Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Robert Mgrdich Apelian GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: January 20, 2026 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA-Fantasy graphic novel inspired partly by Armenian and Persian mythology. A complex storyline that takes some time to come together. Some unexplained plot points. Intricate artwork but monochrome colouring. This might work better if read through a physical copy. Plot Preview: Seventeen-year-old Katah has always felt like an outsider in his family because he’s the only one with no talent for cooking. Unlike his much older siblings, he is also too young to have known his late father who was a legendary Hye chef in the Pars empire. At present, Katah is the sole caregiver for his sick mother, so when his vision-like dreams lead him to find a powerful div, he hopes to use its magic to save his mother’s life. But magical deals are complex and never one-sided. As Katah attempts to meet the div’s condition with the help of his siblings, he realises that he might have wa...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Rashin Kheiriyeh GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: February 24, 2026 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A cute little picture book about the celebration of the Persian New Year in Iran. Lovely folktale-style story, wonderful characters, nice touch of humour, amazing illustrations. Loved the authenticity of the portrayal. Recommended. Plot Preview: Nane Sarma, the grandmother of winter, lives in a small village in Iran. Every year, at the end of the cold season, she awaits her old friend Uncle Nowruz, the harbinger of spring. But somehow, she always seems to miss his arrival. This year, she's determined to be better prepared, so she calls her three grandchildren over and starts making Nowruz preparations well in advance. Do we get to meet Uncle Nowruz? We certainly do, and he's everything Grandma Nane was waiting for. Does she get to meet him? You need to read the book for that! A fun fact first: Several indigenous cultures across the ...

AUTHOR: Lilas Taha GENRE: Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 9, 2025 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices literary fiction about a disabled Palestinian young man living in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Effectively highlights refugee experience along with ordinary human needs such as love, acceptance, freedom, and education. Interesting plot choices and characters. Genuine representation of a person living with severe disability. Erratic pacing in the second half, but that’s a relatively minor blip in the experience. Set prior to the current war, so it doesn't cover war-related struggles. Recommended. Plot Preview: Waseem was born with a disability that left him unable to speak or walk. Living in a cramped Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with his parents and younger siblings, Waseem is dependent on his family for his physical needs and on the small window for a glimpse of the outside world. This changes when his best friend Ameena, a fellow camp resident and a...

AUTHOR: Kanza Javed GENRE: Short Story Collection PUBLICATION DATE: September 23, 2025 RATING: 4.4 stars. In a Nutshell: An exceptional OwnVoices short story collection covering contemporary experiences of Pakistanis in their country and of the diaspora in the USA. Brilliant writing and memorable characters. A haunting kind of melancholic tone to every story. I don’t remember the last time I was so enraptured by a story collection. Much, much recommended! This collection of eight stories is an OwnVoices work by Pakistani-American author Kanza Javed. The stories are set either in Pakistan or in the USA, and represent contemporary experiences of the citizens and/or the diaspora. There is no introductory note specifying the unifying theme across these stories. But the blurb indicates that the stories focus on “fiercely resilient characters who desire more than what their circumstances can offer them—and what these desires ultimately cost them.” I cannot put it better! ( For once, the blur...

EDITOR: Sonia Sulaiman GENRE: Speculative Anthology PUBLICATION DATE: September 5, 2024 RATING: 3.5 stars In a Nutshell: An anthology of Palestinian speculative fiction. Focusses on the Palestinian identity as well as the speculative content without losing track of either. The OwnVoices writing and the undertone of wistfulness adds to the impact. Much recommended to SFF lovers. "All Palestinian fiction is speculative; we are always grappling with the past and living in expectation of the future..." "The world as I know it will be a memory by the time you read these words." This anthology of fourteen stories was conceptualized before the latest war began. So the above sentences in the editor’s note seem even more poignant. While we know war comes with uncertainty and mayhem, most of us haven’t experienced living under a daily threat of death and destruction. No wonder fantastical writing is the preferred mode of storytelling for Palestinian authors. Though specula...

AUTHOR: Niloufar-Lily Soltani GENRE: Middle-East Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: November 9, 2023 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: The story of an Iranian woman and her life in her motherland, beginning from 1958. Covers a lot of Iranian history as well as the struggles of women in the patriarchal society. Drags a bit in the final section, but overall, an insightful OwnVoices read. Plot Preview: In 2007, while returning to Tehran after visiting her son Sohrab in Amsterdam, Zulaikha runs into Kia, an old friend she hasn’t seen in almost forty years. Kia is also flying back to Tehran for the funeral of his father. This chance encounter spawns some unexpected events. At the airport itself, Zulaikha is taken into custody for being questioned about her relationship with Kia. Once she is allowed to go and she reaches Tehran, the Iranian authorities also harass her. The story then moves to 1958, where thirteen-year-old Zulaikha, residing in Khuzestan in Southern Iran, has just been informed th...

AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis SERIES: The Breadwinner, #5 GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: The fifth book of the acclaimed ‘Breadwinner’ series, set in the year 2021 when the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan. An interesting continuation to Parvana’s story. Not a happy book. Can be read as a standalone, but better if you go through the series in order. Plot Preview: 2021. Parvana is married to Atif and the mother of eleven-year-old Rafi. She runs a small safe house for girls, women and orphans who need help. Parvana’s sister Maryan and Rafi are preparing to emigrate from Afghanistan to the US to further their musical ambitions, and the book begins with them setting off for the airport. Unknown to them, that is the very day the Taliban will grab power once again, and their world will soon erupt in chaos. Will Maryam and Rafi make it safely to the USA? What will happen to Parvana’s home when the Talibs return? Will Atif be able to take care of his family? The st...

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...

EDITOR: Lyse Doucet GENRE: OwnVoices Anthology. RATING: 3.85 stars. In a Nutshell: A brilliant OwnVoices anthology, narrating stories about the ordinary citizens' lives in Afghanistan. Each story is written by a female Afghan author. There's no denying that life in Afghanistan has changed over the last decades. Hit by one political catastrophe after another, most Afghanistan commoners are now stuck on the base tier of Maslow's needs-hierarchy theory, focusing more on survival than on anything else. And as is the norm in such situations, it's women and girls who are hit the hardest. This collection of twenty-three stories, written by eighteen Afghan women, shows us an inside view of ordinary life in Afghanistan. The stories were originally written in Dari and Pashto, the two official languages. They've been translated to English by local Afghan translators, and hence have a touch of simplicity as well as authenticity to their tone. Not all the stories have a typica...

AUTHOR: Jamila Ahmed NARRATOR: Sulin Hasso GENRE: Retelling, Historical Fiction. RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: Not a retelling of the original Arabian classic but a spinoff with Shaherazade at the helm. Mixed feelings. The storytelling elements retain the same spirit and appeal as in the original, but Shaherazade’s personal story is somewhat YA-ish in writing approach (though not so in content.) Story Synopsis: 1191 ADE. Persia. When nineteen-year-old Shaherazade discovers that Malik Shahriyar’s wife Fataneh is cheating on him, she let’s Shahriyar know about his wife’s infidelity through an anonymous poem. Shahriyar is devastated at the actions of the wife he treasured so much that he has her beheaded. He doesn’t stop at this, but marries three more virgins and has them beheaded after the wedding night. To stop the townspeople from rebelling and also put an end to the Malik’s murderous plans, Shaherazade volunteers to be Shahriyar’s next bride, much against the wishes of her fath...

AUTHOR: Susanne Pari NARRATOR: Mozhan Marnò GENRE: Literary Fiction, Iranian-American Drama. RATING: 3.75 Stars. In a Nutshell: An interesting look at the conflicting identities of first and second-generation Irani-Americans. Somewhat predictable, especially for those who have read this genre and are exposed to similar cultures as Yours Truly is. Good for readers who like dysfunctional family dramas. Story Synopsis: A year after her younger sister Anahita’s death, Mitra Jahani is back at her parents’ home in New Jersey for the ‘One Year’, an Iranian custom. Anahita had always been sweet and dutiful, while Mitra was the rebel, following her own path than the wishes of her dictatorial father. Mitra’s docile mother Shireen has always found herself caught between her husband and her daughters. Mitra’s return after almost two decades leads to several skeletons tumbling out from the cupboards, making every character wonder if they truly knew the others. The story comes to us in the third per...

AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis SERIES: The Breadwinner, #1-4 GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction RATING: 4 stars. Book 1: The Breadwinner introduces us to Parvana, a gutsy 13 year old living with her family under Talib-controlled Afghanistan. After her father is arrested without any reason, she decides to dress up as a boy in order to fend for her family. In the course of time, she discovers an ex-school friend, Shauzia, who has resorted to the same method to support her dreams of going to France and sitting in lavender fields. The book narrates the story of both these little girls and their bravery and struggle to be the breadwinner. - 4 stars. Book 2: Parvana's Journey focuses on Parvana's quest for her mother and the various children she meets on the way. This book is the most hard-hitting in terms of impact and some scenes can cause you bitter anguish. - 3.75 stars. Book 3: Mud City changes the narrative to Shauzia and talks of her life after Book 1. Do her dreams of going to France come...

AUTHOR: Etaf Rum GENRE: Middle-East Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: March 5, 2019 RATING: 3.5 stars. Some books aren't cushy reads. When you read through the story, you experience all the varying emotions from rage to helplessness to sadness to disgust. This is one such book. The book tells the story of three women of Palestinian descent: Deya, Isra, and Fareeda. Each of a different generation, each of a different ideology, each with a different personality. Their life in Brooklyn is neither smooth nor carefree and each battles a separate demon secretly. Thus their circumstances are similar to a great extent but how they react to it is very different. There are many scenes in this book that just caused me to boil in fury. Like I said, it isn't an easy book to read. You just feel like shaking some of the women characters in the hope of drilling some sense in their head. Many of the situations in the book hit too close to home, and you begin to wonder why such regressive beliefs abou...