Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Stefany Valentine GENRE: YA Romance PUBLICATION DATE: January 14, 2025 RATING: 1 star. In a Nutshell: A YA “romantic dramedy” (Official label.) This didn’t work for me in any way: plot, writing, characters, agenda, realism, romance, drama. The only thing I liked other than the cover was the Taiwan rep. It hurts me to rant about a debut OwnVoices book, and I tried my best not to, but I just can’t recommend such a poorly written book that sends the wrong message to youngsters. Plot Preview: Seventeen-year-old Catie Carlson, a half-white half-Taiwanese girl, doesn’t remember much about her birth mother. Her parents divorced when she was just five and her father moved with her to the USA, and later remarried a white single mother. After his death two years ago, Catie feels like she has no family of her own, even though her adoptive mother – her father’s second wife – treats Catie with the same love as she does her own daughter. When Catie stumbles into an opportunity to learn Manda...

AUTHOR: Tochi Eze GENRE: Domestic Drama PUBLICATION DATE: August 5, 2025 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A dual-timeline domestic drama exploring the effects of contradictory beliefs on a marriage. Character-driven. Interesting exploration of the central theme and some other tough topics. Flawed but well-sketched characters. Thin plot with too many themes. Good use of the Nigerian setting. Slow-paced. Not everything settled at the end. Somehow a bit distanced in execution. Quite ambitious for a debut. A good one-time read. Plot Preview: Then in 1960s Lagos. Independent-yet-traditional Margaret didn’t expect to form a relationship with British-born half-Nigerian Benjamin. But their rapport is strong, and despite indications from both their families that they should separate and despite learning that their pasts are more connected than they knew, they get married in secret. But the burden of marriage and parenthood on a young couple without familial support is always high. Margaret’s wor...

AUTHOR: Bruce Holsinger NARRATORS: Stacy Carolan and January LaVoy GENRE: Contemporary Dystopian Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: July 8, 2025 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary drama about a family whose life changes after an accident. Interesting representation of technology (specifically AI) and its impact on real-life issues. Goes overboard on subplots and secrets. I expected to like it better given my antipathy towards excessive AI reliance, but the OTT drama and the annoying lead character were a turnoff. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: The Cassidy-Shaw’s self-driving minivan gets into an accident when seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, his father Noah is next to him working on his laptop, and his mother Lorelei (a renowned expert on AI ethics) and tween sisters Alice and Izzy are in the backseat busy with their own phones. The accident results in the deaths of the two people in the other car. Who is to blame for their deaths? The situation gets fur...

AUTHOR: Tory Henwood Hoen NARRATOR: Barrie Kreinik GENRE: Contemporary Drama PUBLICATION DATE: December 2, 2025 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary drama partly focussing on memory and memories. Expected to like this much more, but it felt more like a Hallmark depiction of Alzheimer’s. Many of the plot inclusions weren't my cup of tea. This is an outlier opinion. Plot Preview: Though twenty-six-year-old Cricket is doing decently at her job with a modern wellness company, she feels like she is weighed down under the burdens of a past tragedy and of a present worry: her father’s Alzheimer’s has worsened. When her elder sister Nina declares that they need to move their dad Arthur into a hospice-care facility, Cricket decides to use his health as the catalyst she needed to make a change in her life. She quits her job and moves to their home in the Adirondacks to become Arthur’s caregiver, and in the process, hopes to heal the old rift between them, though he doesn’t rememb...

AUTHOR: Caitlin Rozakis NARRATOR: Megan Tusing GENRE: Dark Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: May 27, 2025 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A cozy fantasy garnishing a parent-school drama with cryptids and competitions and prophecies. Great concept, average execution, annoying adult characters. Think ‘Big Little Lies’ (PTA politics) plus ‘Gilmore Girls’ (mother-child drama) plus ‘Wednesday’ (cryptid magic), but without the charm. Might work better if you expect a parenting drama with mild fantastical vibes than a cozy fantasy featuring parents. Plot Preview: When five-year-old Aria was bitten by a werewolf, her parents Vivian and Daniel had no choice but to move to a hidden magical community in New England that has a special school for such children. Living in a new neighbourhood filled with mages and cryptids isn't easy, especially when you are a mere human. But Vivian is determined that she will do whatever it takes to ensure that Aria gets the future she deserves, even if it means lear...

AUTHOR: Clare Swatman GENRE: Contemporary Romance-Drama PUBLICATION DATE: December 3, 2025 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A romance using timeslip as its main point of drama. Plot divided in three sections, each offering a distinct experience. The book started off well, became slightly repetitive and then turned a bit tedious. The characters are interesting but often take stupid decisions. Good for those who can read without overthinking. Plot Preview: Widowed Emma has no intention of falling in love again. But when she bumps into widower Nick in a somewhat secluded rose garden of her local park, she can sense the embers of hope and attraction flickering back to life. As they keep meeting in the same place, their feelings for each other grow stronger. But one day comes a shocking revelation: they both stay in two different times. Nick’s ‘present’ time is 1999, while Emma is living twenty years later in 2019. Is there any future possible for the couple when their years don’t align and ...

AUTHOR: Torie Jean GENRE: Romance PUBLICATION DATE: September 20, 2022 RATING: 1 star. In a Nutshell: A romance where the FMC has endometriosis. Loved the cover and liked the endometriosis rep. But was bored by the conversation-dominant writing style, the flat plot, and the ad-hoc character development. Very disappointed. Plot Preview: Twenty-seven-year old Evie has been staying in Paris since seven years, hoping to fulfil her dream of having a bakery but struggling with her chronic pain and endometriosis. She keeps her distance from her family back home, especially her toxic mother Caroline. When an upcoming event needs her presence back in Massachusetts, Evie is forced to convince her childhood nemesis Liam Kelly to be her fake date so as to get through the wedding without too many barbs from Caroline. Little does she realise that her suppressed feelings for Liam will get in the way of this pretend relationship. The story comes to us in Evie’s first-person perspective. I grabbed this...

AUTHOR: Jen Storm ILLUSTRATOR: Ryan Howe GENRE: YA Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: September 3, 2024 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA graphic novel about an Ojibwe family trying to navigate life after a tragedy. Had great potential, but couldn’t capitalize on it. I appreciate the intent, but the execution felt a bit cluttered and half-baked. The ending could go either way for readers. Not a happy story. Plot Preview: Ever since Reanna’s sister Chelsea went missing after school, her family hasn’t been the same. Struggling to find closure, each member copes in a different way, with some drifting apart and some coming closer, some seeking a change and some finding comfort in the old and familiar. The story comes to us mostly in Reanna’s third-person perspective. I admire the theme of this book. Attempting to highlight the difficult topic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) deserves applause. However, the execution of the theme didn’t work that well for me. The key problem ...

AUTHOR: Shauna Robinson GENRE: Contemporary Romance-Drama. PUBLICATION DATE: November 1, 2022 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary romance-drama, though the romance is secondary to the drama. Book about books. Annoying main character. Straightforward plot with some loopholes and some convenient developments. Plenty of humour and heart, but also plenty of judgement and aggravation. A decent pastime option when you want a light read that doesn’t tax your brain. Plot Preview: When twenty-eight-year-old Maggie, frustrated at not having a successful career path, gets a call from her best friend asking for help taking care of her bookstore for a few months while she goes on maternity leave, Maggie accepts, even though she isn't fond of reading. It’s not just this lack of interest in books that makes Maggie’s task difficult. The bookstore is one of the central attractions in a town with a strong literary history, and as such, its governing body, the Bell Society, doesn’t all...

AUTHOR: Layne Fargo GENRE: Drama, Retelling. PUBLICATION DATE: January 14, 2025 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A gripping romance-drama set in the competitive sport of ice dancing. Think ‘Wuthering Heights’ meets ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’. Excellent grey characters, gripping plot, fabulous insights into the sport, steady pace, great themes. This is partially inspired by the Brontë novel. I’m not a fan of the classic but I loved this modernised version. Much recommended, though not to those who want likeable characters. Go for the audio version, if possible. Plot Preview: Katarina Shaw has known since her childhood that she wants to go to the Olympics. Though she doesn’t have the family or financial background required for competitive sports, her spirit remains determined. When she meets Heath Rocha, a kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection ensures that they become a formidable pair on ice. Their chemistry and their rebellious dancing take the figure skatin...

AUTHOR: Brooke Harris GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: February 7, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: An emotional contemporary drama tackling an important issue faced by Dublin today. A loveable but overly naïve main character, excellent supporting characters, great themes, beautiful ending. Not a light read. NOT A ROMANCE! Plot Preview: Dublin. Twenty-nine-year-old Beatrice thought that her future was set. But when her partner Declan delivers some unexpected news, Beatrice and their-four-year-old daughter Ellie are left without a home. Ever the optimist, Beatrice believes that she will find a new place soon, as long as she can manage the house hunt in between her hectic work schedule as a cleaner at St. Helen’s hospital. As is evident, Beatrice Alright isn't alright. But when Beatrice bumps into an old man sitting on a park bench outside the hospital, she doesn’t realise that her life is about to change yet again. The story comes to us in Beatrice’s first-person...