Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Srivalli Rekha GENRE: Poem Collection. PUBLICATION DATE: March 6, 2025. RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A proper poetry collection covering varied types of poetic styles. And when I say “proper”, I mean that I wouldn’t have read it had it not been for the author. Some really good poems herein and loads of poetic knowhow. The book would be appreciated better by true poetry lovers. Srivalli and I have been good friends on Facebook (and now Goodreads) for more than five years. So it goes without saying that when she asks me to read her book either for beta reading or reviewing and to give my honest feedback, I read it and give her my honest feedback. Even if it means that I have to shed copious tears of self-pity when she writes a poetry collection. She’s quite an eclectic writer and can pen anything from horror stories to middle-grade fantasy to mythological odes to poetry. And of all these genres, the scariest to me is … No, no, not horror… poetry. 🥴 You can still trust this ...

AUTHOR: Belinda Tobin GENRE: Historical Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: November 1, 2024. RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical fiction about the practice of using castrati as singers and also the challenges faced by women in the 17th century. A bold attempt at highlighting the now-forgotten castrato voice and the sacrifices involved in achieving that range. However, the plot inclusions were mostly depressing (even more than I had anticipated) and some key details were missing. I’d still recommend the book to those who focus more on plot and can go with the flow while reading. Plot Preview: Widowed Rosa has to take care of her six children, ranging in age from young teen to just a baby. So when her seven-year-old son Paulo, who has a beautiful voice, is chosen by a scout to become a castrato and train at a private music college, she feels like God, in whom she has unwavering faith, has sent his blessings on her little one. Torn apart from his family, Paulo has no choice but to ...

AUTHOR: Marshall Karp GENRE: Domestic Thriller. PUBLICATION DATE: March 4, 2025. RATING: 2.6 stars. In a Nutshell: An interesting and twisty domestic suspense about a woman on a mission before her time runs out. Marketed as a thriller, but not a thriller for the most way. I did enjoy the regular twists and surprises, but hated the deliberate misleading. I would still recommended this, but not as a must-read. Be ready to suspend disbelief. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: Forty-three-year-old Maggie Dunn has it all: a handsome husband who loves her and is also a successful surgeon, twin teens who have a great rapport with each other and their parents, loving extended family (father, grandfather, and younger sister Libby), and a high-profile job as the mayor of their town. Now, something she has dreaded since the last twenty-five years has finally been confirmed: Maggie is going to die soon. And of the same illness that killed her mother at the same age. Cut to twenty-five year...

AUTHOR: Sirius Imnot GENRE: Poetry. PUBLICATION DATE: January 11, 2025. RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: The author hates poetry. I hate poetry. He made me read poetry. So I’m making him read more poetry. 🤗 This book begins with education, And moves on to introspection, Adds a dash of cheeky humour, A sprinkle of verse-phobic tremor, Finally parts with an ode full of frustration. That's the sum-up of this rhythmic assemblage, Highlighting the anti-poet's poetic knowledge. Some compositions gently flow; Others deliver quite a low blow. Overall, the effect is entertaining and savage. “In silence, I love you” was my favourite piece; Its sentiments came out with beautiful ease. The rest, I guess, is quite okay; I loathe poems, so I can’t much say. But yes, reading this book was a breeze. My good GR friend is Sirius Imnot, And just like me, he hates poems a lot. But much to my horror, he despises grammar. We'll agree to disagree on that thought! 🤐 I received this collec...

AUTHOR: Lisa Thompson GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: May 8, 2025. RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fiction about a troublemaker who tries to save a tree. A good story, but some minor issues stopped it from being great. I liked the ending though, and the illustrations are excellent. This book would be a nice option for classroom discussions. Do note that one of the key themes might be upsetting to some children. Plot Preview: Twelve-year-old Noah is going through a tough time at home as his parents are on the verge of splitting up. He rebels at school and resorts to mischief, which gets him in further trouble. So when he suddenly decides to assist Grace, the goodie-goodie girl of the school, in saving an old oak tree that the council is planning to cut down for a road widening project, even Grace doesn’t trust his motives and sudden change of heart. But Noah has his secret reasons for wanting to help, and he decides to sit atop the tree until the counc...

AUTHOR: Huda Fahmy SERIES: Huda, #2 GENRE: OwnVoices Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: October 10, 2023. RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: An excellent standalone graphic novel about sibling bonds/breaks on a road trip. The OwnVoices Muslim-American perspective adds a lot of personal depth. Absolutely recommended! This is the second book of the Huda graphic novel series, and though this continues into the next stage of Huda’s life, the book works perfectly as a standalone. Huda, who has just completed her freshman year, is taken aback when her parents announce a road trip to Florida. Travelling with three of her four sisters isn’t going to be easy on a 24-hour long journey, but it is a worthwhile sacrifice in order to see Disneyworld. The journey and vacation cover Huda’s relationship with each of her sisters and her parents, her continued struggles over her Muslim identity, and the difficulty of fitting in as a visible Muslim in a non-Muslim society. Everything about this graphic nov...

AUTHOR: Jenna Beatrice ILLUSTRATOR: Annabel Tempest GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: March 18, 2025 RATING: 2.7 stars. In a Nutshell: Sorry to be the party-pooper on a kids’ book, but I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would. ☹ The illustrations are fabulous, but the story itself, while silly enough to be entertaining, leaves a lot of loopholes. I also don’t like the inadvertent message that comes out from one characters’ behaviour. Might work for some readers, but overall, a mixed bag for me. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: Young Annabelle is a party planner extraordinaire. No matter what party planning assignment comes her way, she blows away everyone (including the grumpiest of persons) with her resourcefulness and fun activities. As everyone’s expectations are high for the upcoming Block party, Annabelle feels the pressure and ropes in her elder brother Anthony for help. Unfortunately, Anthony’s giant headphones are always on and he messes up ...

EDITORS: S.K. Ali & Aisha Saeed GENRE: OwnVoices Anthology. PUBLICATION DATE: May 5, 2020. RATING: 3.7 stars. In a Nutshell: A fabulous OwnVoices middle-grade anthology with all stories connected to Eid in some way or the other. Excellent plots and characters and diversity. I loved how much it surprised me and taught me. Much, much recommended! For a reading challenge I am participating in, I needed a book set around any festival. I knew for sure that I would not take a book connected to Christmas – I have already read plenty of them and I am tired of seeing Christmas books be more about parties and Santa and gifts than about prayer and church and community. So when I found this anthology, its beautiful cover, the classic “Once Upon A…” in a title and the joyous tagline won my heart. The content proved to be even better. This collection of fifteen stories is OwnVoices in every way. Each contributing author, including the editors and the illustrator, is a practising Muslim, comin...

AUTHOR: Ai Jiang SERIES: Natural Engines #1 GENRE: High Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: April 15, 2025 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A high-fantasy novella about a Tree-like girl seeking revenge against a human. The first of a duology. Grand world-building, okay character development, amazing themes, slow pace, lyrical writing. This could have been a single novel instead of a pair of novellas. Plot Preview: Liu Lufeng is the eldest princess of the Feng, nature-loving and tree-resembling forest dwellers. Because of her grandmother’s insistence on her duty, Lufeng is the next bride of the human king. The bridewealth of their proposed wedding is the only way to ensure a future for Feng by stopping the unbridled human expansion into Feng land. Feng has already lost four family members to the king. So Lufeng has a secret agenda – she will kill the king to stop his devious plans. But when she reaches the palace of the human king, she realises that there are many more secrets hidden inside it...

AUTHOR: Huda Fahmy SERIES: Huda, #1 GENRE: OwnVoices Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: November 23, 2021. RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A OwnVoices graphic novel about the experiences of a hijabi American (of Arab-Muslim background) as a high-schooler in America. Excellent combination of humour and meaningful themes and social discrimination. Much recommended! I first discovered Huda Fahmy’s work when I stumbled upon the delightful “That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story” , a graphic novel about how she met her husband. Her wit and her intelligence both are on ample display in her books and her Instagram page. So when I got the ARC of her upcoming work – the third book of the Huda series, I finally decided to catch up on the first two. I adore the name of this series! Using her own name in this twisty pun is such a creative idea, especially when it represents the way her name is mangled by many USians. This first book of the Huda series deals with Huda’s experiences as a Hijabi...

AUTHOR: Kate Forsyth GENRE: Historical Fantasy, Retelling. PUBLICATION DATE: March 20, 2025. RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A three-in-one historical fiction: a Rapunzel retelling, a real-life author’s fictionalised biography, and a witch’s origin story. The scope is thus wide and impressive, but also lengthy and complex. I liked the three stories (to varying degrees) but am not too happy with how they were structured and with the gratuitous adult content. Recommended to historical fiction readers, as long as you are okay with reading dark, R-rated sexual content and violence. (Take this last warning seriously; it gets very disturbing.) Plot Preview: 1697. Versailles, France. Charlotte-Rose de la Force – always a great teller of stories, now banished by Louis XIV to the convent for going a step too far. She is not prepared for spartan novice life after all the years of palatial luxury, all the more as she isn't even Catholic but one of the persecuted Huguenots. When a fellow n...

AUTHOR: Hanna Thomas Uose NARRATOR: Lydia Wilson GENRE: Speculative Literary Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: March 27, 2025. RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary speculative-fiction novel coming from multiple characters and timelines. Innovative concept, thought-provoking exploration, excellent character-driven writing, slow pace. Can’t believe this is a debut! Much recommended but not to all. Don’t read the GR blurb. Plot Preview: 2025, London. Yuki and Sam, both in their mid-to-late thirties, are just another ordinary married couple. Happy with each other, a bit bored with their routines, desperate to have kids but not successful yet. Yuki is an enthusiastic member of the local MP’s team and is passionate about causes. Sam is a slightly frustrated work-from-home graphic designer with ambitions of becoming a musician. An American pharma company plans to introduce Yareta in the UK market. Yareta is a drug that can extend human life by at least 200 years and already successful in ...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Dayeon Auh TRANSLATOR: Tim Mohr GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: March 25, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A cute picture book based on a Korean folktale. Enjoyed the plot. The illustrations were unusual, I’ll give you that. A good story overall with a nice message. Plot Preview: Grandfather lives in a nice cottage in a small village. Whenever he needs to go to the market, he has to cross the nearby mountain. Unfortunately, “Misfortune Mountain”, as it is known locally, comes with a dreadful myth: anyone who falls while hiking over it has only 3 years left to live. One day, when Grandfather sets off for the market, he begins climbing the mountain carefully. However, a sudden noise startles him and he ends up losing his balance. He knows that his destiny is sealed: he will die after three years. After the time passes by with the old man just waiting for his death, someone pops in with a possible solution. This book was originally p...

AUTHOR: Alix E. Harrow GENRE: Short story, Dystopian Fantasy. PUBLICATION DATE: March 11, 2025 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A dystopian-fantasy short story about love, trust, fate, hope and courage. Imaginative plot, well-sketched characters, lyrical prose, unexpected twists, apt ending that left me wanting more. After a long while, I read a story without any distractions or pauses. Much recommended! Plot Preview: In a post-apocalyptic world, a small outland town named Iron Hollow, set along the Red River in the Appalachian mountains, finds itself facing many challenges, but none like the demons rising from its own people. When the leader summon a legendary knight for help in hunting the latest monster, seventeen-year-old Shrike is not happy. The knight is just as determined to do his job and kill the demon as Shrike is to get rid of the knight. Why? Read and find out. The story comes to us in Shrike’s first-person perspective. PSA: The Goodreads blurb reveals way too much. (...