Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Elle Spellman GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, Romance. RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Unlike what the cover and the blurb suggest, this book is quite intense. It clicked only to some extent with me, partly because I had very different expectations from it. Story: Steph has moved to a new city after her breakup and is desperate to show everyone through her Instagram that her life is on perfect track. The reality however is that she is lonely and broke. Eric is battling a relationship hangover ever since his breakup with “Perfect Clarissa” almost a year ago. As all his friends are married, having kids, and in their own homes, Eric feels left out as the bachelor still living in a houseshare. What Steph and Eric don’t know is that they are only… … “Two Doors Away”. Their homes are on either side of house number 26, from where dulcet piano melodies can be heard playing every night at 10pm. All of a sudden, the music has stopped and number 26 is dark and silent. What happened? Can

AUTHOR: Mike Shiell GENRE: Graphic Novel RATING: 3.5 stars. Imagine reading a whole graphic novel where the main character is a tiny ball of lint! What creativity!!! (Don’t be confused by the genre ‘graphic novel’ – this is strictly for little children.) So, Linty, who is a ball of lint stuck in a jeans pocket, is unaware of life beyond his blue residence. He spends his day entertaining himself with many solo games and exercises. But one day, some new objects unexpectedly land up in the same pocket. (Which, by the way, seems to be astonishingly huge; we girls will never know the benefits of such large denim pockets. Sigh...) Linty finds himself overwhelmed with these new visitors but soon discovers that life is fun with friends around. Unfortunately, wash day is around the corner and these visitors make their move in the outer world. What will Linty’s experience be like in the washing machine? Will he ever meet his friends again? Read and find out. The biggest USP of the novel is that

AUTHOR: Nancy Garden GENRE: LGBTQ, Historical Drama. RATING: 4.25 Stars. At its heart, this is just a love story. A simple, heartfelt, emotional love story of a couple that faces hurdles and tries to overcome them. How is the book different from the umpteen other romance novels in the market? Well, the couple in love – Liza and Annie – happen to be young and female. Also, ‘Annie on my Mind’ happens to be one of the first queer fiction books where the gay characters were main characters, both survive till the end and stay homosexual till the end! Seventeen year old Liza and Annie meet, they become friends, and then realise that their feelings go much deeper. Despite pressure from school and family, they know their relationship is meant to be. Both Liza and Annie are high schoolers, and their voices are written so authentically that you’ll forget the author was in her forties when she wrote this. Every single one of their feelings comes out strongly, right from confusion over sexual ori

AUTHOR: Holly Goldberg Sloan GENRE: Middle Grade Fiction RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Well, I liked this more than I expected. Having zero expectations helped, I guess. Story: Twelve year old Willow Chance is a genius in many fields but finds it difficult to connect with people. When her adopted parents die in a car crash, she is left alone in a world where there’s no one to understand her. How Willow gets back on her feet again with the help of a motley assortment of people forms the crux of the story. The book is written in the first person perspective of Willow and third person povs of many other key characters. What I liked about the book: ✔ This was a very fast-paced read, despite its choppy writing style. I didn’t feel the 380 pages at all. It was easy to complete this within a day. ✔ The start is a bit challenging as the narrative goes on jumping from topic to topic, and also from person to person. (Reminded me of every single conversation with my kids where we begin with

AUTHOR: Indra Zuno NARRATOR: Sarah-Jane Drummey GENRE: Historical Fiction RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Outstanding in its historical details, but why couldn’t the story have included some happy moments too? This was mentally exhausting. Story: 1729, Ireland. Blaire Eakins is a fifteen year old Scot living during the period of a nationwide famine. (Not the Great Irish Famine, as I had originally assumed, which came more than a century later.) When there is no hope of a better future for him in his town, he decides to accompany his brother to set sail to Philadelphia. As they have no money for passage, they commit to being indentured servants for a period of four years, at the end of which period they would earn their “freedom dues” – payment made in the form of money and some non-cash items to enable the ex-servant to begin a free life. But will things go as easily as planned? 1729, London. Mallie Ambrose, a ten year old orphan, is arrested on charges of pickpocketing. Her sentenc

AUTHOR: Axie Oh GENRE: Fantasy, Korean, Retelling. RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: Minority opinion alert! This wasn’t my cup of tea. Sorry. But it just didn’t click with me. Story: Mina’s village is ravaged by severe storms since decades. To appease the Sea God, a pretty young girl is thrown in to the sea to serve as his “bride” so that someday, he will choose the right bride and be appeased, thereby ending the calamities. This year, it’s the turn of Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village to be the Sea God’s bride. However, Cheong is in love with Joon, Mina’s beloved older brother. To keep the two lovers united, Mina makes a last minute sacrifice and throws herself into the sea. Swept away to the Spirit realm by an underwater dragon, Mina is stunned to see that the Sea God is in an enchanted sleep. All she has for company is three strange young men – Shin, Namgi and Kirin – and a few spirits. But whom can she trust and who is out to get her? Will she able to serve her pur

AUTHOR: Anna Weltman GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, Mathematics RATING: 4.5 stars. Did you know that ... 👉 The Venus flytrap uses maths to trap unsuspecting insects inside its leaves? 👉 Slender buildings bend a little during strong winds and might cause seasickness? 👉 A doughnut and a coffee mug are the same shape mathematically? 👉 The shape of a band-aid (rectangle with semicircles at the end) is called a ‘discorectangle’? This book contains many such fun bits of trivia. But it doesn’t stop here. As the title cleverly suggests, this is not your “average” maths book. (Don’t you love the punny sound of it?) I’ve read quite a few books on making maths comfortable for children, but all of them end up providing definitions and theorems, though in a fun way. This book strives to be different. There are hardly any staid definitions. What we get instead is an application-intensive book filled with examples of how maths is actually used in the real world. Right from architecture to shop

AUTHORS: Various GENRE: Fantasy Anthology RATING: 3.75 stars. An interesting anthology with many outstanding stories. The book is the first of four planned anthologies based on the seasons, with summer, spring, and autumn to follow. The idea is to put on paper the inherent essence of each season. This book is based on winter, so all the stories are set against a cold, snowy background. As the editor’s note declares, for winter, the intention is to capture "its darkest, deepest depths." The tagline on the cover suggests that it is also a “folk and fairy tale anthology”. Thus all the tales have this fantastical setting that involves magic and mystique, spookiness and surrealism, romance and regret. The collection contains 17 stories from a variety of writing styles. Some are scary, some are funny, some are emotional, some are simply bizarre. The collection goes to show how fairy tales and folk tales are much beyond what people assume them to be. They aren’t always light and fro

AUTHOR: Laura Jarratt GENRE: Contemporary Drama RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: This surprised me. It’s a well-written and well-paced drama with many thoughtful lines, memorable characters and difficult situations. Worth reading when you are looking for a book to prickle your mind and tickle your heart. Story: Cerys has decided that she has had enough of her life. She drives away to a remote spot, sets her car afire, and waits on the hillside to die. But life has other plans for her and instead of meeting death, she ends up bumping into Lily and her four year old, who also seem to be escaping something. The two women form an immediate bond. But how far can a bond be strengthened if it is based on incomplete facts and constant threats from the past? Will the two ever be able to trust each other and leave their earlier lives behind? Read and find out. The book is written in a third person narration mainly from the points of view of Cerys and Lily. Where the book worked well for me: ✔ Th

AUTHOR: Siobhan Curham NARRATOR: Laurence Bouvard GENRE: Historical Fiction RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: The historical part of this book is very good (not excellent, but definitely good.) The rest of the book, nope. Story: 1939 onwards, somewhere near Paris: Laurence runs a little bookstore with a twist. She calls herself the book doctor and loves to give “prescriptions” of books/poems to her customers as per their emotional requirements. When the Germans come to her town in 1940, she finds the changes in her life overwhelming and thus begins resistance against the Nazis, both through her own little ways of protest and through an underground resistance network. Taking inspiration from her role model, Laurence decides to do what she can to see her beloved France free of the Germans. 1990s USA. On the funeral day of her mother, Jeanne seems to be uncovering some family secrets. One of these is through a box her father Wendell gives her. It contains the deeds to a bookstore in France,

AUTHOR: Tricia Cresswell GENRE: Historical Fiction RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Great in history, okay in mystery. As a debut novel, this aims high but gets mixed results. Story: Northumberland, 1838. After a storm, a woman is found naked near the high moor by a local villager. The woman has no memory of who she is or where she came from. But she somehow knows how to act as a midwife, dress up wounds, and even speaks French. With no signs of her memory returning, she settles in the village, going by Joanna (the name given to her by the fellow who found her), and tries to rebuild her life using the skills she remembers. But will she ever be content when she feels so lost about her past? London 1841. Dr. Borthwick is making a name as a physician and accoucheur (a male midwife), though he is careful to always visit expectant mothers with his female midwife assistant, Mrs. Bates. His official clientele comes from the upper echelons of society, but he doesn’t shy away from volunteeri

AUTHORS: Jason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi GENRE: NonFiction, Racism. RATING: 3.75 stars. An interesting and enlightening read, though it didn’t quite work out the way I had expected (I thought it was more generic in nature. I totally forgot that the blurb mentions its focus on the USA.) Jason Reynolds declares that this is not a history book. But a great chunk of it is dedicated to US history and how racism and anti-racism became mainstream topics in the country. The range of topics covered is vast: skin colour and religion based discrimination, how racist ideas began, historical racists, contemporary racism, biblical scriptures being used for racist thinking, white privilege, gender discrimination, interracial relationships, segregation, black power… It goes from one hard-hitting idea to another. More importantly, it does so in a chronological order such that the development of these thoughts over the centuries is made vividly clear. Originally written by Ibram X. Kendi under the t

AUTHOR: Catriona Ward NARRATOR: Christopher Ragland GENRE: Psychological Horror RATING: 4.5 stars. More than 24 hours later, and I am still caught in the tentacles of this book! It is so weird, and yet it is so well-written! There’s a saying in Hindi that goes, “Jo dikhta hai, wo hota nahi hai, aur jo hota hai, wo dikhta nahi hai.” Translated to English, it means, “What is seen has not happened, and what is happening is not seen.” That’s the book! Whatever story summary I write, you can be sure that it isn’t exactly what the book is about. So! Here’s all you need to know: 1. You will meet four main characters through the first person perspective: Ted, Lauren, Olivia, and Dee. Not giving any character insights except that Olivia is a cat. 2. Each of the characters has a strong and distinct yet weird personality. My personal favourite was Olivia, the Bible-quoting, self-righteous cat who wants to follow “The Lord”. 😂😂😂😂 Her portrayal, right from her hatred of dogs to her loyalty to

AUTHOR: Marcus Sedgwick GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction. RATING: 2 stars. Outlier review here, sorry. But this book did nothing for me. 😕 Cassie Cotton has been missing since a few hours. Her friend Fitz, who is also in the same band as she is, ponders over why she must have disappeared and is determined to find her. What adds complications is that Cassie has always been unusual, more so since she claims to hear a weird humming noise from Earth. She believes this to be a distress call by the planet grappling with climate change because of human activity. Though Cassie is the prime focus of the narrative, the emotions come from Fitz’s perspective, as the story is written in his first person pov. There are a few good themes in the book: friendship, bullying, music, respect for the planet and its resources, and parental relationships. As it is set in the present, it also offers a glimpse into children's feelings about the sudden change in lifestyle because of the lockdown. The story is s

Author: Sara Sartagne Genre: Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Dual Timeline Rating: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A highly interesting story that began slowly and steadily, gained excellent momentum but fell short at the end. If you are not like me and don’t ask too many ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ while reading, you will enjoy the book much better. Story: 2019. Stacie Hayward is a trainee teacher who is the odd one out in a family of high academic achievers. She is also the odd one because she has the unusual ability of seeing ghosts. When a visiting American professor Nate is invited to stay at their house, Stacie’s ghosts disappear from her house. But at an external venue, she is visited by the ghost of a young girl who cautions her about being careful. What danger lies in Stacie’s future? 1619. Sarah Bartlett, a young healer is a small English village, is left all alone after the death of her parents and siblings. She does her best to heal the villagers with her home-brewed concoctions and local

AUTHOR: Laila Sabreen NARRATORS: Channie Waites, Tamika Katon-Donegal, and Lynette R. Freeman. GENRE: Young Adult, Contemporary Drama. RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA story where three young Black Muslim American girls become part of an online journal that aims to shatter Islamophobia after a terrorist attack. YA readers will enjoy this work more than adults. Story: Sabriya is an Abington, Virginia resident, loves ballet, and is only of only two Black dancers at her advanced ballet class. She dreams of clearing an audition for a spot at the summer intensive in a ballet theatre. Zakat is from Lullwood, Georgia. She is a senior at a local Islamic school and loves sketching. Her parents, both of whom are engineers, want her to opt for more traditional, secure career choices. Farah is from Inglethorne, California and is interested in programming. Her boyfriend is leaving for college in the summer and she is wondering if their relationship will work long-distance. Plus, her mom wishe

AUTHOR: Quentin Zuttion GENRE: Graphic Novel RATING: 3.25 Stars. A pretty good graphic novel, quite emotional in places, but its style left me from feeling more fondness for it. Estelle is a nurse at an assisted living centre. Her patients are senior citizens who are unable to care for themselves. Estelle cares for them, plays with them, and makes sure that their final days are comfortable. But once they pass away, she finds herself feeling overwhelmed by the loss. The book covers many stories of such residents who end up impacting Estelle more than she anticipated. The story is quite impactful in its poignancy. Estelle’s emotional upheaval and the loneliness of the residents is well-depicted. While the story feels a bit repetitive after a while, the ending provides the perfect finale and hence makes it worthwhile. However, I didn’t like the artwork. It is in watercolour style and painted mostly in faded blues and greys. While this adds to the melancholic feel of the story, it also cr

AUTHOR: Danya Kukafka GENRE: Literary Fiction RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A haunting read that is going to leave a long book hangover. I loved almost every bit of it. But I have a feeling that you must be in the right kind of mood when you pick this up. Thankfully, it came to me at the correct time. Story: Ansel Packer is an inmate on the death row. His execution is just twelve hours away. He knows his crimes, but has he accepted his fate? The book takes you on a countdown of sorts, with the story beginning at the twelve hours mark and working its way down to zero hour. Interspersed with the above narrative are many other points of view, all from the eyes of various women in Ansel’s life. So you see, this is not just Ansel’s story. It is also the story of all the women whose lives he changed irrevocably, in good ways and in bad, sometimes both, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Ansel’s story is narrated in second person - present tense, while the other narrations of the women in