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A review by melissagreenbriar
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero
5.0
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
5/5
Typically, I don’t tend to read books that are written in this format, verse prose, but I was wanting to expand the diversity in my reading so I thought I would give this book a chance. And it did not disappoint!
The story follows Ilana Lopez as she moves to Prague after her parents told her to stay with her aunt to focus on schooling and cut out other distractions, partying with her friends and playing the violin. On her second day there, Ilana is walking around in the area behind her house when she stumbles into an old Jewish cemetery, where she also sees this blue-eyed boy who backs away when she tries to talk to him.
Ilana decides to take care of the cemetery and to help restore it to what it was before. Day by day she slowly gets closer and closer to Benjamin, the boy she saw when she was first there who turns out to be a ghost, and they develop an unlikely friendship.
This story was such a great read, I finished it within a few hours of starting. The writing was beautiful and I loved all of the twists and turns that unfolded in this tale.
(Spoilers)
The unlikely friendship turned romantic-tragedy between Ilana and Benjamin made me cry at one point. I loved the tragedy of their love. It gave me Romeo and Juliet where “Juliet doesn’t die but moves on because Romeo was already dead” vibes, him being dead and needing to pass on with her not wanting him to leave but also wanting him to be at peace.
5/5
Typically, I don’t tend to read books that are written in this format, verse prose, but I was wanting to expand the diversity in my reading so I thought I would give this book a chance. And it did not disappoint!
The story follows Ilana Lopez as she moves to Prague after her parents told her to stay with her aunt to focus on schooling and cut out other distractions, partying with her friends and playing the violin. On her second day there, Ilana is walking around in the area behind her house when she stumbles into an old Jewish cemetery, where she also sees this blue-eyed boy who backs away when she tries to talk to him.
Ilana decides to take care of the cemetery and to help restore it to what it was before. Day by day she slowly gets closer and closer to Benjamin, the boy she saw when she was first there who turns out to be a ghost, and they develop an unlikely friendship.
This story was such a great read, I finished it within a few hours of starting. The writing was beautiful and I loved all of the twists and turns that unfolded in this tale.
(Spoilers)
The unlikely friendship turned romantic-tragedy between Ilana and Benjamin made me cry at one point. I loved the tragedy of their love. It gave me Romeo and Juliet where “Juliet doesn’t die but moves on because Romeo was already dead” vibes, him being dead and needing to pass on with her not wanting him to leave but also wanting him to be at peace.