Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Clara van Houten GENRE: Psychological Drama PUBLICATION DATE: October 6, 2026 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A psychological drama about a writer caught in a trap of her own making. Innovative premise, interesting execution. The kind of book where you want the protagonist to win even as you want to shake some sense into her. The last quarter is a bit weak and has a couple of logical loopholes, but on the whole, this is a good indie read. Definitely recommended. Be prepared to suspend disbelief as it goes quite extreme in certain developments. Plot Preview: 1997. London. Aspiring novelist Debra Cowdrey is tired of getting rejection after rejection for her manuscript. So when her best friend jokingly suggests that she submit it under a male pen name, Debra does so. To her surprise, her manuscript immediately gets picked up by an agent. Thus begins a series of deceptive actions, which soon spirals out of Debra’s control as the publishing world and the public clamour to know wh...

EDITOR: James Owen GENRE: Trivia PUBLICATION DATE: January 26, 2027 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A book that does exactly what is promised by the title and the cover. The book begins with an interesting introductory note, highlighting the significance of history but not as taught in textbooks. Keeping this intent in mind, the content of the book serves as an insight into some known and not-so-known historical occurrences, providing an impetus to begin googling more about the included trivia. As declared on the cover, the book contains “facts and trivia for every day of the year”. Organised in chronological order of dates and secondary-sorted by years, each date entry contains between 4-10 facts/trivia about key events that took place on that date in various years. These could be something straightforward such as births, deaths, ascensions, wars, and natural disasters, or something more unusual or revolutionary such as gamechanger poll results, noteworthy thefts, first-ever inventi...

AUTHOR: A.M. Kvita SERIES: Green Witch Cycle #2 GENRE: Urban Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: October 27, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary urban (not cozy!) fantasy featuring witches and vampires and gods and more. The second book in the Green Witch Cycle series and a wonderful sequel in every way. Delivers even better than the first in terms of plot, characters, humour, thrills, and ending. The romance wasn’t my cup of tea (as always), but it will click better with those who enjoy love stories of yearning. Definitely recommended. Must be read in series order. Plot Preview: ( Contains a couple of very minor spoilers from Book One. ) After all that happened in New York, Joan has settled into her job away from her family – the powerful Greenwoods who govern over the NY witches. Things are going decently except for her one-sided crush on Astoria Wardwell, the heir of the California witches who refused her two years ago. Then out of nowhere, Joan’s best friend CZ becomes pos...

AUTHOR & NARRATOR: Bonnie Solomon SERIES: Pearly Gates, #3 GENRE: Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: November 10, 2026 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A Christmas cozy fantasy featuring the quirky Pearly Gates and her beau Thunder. Heartwarming storyline, loveable characters, good holiday vibes, great balance of themes. Inclusive in every way. Third book in the series, and can be read as a standalone. My favourite of the Pearly Gates novels so far. Definitely recommended. Plot Preview: When Thunder is ordered to take a mandatory holiday for burnout, Pearly Gates decides to take a little Christmassy holiday with him. But she also has to handle her new charge: a grieving school principal named Neil who has cancelled the annual holiday musical that used to be directed by his late husband. Under disguise, Pearly leads a team of youngsters to stage another musical in secret as a replacement. But is putting on a show that easy, especially when there are so many broken-hearted people around? The s...

AUTHOR: Jeffrey Archer GENRE: Historical Saga PUBLICATION DATE: October 6, 2026 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: The final epic saga from the master storyteller. Contains all hallmarks of his sagas: a great multi-decade storyline, interesting characters, mixture of real-life people and events with fictional elements, a steady dose of twists and turns, somewhat telling-intensive writing, some stretched coincidences, a memorable finale and ending. Might not be the best starting point for Archer newbies, but to Archer fans, this is a must-read. Plot Preview: 1918. On the day the armistice was signed to bring the Great War to an end, two children were born. One, the daughter of an Earl. The other, the son of a shepherd. In an ordinary world, their paths might not even have intersected, but given the former’s fondness for all things on the farm and the latter’s predilection for books, their worlds soon overlap. Thus starts a saga that begins at the end of one world war, and escalates with th...

AUTHOR: Parini Shroff GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: July 7, 2026 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A character-driven contemporary fiction depicting a new bond forming between a mother-in-law and son-in-law. Well-sketched characters and many interesting themes. Medium-paced. Mostly conversations and introspections and less action, which can be a drag at times. A nice ending, though a bit abrupt. Recommended. Plot Preview: The last person Malti Patel – seventy, divorced, alone in the USA – expects to turn up when she suffers a concussion is her soon-to-be-ex son-in-law Nathan. Her doctor insists on in-house supervision for a week, so she has no choice but to suffer his presence as her daughter Kavya is back in India for her postgraduate studies. Nathan is kind enough to agree to the doctor's instructions, but can Malti allow the person who divorced her daughter to take care of her? As the week goes by, Malti grapples with the shadows of the past and Nathan ponders over...

AUTHOR: Christopher Green GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: August 6, 2026 RATING: 3.4 stars. In a Nutshell: A short story collection spanning multiple genres. Set in Japan and elsewhere. Relatable characters with realistic reactions, even when the situations are surreal. A good collection that somehow misses the oomph to make it great. Still, an entertaining enough read. This short story collection contains eighteen stories divided across two sections. The first section contains eleven stories set in Japan (though the protagonists aren’t necessarily Japanese), while the remaining seven stories are the second section titled “Stories of Elsewhere.” There is no author’s note or foreword introducing the stories, but as I had read the author’s debut story collection, ‘Takeout Sushi’ , I knew what to expect and this collection worked on similar lines. I am usually not a fan of non-OwnVoices writers penning stories about a culture they don’t have first-hand experience of, but t...

AUTHOR: M.K. Hardy GENRE: Historical Mystery PUBLICATION DATE: August 27, 2026 RATING: 2.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical mystery with mild paranormal and Sapphic undertones. Slowburn. A good plotline with several novelties but its potential isn't fully realised. Interesting lead character who saves an otherwise average execution. Plot Preview: Avis Lovelock is a professional sceptic who loves to debunk spirit mediums and psychics while they are fleecing their customers. An American businessman named Carlton Brooksbank invites Avis aboard the Excambion where her task is to prove that the ocean liner, despite what many claim, isn't haunted. As Avis begins her investigations, she discovers that the passengers include famous twin spiritualists Gideon and Rachel Duquesne. Now Avis has to ensure that they don’t capitalise on the paranormal rumours while she, Avis, gets a chance to disprove both the rumours and the twins. The story comes to us in the third-person perspective of ...

AUTHOR: Allison Saft GENRE: YA Fantasy-Romance PUBLICATION DATE: January 2, 2024 RATING: 1 star. In a Nutshell: A YA Fantasy-Romance. Clichéd characters, lacklustre plot development. Limited fantasy. Poor world-building. Quite a few elements from Bridgerton, but not handled well enough. This is highly substandard YA. Plot Preview: Eighteen-year-old Niamh is a Machlish tailor with a special skill: the magic in her blood allows her to stitch emotions into fabric even as it kills her. Determined to ensure that her family is provided for before her death, she jumps at the chance to stitch the wardrobe for the royal wedding in the neighbouring kingdom of Avaland, even though the Avalish have traditionally been enemies of the Machlish people. But when Niamh reaches the palace, she realises that the upcoming wedding is more of a political arrangement than a romantic event, and that the groom, Kit, is quite rude and dismissive of Niamh’s efforts. Can Niahm fulfil her end of the bargain, even ...

AUTHOR: Josh Silver GENRE: Contemporary Satirical Thriller PUBLICATION DATE: August 4, 2026 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A satirical psych thriller offering a dark look at an author who is desperate for success. Somewhat meta in approach. Complex flawed characters. A jerky writing style with too many short sentences and too much rambling. Slow pace and much lengthier than needed. Recommended, as long as you have the patience. Plot Preview: Mallory Maddox had a successful debut novel seven years ago. But since then, she has had a writer’s block. She is desperate for inspiration, so when Leo – a homeless drug addict trading sex for survival – stumbles into her life, she doesn’t hesitate before appropriating his life story for her next work. After all, Leo’s story is important and deserves a wider audience. So what if he himself is unaware of her interest in him. But as the number of secrets multiplies, Mallory is forced to ask some tough questions about how far she can go for her c...

AUTHOR: Angela McAllister ILLUSTRATOR: Zanna Goldhawk GENRE: Children's Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: October 6, 2026 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of folktales connected to either the sky or a sky/space-related object. Lovely stories from across the world presented with marvellous illustrations. This author never fails to deliver memorable books for children. Definitely recommended. I have been a fan of Angela McAllister’s folktale collections ever since I read ‘A Bedtime Full of Stories’ in 2021. Her collections are always mesmerising and always have the same features: fascinating stories curated from folktales and myths from across the world, theme-based sections, and excellent full-colour illustrations that stay true to the tone of the story. This book is no exception. This time, the stories are, as the tagline indicates, taken from the ‘Skies, stars and beyond.’ The collection has six sections, each based on sky/space-related feature: ‘The Sun’, ‘The Moon...

AUTHOR: Amal Singh GENRE: Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: August 18, 2026 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary fantasy set in Mumbai. More focused on the characters than on the location, much to my disappointment. Nice little glimpses of two versions of Mumbai. Decent character sketching. Underdeveloped fantasy elements. Abrupt ending. Doesn't realise its potential to the fullest. A mixed bag for me. Plot Preview: Rishi Tripathi is an aspiring actor with no success so far. But when he falls through a mirror and lands in a different version of Mumbai, he finds himself a renowned and wealthy superstar. As he reconciles himself to his new status, he realises that this successful version of himself comes with some burdens and costs. He wants to return to the Mumbai he left behind. The only way back seems to be through the mirror, but it no longer allows him to pass through. Can Rishi find the unknown mirror-maker and find his way home before things turn too drastic in his new wor...

AUTHOR: Suzanne Palmer GENRE: Science Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 26, 2026 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A post-apocalyptic science fiction. Great intent, but flawed execution. Interesting characters but with poor detailing. A slow-moving plot with hardly any action. Unexplored subplots, hazy world-building, abrupt ending. Confused about whether it wants to be cozy or dark. I was mostly bored except at the start. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: An old robot wakes up in a bathtub with a missing leg and with no recollection of how they landed there. There’s no one around except a cyborg dog named Atticus. Atticus helps the robot find some help, but the robot suspects a wicked intention behind whoever vandalised them and realises that they have to look for the thief. With Atticus’ assistance, they set out on a journey that will involve not just an interaction with various characters but also a navigation of the memories of the past and coming to terms with them. The story com...

AUTHOR: Stef Wade ILLUSTRATOR: Erin Taylor GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: August 1, 2026 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A lovely picture book about accepting yourself and acknowledging your worth. Simple story with many essential messages delivered effectively. Cute illustrations too. Recommended. Plot Preview: Doug Fir is sad that his life doesn’t change. All the others in the forest, whether animals or trees, change their looks or their behaviour according to the season. But Doug is always the same old green. The other evergreens are happy to stay the same but Doug is eager for a change in his routine. His friend Robin suggests he take advice from Queenie the Queen Palm, an evergreen palm in Florida. Using Robin as their messenger, Doug and Queenie begin exchanging letters, and Queenie helps Doug realise something quite important. This picture book uses a fairly straightforward plot to make its main point. But the beauty of the story is that it delivers mult...

AUTHOR: Kirstin Valdez Quade NARRATOR: Gary Tiedemann GENRE: Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: June 16, 2021 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary literary fiction novel focusing on some flawed humans and their "wounds". Excellent character and plot development. Well-structured narrative divided fairly across all the main characters. Many interesting themes. Great use of the Latin-American social culture and beliefs. Slow-paced but engrossing. Not as Christian as the title and blurb indicate, so don’t expect a faith-themed book. An astounding debut. Definitely recommended. Plot Preview: Las Penas, New Mexico, USA. This Holy Week, thirty-three-year-old Amadeo has been given the part of Jesus for the Good Friday procession. He is a misfit for this divine role, what with his tendency to alcohol, his poor track record of taking care of his family, and his low-educated unemployed status. He is trying hard to prepare well for it. But his plans get affected when his pre...