RoseBlood by A. G. Howard (review)

Rune Germain is more than obsessed with singing arias; the compulsion is so strong that she’s physically debilitated if she resists and drained when she finishes; family ties link her to the legend of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. When she arrives at RoseBlood, a private school in the French countryside where her aunt is a teacher, she finds herself physically and psychically drawn to a mysterious figure named Thorn, who holds the keys to her past, her identity, and her future. As she did with the Splintered series, Howard dives deep into both historical research and a rich vein of imagination, here to expand the tragically romantic story of the Phantom, rendering him simultaneously more human and more monstrous as he seeks to use both Thorn and Rune for his own purposes. Howard’s Phantom is a psychic vampire, as are both Thorn and Rune, it turns out; their hunger presents them with moral dilemmas that pit romantic against familial love, and loyalty against self-preservation. Thorn is a complex and tragic character, and Rune is a credible mix of self-possession, curiosity, vulnerability, and pragmatism. The mysteries and the ingenious ties to Leroux’s work are enough to attract plenty of fans, and the lush, sensual details complete the atmospherics of the neogothic settings. An author’s note sorts out the complex intertextual and historical connections so that fans of the Phantom learn not only how Leroux made his leaps but also how Howard makes hers in this absorbing paranormal romance.