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: Cherry Zong GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: January 13, 2026 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: An upper-YA graphic novel loosely derived from the fairytale of "Little Red Riding Hood." Not a retelling. Decent story but too meandering. Interesting characters, but not everyone is explored well. A good read, but could have been shorter and better. Plot Preview: Nineteen-year-old Red, a skilled hunter, has devoted her entire life to helping her grandmother, a witch trying to save the forest they live in from a strange rot that keeps spreading despite their efforts. Red's task is to locate the creatures known as ‘nawa’, kill them, and take their bodies to her grandmother for exorcism and deliverance. With no other humans still living in the forest, Red is quite lonely. But one day, she bumps into an injured wolf-girl named Sil. As the two of them move towards a hesitant friendship, Red uncovers some dark secrets about everything she's known. I'm not that f...

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: Kat Saturn ILLUSTRATOR: Chrystal Phegley GENRE: Teen Fantasy-Adventure PUBLICATION DATE: November 17, 2025 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A teen fantasy about a stellar [pun intended] adventurous quest. Great characters, but even greater inclusions of astronomy, history, and anthropology. Light in terms of approach, but hefty in intelligence. Too many whats, not enough whys. Fabulous illustrations. A nice, thought-provoking option for those willing to try a complex read. Plot Preview: Eleven-year-old Elli Veil has always been fascinated by the stars, especially by a bright star that shines every night high beyond her bedroom window. Staying in a cult-like isolated community, Elli believes that the stars hold the promise of life beyond her village of Box Hollow. However, one night, that star abruptly disappears and no one in Elli’s whereabouts seems to care. But the little girl knows something is wrong, and with some unexpected partners, she sets off on a quest to locate the...

AUTHOR: F.T. Lukens NARRATORS: Kevin R. Free and Neo Cihi GENRE: YA Fantasy PUBLICATION DATE: April 4, 2023 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA Fantasy about two apprentices of rival sorcerers who are forced to team up. Loved the characters, the storyline, and the ending. Great inclusivity and worldbuilding. The YA elements are handled mostly well, except for the F-bombs. Definitely recommended to fans of the genre. Plot Preview: Rook enters the office of Antonia Hex, the most powerful sorcerer in Spire City and owner of a business specialising in breaking curses and hexes and spells, with just one intention in mind: to ask for a job. The last thing he expects is for her to actually accept his request and appoint him as office staff. Of course, he can't reveal to her that he has a secret reason for wanting to be in her employ: he wants to gain access to her spell books for a covert device that he is building. Sun works as an apprentice to Antonia’s rival Fable. Both Fable and S...

AUTHOR: Trung Le Nguyen GENRE: YA Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: October 7, 2025 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA graphic novel focussing on stress, grief, burnout, and “love”. The themes, the cover and inside art, and a couple of the characters were praiseworthy. But the rest of the execution didn’t work for me. This is a slightly outlier opinion. Plot Preview: A year ago, over-active Angelica, aka Jelly, faced a mighty burnout and withdrew from all extracurricular activities. Now seventeen, she is ready to get back on track, and decides to begin one step at a time. When the reputed local theatre selects her as one of the interns for an upcoming production of a fairytale retelling, Jelly is thrilled. Not because she has a job to focus on, but because she can finally meet Per the Bear, the mascot of the theatre whom Jelly has been secretly DMing since a year and finding comfort in their supportive responses. Who is the stranger behind the bear costume? Was their connection just...

AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins NARRATOR: Jefferson White SERIES: The Hunger Games, #0.5 GENRE: YA Dystopian Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: March 18, 2025 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: The fifth book in the Hunger Games series, second in chronological order. Focusses on the 50th Hunger games and its winner, Haymitch Abernathy. Gets everything right from characters to plot to action to emotions to continuity. I am so thrilled one of my favourite characters of the HG universe got this fabulous book. If only it could have been happier, but we know it’s not possible. Much recommended. Read this only after reading the earlier four books. Plot Preview: On Haymitch’s 16th birthday, he wants to spend some time with the girl he loves. Unfortunately, his birthday is the same date as the Reaping. This year’s games are special. As the 50th edition of the hunger games, the Quarter Quell will have double the number of tributes from each district. Haymitch hopes against hope that his name won't be chosen...

AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins NARRATOR: Santino Fontana SERIES: The Hunger Games, #0 GENRE: YA Dystopian Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: May 19, 2020 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A prequel to the acclaimed Hunger Games trilogy. Villain-origin story of Coriolanus Snow. Excellent continuity from here to the main book series. Works well in its purpose but boring at times, especially in the second half where the “romance” seems to dominate the action. A good option if you want a psychological study of the future President Snow and expect a character-driven storyline than an action-driven one. Plot Preview: It’s a big day in the Capitol: the day of the Reaping that will start off the 10th Hunger Games. Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus is determined to excel in his role as the student-mentor to one of the tributes. If he wins the accolades, he can probably restore some name and money to the once-powerful house of Snow, which has fallen on hard times. The odds aren’t in Coriolanus’s favour. He is assign...

AUTHOR: Rachel Huffmire NARRATOR: Rachel White SERIES: Mirror Chronicles, #3 GENRE: Fairy Tale Retelling + Science Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: October 28, 2021 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA SFF novella in the Mirror Chronicles series, narrating the story of Rhodopis with a time-travel twist. As clever as the other books in the series. Excellent as a Cinderella retelling. Technically a standalone work, but better if you have read at least Book One of the series to understand the intricacies. Recommended. Plot Preview: 1324 BCE. Egypt. Rhodopis is tired of her life as a slave in a Roman aristocrat’s estate. Facing constant bullying from his two daughters, Rhodopis dreams of buying her way to freedom. Little does she know that her story has caught the attention of a young American lady from many centuries ahead, the year 2070 to be precise. The story comes to us in the third-person perspective of the key characters. Goodreads has marked this book as the third in the Mirror Chro...

EDITOR:  Ashley Hope Pérez GENRE: YA Nonfiction Anthology. PUBLICATION DATE: March 4, 2025. RATING: 4.1 stars. In a Nutshell: A YA anthology that focusses on the power of books and the impact of banning them. Mostly nonfiction with entries in the form of essays, comics, and poems. OwnVoices. Inclusive, informative, incisive and inspiring. Most of the write-ups are great; some are also a bit disturbing. Definitely recommended, and not just to the YA audience. I don’t think I need to offer any introduction on why banning books is a ridiculous notion. Even progressive societies opt for book banning, and worse, books are banned for the silliest of reasons. As such, the next generation must understand the futility of such actions and necessity of standing up for everyone’s right to read what they want. Of all book-related social topics, this is the most relevant issue today. Several shocking stats connected to book challenges and bans in the USA are contained in this anthology, and...

AUTHOR: Sona Charaipotra & Samira Ahmed GENRE: YA Anthology PUBLICATION DATE: May 13, 2025. RATING: Leaving this unrated. In a Nutshell: A teen anthology about South Asian diasporic experiences. I had been very excited for this collection, but much of the content wasn’t to my reading preferences. Thus might work better for other readers, hence leaving this without a rating. This collection has sixteen stories written by South Asian writers, giving a voice to teens of South-Asian descent staying in another country (USA). The blurb declares that this book “explores race, class, culture, language, and the very idea of home as both a place and a feeling.” These themes made me hope for a stimulating experience, as the concept of showing diasporic experiences about their progenitors’ cultures is always an interesting one, especially when the culture is as rich and diverse as in the South Asian nations. However, the book didn’t work for me for quite a few reasons. 🚩 For a ‘South Asian’...