A review by reidob
Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

3.0

Early in my reading of this book I felt the urge to look at McGuire's biography to see if perhaps she was a teenager when she wrote it (she wasn't) because the protagonist reads to me like what a young person imagines a woman in her thirties might be, which is, of course, merely an older version of the author, without any emotional development or greater maturity. Perhaps this was (somehow, perversely) McGuire's intent. Or was this, maybe, a misguided attempt at writing for young adults?

I am a great admirer of much of her other work, so I know she is capable of great sophistication and thoughtful character development. But the plot here, and the characters inhabiting it, just feel rote, as if they have been pulled off the pret-a-porter rack without much thought.

I did enjoy much of the book, the twists and some of the oddments. But I'm afraid the end result was, to me, pretty unsatisfying.