Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Valeria Angela Pisi ILLUSTRATOR: Francesc Rovira GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: May 12, 2026 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A picture book about a princess who doesn’t want to be rescued. Great concept, good execution, cute illustrations. A decent story that upturns gender stereotypes but has some problematic elements as well. Recommended to be read with discussion. Plot Preview: When the princess is in the dragon’s lair, the king calls all the knights in the land and makes a grand declaration: anyone who saves the princess will be rewarded with all the treasures of the kingdom. Several knights try their luck. But when they reach the dragon’s castle, the princess makes it clear that she doesn’t want to be rescued. Now what? The cover first caught my attention, and the blurb ensured that I would definitely read this book. It’s always nice to see stories where princesses don’t want to be or need to be rescued. Plus, this book is the winner of the ninth ...

AUTHOR: J.S. Helms GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 5, 2026 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A Christian novella about the power of faith and forgiveness. A contemporary retelling of the Book of Jonah from the Bible. I liked most of the story but the writing didn’t work for me. The ending was a disappointment. Not a light read. I wish I could have liked this better because it has a powerful message. Recommended, but not to everyone. Triggers for human and animal deaths. Plot Preview: Even after a family tragedy, Jonas continues in his pastoral work, ensuring the spiritual health of the locals as the Pastoral Care Coordinator at Grace Street Ministry. But while he has grace and forgiveness for those he serves in the community, he hasn’t found it in his heart to forgive certain people from his past. When he is asked to minister to death row inmates – one of whom is a man whose crime mirrors the tragedy that devastated Jonas – he refuses and runs. But God works in myst...

AUTHOR: Mara Rutherford NARRATOR: Anna Burnett GENRE: YA Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: October 21, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA Cozy Fantasy centring on the spunky young owner of a (fake) magic shop. This book took me by surprise! Whatever complaints I usually have about YA novels were mostly missing. I liked the characters, the storyline, the magic (though relatively minimal), the writing and the ending. Except for a few developments in the final quarter, I enjoyed this book. Definitely recommended, as long as you keep in mind that it is YA and has YA characters. Plot Preview: Seventeen-year-old orphan Willow Stokes has been running her father’s magical curiosity shop ever since his sudden death. So what if she too is a charlatan like her father and knows there’s nothing magical about their stock? A girl has to survive! When an outlander named Brianna Hargrave enters the shop, something about her makes Willow realise that there might be some magic in the Stokes stock after al...

AUTHOR: Colm Tóibín GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: March 31, 2026 RATING: 2.1 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary short-story collection by the acclaimed Irish writer. Interesting variety of characters and situations. A bit haphazard in plot development. Flat in character development. Bleak. Feels very lengthy because of the slow pacing and meandering structure. Disappointing endings at times. Didn’t work much for me. This collection comprises nine stories, a few of which have been published before in other publications. The stories are set across multiple countries, Ireland included. I had grabbed this collection mainly for two reasons. One, I have enjoyed a majority of the literary works written by contemporary Irish writers and want to explore more Irish fiction. Two, I liked one short story written by this author for Amazon Original Stories. ( ‘The Shortest Day’ ) However, this collection just wasn’t for me. For one, the 300 pages seem endless as each story is terribl...

AUTHOR: Jennifer Killick GENRE: Middle-grade Horror PUBLICATION DATE: June 4, 2026 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: An illustrated middle-grade horror novel about two boys facing a nightmarish reality. Interesting story and illustrations, but needs work on the execution. I adore the cover art, and like the inside illustrations. The concept had great potential, but certain writing choices didn’t work well for me. It might go decently for the target age group. Plot Preview: Caiden’s dad runs a house-clearing business, and during the vacations, Caiden and his best friend Sam often help him out. Their latest assignment seems like a challenge for all the wrong reasons. The house is filled with bizarre wall displays, deadly weapons, and a strange vibe. It is clear that something went drastically wrong for its owner, though there is no visible evidence of any struggle. When the boys are alone in the family business warehouse that night planning to sort through some of the things from the cr...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Clarice Tudor GENRE: Satire PUBLICATION DATE: May 5, 2026 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A humorous book about contemporary dating misadventures but worded and illustrated in medieval English style. Funny in content and illustrations, though the humour is also a painful reminder of the travails of dating (men in particular.) Recommended to readers with a funny bone and a frustrated love life. One look at that title, cover art, and blurb was enough to make me grab this book. I am long past my dating days, but no woman can resist a chance to empathise with other women’s dating mishaps. Reading this book is like a virtual gossipy session with a fellow woman, bitching about the male specimen of our species. While there might be many books with dating misadventures, what sets this one apart is the medieval style. The tagline calls this “A Modern Medieval Guide to Bad Dates and Worse Decisions”, and the content sticks to this agenda. The author says the content was...

AUTHOR: Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, and Susan Meissner GENRE: Historical Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 18, 2022 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A WWII historical fiction focussing on three nurses stationed in the Philippines. Based on the ‘Angels of Bataan’. Okay character development but good variety of perspectives. Steady plot development, but too complicated at times. Fair representation of the experience of nurses during war-time. Great use of the location. Too much telling. Despite the shortcomings, I found this better than Kristin Hannah’s ‘The Women’. Recommended. Plot Preview: 1941. Manila, Philippines. Eleanor Lindstrom (23, US navy nurse), Penny Franklin (26, US Army nurse), and Lita Capel (22, Filipina nurse) forge a friendship when they first meet at the Army Navy Club in Manila. Each has their secret reasons for enlisting with the military, but as the Philippines is just a stopover point and the war is mainly in Europe, they don’t think they will have trouble....