Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - Rosewater

Elsie is a Black queer poet in her late twenties, trying sense of life in south London. She's had some success with her poetry, but not the type that pays the bills. She's trying to make her voice heard while her life is unravelling around her.

This was a hard book to rate. It's beautifully written, with some powerfully delivered messages, it just wasn't for me -if I had read this in my twenties I probably would have loved it. I could relate to some of the things Elsie goes through, but I found a lot of her actions so incredibly frustrating in a way that made me feel like an old lady rolling her eyes at the youth of today (which, perhaps, is exactly what I am!). This wasn't helped by the overuse of slang throughout - again, perhaps this is just because I'm a white woman who is a decade older than Elsie, but it felt unnatural and awkward a lot of the time.

While this wasn't a romance per se, there was a big focus on love, friendship, and different forms of relationship and it featured my least favourite romance trope of all time - miscommunication! It makes me want to tear my hair out, please just have a single conversation!!! (it fit in very well with Elsie's character and journey but that didn't make it any less frustrating to read!).

Something I really liked though was the inclusion of Elsie's poetry throughout the book, it really helped me connect with her a little better and they were beautifully written.

There were some plot points thrown in that I either would have liked to have seen be explored more or just left out completely, as they were interesting (for example, what happens with her parents towards the end) but just felt a bit glossed over. I also would have loved a little more of Elsie's nan because she was great! I found Juliet's character a bit hard to get a grasp on at times - the way she acted often felt very at odds with how she was described.

The ending did surprise me, and I'm mostly glad it ended the way it did even though it felt a little out of place with the rest of the novel.

I've rated this 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4, because it's a well written debut novel, it just wasn't for me. Rosewater is out this Thursday - I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories about people trying to find themselves and make their way through a messy world, in a way that isn't tied up in neat, palatable bow. The fact that it centres found Black and queer artists is another point in the recommend column as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dialogue Books for the ARC.

Content Warnings

shector1's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I received this book as an arc from Netgalley.

This book follows Elsie being evicted from her apartment. She moves in with her best friend and the book continues from there. This book is a clear example of finding love where it has always been. It explores family and the relationships Elise has. Also, Elsie deals with self-sabotage and how it can develop within herself. This book shows how life can be messy and how people constantly adapt to their circumstances. It was just interesting to see where this book would go. I think I would check out the audiobook because there are Elsie's poems and I want to hear how they would be performed. I really appreciated the Guyanese dialect and the descriptions of food were just amazing. I feel like my review does not fully capture my feelings about the book but I would recommend this to a specific group of people.

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