focused high school called RoseBlood. She has a uniquely beautiful voice, and when her talented violinist of a father was alive, Rune would sing while he played. But since his death, she often feels compelled to sing whenever she hears opera music playing and afterward is exhausted and drained from the experience. Her mother has attributed this to stage fright and thinks training at RoseBlood will be the cure.
Rune, however, is mortified by her ability that causes her to burst into song at often awkward, inopportune moments. Also, she's recently discovered an ability she has to drain others of their energy, something that landed a fellow student in America in the hospital. On top of everything, her crazed paternal grandmother is imprisoned in France for attempting to kill Rune as a child. All in all, she's not sure how long she is going to survive at RoseBlood.
What Rune doesn't know is RoseBlood, a school built from the remains of an old opera house, is currently the home of the Phantom from Gaston Leroux's novel, whose energy-sucking abilities have given him an extra-long life. Now, he has added a troubled young man, Thorn, to his family. Thorn calls the Phantom his father, and he knows that the Phantom has drawn Rune to RoseBlood to fulfill his diabolical plan and Thorn is vital to making this plan work.
Thorn loves his father and wants to please him, but he also knows that Rune is his "twin flame." As he and Rune are naturally drawn to each other, and when he is able to help her overcome her struggles with her voice, he becomes torn as to whether he should help the man who rescued and raised him or save Rune from the Phantom's disturbing intentions.
The idea behind this retelling has a lot of potential and the book is filled with several dark, interesting scenes that hearken back to the feelings of the original, but overall the plot is too convoluted and hard to believe to really be effective. There are so many complicated details to the plot that the book is filled with more overexplaining and back story than scenes that connect the reader to the characters, and the emotional ties thus aren't as strong and the ending fails to pack a punch.
"RoseBlood" includes a few mild uses of profanity, vague references to sex and child sex slavery and some descriptions of passionate kissing. There are several instances of murder, described violence and mutilation of animals and children.
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