Rosh's Reviews

AUTHORS: Various GENRE: Suspense Anthology PUBLICATION DATE: November 17, 2020 RATING: 3.75 stars. I love short story anthologies. Creating an impact within a few thousand words is such a difficult job and only a really talented writer can master this art. So when you see the writers' credits on this book with Jeffrey Deaver as the editor, you know you're in for a treat. "Nothing going to happen after midnight" is a suspense anthology, with every story having one thing in come: it deals with things that happen after midnight. Jeffrey Deaver describes the book in his introduction as a "volume of suspense stories describing incidents of the curious, the eerie, the disturbed, the violent that occur in that netherworld after the witching hour..." The stories are pretty distinct from each other in the type of thrill they offer. You get a suspense thriller, an atmospheric thriller, a horror thriller, a psychological thriller, a police procedural, .... So you never...

AUTHOR: Renée Watson GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: February 14, 2017 RATING: 4.25 stars. Jade, a 13-year-old underprivileged and overweight black teen, gets accepted at an almost-white school on a scholarship. She must now prove her potential so that she can escape her neighbourhood and poverty. She is chosen for a mentorship programme, where a successful black woman is allotted to her for "support". But does Jade really need support? Does her mentor truly understand her or do they only have their skin colour in common? What's the borderline demarcating assistance from charity? This is such a well-written book, I wonder why it is not more popular. It shatters assumptions and breaks stereotypes. Renée Watson deftly shows us how we look at a particular class of people with a certain preconception and why we can be terribly wrong. The book also shows how everyone has some kind of bias or the other. Jade is awesome as a teenager with a clear idea of what she w...

AUTHOR: Sharon M. Draper GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: October 30, 2018 RATING: 4 stars. Eleven year old Isabella has a black father and a white mother. Her parents are divorced and each is now involved in a new, serious relationship. Isabella's life is already divided between the two parents, two houses, two nicknames,.... How would her life change with potential stepparents coming in the picture? If the book had stopped only at narrating the ordeals of a child caught in a divorce battle, the book would have been a 5/5. But Sharon Draper tries to include every possible issue in the book: racial bias, skin colour, marital issues, stepparent problems, gun shooting, police discrimination,... After a point, the book feels like it's going overboard with the social causes. The last few chapters are absolutely over the top with a completely unnecessary twist. I wish Draper would have stuck to 2-3 major plot points and developed a story revolving around those.  But ev...

AUTHOR: Nazia Erum GENRE: Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: January 7, 2018 RATING: 4.25 stars. As a member of one of the minority religions in this country, I have experienced my share of religious hooliganism. But I'm a hundred per cent sure that the biggest target of bigoted remarks is the Muslim community. Though the anti-Muslim sentiment has been present to a certain extent since the partition and the Indo-Pak wars, it has definitely worsened in the last few years, especially because of many terrorist groups that identify themselves as Muslims but misinterpret and abuse the laws of the Quran, and certain political leaders who look at themselves as spokespersons of a particular religion instead of as representatives of all citizens of the country. As a parent, I felt that I could teach my children about respecting every faith and that would take care of their attitude towards everyone. So imagine my surprise one day last year when we were watching PK. After one of the scenes showing...

AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman GENRE: Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE:  February 1, 1999 RATING: 3.25 stars. How I wish I hadn't seen the movie first! I had watched it without knowing that it was based on a book. However, I couldn't leave a Neil Gaiman book unread and that's why I decided to go for this. But the storyline in the book differs a little from the movie, and not in a good way.  I think the movie fixed the boring points in the book effectively. Plus, trigger warning: the book involves a gruesome animal death. So this will be the rarest of rare recommendations from me: skip the book and try out the movie if you're looking for good entertainment.

AUTHOR: Elyse Douglas GENRE: Historical Fantasy. PUBLICATION DATE: January 13, 2020 RATING: 3.25 stars. Ever read a book that you completed quickly but after you are done with it, you could move on immediately to the next book without any sense of loss? That was my experience with "Time with Norma Jeane." I picked this up for the interesting plot summary. Imagine you time-travel and somehow end up meeting Marilyn Monroe! How fantastic would it be! Unfortunately, the book didn't live up to my expectations, which were especially high after seeing its GR ranking of 4.63. "Time with Norma Jeane" tells the story of Darla, a sixteen year old teenager who, while walking her dog one evening, somehow goes through a time vortex and lands up in 1954. Through a chance encounter, she ends up not just meeting Marilyn Monroe, but also being taken under her protection. What adventures and self-discoveries are in store for both of them over the next few days forms the rest of th...

AUTHOR: Skyler Hammond GENRE: Short Story Collection. PUBLICATION DATE: June 6, 2020 RATING: 3.75 stars. I wasn't aware of this author prior to seeing the title on BookSirens and hence didn't quite know what to expect. But the cover page and description was so appealing that I had to have this book. Thankfully, no regrets opting for this ARC at all. Most of the tales were really fabulous. And some, to my surprise, were quite introspective. The illustrations added wonderfully to the charm of the experience. I quite enjoyed reading this book. Thank you to BookSirens for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

AUTHOR: Alicia D. Williams GENRE: Middle-grade fiction RATING: 4.75 stars. When you read a book intended for children, you know that it will be simple at heart and straightforward in flow. There will probably be a moral, and usually, a happy ending too. These reasons make children's books the best for those days when you want something good and uplifting. But what if the book does much more to you that satisfy these simple aims? What if you feel emotionally connected to the book and just want to step in and hug the protagonist? This happens very rarely with me. It happened with Auggie Pullman in Wonder, and it happened with the lovely little girl who is the lead in this lovely little book. Genesis Begins Again tells the story of Genesis Anderson, a 13 year old from Detroit. All through her young life, she has been told by almost everyone that she is black and hence, ugly. Add to this an unreliable alcoholic father who frequently abuses her verbally, and some school mates who act s...

AUTHOR: T.N. Traynor SERIES: A New Dawn, #1 GENRE: Fantasy-Romance. PUBLICATION DATE: July 10, 2020 RATING: 3.75 stars. I picked up this book after a very intriguing review by a reader friend. Her review prepared me on what to expect from this book, which was very helpful or else I might have been utterly disappointed with the way the book turned out. "Between Witches and Angels" tells us of Megan, a newbie witch, who decided to move to Cornwall to get over her one-sided love for Jack. Cornwall seems to be a place perfectly suited for her as it has everything she's looking for at that stage in life: witch friends, new learning opportunities, a new career, and a fabulous romantic possibility in the form of Daelan Jennings, the local rich stud. But this romantic attraction seems to be taking over Megan at a much faster pace than she had imagined, and leads to a physical as well as spiritual battle that involves witches, demons, angels and pious old ladies. Overall, the boo...

AUTHORS: Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths GENRE: Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: April 19, 2016 RATING: 3.25 stars. Such an interesting title but the book seems like a letdown. "Algorithms to Live By" can be lived by only by those who know how to conduct a statistical analysis on their own. While the concepts in many chapters are interesting, the book as a whole is too technical and utterly impractical. Only those who read it as a Statistical textbook will derive something valuable from it. Statistics is such an interesting subject. I wish the book could have made this subject appealing to novice readers rather than driving them further away from the subject, which I'm sure it will. Not a waste of time, but certainly not a must-read.

AUTHOR: Kim Vogel Sawyer SERIES: The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow #1 GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 15, 2020 RATING: 3.75 stars. The title and the cover were intriguing enough, but what made me opt for this book was the description. It reminded me of "The Giver of Stars" by Jojo Moyes, and I was eager to see if Kim Vogel Sawyer had anything new to offer to the story. The Librarian of Boone's Hollow talks of Addie, an upright city girl who ends up as a packhorse librarian during the economic slump caused by the Great Depression. As an outsider who seems to make rather unpopular choices, she is shunned by the community of Boone's Hollow. How she manages to make a place for herself and wins over their hearts with grace and love forms the rest of the story. Unlike the Jojo Moyes book, the focus in this book is more on the people struggling during the depression rather than on the packhorse librarians. In that sense, it is an interesting read. But it ...

AUTHOR: Shivani Salil GENRE: Historical Short Story Collection. PUBLICATION DATE: August 19, 2019 RATING: 4.5 stars. Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Being born and brought up in Bombay, with my parents originally coming from South India, I've never had access to any insider narrative about families who lost almost everything during the 1947 partition. Whatever I knew was based on some newspaper articles or movies. In my adulthood, I picked up "Train to Pakistan" by Khushwant Singh in order to gain a better perspective into the first-hand experience. But that book somehow didn't click with me. Today, I'm glad. I can finally say that I've read a great book on this topic. Where knowledge is free; Hiraeth is an anthology of 24 touching, heart-rending stories on the partition and its impact. Each story is inspired by true events, and that worsens the experience in a way, because you can't console yourself by saying, "Thank God thi...

AUTHOR: Sarah Andersen GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 2020 RATING: 4.25 stars. This is such a cute book. I never thought I'll enjoy a love story between a vampire and a werewolf this much. The story is quirky and funny and sweet, all at the same time. Sarah Anderson fans would already know her sense of humour and she doesn't let them down with this book. Totally recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

AUTHOR: Rebel Girls GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 13, 2020 RATING: 4.75 stars. If you have children and you have yet not heard about the phenomenon named "Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls", you've been living under a rock. The two volumes published so far in the series gave a thrilling glimpse of some notable lady achievers from over the centuries. These two books have made such a wonderful gift for many a little girl in my children's circle of friends. And that's why this latest addition excites me so much. The third volume in this best-selling series focuses on talented female immigrants from across the world. The range of lady achievers covered in this book is truly astounding. A surprisingly large number of names were totally unfamiliar to me. As in the first two volumes, the crisp one-page stories were enticing and motivating for all the little dreamers out there. And they were accompanied by brilliant illustrations by female art...

AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover GENRE: Psychological Thriller. PUBLICATION DATE: December 7, 2018 RATING: 4 stars. Verity is a book that receives extremely mixed reactions from readers, who seem to either love it or be completely turned off by it. When a book receives out-and-out positive or negative reviews, it's easier to take a decision on whether to read it or not. But with mixed feedback, one keeps teetering on both sides of the fence. I've been dilly-dallying with this book since more than a year. Today, I finally succumbed to the temptation. Verity tells the story of Lowen Ashleigh, an unsuccessful writer appointed by a publishing house to continue a popular book series written by the famous Verity Crawford, who has been injured in an accident. In the course of researching for the continuation of the series, Lowen discovers Verity's autobiography which contains some ghastly revelations about Verity and her family. How much of this is true and how much is the author's grue...

AUTHOR: Sylvia Plath GENRE: Roman à clef PUBLICATION DATE: RATING: No idea! How do you rate a book that you liked and didn't like too? A book that doesn't leave you even after you turn the last page, and yet a book that you don't think you can read again? A book that is as intellectually stimulating as it is emotionally exhausting? Honest answer: I don't know. As Sylvia Plath's only published novel, The Bell Jar has been in my TBR since a long time. Especially as I'm not much into poetry, this book seemed to be a great way of knowing the troubled poet intimately. I'm glad that I waited all this time before attempting the book because I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the dark beauty of this painful story in my younger years. Esther Greenwood, the leading character of this semi-autobiographical novel masquerading as a fictional bildungsroman, is an intelligent college student with dreams of becoming a poet. After being selected for a summer internsh...

AUTHOR: Jenny Ashcroft GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: June 1, 2020. RATING: 4.5 stars. I must confess. The first thing that appealed to me about this book was its title. "Bombay" is not just a word, it is a feeling. I have never been able to feel as close to the word "Mumbai" because I have grown up in Bombay. So when I saw the ARC of this book listed on NetGalley, I had to have it, irrespective of its genre. It has been ages since I've read a romantic drama, but I am glad that this time lapse was rectified by this book. It is such a gem! Maddy Bright and Luke Devereaux meet in the British-governed Bombay of 1913. Head over heels in love from the moment they see each other, they start making plans for the future, which has different plans for them. The First World War brings in its wake an unexpected upheaval in the lives of the young couple and their families. Jenny Ashcroft has a firm grasp over her plot at all times. With a deft use of varied tim...