Rosh's Reviews

  AUTHOR:  Victoria Darke GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 27, 2024 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A Gothic novel in dual timeline, focussing on some strong themes and incorporating actual events. The character development could have worked better for me, but the research and the fabulous setting of the Thames, were impressive.  Plot Preview: 2013. Meredith and her husband Philip have just purchased May Day house, a semi-dilapidated historical mansion that served as a hospital during WWII. They intend to restore it and open it up for events. But as the house stands on its own island in the Thames, the riverside community is against any restoration fearing environmental pollution. As the couple struggle to get things going, Meredith begins to hear voices from the river and see strangers in the house. This worsens when she finds an old notebook in a room, detailing what happened at May Day during the war. 1942. Ellen has just arrived at May Day House ...

AUTHOR: Radiya Hafiza GENRE: Middle-grade Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: March 21, 2024 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy supposedly based on a Bengali folklore. The story had great promise, but the execution left me bored. Really disappointed, because I had had great expectations from this one. Plot Preview: Aya, whose age we find out much later in the book as being ten years old, adores the night sky and the stars. So when there’s news of a meteor shower, she makes plans along with her best friend Naznen to go up the nearby hill and watch the spectacle first at hand at midnight, even after her mother’s express command telling her not to leave her bed. Unexpectedly, Aya is struck by a star, and seems to have come away unscathed. Until some weird powers begin to manifest. When an evil entity named Abnus invades and takes over the kingdom of Alferra, Aya learns of a terrifying prophecy. The story comes to us in Aya’s third person perspective. Few middle-grade folklore-...

AUTHOR: Gina Chung GENRE: Short Story Collection, Speculative Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: March 12, 2024 RATING: 4.15 stars. In a Nutshell: An astounding collection of speculative fiction with some diverse female characters. Infused with a strong Korean flavour, but with situations and emotions that are universal. A fabulous OwnVoices option for short story lovers, especially those with a fondness for speculative fiction. This collection of fifteen stories comes with no author’s note. However, the blurb helps us know that this collection of “offbeat, scintillating stories influenced by Korean fairy tales and contemporary ennui, shines a light on womanhood in all of its human (and other) forms.” An intriguing and ambitious theme, met almost perfectly by the stories, which come from varied genres such as speculative fiction, contemporary drama, fantasy, folk lore, and sci-fi. The author’s imagination is powerful, as is her exploration of emotions. There’s a sense of poignancy underlying m...

AUTHOR: Robert Tregoning ILLUSTRATOR: Stef Murphy GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: June 6, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A sweet little picture book about being yourself and doing your best to shine. Interesting characters, great rhymes, rainbow illustrations. Recommended! Plot Preview: Fred the fairy works in the Department of Dresses at a Wish Granting Plant in Far Far Away, but he’s never been given a wish to handle. When he finally gets his first wish, it is from a boy named Joshua, who has been invited to a princess party and wants a dress. Will Fred be able to conjure up the perfect outfit for Joshua and make sure that he is the best-dressed princess at the party? This picture book might seem like a retelling of Cinderella, but in essence, it is much more. I love how sweetly it highlights Fred’s need to prove himself as well as Joshua’s need to be a great princess. There’s no judgement at all in the book. A boy receives an invitation to a ‘princess’ ...

  AUTHOR:  Jaimie Admans SERIES: The Ever After Street, #3 GENRE: Romance-Drama PUBLICATION DATE: May 24, 2024 RATING:  4 stars. In a Nutshell: This series is proving to be such a delight! The plot this time is quite simple but the characters and the writing approach make this a winner. Much recommended to all those who enjoy clean romcoms intertwined with some meaningful themes.  Plot Preview: Cleo Jordan has always dreamt of owning her own tea room. So when Lilith retires, Cleo puts in an application to lease the teashop on Ever After Street and redo it with an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ motif. To her surprise, her application is granted on a three-month trial basis. There’s only one hitch: Cleo loves baking, but baking doesn’t love her back anymore! As Cleo figures out how to turn supermarket baked goods into whimsical wonderland offerings so that the trial gets extended into a permanent lease, there comes one more hurdle. Magician Bram, who had been running the c...

AUTHOR: Reuven Fenton GENRE: Jewish Contemporary Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: May 28, 2024 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary coming-of-age novel, though the main characters are middle-aged. A good debut work, but somewhat uneven in execution. This book didn’t gel with me for various reasons, but it does have its merits and ought to work better for the right reader, preferably a Jewish one. Plot Preview: Twins David and Marty were pretty close in childhood, but have been estranged since many years. They live almost contrasting lives. Marty, who now goes by Mayer, is a Talmud scholar married into a rich rabbinic family from Brooklyn. David lives a hedonistic life, focussed more on material enhancement than on spiritual development. When their mother dies and the brothers come together to plan a funeral, they are totally unprepared for the shell-shocking revelation in her final missive: she was not Jewish. And as per Jewish law, if your mother isn’t Jewish, neither are you. ...

AUTHOR: Jenni L. Walsh NARRATORS: Gail Shalan and Brian Holden GENRE: Middle-grade Historical Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: April 2, 2024 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade historical fiction about a little girl’s experiences during and after the events of Pearl Harbor. Based on a true story. A bit too dark for the age group, but a good read for those who can handle it. Plot Preview: 1940. Jody is excited when her father is transferred to a small naval base in Pearl Harbor. She always creates a “top ten” list for every new home her military family moves to, but this time, the excitement is greater as it is the first time she will have her wonderful pet, an ex-military sentry dog named Happy, by her side. When Jody learns that Happy is slowing down, she resolves to do as many fun things as she can in the time she has left with him. However, this plan is affected when her mother has some ominous feelings about the island. When her worst fears come true, Jody’s father needs t...

AUTHOR: Jen Daily ILLUSTRATOR: Gwen Millward GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: June 11, 2024 RATING: 4.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A brilliant exploration of the “magical science of feelings”, highlighting some important information and action strategies to handle emotions in an easy-to-understand manner. Loved the content as well as the approach. Much recommended! Feelings are often viewed as ‘abstract’ concepts. Kids know about common feelings, but they do not realise how these are directed within our bodies, originating from our brains but affecting our entire self. Even some adults might be surprised to discover just how much physiology is involved in our emotions. This book seeks to bridge the gap between the abstract and the concrete. It explains, in as simple a way as possible, how various components within the brain function during various emotions. The feelings tackled by the book aren’t just common ones such as happiness or worry, but also some complex ones s...

AUTHOR: Mariajo Ilustrajo GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: June 4, 2024 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Good intent, but the execution lacks punch. Has some abstract ideas that aren’t effectively coming across on paper. Mixed feelings. Plot Preview: A little girl is eagerly looking forward to the summer vacation for various reasons, but the most important one is NO more reading! She hates books, you see. So when the teacher tells the kids to read a book during the holidays, she is furious. However, when she opens the library book her mom got for her, she opens it reluctantly, only to find a magical adventure awaiting her. I love the intent of this book. As bibliophiles, we cannot fathom the idea that someone can dislike the hobby of reading. So the concept of a book that aims to motivate children towards reading is great. Then again, book-hating children will still need to be motivated towards this book – a self-defeating task. While the intention is wonderfu...

AUTHOR: Rachel Smythe SERIES: Lore Olympus, #2 GENRE: Graphic Novel, Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: July 5, 2022 RATING: 1 star. This over-hyped graphic novel series is turning out to be a huge disappointment. This second graphic novel covers episodes 26-49 from the Webtoon series. Total episodes: 285. (280, if you don't include the extra content.) ❀ No consistency in character development right from the start. Persephone is still a befuddling character. Hades has turned into a major red flag, except for his love of dogs. ❀ We get a good glimpse of Cerberus, Hades’ three-headed dog, in this section. The canine motivation helped somewhat. ❀ The plot is replete with toxic relationships. Why the heck are people going gaga over this? ❀ Lots of typos. I ignored a couple of mistakes in the initial set but the frequency is greater now. I don’t know if the graphic novels also have the typos, but to see these many spelling errors and missing words in a published digital edition is annoying. ❀ ...

ORIGINAL AUTHOR: Yuval Noah Harari ADAPTER: David Vandermeulen ILLUSTRATOR: Daniel Casanave SERIES: Sapiens: A Graphic History, #1 GENRE: Nonfiction, Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2021 RATING: 2.25 stars. In a Nutshell: Not as good as the first graphic novel. Almost at the same level as the original work. Loads of assumptions and generalisations mixed in with the facts. Good for those interested in the topic, as long as you don’t blindly believe everything herein. Even if you haven’t read Yuval Noah Harari’s 'Sapiens' , you surely would have heard about it. It took the reading world by storm a few years ago and became a seminal work on the anthropological, sociological and technological evolution of humankind. Sapiens was divided in four sections. Each section is now being adapted to a graphic novel. The first two books are already out, and the third one is due to release in October 2024. ‘The Pillars of Civilization’ is the second graphic novel of this series,...

AUTHOR: Rachel Smythe SERIES: Lore Olympus, #1 GENRE: Graphic Novel, Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: November 2, 2021 RATING: 2 stars. Yet another Webtoon read. I’ll share a proper review only once done with the final book. Until then, just penning some random thoughts on each graphic novel. ( As is evident below, I can’t be brief even when I am penning random thoughts. ) This first graphic novel covers episodes 1-25 from the Webtoon series. Total episodes: 285. (280, if you don't include the extra content.) ❀ A graphic retelling of the story of Hades and Persephone with a contemporary twist. ❀ Better if you have some basic familiarity with the original characters because introductions aren’t present often. ❀ Balance of seriousness and humour. But the content is as sexist as you would expect from Greek Mythology. ❀ Oddly funny to see the Greek “gods” gallivanting about with smartphones and fancy cars and partying in clubs. ❀ Hades looks promising. As yet, undecided about Persephone. ...

AUTHOR: Nancy Burke GENRE: Short Story Collection. PUBLICATION DATE: May 7, 2024 RATING: 3.4 stars. In a Nutshell: A short story collection set around various “units of measure” that we use in our life. Loved the concept. Liked the stories. But something felt missing. Still recommended, as the variety of the stories in terms of plot and genre is great. The author’s note at the start of this short story collection clearly explains the intriguing theme underlying the seventeen stories herein. (Well, sixteen stories and a novella.) Her definition of “units of measure”, as mentioned in the title, does not refer to the mathematical or scientific standards of measurement but to the way we measure everything in our lives. Whether generic choices or professional decisions or personal commitments or long-term goals, whether our behaviour with others or our treatment of ourselves, there is always some evaluation involved, consciously or subconsciously. And these are the “units” explored in thi...