Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Sheikha Helawy TRANSLATOR: Nancy Roberts GENRE: Anthology. RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices anthology by a Bedouin Palestinian woman writer, focusing on female experiences in that culture. Enjoyed the setting more than the stories, though there are some gems herein. The translator’s preface at the start provides a nice foundation to our experience of this anthology, first published in Arabic in 2015. It introduces the author’s background and her writing style. Author Sheikha Helawy grew up in a Palestinian Bedouin village named Shail El E'rj, which was forcibly displaced by the Israeli occupation in the 1990s. She uses her early memories and her experiences after losing her home to pen stories about women such as her. This collection of eighteen stories focusses on the female Bedouin voice, offering us myriad women who are trying to thwart outdated patriarchal and social practices to whatever little extent they can. Not all of their wins are grand, but in s...

AUTHOR: Melanie Dobson GENRE: Historical Mystery, Christian Fiction RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A complicated but interesting slow-burn dual-timeline mystery. Well researched, intriguing characters, some dark themes, Christian. Not a time-slip though, unlike what the blurb says. I am still confused about some plot points, but overall, I liked it enough. Story Synopsis: 1907. The Pendletons, owners of a castle on Koster Isle in the Thousand Islands archipelago, are entertaining the glitterati of NY, ostensibly to celebrate their child’s fifth birthday, but practically, as a way of being accepted into the old wealth elite despite their nouveau riche status. When Amelia Pendleton tucks five-year-old Poppy into bed on the eve of her birthday, little does she know that the child will be missing just a few hours later, and her husband, dead. 1992. Chloe Riddell lives alone on the same island as Poppy’s castle, now an abandoned ruin. She does her best to ignore local curiosity about th...

AUTHOR: Tea Cooper NARRATOR: Emily Barrett GENRE: Historical Mystery RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical mystery focusing on two disparate plot points: a woman with a fascination for butterflies, and a mystery concerning Treadwell Foundation and its alleged focus on “disgraced young women and their babies.” Having either of these would have been fine. But the two topics don’t mesh well, creating a disjointed effect. The title is misleading. Story Synopsis: 1922, Sydney. Twenty-five-year-old aspiring journalist Verity Binks gets an anonymous parcel containing a gorgeous butterfly costume and an invite to a prestigious masquerade ball. There, she is approached by Mr. Treadwell to write a history of the Treadwell Foundation. While digging into its past, Verity discovers a shady mystery that seems to go back more than fifty years. Can a young journalist take down a wealthy and powerful man? 1868, Morpeth. Twenty-one-year-old Theodora is still in mourning after the death of her ...

AUTHOR: Nnedi Okorafor SERIES: Black Stars, #2 GENRE: Fantasy. RATING: 1.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Great ingredients in this short story, but they didn’t come together to make a delectable dish. Story Synopsis: Issaka is visiting home in “Timbouctou”, but his timing is bad. There has been a major al-Qaeda raid in the area, the local library has been burnt, and there are some ancient books at stake. When trouble comes to his doorstep, his only hope of safety is an ancient being named Faro, who has somehow resurrected from the flames of a book and is now guiding Issaka towards his past and safety. The story comes to us from the third person limited perspective of Issaka and Faro. Factors that made the story sound like it had great potential: the burning of libraries, the African setting, an OwnVoices story (to a certain extent), the idea of magical ancient beings, the al-Qaeda factor. If all these concepts had been woven together neatly, the story would have delivered a memorable impa...

AUTHOR: Christi Nogle GENRE: Speculative Fiction Anthology. RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A speculative fiction anthology. The author has imagination for sure, but the content was too unstructured for me. This is a collection of twenty stories of speculative fiction. However, despite the common genre, the stories are quite distinct from each other in terms of content. The stories come from a variety of sub-genres such as sci-fi, absurdist, horror and light fantasy. The author’s wild imagination is amply visible in the stories, as she covers themes that are as weird as promised. Every story has an original element, some of which are truly unique. The lengths of the stories vary, but each has enough pages to flesh out its plot. Based on the above, the collection should have blown me away. But the fact is that none of the stories worked well for me. I am an avid reader of short fiction in varying genres, so it’s not like this failed so miserably for me because of the length or the stor...

AUTHOR: Annie Rains GENRE: Christmas Time-loop Drama. RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A Groundhog-Day style Christmas story about a woman stuck in time loop. Mostly typical as per the genre and theme. No surprises. This is an outlier review. Story Synopsis: Three weeks ago, Diana’s fiancé Linus was hit by a delivery truck on his way home from his toy store and he has been in a coma ever since. On the night before Christmas Eve, Diana finds the gift Linus had purchased for her – a snow globe of their town. After a neighbour’s well-meant wish over the snow globe, Diane finds herself waking up on the day of Linus’ accident. After some initial confusion, she realises that she has the chance to save her fiancé, but as the day loops keep on repeating with no success, Diana is forced to ask herself some tough questions. The story comes to us in Diana’s third person limited perspective. As a Christmas book, this book is wonderful. Many important themes of love, forgiveness, togetherness...

AUTHOR: Namita Moolani Mehra ILLUSTRATOR: Kamala M. Nair GENRE: Children's Picture Book RATING: 5 twinkly diya-shaped stars. In a Nutshell: Oh, how I loved this book! Full of light in various ways. One of the best picture books I have read about Diwali. Story Synopsis: Little Diya is very excited that she is flying to India for Diwali. After moving to the US, she has been very lonely, and now she will get to meet Nani, her darling grandmother, whom she misses the most. In India, Diya immediately feels at home, and happily joins in the Diwali preparations with Nani, going shopping, drawing rangoli, dressing up in fancy outfits, lighting diyas and firecrackers, and having a lovely time with family and friends. But soon, it is time to return home. Is there any way Diya continue to carry the happy light of Diwali in her heart? There are so many things to adore about this book! 🎇 Its genuine portrayal of Diwali, covering all the elements of the festival and not just the “entertaining...

AUTHOR: Meg Grehan GENRE: Middle-grade Novel-in-verse. RATING: 3.75 stars In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices novel-in-verse, about a lonely book, a magical bookshop, and some characters who learn how to accept themselves for what they are. One of the rare middle-grade books to have a non-binary person in the main characters. Great story, decent format. Story Synopsis: Annie lives with her two mums and her elder sister Charlotte above a bookshop that her mums run together. Every morning when they open the shop, there is a stack of books on the counter. Throughout the day, when visitors come to the shop looking for a book, the right book is always waiting for them in that pile left magically by the bookshop. However, one day, a book from the pile is left unclaimed, and this upsets the bookshop, which then starts misbehaving. Annie’s whole family is at a loss about what to do. Adding to the complications is Charlotte’s increased reclusiveness, her mums’ financial worries, and Annie’s own selec...

AUTHOR: Pepper D. Basham SERIES: Skymar, #2 GENRE: Romantic Comedy, Epistolary novel. RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: Quite similar to the first book of the series, in both good points and the not-so-good points. I liked the first one better for the bookish bits. A fun read, if you are okay with the never-ending emails and postscripts, and with the repeat of the formula from Book One. Story Synopsis: The youngest Edgewood sibling, twenty-three-year-old Penelope, has just landed on the beautiful island of Skymar for a three-month internship with the local Darling House Theatre. As a lover of musicals, she brings with her boundless energy and a tendency to burst into song, both of which are somewhat unnerving to the serious theatre owner, Matt Gray, though his brother Alec seems fascinated by the American whirlwind. Penelope starts her venture with her whole heart, but deep within, she longs to be taken seriously, as most people around her seem to focus only on her clothes and her chi...

AUTHOR: Rainbow Rowell SERIES: Faraway Collection, #1 GENRE: Short Story, Fantasy. RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale about a troll under the bridge. Works in bits and pieces, but might have clicked better were it longer. Story Synopsis: When a man accidentally drops his phone off a bridge, the last thing he expects is for a friendly troll to return it. As a gesture of gratitude and sympathy, he decides to get the troll, who seems to be female, a cup of coffee from the nearby Starbucks. This becomes a daily routine, and their friendship grows every day. But is a long-term friendship possible between creatures of two such opposite worlds? The story comes to us in the limited third person perspective of the man. This standalone short story is a part of the Faraway series, described on Amazon as “a collection of retold fairy tales that take the happily-ever-after in daring new directions.” Some of you might know the original Norwegian...

AUTHOR: Lena Anlauf ILLUSTRATOR: Vitali Konstantinov GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, Animals. RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A good compilation of facts connected to animals with “genius noses.” Liked the content, not so much the presentation. As the title clearly indicates, this is a book about animal noses. And not the ordinary ones but the whimsical ones that have rightly been tagged as ‘genius’ in the name. While such books are usually my cup of tea, this book was a bit of a mixed bag. The content is outstanding, no doubt about that. The animals range from the popular ‘elephant’ to the I-knew-a-little-about-this-fellow ‘star-nosed mole’ to the I-never-knew-such-an-animal-existed ‘desman’. The range of animals was a treat! Most pages focus on a single animal, with the left hand side having a large illustration along with the animals’ common name and zoological name, and the right-hand-side having some smaller illustrations and multiple text boxes replete with informative tid...

  AUTHOR:  Jaimie Admans GENRE: Romance-Drama, Christmas. RATING:  4 stars. In a Nutshell: If you have read Jaimie Admans before, you know what you would expect from her, and you get exactly that from this charming book. Sweet & loveable characters, a heart-warming setting, some holiday magic, and clean romance. Story Synopsis:  Mistletoe Gardens is a special place to the townspeople of Folkhorton. According to local legend, if you kiss your special someone under the mistletoe-covered boughs, you will have a year of happiness. But what does the local council care about romance? It has decided to raze the gardens in the new year and make way for a housing complex. Essie, a local baker, decides to do whatever she can to stop the demolition. Her plan involves the construction of a life-sized gingerbread house in the gardens, so as to attract a crowd and show the council that people still want Mistletoe Gardens. She coerces another local, a builder named Joss, to hel...

AUTHOR: Angela Kecojevic GENRE: Middle-Grade Mystery. RATING:  3 stars. In a Nutshell: A spooky middle-grade fantasy set in a fair. Has myriad kinds of magical elements, some of which are captivating. Good for the target age group. Story Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Nancy Crumpet has lived in Greenwich all her life, with Pa and Ma Crumpet. ( What adorable names for bakers! ) Though a foster child, Nancy is treated with kindness and love. She knows that she is expected to help the Crumpets out in their bakery, though her heart isn’t in this work. She longs to know more about her birth parents, about why the sky and the wind seem to respond to her, about why she has a strange birthmark on her arm…  When Nancy and her best friend Arthur hear about the ‘Scareground’ returning to Greenwich after more than a decade, the duo know that they will visit the fair no matter what. Unknown to Arthur, Nancy has a secret agenda: she wishes to meet the fair’s eerie owner, Skelter Tombola. Wh...