Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Rosewater

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

18 reviews

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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cassie7e's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Fascinating worldbuilding/sci fi take. Love a setting that's not in the US or Europe. Works as a stand alone (thank goodness) though I will eventually continue the series.

The writing has a tone that feels very masculine and unrelatable to me (similar to how I felt about American Gods, though less offputting in this book), but books do not have to be relatable to be enjoyable! The weirdness kept me interested. Also I enjoy a nonlinear narrative.

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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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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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oceanwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

1.0

This was an experimental read for me as part of a reading challenge. The summary sounded interesting so I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, this just wasn't my forte. I'm used to non-linear timelines in historical fiction but I guess I have difficulty following along with sci-fi. I started off listening to this as an audiobook but switched to the ebook about a quarter of the way in but it didn't help much. Another reason I struggled through it was the excessive swearing. It was distracting. I'm glad I tried it as the plot was interesting at its core, but between some of the subject matters and politics, it's not something I personally enjoyed.

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-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

4.0

The world building is excellent. I liked the shared mindspace created by alien fungus and enjoyed the book being set in Nigeria. The plot lost me a few times, but that's mostly because it was hard following the time jumps (between audio and the way I tend to process information). The side characters needed more characterization. I kept forgetting which woman was which. I did enjoy when one character told Kaaro that a woman in his life wasn’t a side character in his story.

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bookishplantmom's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

This was a fascinating book. We follow Kaaro an agent for S45 an organization with dubious goals which he is entangled with almost against his will, though I would almost argue Kaaro has no real will to speak of… he kind of goes where the wind takes him in many ways. This character is a hooligan and I did not care for him. This was not however a negative. I don’t believe the author intends for us to root for Kaaro necessarily, he seems to be more of a vessel for us to carried through the story.

The author’s writing style is captivating. It forces the reader the wrestle with the story as it refuses access to itself. The structure of the book is fragmented and nonlinear. I found the pacing difficult because of the fragmented nature of the plot but I was enraptured by the world building and wanted more of it all the time. The biology of the world is amazing and I look forward to to seeing more of it in the rest of the series!

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