Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: J.H. Foster SERIES: Rebels and Resistance #0.5 GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: June 10, 2025 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A prequel story to the Rebels and Resistance series. Good pacing and plot. A bit hurried at times. Offers a good glimpse of the key characters, but could have done with some more detailing in the emotional bits. Regardless, it does its job as a prequel. I am curious to know these interesting characters more through the main novels. Plot Preview: April 1933, Austria. Hannah, a fifteen-year-old Jewish orphan, lives under the care of her strict Catholic guardian Herr Weisz. His son Pieter is a part of the SS, which makes the situation at home even more restrictive. Hannah’s only friend is Weisz’s niece Katarina, who is three years older. Katarina convinces Hannah to join her into one last jaunt to the city before they have to return to their respective schools. However, their secret escapade turns dangerous when they are caught in the middle o...

AUTHOR: Pedro Íñiguez ILLUSTRATOR: Nathan Kwan GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2025 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A picture book about the dangers of fibbing. Cute story and cute illustrations. A good lesson for little ones (and adults) to remember. Recommended, but it will work better with discussions. Plot Preview: Second-grader Pepe planned to use the comic book he had drawn on Show-and-Tell day. But after seeing his classmates’ presentations, he is embarrassed at the childishness of his work. So he takes a ball of lint from his pocket and spins a lie about it being a magical creature with impressive physical features. Unfortunately for Pepe, his fib soon turns into reality. Worse, his “fib” grows every time Pepe fibs about its qualities. The danger seems to balloon out of Pepe’s control. How can he restore normalcy and get rid of the giant Fib monster? This is a clever book that uses a creative story to drive home an important point: even small...

AUTHOR: Sarah Andersen SERIES: Sarah's Scribbles, #5 GENRE: Sequential Art Novel PUBLICATION DATE: October 1, 2024 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: The fifth graphic novel in the Sarah's Scribbles series. Standalone. Hilarious. Much more relatable to me as this is about thirty-plus-aged adult introverts rather than younger adults. Half the book contains comic strips and half contains her journey as an artist. Recommended. Whether you know the artist Sarah Andersen or not, you might have seen at least one of her comics somewhere on the internet. Many of her comic strips have been turned into memes. And as she often writes about topics that are relatable, the memes too end up hitting the right spot between factual and funny. Each book in her Sarah's Scribbles series contains a collection of her comic strips based on some dominant theme. Of course, the comics only partly cater to the main theme as they also cover some funny universal truths. This time around, the theme is the...

AUTHOR: Emily Buchanan GENRE: Contemporary Dystopian. PUBLICATION DATE: July 1, 2025 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: Partly, a romance-drama about an influencer who thinks that her dead boyfriend has been reincarnated as a plant. Partly, a near-future dystopian climate fiction. (Could you guess the second genre from the cover?) Not a light read. Somewhat unlikeable characters, slow-ish pacing, a bit bizarre and meandering in its plot development. Highlights the perils of social media, but also portrays environmentalists in a slightly lopsided manner. Mixed feelings, not just because the plot didn’t go the way I thought it would. Plot Preview: Thirty-two-year-old Fiona, popular online as @FoliageFifi, hasn’t left her house ever since her boyfriend Ed died three months ago. All that she had worked for – her role as a green influencer on social media as well as the environmental activism she did jointly with Ed, is now ignored. When a houseplant is left at her doorstep with an anonymous n...

AUTHOR: Tonya Mitchell GENRE: Historical Suspense. PUBLICATION DATE: August 19, 2025 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical suspense with mild elements of thriller, paranormal and romance. Fabulous storyline, great characters, excellent historical content, outstanding atmosphere. Medium-paced for the most way. Though a couple of things could have gone better for me, I enjoyed this read. Gripping all the way. Much recommended! DON’T READ THE GR BLURB! Plot Preview: 1841. Philadelphia. Seventeen-year-old Annis has had to flee from New York with her younger brother Ben, though she doesn’t reveal the reason to him. With no family alive, all Annis has is a possibly-cursed family heirloom and her artistic talent to survive. When, after an accident, she is offered work as a medical illustrator by the awe-inspiring Dr. Mütter, Annis hopes that she can leave the past behind and finally secure their future. However, a ghost doesn’t let Annis forget what happened in New York. She can only...

AUTHOR: Sangu Mandanna GENRE: Cozy Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: July 15, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A cozy fantasy about a witch who tries to grab a second chance at getting her powers back. Wonderful and mostly whimsical characters, funky magic, great diversity, good storyline, and a satisfying ending. BUT the “cutesy-ness” feels a bit forced this time and the book contains two things that I don’t prefer in cozies: cursing and spice. Still, a good option for fans of the genre, especially if they enjoy twee adult stories. I liked this, but I loved the author’s earlier novel much more. Plot Preview: Lancashire, England. Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in the country. But when she resurrected the only parent-figure in her life, her great-aunt Jasmine, immediately after her death, Sera lost almost all her powers and was exiled from the Guild for indulging in illegal magic. Now, fifteen years later, thirty-year-old Sera, grumpy and frustrated at the loss of her...

AUTHOR: Moira Butterfield ILLUSTRATOR: Ro Ledesma GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: August 19, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A funny and informative picture book about the various hics and toots of the human body. Educational in content and entertaining in tone. A good choice for any child (and adult) interested in anatomical noises. 😉 You already know that the human body makes sounds. Not counting our verbalised intelligible communication, we still create plenty of noises. Involuntary audible sounds through farts, burps, stomach gurgles ( It’s called “borborygmi”! I never knew! ), hiccups, and so on; hidden involuntary sounds inside of our body that we are never aware of such as heartbeats; sounds coming because of age or illnesses such as creaky joints or coughs; voluntary sounds we make while blowing raspberries or shushing someone at the library; and even voluntary noises such as claps – the book covers it all. There are also several examples of animal (and...

AUTHOR: Wilfrid Lupano ILLUSTRATOR: Stéphane Fert GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: February 11, 2025 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A graphic novel about the first Black girls’ school in the USA. Great historical insights, but too short to do justice to the storyline. Still, worth a pick for the light it shines on a relatively unknown part of history. Better suited to older teens and adults as it is quite dark and upsetting. Plot Preview: 1832. Canterbury, Connecticut. When young Sarah has questions about the oddities she sees in nature, she goes to Prudence Crandall, a young white woman who runs a boarding school, for clarifications. Seeing Sarah’s curiosity sparks an idea in Prudence and she takes Sarah as her first Black student. She is motivated enough to advertise for more Black students to join them. Thus, thirty years before the abolition of slavery, in a place where Blacks were legally free but practically without civil rights, fifteen girls become a happy part of the...

AUTHOR: Allen Eskens GENRE: Contemporary Mystery PUBLICATION DATE: February 18, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical mystery in dual timeline. Interesting lead character, good story, great historical content. Quite gruesome in the war-related bits. A tad too convenient at times, and the romance subplot track annoyed me (as expected). But on the whole, a worthwhile read. Plot Preview: Minnesota. Hana is a reserved forty-seven-year old librarian who keeps her personal life guarded. When a detective comes to her with the news that her best friend Amina has been murdered, Hana knows that her past has finally caught up with her. But as no one else knows who she was or what she did, Hana has to rely on her instincts and her old training to protect herself and also Amina’s eight-year-old grandson who has been left in Hana’s care. The story comes to us in two timelines, both written in third person. One is the contemporary track from Hana’s point of view. The other is from 1995, s...

AUTHOR: Jeyamohan TRANSLATOR: Priyamvada Ramkumar GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: August 12, 2025 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A collection of stories all based on real-life people. The first ever translation of Tamil writer Jeyamohan’s work to English. Slice-of-life writing, which rarely works for me. Not sure if this will easily find an audience among non-Indians in the USA as the content is quite parochial. Better suited to readers who enjoy non-linear, meandering narratives and preferably have some familiarity with the (South) India of historical and recent times. Jeyamohan is a prolific Tamil writer, currently based in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu. He has won many prestigious awards for his writing. This is his first work to be translated to English. It was initially published in Tamil in 2011 as "Aram - Unmai Manithargalin Kathai". The first English translation was published in India in 2022. This US edition of the English version is due for release in Aug...

AUTHOR: Julie Clark GENRE: Suspense-Drama. PUBLICATION DATE: June 3, 2025 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary suspense-drama about a dysfunctional family and its secrets. (So what’s new, right?) Interesting characters and plot, but somehow, this doesn’t deliver on the ‘wow’ factor. I wasn’t bored, but I also wasn’t too invested. Recommended, but not a must-read. Plot Preview: Forty-four-year-old Olivia Dumont had a successful career as a ghostwriter until one day, she put her foot in her mouth and sabotaged her future. So when her agent calls her for a ghostwriting assignment for the famous horror author Vincent Taylor, Olivia knows she has no choice but to accept the job. Everyone knows that Vincent is infamous for being the prime suspect in the murder of his two siblings Danny and Poppy fifty years ago. But what no one, including Olivia’s agent, knows is that Vincent is Olivia’s estranged father. Now that he has summoned Olivia to ghostwrite his final book, is he finall...

AUTHOR: R.R. Davis ILLUSTRATOR: Francesco Dabbicco GENRE: Fantasy-Drama. PUBLICATION DATE: August 12, 2025 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary fiction about a young boy and his monsters: real and imagined. Arctic setting, introspective lead character, and good overall plot. Too melancholic and dark at times, dense in writing style, gruesome, and slow paced. Strictly for adults despite the young protagonist. Not my cup of tea due to some of the writing choices. Recommended to certain lit fic fans. Plot Preview: 1995, Labrador Island, Newfoundland, Canada. Twelve-year-old Robert, half Scot and half Innu, stays on the rocky island with his father and his younger brother. As Robert physically resembles his Scottish father, it is not easy for him to fit on the island. His overbearing dad adds to his travails by not allowing to leave their yard anytime or to interact with the locals. The most important rule for both brothers is: Never touch the floor at night. However, as the outside ...

AUTHOR: Lupita Nyong'o ILLUSTRATOR: Vashti Harrison GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: October 15, 2019 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A picture book focussing on colorism and self-acceptance. Poetic writing that might be a tad tricky for little readers. The storyline could have done better for me. But the outstanding illustrations saved the overall rating. Plot Preview: Little Sulwe was born "the colour of midnight". None of her other family members have the exact same skin tone as she does. After facing bullying and ostracism in school, Sulwe tries everything she can think of to lighten her skin, whether using the eraser on her skin or praying to God to be as bright and beautiful as her mother and her sister. But nothing works. One night, a special visitor comes to visit Sulwe after bedtime and takes her on a magical journey across the night sky. I am not a big fan of the new trend of celebrities writing picture books, but some celebrities are spec...

AUTHOR & NARRATOR: Trevor Noah ILLUSTRATOR: Sabina Hahn GENRE: Illustrated Novel PUBLICATION DATE: October 8, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A illustrated chapter book with two interesting characters and a fable-style narrative. A nice mix of realism and fantasy. Loved the writing and the characters. Adored the thought-provoking bits of wisdom. I wish the ending had extended at least a couple of pages further, but even as is, this is a beautiful book for all, especially but not only for a joint parent-child reading session. Plot Preview: A young boy is tired of the routine chores his mom forces him to do everyday. So when he wakes up one bright Saturday morning, he makes a special plan ‘before chores ruin this special day.’ He takes his best friend – Walter, his teddy bear – and decides to run away from home into the uncut grass beyond his house yard. Walter tries his best to dissuade the boy, but the boy is determined to ‘be free’. What happens next? Most of you would cer...

AUTHOR: Megan Bannen SERIES: Hart and Mercy, #3 GENRE: Romantasy PUBLICATION DATE: July 8, 2025 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A romantasy with an opposites-attract trope. Okay characters, okay plot, good ending. The third book in the Hart and Mercy trilogy. Can work as a standalone but better read in series order. This is my least favourite of the series. The 2025 series-finale jinx strikes again! 😢 Plot Preview: Rosie, an immortal demigod, has long served as a Tanrian Marshall, but after more than a century of service, she is frustrated with the repetitiveness of her work and the regular losses of those around her. While on her latest assignment, she discovers a sinister-looking shadowy haze inside the portal leading to Tanria. Unfortunately, the shadows are visible only to her. Because of her meddling, the portal is now defunct, and the inventor of the magical doorway, Dr. Adam Lee, has to be summoned. It is soon clear that the damage goes far beyond the single portal, so when ...