Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Jojo Moyes SERIES: Me Before You, #2 GENRE: Contemporary Romance PUBLICATION DATE: September 23, 2015 RATING: 3.5 stars. #ContainsSpoilers for Book One "Me Before You" ended with an unusual combination of tragedy and hope. The main female protagonist, Louisa Clark, has lost the "love of her life" and consequently, her raison d'être. Even though she has gained quite a bit of money and assets courtesy Will Traynor, she finds life not worth living for. All this changes one day when a stranger knocks on her door. Without any spoilers, all I can tell you is that the stranger is linked to the past and ends up changing Louisa's future. Jojo Moyes writes in the Acknowledgements that she wrote this continuation for Louisa on demand from fans of book one. And I can certainly understand why they would want closure for such a character. Her vivacity brightened up the gloominess of the first book and softened the harshness of the grim realities of Will's life...

Author: Fredrik Backman Series: Beartown (#1) Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Drama. Rating: 4.5 stars. I am so stumped about how to review this book but not because I didn't enjoy it. There are so many things I want to say but words fail me. This is the story of a town that wants to adhere to its set ways. The story of the townspeople, who have to accept the roles they are supposed to play, whether it correlates with the way they are or not is immaterial. The story of a game that is seeped into the town culture to such an extent that it is seen as an escape as well as a scourge. This book provides the best example of how review spoilers can damage a story experience. I went into this book assuming that it was a typical sports novel. And I was stunned to see the turn it took. Had I known beforehand about this part of the story, I would have lost out on that thrill of anticipation, the shock of discovery, the pain of uncovering the true faces underneath the external facades. C...

AUTHOR: Rosie Hewlett GENRE: Greek Mythology Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: April 30, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: This book shows you why you must give a chance to indie writers too. There are some real gems in the indie world. There must be hardly anyone who hasn't heard of Medusa. One of the most feared of the Greek monsters, this gorgon sister is known for her gaze that could turn any man into stone. But here we have a book that reveals the other side of the picture. Why and how did Medusa become Medusa? Is she really a monster or a victim of her circumstances? In terms of its writing, this book is outstanding. The way the narrative progresses fluidly from one scene to the next leaves you hooked. At a mere 200+ pages, this book can easily be completed within a couple of hours. You don't need to know the classics in order to grasp the story. The author gives enough of a background into all the key characters to make sure that your reading flow isn't affected. Ther...

AUTHOR: K.J. Field GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: May 23, 2023 RATING: 3 stars. This is a cute and informative little book for young readers. As the tagline suggests, it focuses on the smells of Jupiter the gas giant. Pros: - The book is really informative on its subject of choice. It explains about the various gases that creates Jupiter's smell in an interesting manner. - There is an lot of humour in tackling the topic of smells. I'm sure kids will enjoy the funny remarks. - The illustrations are absolutely adorable. Cons: - It only focuses on smells. There is hardly any other information about Jupiter. So while it stays true to its purpose, kids looking for more information on Jupiter will have to look elsewhere. - Io and Ganymede are a part of the book but they aren't introduced at all. Kids might assume that Jupiter has only two moons as none of the other moons, not even Europa and Callisto, make an appearance. - I'm not sure of the target age...

AUTHOR: Jojo Moyes SERIES: Me Before You, #1 GENRE: Contemporary Romance PUBLICATION DATE: December 31, 2012 RATING: 4.25 stars. How do you review a book that is based on a dicey moral issue? It's tough to separate your thoughts from the book's stance on the topic. But a well-written book is one that makes you think and rethink your views on a complicated matter without shoving its author's opinions on you. And that's how this became a good, thought-provoking book for me. Louisa Clark, a 26 year old, has always lived a simple life in a small town. But after losing her long-term waitressing job and with no qualifications to do much else, she finds herself taking up the role of a caretaker to Will Traynor, a once-dynamic rich guy who became a paraplegic after an accident. Will has almost given up on life and makes it clear to Louisa that she isn't wanted. But she is determined to show him that life is worth living under any circumstances. Most of the chapters come to ...

AUTHOR: Brooke Knight GENRE: Middle-grade Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: August 10, 2021 RATING: 3.75 stars. This book comes to us from the Honest History publishing company, and it sure does live up to its name! The content seeks to provide us with the honest history behind many popular inventions and the persons to whom these have been attributed. It proves the point that a single person cannot be considered an inventor as every invention relies partially or greatly on some earlier invention or thought. It offers a very different look at the past.  The book covers many inventions from various historical periods, right up to the modern technological age. Considering that the book is aimed at middle-grade readers, the content seems quite age-appropriate. The content is a little text-heavy, so it might be better to read it in small doses rather than going for it cover to cover. The trivia scattered throughout the book helps in breaking the intensity.  The “Thinking It Over” secti...

AUTHOR: Michele Amitrani SERIES: Rebels of Olympus, #4 GENRE: Greek Myth Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: January 1, 2020 RATING: 4.5 stars. The name "Avalon" immediately evokes the thought it King Arthur. But would you ever have imagined Arthurian legends to be intertwined with Greek Mythology? The Muse of Avalon tells us of Calliope in the days after the fall of Olympus. Among with her sister muses, she seeks refuge on the abandoned island of Avalon and they create a satisfying world there for its citizens. But the bloodshed in nearby Britain troubles her. So when Morgana approaches her to assist in bringing peace to the mainland, Calliope puts her own in motion. As the third of his reimagined Greek myths, Michele Amitrani continues his magic streak. The writing is as appealing as always. With simple language and a well-written plot, the story doesn't need great efforts from your side. You will stay hooked from start to end. I do wish there was a little more at the end. The ...

AUTHOR: Michele Amitrani GENRE: Fairy Tale Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: June 30, 2020 RATING: 4.75 stars. In a Nutshell: WOWWWW! This one begins right where the first story (Not That Fairytale) ends. This sequel is much longer than the first part, and darker too. There are elements of horror in this tale whereas the first was simply a dark fantasy. While I adored the plot and the writing yet again (I couldn't keep it aside for a single moment from start to finish), I hated that there was no resolution at the end. The finale seems to lay the foundation for yet another sequel. And I so desperately want to know what happens next! It can't end like this! If you are interested in this novella, it is available for free on the author's website and on BookFunnel. But make sure you get to this after you read the first part: Not That Fairytale .

AUTHOR: Michele Amitrani GENRE: Fairy Tale Retelling PUBLICATION DATE: March 24, 2020 RATING: 4.5 stars. I've tried many fairy tale retellings but this has to be among the darkest and quaintest! While most retellings choose the same protagonist and change the setting or vice versa, here we have a change in both. The story comes to us from the point of view of Red Riding Hood's grandmother and how she and her granddaughter try to escape from the wolf's stomach after being swallowed whole. I loved the dark twist that the author incorporated in the original version. The entire back story he creates for the grandmother is amazing. I'll never look at her the same way again! 😄 This isn't my first Michele Amitrani book. I've read two of his mythological retellings earlier and loved them both. But it is because of this book that I discovered an astounding fact: his first language is Italian, he has never studied English formally, and has grasped the language only throu...

AUTHOR: Jodi Picoult & Samantha van Leer GENRE: YA Fantasy RATING: 4 stars. Imagine this. The characters in the book you are reading have a life of their own, beyond what is written for their characters. And they do what they want to every time you close the book, only to be pulled back in their roles when you reopen the book. Unbelievable, right? Goes without saying then that I've never read a story like this before! That doesn't necessarily mean that I loved it. But the concept is mind-blowing for sure. Delilah, a fifteen year old introverted bookworm, is shocked to discover something new appear in the illustrations of her latest favourite read, a fairy tale about a cowardly prince who uses his wits rather than his valour to fulfill his royal duties. Soon, she realises that the protagonist, Prince Oliver, can actually talk to her, that he dreams of getting out of his routine and predictable "plotlife", and that the book world has a life of its own. Can Delilah h...

AUTHOR: Nathalie Tordjman ILLUSTRATOR: Julien Norwood GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 14, 2021 RATING: 3.5 stars. The book has great information on trees including their shape, composition, leaf patterns, growth process, and so on. It also includes some interesting questions for which answers are provided at the end. There are also a couple of activities for children. The information is quite enlightening. I especially enjoyed the section on record-breaking trees. The illustrations are superb. Though there aren't any actual photos of trees, the illustrations more than suffice to accurately buttress the information provided. There are three suggestions I would like to make with respect to the content: 1. Right at the start, the book declares, "Trees are plants that tower high in the sky." Immediately to the right of it is a statement saying that trees grow in every size, from a subshrub to a fully grown tree. That first definition needs a rethi...

AUTHOR: Monika Utnik-Strugała ILLUSTRATOR: Ewa Poklewska-Koziełło GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, Christmas PUBLICATION DATE: September 14, 2021 RATING: 3.5 stars. I have a hard time resisting any book that says “Christmas” in its title. What with this book’s bright red cover pic, it was doubly difficult to resist it. But it didn’t exactly work out the way I had thought. The book contains a treasure trove of Christmas-related information, be it with respect to special days around Christmas, traditions set in the festive season, customs associated with Christmas, and so on. It is very informative. Even many adults wouldn’t know many of the details covered in the book. However, the book is almost encyclopaedic in its approach. I had assumed this to be a simple picture book with some information on how Christmas is celebrated across various countries. ( My mistake entirely. The blurb didn’t promise a picture book. I think I jumped the gun because of the lovely illustrations on the cover...

AUTHORS: Vedika Agrawal & Kunal Das GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: February 8, 2021 RATING: 4.25 stars. Daddy Donkey And His Little Son is a cute little picture book that is full of fun. I found the story setting hilarious, and I am sure little kids will enjoy it even more. Just the thought of having a donkey as the adoptive father for a lion cub makes me burst out into laughter.  The book isn’t very preachy, though it does build up on the values of love, kindness and helping others. Children will certainly enjoy this funny story. I liked how the book stresses more on dads, as they are usually not the topic of focus in children’s books. There are a couple of interactive activity pages at the end of the story. The illustrations are really very cute (especially the donkey in spectacles), though the donkeys seemed to be standing mostly on all four legs but sometimes, only on the hind legs. The drawings should have been consistent. Very minor issue, this. The book...

AUTHOR: Peter Chiykowski GENRE: Flash Fiction Collection. RATING: 4.75 stars. Wow! Let me take a moment to collect myself!! Because I am dumbstruck by this collection of micro-fiction and I don’t want to sound like a gushing nerd in this review. From its title, “The House of Untold Stories” sounds like a regular SFF or horror anthology that will provide you some dark twisted tales. The dull cover doesn’t help in stimulating excitement. The book even starts off a bit slowly. But after the first 3-4 tales, I was hooked onto the gripping fables and how! I simply couldn’t let go till I reached the end. The tales span a whole range of genres such as fantasy, sci-fi, humour, drama, mythical, horror, dystopian… So there’s no feeling of boredom at all as every page flip offers something new and exciting. Each of the stories is divided across two pages. The first page presents an innocent straightforward tale while the second page introduces an unexpected twist that takes the story to a whole n...

AUTHOR: Onjali Q. Raúf GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: October 3, 2019 RATING: 4.75 stars. Would you like to read a book where the child in you wants to join the lead characters in their adventure, the parent in you wants to ask the children to be careful as their planned quest is very dangerous, and the human in you is shocked at the brutality of fellow humans? A book where you laugh out loud, sob silent tears, feel angry, frustrated, relieved, afraid? A book you can share with your child and yet enjoy it yourself? Your search stops here. Aniyah is a little 10 year old girl who finds herself, along with her 5 year old brother Noah, in foster care. Her memory is hazy about how she reached Mrs. Iwuchukwu's foster house. All she knows is that her mother has become a star in the sky and her dad is looking for her. When the news channels report a previously-undiscovered star that seems to be moving across the skies, Aniyah knows that it's her mom trying to reach out t...

AUTHOR: Jessica Redland GENRE: Romance SERIES: Whitsborough Bay, #4 RATING: 4.5 stars. I've never read a Jessica Redland book before, not have I heard of her Whitsborough Bay series. But now that I've read this book, I think she'll be one author whose work I'll keep in mind for whenever I'm in the mood for a light-hearted and yet captivating read.  All You Need Is Love sounds like a typical cheesy love story. But it is not. The book covers a whole gamut of emotions through its story and though it is almost 400 pages long, the writing is such that you can maintain your pace easily.  The story is told to us from two perspectives: those of Jemma and Sam. A greater proportion of the book is from Jemma's pov. Having recently discovered that her fiancé Scott was not exactly what he claimed to be, she has lost her trust in love. Adding to the heartbreak is her mom's recent diagnosis of Parkinson's. Jemma's luck lies in the abundance of good friends she has ...

AUTHOR: Isaac Asimov GENRE: Short Story PUBLICATION DATE: December 1, 1951 RATING: 3.75 stars. A story about a school in the future that makes you nostalgic about schools in the past. It looks down at what’s to come, especially with the overdependence on AI and underutilisation of human resources.  The story won’t stun you, nor will it be a lifelong favourite, but it will certainly make you think.

AUTHOR: Rebecca Stead GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction. RATING: 4.5 stars. 12 year old Bea's life changed when her parents divorced four years back. The reason: Bea's dad came out as gay. After their amicable split, her parents gifted her a journal entitled "The List of Things That Will Not Change", the first few entries of which reassure Bea that they will always be a family, though not in the same way as before. Yes, things did change a bit, but with time and love, everyone gets accustomed to modifications in their routine. Now, it's time for one more change. Bea's dad wants to get married to his fiancé Jesse. What upheavals will this bring in Bea's life? You've gotta read the book to find this out. Bea is one of the sweetest and most realistic protagonists I've seen in dramatic children's fiction. As she herself says, she's wears her heart on her sleeve. She's sweet, she's forgetful, she's a big worrier, she's not afraid to ...

AUTHOR: Clive Gifford ILLUSTRATOR: Michael Young GENRE: Children's Nonfiction PUBLICATION DATE: April 6th 2021 RATING: 4.75 stars. Maths and humour – not two words you would hear in the same sentence. So when you have a book that presents an interesting history of mathematics in a humorous way, that book deserves special attention. This book covers the entire development of math in all its forms. How did math become the math we know today? Starting from simple counting to digits to theorems to concepts to complex calculations to the future plausible theories, the book takes its step by step on an insightful journey into mathematics. The best part? It accomplishes this task with a whole lot of humour. The illustrations are hilarious and help in keeping the fun element alive till the very end. This book will be wonderful for anyone who is scared of maths or wants to know the purpose of maths or understand the impact it has had on modern lives. The book was slightly reminiscent of Wha...

AUTHOR: Ashley Audrain GENRE: Psychological Drama PUBLICATION DATE: January 5, 2021 RATING: 4.5 stars. I can't believe that this is a debut novel! I've not read such crisp writing in the psychological fiction genre since ages. The story broadly covers four generations of mothers/daughters: Etta, Cecilia, Blythe, and Violet. But no, don't picture this as a family saga, it is far from it. The central narrator is the book is Blythe, with Etta and Cecelia's stories primarily told through flashbacks. Blythe tries her best to be the perfect mom but she has a deep dark secret: the women in her family have not been known for their mothering skills. Add to this her worry that her little daughter Violet seems to have inherited a disposition that Blythe finds unbelievable and unmanageable. I'll not reveal much of the story because anything more than this will be a spoiler. What makes the narrative somewhat unique is that Blythe's narration is mainly in second person, addre...