Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Cherry Zong GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: January 13, 2026 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: An upper-YA graphic novel loosely derived from the fairytale of "Little Red Riding Hood." Not a retelling. Decent story but too meandering. Interesting characters, but not everyone is explored well. A good read, but could have been shorter and better. Plot Preview: Nineteen-year-old Red, a skilled hunter, has devoted her entire life to helping her grandmother, a witch trying to save the forest they live in from a strange rot that keeps spreading despite their efforts. Red's task is to locate the creatures known as ‘nawa’, kill them, and take their bodies to her grandmother for exorcism and deliverance. With no other humans still living in the forest, Red is quite lonely. But one day, she bumps into an injured wolf-girl named Sil. As the two of them move towards a hesitant friendship, Red uncovers some dark secrets about everything she's known. I'm not that f...

AUTHOR: Frances Hodgson Burnett GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction, Classic. PUBLICATION DATE: 1905. RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A children’s classic about a young girl and her fortitude in times of adversity. Overly perfect main character, decent story (though a bit too straightforward.) Many inclusions that haven’t aged well at all. This was a reread after many decades, and it confirmed that my original feelings for the book haven’t changed; this can never be my favourite. Plot Preview: At the age of seven, Sara is sent by her wealthy and loving father, who is serving in India, to her new school in London. Dubbed ‘the little princess’ by her classmates for her fancy clothes and toys, Sara shows that her richness hasn’t spoilt her compassion and kindness towards those of lesser means. But when her father suddenly dies bankrupt, Sara’s circumstances change drastically. The story comes to us in various characters’ third-person perspectives. I had purchased this book from a book fair at s...

AUTHOR: Gabrielle Meyer SERIES: Dollar Princess, #1 GENRE: Historical Romance, Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: January 6, 2026 RATING: 4.5 stars. In an Nutshell: A historical romance inspired by the classic musical, ‘My Fair Lady’. Christian fiction. Excellent characters and plotline. Great exploration of the gilded era, social mores, and emotions. Does far better justice to the adopted-heiress trope. The first of the ‘Dollar Princess’ series, but standalone. Much recommended. ♫ ‘ Wouldn’t it be loverly’♫ to read more such adaptations? 😍 Plot Preview: 1882. Twenty-one-year-old Keira O'Day, abandoned by her parents in childhood, has grown up with her uncaring relatives in the tenements of NYC, scraping by somehow. So when a wealthy eccentric widow named Maude Hill makes a wild proposition, Keira hesitates only a little before accepting. The plan is that Maude, an unflappable social climber, will adopt Keira, train her to be a lady, and present her as a rich bride for any titled Englis...

AUTHOR: Clare Swatman GENRE: Contemporary Romance-Drama PUBLICATION DATE: December 3, 2025 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A romance using timeslip as its main point of drama. Plot divided in three sections, each offering a distinct experience. The book started off well, became slightly repetitive and then turned a bit tedious. The characters are interesting but often take stupid decisions. Good for those who can read without overthinking. Plot Preview: Widowed Emma has no intention of falling in love again. But when she bumps into widower Nick in a somewhat secluded rose garden of her local park, she can sense the embers of hope and attraction flickering back to life. As they keep meeting in the same place, their feelings for each other grow stronger. But one day comes a shocking revelation: they both stay in two different times. Nick’s ‘present’ time is 1999, while Emma is living twenty years later in 2019. Is there any future possible for the couple when their years don’t align and ...

AUTHOR: Keri Hulme GENRE: Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 1984 RATING: 1.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary fiction about three broken people and their intersecting paths. Enjoyed the setting and the glimpses into indigenous Māori culture. Character-oriented and slow, which was fine for me. Stream of consciousness writing, poetic prose, surrealism, and extreme scenes of corporal abuse against a child, none of which work for me. Not my kind of book. Plot Preview: Kerewin Holmes: A reclusive artist who prefers staying in solitude in her “Tower”. Simon: A mute boy who breaks into her home and somehow makes himself a regular presence in Kerewin’s life. Joe: Simon’s foster father who is a strange mixture of tenderness and aggressiveness. Once Simon and Joe become regulars in Kerewin’s life, we learn more about the trio and their complex personalities through their interactions. The story is written in their perspectives shifting between first and third person at random. Take...

AUTHOR: Jennifer McMahon GENRE: Psychological Horror-Thriller. PUBLICATION DATE: April 26, 2022 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A psychological horror-thriller loosely inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Slowburn and intense. Good atmospheric writing, complex characters, intriguing plot with some good twists. Leaves many things unsaid. Took me some time to get into it, but it delivered well enough on dark entertainment. Recommended. Go in blind. To be read without overthinking. Plot Preview: This story is way too complicated for a short preview. Just know that it comes over two timelines in multiple first-person and third-person perspectives. You may read the Goodreads blurb for more clarity, but it's too detailed. ( For once, I can't even blame the blurb writers. ) Of all the RFReadsTogether Challenge prompts (the annual reading challenge I run in my Facebook group 'Readers Forever' ), the retelling prompt is always one I am most careful about. While making...

AUTHOR: Angie Cruz NARRATORS: Kimberly M. Wetherell & Rossmery Almonte GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 13, 2022 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary fiction presented in a creative interview-style structure. If you are tired of reading about Asian aunties, here’s a book with a South American "auntie". 😁 Interesting story and lead character, excellent OwnVoices authenticity (Dominican Republic). Starts off excellently, but gets a little bit repetitive and OTT after a while. If you want to read this, audio is the way to go. Plot Preview: Fifty-six-year-old Cara Romero, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, used to work at a factory but ever since its closure two years ago, she’s been jobless. Cara is now set up to meet with a job counsellor. Over a course of twelve sessions where the counsellor is supposed to evaluate Cara’s suitability as an employee and the industry where she might fit best, Cara ends up telling the counsellor abou...

AUTHOR: T. Kingfisher NARRATOR: Jennifer Pickens GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: August 19, 2025 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A dark fantasy reimagining the fairytale of Snow White (without the dwarves.) Creative in its plotline with enough novelty to stand as an independent story. Slow-moving in the first half. Too many inner monologues. Not much historical feel in the conversations. Recommended, but it might be a better option for YA fantasy lovers, even though the FMC is in her mid-thirties. Plot Preview: Thirty-five-year-old Anja is a healer who specialises in making antidotes for various kinds of venom and poison. Her quiet life is interrupted by an urgent summons from the king: his daughter Snow is exhibiting symptoms of poisoning, and he hopes that Anja's unconventional knowledge can help. Anja has no choice but to agree. At the palace though, she realises that none of her treatments are showing any positive results. That is, until she discovers an egoistic...

AUTHOR: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie GENRE: Memoir PUBLICATION DATE: May 11, 2021 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A short collection of notes written by the author after her father’s sudden death. Quite intimate in tone. If you have experienced a personal loss, you will empathise with her feelings. Tough to decide whether and to whom to recommend this. From her home in the USA, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke to her father in Nigeria on 9th June 2020. On 10th June, he passed away. Though he was due for a hospital visit, there was no indication that his health issues were so severe. The lockdown was on, as were the covid travel restrictions. As you can imagine, coping with a parent’s sudden loss cannot be easy. Adichie uses this little memoir-of-sorts to share her experience with grief. At just 86 pages and with about thirty short notes, the book doesn’t take that long to read. But even within this limited time, it offers a powerful indication of the author’s sense of loss. As a self-...

AUTHOR: Patrick Ryan GENRE: Historical Epic Saga PUBLICATION DATE: September 2, 2025 RATING: 2.9 stars. In a Nutshell: A character-driven epic historical family saga about four people whose lives become intricately connected. Decent character development, lyrical writing. Straightforward plot. Too much telling, too much secret-keeping. I think this fits under “The Great American Novel” category, which isn't a favourite genre of mine. This is an outlier opinion. Plot Preview: Bonhomie, Ohio. 1920s onwards till the 1980s. Cal: Born with one leg shorter than the other; always self-conscious about not being serve during the war. Becky: Cal’s wife; has a gift that enables her to communicate with spirits, but many consider her a sham. Margaret: Trying her best to escape her painful past, but even a secure present isn't secure enough. Felix: Has his reasons for marrying Margaret; serving with the navy during the war. How are the two couples interconnected? What does fate have in stor...

AUTHOR: T. Kingfisher GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: August 6, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A dark fantasy supposedly retelling the Brothers Grimm fairytale: ‘The Goose Girl’. Excellent character development and interesting plot. Slowish pacing and vague world-building. Entertaining as a standalone story, though not effective as a retelling. I had fun reading this gripping novel. Recommended. Loads of triggers; take the adjective ‘dark’ seriously. Plot Preview: Fourteen-year-old Cordelia is controlled by her mother Evangeline. ( And when I say ‘controlled’, I mean *controlled*! ) She doesn’t know how her mother is different from other mothers, and she has no one she can confide in except her beloved white horse Falada. One day, Evangeline suddenly decides to leave their home and everything else behind, and move with just Cordelia, Falada and a few of their belongings to a wealthy squire’s manor, hoping to marry him. Cordelia doesn’t know what fate awaits her th...

AUTHOR: Jesse Q. Sutanto NARRATOR: Eunice Wong SERIES: Vera Wong, #2 GENRE: Cosy Mystery PUBLICATION DATE: April 1, 2025 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: Officially a mystery, but practically, more of a comic drama with some dark content. Interesting but also infuriating geriatric lead. Relatively thin plot. Influencer trope, which is never my favourite. Recommended as long as you are looking for a mindless entertainer and not a mystery. The second novel of the Vera Wong series. Can work as a standalone, but better read in series order. This was decent enough, but I liked the first book more. Go in blind. Plot Preview: A year after the events of Book One. Vera is still running her tea shop and still competing with Winifred and her bakery. But with no dead bodies around, Vera is bored. So when she bumps into a girl looking for her missing friend, Vera is delighted to have a new mystery to poke her nose into. Even better when she discovers, thanks to snooping where she shouldn’t, that ...