Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Aman J. Bedi SERIES: Ghosts of Ethuran, #1 GENRE: Epic Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: May 16, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: An epic dark fantasy in a South Asian setting. Intriguing lead character. Great fantastical elements. Complex world hierarchy. Too gruesome, especially in the final quarter. First of a planned trilogy. A good start to the series if you can handle the brutality. Plot Preview: Kavithri, aka Kavi, is of the Taemu, a warrior clan that was once mighty but now considered the lowest in the social hierarchy after their loss against the mightier Raayans. Alone since many years and surviving by doing menial work, Kavi still dares to dream – she wishes to earn a place at the exclusive mage academy and use its secret devices to locate her long-lost family. Doing so would involve facing the mysterious Jinn and handling their callous challenges, but the reward seems worth the risk. As Kavi moves towards her ambition, she learns what it means to be a Taemu who fi

AUTHOR:  David Bowles ILLUSTRATOR: Charlene Bowles SERIES: Tales of the Feathered Serpent, #2 GENRE: Middle-Grade Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: October 29, 2024 RATING:  3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: The second standalone graphic novel in this series focussed on bringing Meso-American legends to middle-graders. Interesting story, but unlike in the first novel, the plot is not complete this time and goes much darker. Might be better suited to slightly older readers.  Plot Preview:  Long back when the gods walked the earth, One Hunahpu and his brother, both fun-loving demigods, wander into Xibalba, the Land of the Dead. When they fail to return to the overworld, their mother raises her firstborn’s twin sons.  Down below, One Hunahpu, in his new form, meets the young Lady Blood, daughter of two of the rulers of Xibalba. Their interactions lead to her pregnancy, and he asks her to move to the overworld where his mother could help her in taking care of her new grandsons. However, life above d

AUTHOR: Phuoc Thi Minh Tran ILLUSTRATORS: Dong Nguyen & Hop Thi Nguyen GENRE: Children's Picture Book, Folktales PUBLICATION DATE: October 22, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A bilingual folktale collection for children, containing ten traditional stories from Vietnam. Great intent, but the English execution was somewhat mixed. Fabulous illustrations, though. This book contains ten stories from Vietnamese myths, legends and folktales. As the tagline suggests, these are “Stories of Adventure and Wonder”. All the tales contain an element of the fantastical, whether through dragons or gods or talking animals. Most of the stories are great examples of lore, with a rich flavour of the local culture and beliefs and an ample dash of magic. The tales are written in parallel English and Vietnamese versions, with alternating blocks of content switching between the two languages – English in black text and Vietnamese in dark brown. This could be a great option for parents who w

AUTHOR: Bree Paulsen GENRE: Middle-Grade Graphic Novel (Fantasy) PUBLICATION DATE: October 29, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy graphic novel about two sisters and their struggles, whether worldly or otherworldly. Unusual storyline. Great magical elements and also some unexpected spooky elements. Somewhat bittersweet. Darker than the author’s popular Garlic and the Vampire series. Plot Preview: As an elder sister and motherless daughter, Ada shoulders many responsibilities: taking care of their father’s shop as he struggles with his health, ensuring that her younger sister Safi is safe from the power-stealing liches who have infested their land, and trying to find a magician under whose apprenticeship Safi can learn to control her magical powers but without too much of a financial burden on them. When a travelling group of magicians come to the city for a show, Ada and Safi go to the performance. Ada’s quest is rewarded when the head magician recognises

AUTHOR: Shachi Kaushik ILLUSTRATOR: Aishwarya Tandon GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: September 27, 2022 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A sweet little picture book about celebrating Diwali away from home. Loved the story, the emotions, and the details of the festival. An informative OwnVoices book for those wanting to know more about this delightful Hindu festival of lights. Plot Preview: Young Priya has always loved celebrating Diwali with her family and loads of decorations and fireworks. However, this year, Diwali seems very dull and quiet. At her new home, there’s no sign anywhere of the upcoming festival. Even school is going on as usual. But when Priya comes home from school and begins assisting her parents in getting everything ready before the evening puja, their new neighbours become curious and want to know more about the occasion. Finally, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas Diwali! Through a simple yet effective plotline, this book succeeds

AUTHOR: Brenda Maier ILLUSTRATOR: Fanni Mézes SERIES: The Adventures of Penguin and Panda, #1 GENRE: Children's Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: April 30, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: The second standalone graphic novel in the Penguin and Panda series. Works similarly to the first book and just as enjoyable. Lovely morals as well. A good option for beginner readers. This cute graphic novel is about two best friends and their adventures together. This is the second book in the ‘Adventures of Penguin and Panda’ series, but the books are standalone and can be read in any order. Panda and Penguin don’t have much in common, but somehow, their friendship works. Through their interactions, they learn about each other’s likes and dislikes, and navigate their friendship through mutual care and understanding. They do make mistakes along the way, but don’t hesitate to apologise. The graphic novel contains four independent stories, each showing the friends indulging in some common ac

AUTHOR: Liz Hyder ILLUSTRATOR: Tom de Freston GENRE: YA FAntasy (and a lot more) PUBLICATION DATE: October 10, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: So tough to describe this book in terms of genre or theme! It is whimsical in a sober way, contemplative without being morose, structured and yet so unstructured. Never expected to see a YA novel to have such depth! (All credit goes to the author, not the genre. Liz Hyder is marvellous!) I don’t know if YA readers will enjoy this, but adult moi loved it a lot. Plot Preview: 1999. Kit, along with her mother and younger sister Libby, are enjoying the Christmas break in a caravan in Pembrokeshire, Wales. On the eve of the Winter Solstice, Libby insists on going to the church tower at midnight to test a prophecy she heard, and Kit has no choice but to accompany her. But there’s a strange accident that causes Libby and everything connected to her to vanish from the world. Even their mother doesn’t recollect who Libby is. In this new world that

AUTHOR: Dominic Lim GENRE: MM Romance PUBLICATION DATE: September 17, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices Queer romance-drama with the protagonist having an alter ego as a drag queen. Nice characters, wonderful storyline, decent romance, amazing inclusive rep. I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did, especially as it had a few too many YA/NA vibes for my liking.  (Note that the book isn't YA/NA romance. It just feels like one because of some writing choices.) Plot Preview: Rex is openly gay and has embraced this part of his identity well. However, he has another identity that he has suppressed since many years. When he discovers that his college sweetheart Aaron, the one that got away, is back in town and struggling to keep his karaoke bar afloat, Rex jumps in. Or rather, his alter ego, the talented drag queen who goes by ‘Regina Moon Dee’, takes charge. There’s only one problem: Aaron has no fondness for drag queens, so Rex has to keep his Regina side a secr

AUTHOR: Tom Read Wilson ILLUSTRATOR: Ian Morris GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, Language. PUBLICATION DATE: October 1, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A standalone sequel to the marvellous etymological book, ‘Every Word Tells a Story.’ The stories accompanying the words this time are as impressive, but the words themselves are a mixed bag. Still, a great gift option for little logophiles. Did you know that – ╰┈➤ Chaucer had to resort to a descriptive phrase to indicate a particular colour for which there was no word in English until an Indian fruit made its way to British shores? ╰┈➤ There is a connection between the bikini and the atom bomb? ╰┈➤ There is a historical reason why ‘pork’, ‘beef’, and ‘mutton’ are used but ‘pig’, ‘cow’, and ‘goat’ are not used when referring to meat in dishes? ╰┈➤ Gladiator and Gladioli share a ‘pointed’ connection? If this fun way of learning the origins of some common and not-so-common words of the English language sounds like your idea of fu

AUTHOR: Brenda Maier ILLUSTRATOR: Fanni Mézes SERIES: The Adventures of Penguin and Panda, #1 GENRE: Children's Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: April 30, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: The first standalone graphic novel in the Penguin and Panda series. Loveable main characters, sweet stories with good learnings. A nice option for beginner readers. This graphic novel is about two best friends and their adventures together. The book contains four little stories with the two main characters. As the tagline indicates, all four stories have some element of surprise, whether through a game or an outing or a party. While the stories themselves are entertaining, I also liked how they teach important values without shoving them into children’s faces. Subtle behavioural tactics such as listening to your friend or doing nice things for others unconditionally come out better through examples than advice. Panda and Penguin make for a loveable duo. Panda is too easygoing while Penguin

AUTHOR: Rashmi Sirdeshpande GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 1, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: An informative children’s nonfiction book focussing on the largest continent, the countries comprising it, and the richness of this region. Excellent presentation, comprehensive coverage, great illustrations. Much recommended. Asia, with the second highest number of countries in the world, the largest land mass (one-third of the entire planet’s land), and two-thirds of the world’s population (over 4.7 billion people), cannot be ignored on the global scale. Its glorious past has been somewhat affected thanks to all the colonial invasions and internal wars, but the present Asia has many tigers that roar with the right spirit. It also has a rich heritage in terms of nature as well as culture. The future of the world is fairly dependent on Asian countries (and their good and bad behaviour.) The book begins with an introduction to the continent, its countries,

AUTHOR: Lynda Cohen Loigman NARRATOR: Gabra Zackman GENRE: Romance-Drama. PUBLICATION DATE: October 8, 2024 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A dual-timeline narrative promising historical fiction, romance, and magical realism. The first is exceptional, the second is annoying, and the third is almost non-existent. It is not a bad book, but it is also not a very convincing book, at least in the contemporary timeline. That said, it is easy to see why a majority of readers are gushing over this tale. Mine is a slightly outlier review. Plot Preview: 1987. Soon to turn eighty, Augusta Stern is forced to retire from her job as a hospital pharmacist. Single and unsure about what to do next, she joins an active retirement community in Florida. The last thing she expects here is to bump into Irving Rivkin, who worked in her father’s pharmacy as a delivery boy and had broken her heart sixty years ago. Augusta is determined not to allow Irving a second chance. 1920s. Brooklyn. Augusta Stern is de

AUTHOR: Trina Rathgeber ILLUSTRATOR: Alina Pete COLOURIST: Jillian Dolan GENRE: Middle-grade Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: RATING: 3.5 stars In a Nutshell: A middle-grade graphic novel based on a true survival story. Great intent, decent plot execution, amazing information about indigenous beliefs and life in the cold North. Plot Preview: In 1944, thirteen-year-old Ilse Schweder, who stayed with her father and her siblings near the Windy River Trading Post in northern Canada, was lost in a snowstorm. She survived in the wintry white for nine days using sheer grit and her indigenous knowledge of the terrain, until she was finally rescued. This is her survival story, written by her granddaughter. A Canadian author had documented a version of Ilse’s survival story in his 1952 book, ‘People of the Deer’. Ilse wasn’t happy with it as she felt that it wasn’t his story to tell, and that the character he wrote simply wouldn’t have survived the snowy wilderness without having the indige

AUTHOR: Molly Aitken GENRE: Historical Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 10, 2024 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary fiction about a woman in thirteenth century Ireland who was the first to be condemned as a witch. Inspired by true events. Excellent themes. Had tremendous potential, but certain writing choices make this less impactful than it could have been. Plot Preview: 1279. Kilkenny, Ireland. When little Alice Kyteler sees her mother wilt under the family responsibilities, she decides that she will not make the same mistakes and will keep control over her life. But can this be easy in a time and place where whatever men say or want is considered final? As Alice grows and matures over the course of the story, she is served well by her strengths: her propensity for business, and her calculating mind that is always focussed on survival. But with every increase in her social stature, the rumours about her private life grow worse. The story, spanning several decad