Rosh's Reviews

  AUTHOR:  Jenni Keer GENRE: Historical Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: September 30, 2024 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical Gothic mystery with paranormal shades. Jane Eyre vibes, but with added eeriness. Great atmosphere, good plot and twist, decent characters, slowburn. Could have worked even better with more depth to the characters and more detailing of some plot points. Plot Preview: 1885. When a young woman, trying to escape from the police, bumps into a stranger and breaks her ankle, little does she know that life as she knew it will change forever. To her surprise, the man, Marcus Greybourne, convinces the policeman that she is his reclusive wife. He takes her back to his home, the crumbling Ravenswood Hall, and tells her that he will keep her safe if she agrees to the charade and pretends to be his wife Luna, who seems to be nowhere around. The new “Luna” has no choice but to agree. But she soon realises that the woman she is impersonating is known locally as the Ravens

AUTHOR: Sayantani Dasgupta GENRE: Anecdotal Memoir PUBLICATION DATE: September 24, 2024 RATING: 3.9 stars. In a Nutshell: A delightful OwnVoices collection of essays about the author’s experiences as a brown woman in the USA. Note that the title and the blurb are somewhat misleading. This is not a generic book on racism or stereotyping or ‘othering’, but an anecdotal memoir: the story of ONE brown woman, and a privileged one at that. It’s wonderfully written, but don’t look for generalised ‘brown woman’ life experiences. There should be no doubt about why I grabbed this book. That title, “Brown women have everything”, beamed out to me like a beacon. As a brown Indian woman, I was thrilled to see someone of my skin colour ( or at least in the same brown-shade family ) pen a set of essays about brown experiences. This turned out to be a slightly incorrect estimation. The title is taken from something a white woman said to the author, so in that context, it is represented in the book. U

COMPILERS: Irene Latham & Charles Waters ILLUSTRATOR: Mercè López GENRE: Middle-grade Poetry. PUBLICATION DATE: October 1, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A poetry anthology aimed at middle-graders, containing confessions from twenty poets about the mistakes they made in their childhood and the lessons they learnt. Great intent, good execution. Could have limited appeal because of the poetry factor. This anthology contains twenty poems written by twenty poets. Each poem contains a sort of confession about a mistake the poet made during their childhood and the lesson they learnt from the same. I am not a poetry fan, but the theme of this book was too good to resist. The introductory note sets the right tone for the book, beginning by explaining how there can be various types of mistakes but each of them is a learning opportunity. It also suggests that we normalise talking about mistakes instead of focussing only on our triumphs. After all, talking about mistakes is helpful

AUTHOR: David Bowles ILLUSTRATOR: Charlene Bowles SERIES: Tales of the Feathered Serpent, #1 GENRE: Middle-grade Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 2020 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices middle-grade graphic novel narrating the story of “The Dwarf King of Uxmal”, a Mesoamerican myth. Fun story and interesting characters. Perfect for the age group. Plot Preview: A thousand years ago in the Yacatan Peninsula, the city of Uxmal was ruled by a cruel king named Kinich Kak Ek. So sure was he of his power that he was unfazed by a prophecy announcing the kind of person who would threaten his throne. On the outskirts of the city, Sayam grew up with his grandmother, knowing that he was different from other kids: he was born from an egg, after all! His grandmother, who was a kind witch, taught him the ancient ways of magic. What brings Kinich Kak Ek and Sayam into direct confrontation with each other? How will the prophecy be fulfilled? Read and find out! Most mytholo

AUTHOR: Anna Dowdall GENRE: Literary crime drama PUBLICATION DATE: October 15, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical crime novel written in a literary character-oriented style. Interesting characters, good writing, slow pace, unusual approach to an otherwise usual plot. Recommended but not to all. Plot Preview: 1962. Twenty-nine-year-old Sister Harriet has just taken a teaching position in Saint Reginald’s Academy, an elite boarding school for girls, set in the fictional river city of Bonthonville in Canada. Bonthonville is currently in the news for the ongoing construction of the world’s largest suspension bridge, but soon, a new event dominates the headlines: a mysterious disappearance of students from the academy. While Harriet is already battling her inner demons about the solidity of her faith, these incidents stress her shaky self-identity even further. The story comes to us in the third-person perspective of various characters, but mostly from Harriet’s pov. B

AUTHOR: Mirka Andolfo SERIES: Blasfamous , #1-2 GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: October 8, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A satirical graphic novel that combines evangelical zealotry and celebrity worship culture into a zany plot. A dark plot that left me speechless, for various reasons. Mindblowing illustrations. Cliffhanger ending!! ☹ Plot Preview: Clelia is the reigning queen of pop, but not in the way you would imagine. Her is a world where pop stars are divine and can bestow miracles on their fans. Managed by Father Lev, Clelia has to ensure that her performance is top of the charts in every way, so that devotees continue attending her concerts and bow to her in veneration. But the situation is threatened by two new factors: a mental health issue that causes Clelia to self-harm, and a newcomer who seems to be endowed with more prowess (musical or otherwise) than Clelia. The battle for religious dominance this begins, and no one knows how the fight will end. This