Reviews

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

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nicolefisher's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

bonafidefaygo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I never thought I'd be reading a scifi book that had aliens, psychics, fungi, zombies, secret agents, and angels (??) and come off with a positive opinion, but here we are.

At its core this is a great alien invasion story of a more long-term insidious type that I think works really well. Also, the idea of America closing itself off entirely from the world, and how that changes the geopolitical landscape is fascinating. The centering of Nigeria in the story is also so good and I can already see the potential theme of the series as an alien invasion as another sort of instance of colonization, and setting the story in Nigeria will tee that follow-through up so well.

I think the multiple timelines is effective at setting up the world and works really well, however I do think that it would benefit the novel if we had had a timeline somewhere so that it was easier to remember which threads are happening at which times.

And I found some of the plot to be lacking; however, I'm hopeful that the next books will fix this because this first novel REALLY reads as a foundation from which more books can be written from and we won't be so lost.

Overall, I enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

girl_sam_rex's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

catechism's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

thejaredpowers's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a real treat. I loved the time jumps and the rising action in all timelines. That was really driving me to finish the book. I've gotta buy the rest of the trilogy now!