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li3an1na4's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
A modernish retelling of The Tempest set in Belle Coeur County, Massachusetts. This story follows the characters of Rose&Poe or if you're familiar with The Tempest, a more likeable Sycorax and Caliban.
I had not previously read or known much about The Tempest prior to reading this book. It's hard for me to say how this compares to the original or if it's better/worse.
I can judge the book on it's own merits. While it's obvious some characters had to exist because of the original text, it never felt like it was forced. Airmail the courier who shows up randomly both summoned and mysteriously is obviously Aerial the sprite, but the oddity of his existence feels right even in this book. The book itself has fantastical elements, without really coming off as being a fantasy book, which I'm sure owes a lot to The Tempest.
If The Tempest is about a parent's unconditional love of their child and also deception by an associate, then Rose and Poe captured it well.
I do think that it could have benefited from "more". Adding to some of the story, building up some characters, etc... I can't tell if it's the book staying true to the original play or if it's on the author.
A modernish retelling of The Tempest set in Belle Coeur County, Massachusetts. This story follows the characters of Rose&Poe or if you're familiar with The Tempest, a more likeable Sycorax and Caliban.
I had not previously read or known much about The Tempest prior to reading this book. It's hard for me to say how this compares to the original or if it's better/worse.
I can judge the book on it's own merits. While it's obvious some characters had to exist because of the original text, it never felt like it was forced. Airmail the courier who shows up randomly both summoned and mysteriously is obviously Aerial the sprite, but the oddity of his existence feels right even in this book. The book itself has fantastical elements, without really coming off as being a fantasy book, which I'm sure owes a lot to The Tempest.
If The Tempest is about a parent's unconditional love of their child and also deception by an associate, then Rose and Poe captured it well.
I do think that it could have benefited from "more". Adding to some of the story, building up some characters, etc... I can't tell if it's the book staying true to the original play or if it's on the author.
thelexingtonbookie's review against another edition
5.0
If you've read Shakespeare's The Tempest, this may be a familiar story to you, but if not, imagine a Grimm fairy tale crossed with a contemporary crime novel, and you have Todd's beautifully written tale, Rose & Poe.
At first, we're introduced to Rose, the single and fiercely devoted mother of Poe, the simple minded, gentle giant who works hard to please others- especially Miranda, the lovely daughter of Thorne. Then we're introduced to a series of other characters from the small fictional setting of Belle Coeur County (set in New England), including Thorne (aka Mister Sir Mister), a possessive father who is slowly losing his mind to dementia; Airmail, the skeezy speedster courier who has his nose in everybody's business: and Skeeter and Moe, two young boys who think they are tracking Sasquatch (aka Sasquank).
Each character's individual stories develop and become intertwined with Poe. Though he lives a rather sheltered life, everyone in the area knows who he is. He's kind of hard to miss, being somewhere between eight and nine feet tall and seven hundred pounds, six fingered and six toed, with a size eighteen shoe and signature Oshkosh'b'Gosh overalls. Though simple minded, he's been raised in the small town by a loving mother and taught to be a kind, hard working citizen. Yet, many don't accept his social limitations and therefore ostracize him, and though his mother has protected him from as much as possible, there are still experiences that Poe suffered through just because he was different. With no one willing to defend him, Rose has always come to his rescue.
The one night, Rose's worst nightmare happens- Poe gets into a situation that Rose can't get him out of. She knows he is innocent and wouldn't harm a fly, but with little evidence to prove otherwise, Poe is in serious danger of being committed for a serious crime. Even with Rose doing all she can from him, nobody is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and being a pariah already, they don't care to wait for the trial to have Poe hanged. Todd keeps his readers at the edge of their seat awaiting the final word on Poe's predicament.
I actually got this novel from an Instagram giveaway from Megan at whatmeganreads and ecwpress.com. I probably wouldn't have picked it out for myself, but Megan loved it, posted a rave review, and since we have similar tastes in books, I thought why not see if I could win a copy! I was pretty surprised, but super excited, and that I won it because it is such a great book. Also, I was surprised to see many Vermont references, including the county that I grew up in! Small world, coincidence, or fate that I should end up with this book? Who knows. Anyways... there's no sugar coating in Rose & Poe, so the reader becomes very empathetic to the main duo. Todd builds this honest and fierce relationship between the characters and reader from the start, and it's hard not to become involved in the novel. I, too, give it a seal of approval, and suggest you give it a shot- you won't be disappointed.
At first, we're introduced to Rose, the single and fiercely devoted mother of Poe, the simple minded, gentle giant who works hard to please others- especially Miranda, the lovely daughter of Thorne. Then we're introduced to a series of other characters from the small fictional setting of Belle Coeur County (set in New England), including Thorne (aka Mister Sir Mister), a possessive father who is slowly losing his mind to dementia; Airmail, the skeezy speedster courier who has his nose in everybody's business: and Skeeter and Moe, two young boys who think they are tracking Sasquatch (aka Sasquank).
Each character's individual stories develop and become intertwined with Poe. Though he lives a rather sheltered life, everyone in the area knows who he is. He's kind of hard to miss, being somewhere between eight and nine feet tall and seven hundred pounds, six fingered and six toed, with a size eighteen shoe and signature Oshkosh'b'Gosh overalls. Though simple minded, he's been raised in the small town by a loving mother and taught to be a kind, hard working citizen. Yet, many don't accept his social limitations and therefore ostracize him, and though his mother has protected him from as much as possible, there are still experiences that Poe suffered through just because he was different. With no one willing to defend him, Rose has always come to his rescue.
The one night, Rose's worst nightmare happens- Poe gets into a situation that Rose can't get him out of. She knows he is innocent and wouldn't harm a fly, but with little evidence to prove otherwise, Poe is in serious danger of being committed for a serious crime. Even with Rose doing all she can from him, nobody is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and being a pariah already, they don't care to wait for the trial to have Poe hanged. Todd keeps his readers at the edge of their seat awaiting the final word on Poe's predicament.
I actually got this novel from an Instagram giveaway from Megan at whatmeganreads and ecwpress.com. I probably wouldn't have picked it out for myself, but Megan loved it, posted a rave review, and since we have similar tastes in books, I thought why not see if I could win a copy! I was pretty surprised, but super excited, and that I won it because it is such a great book. Also, I was surprised to see many Vermont references, including the county that I grew up in! Small world, coincidence, or fate that I should end up with this book? Who knows. Anyways... there's no sugar coating in Rose & Poe, so the reader becomes very empathetic to the main duo. Todd builds this honest and fierce relationship between the characters and reader from the start, and it's hard not to become involved in the novel. I, too, give it a seal of approval, and suggest you give it a shot- you won't be disappointed.
readingmaria's review
4.0
The attitudes and the whole small-town feel of Rose & Poe was really nice. I liked how much of a tight-knit community that they have surrounded themselves with (well, the people that accept them for who they are).
Read my full review on my blog, ReadingMaria: https://mariazuppardi.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/book-review-rose-poe-by-jack-todd/
Read my full review on my blog, ReadingMaria: https://mariazuppardi.wordpress.com/2018/01/05/book-review-rose-poe-by-jack-todd/
whatmeganreads's review
5.0
Oh, my heart. This story packs such an emotional punch! The writing is simple and lovely – you will absolutely fall in love with both Rose and Poe. Poe immediately brought to mind Big John from The Green Mile, Lennie from Of Mice and Men, and a few shades of Charlie from Flowers for Algernon. Rose is a large, simple woman who loves her son with all the fierceness of a mama tiger – she is his advocate, his care-giver, and his closest friend. When they are together, they rarely need or want for anything else. I wanted to pump my fist in the air every time Rose won a battle for Poe….and battle she did. From the very beginning, when the doctors thought it best he be taken away from her and institutionalized, to the time the army drafted him in spite of his mental state, to the accusations that arose after he was found running from the forrest, carrying his battered and bloody friend, desperately crying to ‘get-help-get-help’ – Rose never gave up on her boy. She’d just take a deep breath and throw herself back into the fray for her son.
My only tweaky item with this book was that the timeline was a teensy bit unclear. Thinking back on it now, it seems there are two main time periods in play here, but the transition from one to the other wasn’t completely clear to me at the time I was reading– it felt like the story was progressing fairly continuously, but I think there was actually a gap of time between Poe’s childhood and his being drafted into the Army (Vietnam era, I’m assuming) and the present-day trial storyline. But that didn’t at all detract from my enjoyment of the story.
The book is said to be loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which almost frightened me off (don’t ask – let’s just say I had a traumatizing AP English experience with Shakespeare and I’ll never be the same), but I didn’t really feel any Bard-ish vibes. This story is just amazing, no matter what the author based it on.
A story that’s big on feelings, I think it will stick with its readers for a long time. A big ol’ Poe-sized thanks to the lovelies at ECW Press, who allowed me to read a digital copy of this – I am so grateful it found me.
My only tweaky item with this book was that the timeline was a teensy bit unclear. Thinking back on it now, it seems there are two main time periods in play here, but the transition from one to the other wasn’t completely clear to me at the time I was reading– it felt like the story was progressing fairly continuously, but I think there was actually a gap of time between Poe’s childhood and his being drafted into the Army (Vietnam era, I’m assuming) and the present-day trial storyline. But that didn’t at all detract from my enjoyment of the story.
The book is said to be loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which almost frightened me off (don’t ask – let’s just say I had a traumatizing AP English experience with Shakespeare and I’ll never be the same), but I didn’t really feel any Bard-ish vibes. This story is just amazing, no matter what the author based it on.
A story that’s big on feelings, I think it will stick with its readers for a long time. A big ol’ Poe-sized thanks to the lovelies at ECW Press, who allowed me to read a digital copy of this – I am so grateful it found me.
balancinghistorybooks's review against another edition
2.0
Jack Todd's retelling of William Shakespeare's The Tempest sounded intriguing. However, from the beginning, it did not work for me; I found it quite difficult to get into, and rather overwritten too. I liked the idea, but not so much its execution.
tonstantweader's review against another edition
4.0
Shakespeare’s plays are fertile ground for reinvention with contemporary authors recasting the stories with new context and even new interpretations. Jack Todd took on the reimagination of The Tempest with Rose & Poe. While The Tempest is centered on Prospero and Miranda, Rose & Poe is about Sycorax and Caliban.
Poe is a simple, gentle giant with six digits on all his hands and feet, with a hump on his back and a huge birthmark. He cannot read and can only tell time twice a day. He spends his day milking their goats, fishing, and building a stone wall for his neighbor Prosper Thorne, whose daughter Miranda is one of his few good friends.
When Miranda is assaulted during a tempestuous storm that takes out the roads and cuts Belle Coeur County off, Poe carried her broken body from the old gravel pit where he found her. Calling “help her – help her” he is still the natural suspect because, of course, he is. The strange and outcast are always suspect.
I enjoyed Rose & Poe quite a bit. It is exciting to see Caliban take center stage and the dead Sycorax reanimated, a living, loving mother. It reads more like a fable, the characters are archetypes, there is this uncanny magical element in the story with the violent storm that erases all evidence that could prove or disprove Poe’s innocence or guilt, and the story reveals a moral lesson for the community and of course, for the reader.
The story is heartbreaking, but then Caliban is a tragic figure. I was moved by Rose’s powerful love for her son and by Poe’s confusion. There are also moments of sly humor that will make you smile.
It was interesting to contrast this with Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood’s version of The Tempest written for the Hogarth Shakespeare series. They could not be more different and yet they are both phenomenal recasting of a classic.
I received an e-galley of Rose & Poe from the publisher through Edelweiss.
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/10/22/9781770413993/
Poe is a simple, gentle giant with six digits on all his hands and feet, with a hump on his back and a huge birthmark. He cannot read and can only tell time twice a day. He spends his day milking their goats, fishing, and building a stone wall for his neighbor Prosper Thorne, whose daughter Miranda is one of his few good friends.
When Miranda is assaulted during a tempestuous storm that takes out the roads and cuts Belle Coeur County off, Poe carried her broken body from the old gravel pit where he found her. Calling “help her – help her” he is still the natural suspect because, of course, he is. The strange and outcast are always suspect.
I enjoyed Rose & Poe quite a bit. It is exciting to see Caliban take center stage and the dead Sycorax reanimated, a living, loving mother. It reads more like a fable, the characters are archetypes, there is this uncanny magical element in the story with the violent storm that erases all evidence that could prove or disprove Poe’s innocence or guilt, and the story reveals a moral lesson for the community and of course, for the reader.
The story is heartbreaking, but then Caliban is a tragic figure. I was moved by Rose’s powerful love for her son and by Poe’s confusion. There are also moments of sly humor that will make you smile.
It was interesting to contrast this with Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood’s version of The Tempest written for the Hogarth Shakespeare series. They could not be more different and yet they are both phenomenal recasting of a classic.
I received an e-galley of Rose & Poe from the publisher through Edelweiss.
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/10/22/9781770413993/
sof's review against another edition
4.0
Netgalley copy in exchange for an honest review.
As a lover of The Tempest, I found this book to be absolutely fascinating and original.
As a lover of The Tempest, I found this book to be absolutely fascinating and original.