Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Huda Fahmy SERIES: Huda, #1 GENRE: OwnVoices Graphic Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: November 23, 2021. RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A OwnVoices graphic novel about the experiences of a hijabi American (of Arab-Muslim background) as a high-schooler in America. Excellent combination of humour and meaningful themes and social discrimination. Much recommended! I first discovered Huda Fahmy’s work when I stumbled upon the delightful “That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story” , a graphic novel about how she met her husband. Her wit and her intelligence both are on ample display in her books and her Instagram page. So when I got the ARC of her upcoming work – the third book of the Huda series, I finally decided to catch up on the first two. I adore the name of this series! Using her own name in this twisty pun is such a creative idea, especially when it represents the way her name is mangled by many USians. This first book of the Huda series deals with Huda’s experiences as a Hijabi...

AUTHOR: Aaron N. Hall GENRE: YA Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: February 25, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA Fantasy that feels like a spoof adventure-quest. Whimsical characters. Light moments interspersed with serious themes. Loads of clever humour. The target audience is a bit hazy. Recommended. Plot Preview: Fifteen-year-old Dashing Junior, aka DJ, is the son of the legendary Sir Dashing, a brave and feted knight of Beregond city in the territory of Uh. After retiring from his valiant quests, Sir Dashing has spent the last sixteen years offering his advice and wisdom to the city. In gratitude, it wants to knight him. But as the same person can’t be knighted twice, the powers that be decide to honour his son DJ with knighthood. The problem is that DJ has not done anything knight-like, and is probably not even capable of doing so. Everyone knows this, including DJ himself. So to prove his worthiness for the knighthood, DJ decides to set off on a quest across the territory of Uh ...

AUTHOR: Colleen Alles GENRE: YA Contemporary Romance, Retelling. PUBLICATION DATE: November 19, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary YA retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel, ‘Jane Eyre’. Fairly true to the original, but works even better as an independent novel. A good option for YA readers. You don’t need to read the original to appreciate this better. Plot Preview: Michigan. Seventeen-year-old Jane is a senior at Thornfield High. With her best friend Helen, she is ready to navigate the final year of school, more challenging this year thanks to the merger of the school with Milcott High after fund cuts. One of the new students to transfer to Thornfield is Eddie Rochester, who leaves Jane strangely affected. However, he is already dating another ex-Milcott student, Bertha Mason. When Eddie and Bertha call it quits, Eddie gives mixed signals to Jane, but soon pursues the gorgeous Blanche Ingram. In the meantime, Jane discovers that another fellow student, SJ Ri...

AUTHOR: Rosena Fung GENRE: Coming-of-Age Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: July 2, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: An impactful OwnVoices graphic novel highlighting toxic parenting and intergenerational trauma, through the narratives of a granddaughter, a mother, and a daughter. Loved the triple timeline approach, each with its own powerful point to make. But some more elaboration could have elevated this story even further. Plot Preview: 2000. Toronto. Roz is a typical teen, nerding out on alien fiction, evaluating her college options, and looking forward to the prom. But as she is plus-sized, her body weight is her constant worry, exacerbated by her mother’s demands that she eat less. When her estranged grandmother arrives unexpectedly, the relationship between the trio is further weakened. The plotline is mainly focussed on Roz, but there are two other timelines – 1972 Hong Kong and 1954 Guangdong – detailing her mother’s and her grandmother’s backstories respectively. Bo...

AUTHOR: Mojgan Ghazirad GENRE: Iranian Historical Fiction RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical autofiction based on a young girl’s recollections of what happened in Iran during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution. Not as traumatic as I had expected, which is both good and bad. Impactful in its writing. Disliked the final quarter or so, but the rest was great. Story Synopsis: In 1978, six-year-old Moji and her younger sister love nothing more than to visit her grandparents’ house on Sun Street and listen to their grandfather narrating stories from ‘One Thousand and One Nights’. They do not yet know that the seeds of revolution have already begun to spring up, and very soon, the Shah (the monarch of Iran) will leave his country, changing all their lives. Through Moji’s eyes, we get to see the days during and after the 1979 revolution, with a glimpse of their brief stint in the US where Moji’s dad had been studying during the uprising. The story comes to us from Moji’s fir...

AUTHOR: Laurie Frankel NARRATOR: Gabra Zackman GENRE: Contemporary Fiction RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A beautiful contemporary fiction about a little boy who isn’t a boy. Emotional, realistic, thought-provoking. Well-written almost all the way. Highly recommended. Story Synopsis: Ever since her younger sister Poppy died of cancer during her childhood, Rosie has wanted a daughter named Poppy. But when she has five boys with her writer husband Penn, she accepts that “Poppy” will just be a dream. When her youngest, Claude, is five, he says that he wants to be a girl when he grows up. And maybe even before that. Thus begins a long game of what to reveal and what to keep secret., where to encourage Claude and where to dissuade him, how to keep the family united when little things are driving them apart. Giving them all a thread of hope is a fairy tale. The story comes to us in the limited third person perspectives of Claude, Rosie, and Penn. Bookish Yays: 😍 The handling of the p...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Nandita Basu GENRE: Graphic Novel. RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell:  From the gorgeous cover and title and the intriguing premise, I expected much more. Liked the story okay, but couldn’t connect with the graphics. Might work better for those with a preference for more abstract topics. Story Synopsis: After the sudden death of his mother, teenaged Kunal has been sent to a boarding school in the hills. Until the hostel situation is settled, he needs to stay with his distant aunt Tara, who is a music teacher in the same school.  Kunal has yet to come to terms with his grief, and the change in location isn't helping. Tara herself is battling grief over the death of a close friend many years ago. While music has helped her to a certain extent, what's affecting her mind is that she can always see a strange figure known as 'Death'.  Though both Tara and Kunal aren't comfortable talking about their grief, they realise that the journey ahead will be...

AUTHOR: Delaney Evers GENRE: Cozy Fantasy RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A cozy fantasy adventure with a sixty-year-old protagonist and a whole horde of magical creatures. A fun read when you want something sweet and salty at the same time. Loved it! Story Synopsis: Sixty-year-old Inspirational Wink has always lived an ordinary life with her ordinary family in the ordinary town of Whisper. She has rarely wondered what lay beyond the Three Creek Bridge at the end of the town; her soul has always been happy in its routine. This changes after the death of her father Steadfast. Her widowed mother Belladonna, though grieving the loss of her beloved husband, hands Inspirational an important task of retrieving the Notebook of Whim, which Belladona had stashed in a secret safe place somewhere in Mirror City many years ago. Inspirational knows that she doesn’t have the choice of refusing this mission, or else her mother will keep nagging her. So she sets off, accompanied by a pink horse, a s...

AUTHOR: Karen Wilfrid GENRE: Middle-grade/Lower YA fiction. RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade/lower-YA novel about an asexual girls coming to terms with her sexual orientation. Honestly, I love the intent much more than the content, but just for the fact that it introduces the topic of asexuality to the target age group, I will be generous with my rating. Story Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Lizzie isn’t sure why she hates her developing body or why she can’t say the right gushy things to her pregnant teacher the way the other girls can. But most of all, she wonders why she doesn’t feel ANYTHING towards other boys or even girls. It is only when the topic of asexual reproduction in plants comes up in class that she feels like nature might hold an answer to her queries. The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Lizzie. Bookish Yays: 💐 The biggest yay is easily the main theme of the book. Asexuality is, as far as I know, not yet a sexual orientation explore...

AUTHOR: Susan Azim Boyer GENRE: YA Family Drama RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: I am pleasantly surprised! Enjoyed this YA novel to a great extent. (Just for context, I don’t enjoy YA to any extent, most of the times.) Interesting themes, some good characters, atypical plot. PSA: This is NOT a romance but a sibling story. Story Synopsis: Samira Murphy knows that she is an overfunctioner. She takes care of her widowed grandma and also ensures that her alcoholic elder brother stays put in recovery. However, when certain incidents threaten to topple their already precarious financial situation, she takes a DNA test in a bid to locate her father, whom she hasn’t seen or heard from since she was a baby. Henry Owen has been reared by his aunt and uncle, though his biological mom (his aunt’s sister) is also a vital part of his life. He feels torn between his overly strict adoptive parents and his unreliable birth mom. In a bid to know more about his heritage, he takes a DNA test to search...

AUTHOR: James Thomas GENRE: Literary Fiction, Coming-of-age. RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A good book that will offer plenty to the right reader. But to me, this was a mixed experience, partly due to the writing style and partly due to my reading preferences. This is an outlier opinion. Story Synopsis: The eponymous Joe ( whose "name isn't Joe" ), is a loner in his early thirties, staying in a small rental apartment in London. With many failed relationships behind him and stuck in a dead-end job where he is almost invisible, Joe is existing more than living. Things take a turn when a new neighbour moves in next door. Her ten-year-old son Aaron provides Joe with a fresh zest for life, though the going isn’t always smooth. The story comes to us in Joe’s first person perspective. Bookish Yays: 😍 Aaron. He enters the plot only around the 20% mark but he immediately lifts the book with his presence and his attitude. To me, the best part of the book was this young fell...

AUTHOR: Caroline O'Donoghue GENRE: Literary Fiction RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Go into this with the right expectations. It is a literary fiction with shades of bildungsroman, and not exactly a “brilliantly funny” general fiction as the blurb calls it. Handles its plot and characters pretty well. Story Synopsis: When Rachel Murray was working at a bookstore as a nineteen-year-old college student, she met James Devlin, a self-declared heterosexual though Rachel suspects otherwise. They bond as colleagues and soon become roommates. Navigating the poor economy and broken hearts together, Rachel and James are not just best friends but each other’s emotional support system. When Rachel falls in love with her married English professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, James helps her make a plan to lure him to their bookstore with a reading of his nonfiction work. However, what happens next changes their equation and lays the foundation for the ‘Rachel incident’ and its aftermath. The story is s...

AUTHOR: Charles Dickens NARRATOR: Martin Jarvis GENRE: Coming-of-Age, Classic. RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Still remains my favourite Dickens work, though middle-aged-me found more flaws in it than teen-me did. If you are a classics lover, this ought to be on your read list at least for its impeccable character development. In many ways, this was a reread for me, but strictly speaking, this is my first read of the complete and unabridged work. During my childhood years, the classics were an inevitable part of my life, primarily because of my school who added a variety of classics to our agenda. No full-length tomes were forced upon us. Rather, we were given abridged versions of works by classic giants ranging from Mark Twain to Anthony Hope, George Eliot (whom I had assumed to be a man!!) to Johann David Wyss. Because of these relatively thinner, illustrated volumes, I never felt overwhelmed by the writing style and enjoyed the large-than-life stories. A few years ago, I decide...