Reviews with content warning for Death - Rosalera

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Rosalera by Tade Thompson

25 reviews

mdegge's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Aliens, psychics, mystery, broken timeline! Tough to rate... Definitely dark. The plot and world building are good. I am excited to see where the series goes with these dynamics. I wish there were a more likeable character in the story, but the main character is kind of neutral.

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mgracie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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bluberrybooks's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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deb_is_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Positives: There were so much elements in this story that was just plain cool. The aliens, Kaaro's and other's abilities, the female characters are interesting and I wanted to see more of them.

Negative: So there were a lot of time jumps that weren't chronological. We'd jump from the 2060s to the 2040s to the 2060s again then to the 2050s and references to other time periods within those time jumps. It felt like I should have had a scrap piece of paper to keep track of things. It was a little bit of work to follow. The writing is fine and digestible though.

Sexual moments were also very jarring at times. Romantic moments between Kaaro and Aminat were fine but there were also moments of random erections and sudden moments of sex/sexual assaults. I try to give the author the benefit of the doubt but I felt that a lot of random bouts of sexuality were straight up not needed. It's so strange because our main character is a stated misogynist and we do see him grow a bit, but the random sexual bits kinda ruin it.

Further thoughts: I might be more interested by the next installment because I think we follow more perspectives.

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saintmaud's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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luanagomes's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I struggled on the rating for this one. It has a non-linear structure, as we flash back and forth in the main protagonist Kaaro's life. I really liked that and how it slowly let the mystery and the world building unfold. I liked the setting in Nigeria, the city of Rosewater, the mysterious alien dome, and Kaaro's and the other sensitive's powers to see into people's minds. There are a lot of interesting plot threads at play here, Kaaro's powers, the xenosphere, Aminat's brother, the dome itself... However, Kaaro is not a likable character (tbf, everyone in the book, even Kaaro, seems to know this, but personally for me, I find that more challenging in a book); he is obsessed with sex and objectifies nearly every woman and wants to have sex with them. Kaaro's relationship with Aminat feels insta-lovey, and why would she even like him? The revelation that someone is killing the sensitives doesn't happen until halfway through the book, and I felt that is should have come sooner to amp up the urgency of the story. Lastly, I might be alone in this going by other reviews, but I thought the end was a let down, even knowing that this is a trilogy. I was surprised that was all there was to the book's climax; I was surprised the book was over, as it felt very abrupt. I was expecting more. Overall though, I really did enjoy the book and would recommend it. I hope to read the sequels.

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maricasement's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have conflicted feelings about this book. I went into it knowing only what was written on the blurb and was really excited for the story. The story is told in first person and as the main character (Kaaro) was introduced I got even more excited because I thought they were an interesting, if a bit misogynistic, female character. Alas, Kaaro turned out to be an arrogant and irritating misogynistic male character. My dislike for him was increased by being immersed in his inner thoughts and his obliviousness to his faults. However, I do understand why the author made the choice to use the first person perspective as it becomes more relevant and important in setting the scene as the book progresses.
Because of my dislike for Kaaro, the first half of the book dragged. There was a lot being set up at the start as well, and this meant that the book took a while to grip me. Once the book revealed an awareness of Kaaro's faults and the mystery started to take shape, I started enjoying the book a bit more. Don't get me wrong, Kaaro is still a character I dislike, but the other (female) characters, the plot and the world building now have me hooked.
I will probably read the next in the series, as it seems to be told from a different character's perspective and I would love to learn more about the world Tade Thompson has crafted.

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gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book has me puzzled in a way that I don't know how to describe it. Even after finishing it can't tell you what the plot is about, but I can say that is had me hooked and left me still thinking about it.

The characters and the plot worked so well together that it felt like you were observing someone's life. There were moments of lull and intensity but it all felt realistic. It felt like someone was telling me their life story and not reading a book for entertainment.

With this being the first book in the trilogy I'm curious to see what the other two books will be about.

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mar's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

really cool take on alien invasion/first contact! BIG fan the whole "telepathy" thing - telepathy is such a bizarrely common landmark of classic science fiction, and i loved seeing this book build on that legacy while actually adding a "science" aspect to it. kaaro's constant objectification of women was fucking exhausting tho

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