#rosehead

A few weeks back, I received a package from a lovely woman my sister knows. Little did I know, this woman would turn out to be one of the most unique voices in literature I’ve come across. I finished her book in no time and I’ve been tossing and turning ideas in my head, trying to find out how I’m going to give this book a review that does it justice and is honest at the same time.

Rosehead is story about a girl *ahem, anyone singing the Nirvana song?* who believes her grandfather’s rose garden eats people. The story presents an intriguing interplay between elements of fantasy and mystery. I spent a large portion of my time reading this book stopping to think about whether I believed what was going on or whether the protagonist was making it all up. To me, it’s always an interesting experience having a seemingly unreliable protagonist - and I say seemingly, because the story unfolds beautifully.

Speaking of the protagonist, Lilith is an intelligent 12 year old girl. She is quite snarky for her age; which might seem unrealistic but I didn’t mind it. I’d rather read about unusual characters anyways. Despite her wit, I was constantly reminded that she really is just a child - through her arguments with her mother, temper tantrums and sense of adventure. I was always looking forward to her next excursion with her pet, Panther because that’s when things got really exciting.

Now on to the hard part, which is the things I didn’t like about the book. It’s hard to fault a book you like so much. That being said, I really would have liked more background in this book. I wanted to know more about her past, her “diagnosis” and her parents specially. I didn’t like that when it came to discussing what was wrong with Lilith, a few diagnoses were just rattled off (but that’s just me, I’m a med student and get irked by these things).

The book ended with a cliffhanger - which I’m not sure if it means there will be a sequel or it’s just to keep you wondering. I quite liked that the whole book kept me wondering about what’s coming next, but I would have preferred for the ending to come full circle if this is a stand-alone.

I have to applaud the author’s beautiful descriptive writing. She painted a beautiful and gory garden that I couldn’t stop picturing and I think would make for one heck of a movie. Like I mentioned before, she has quite a unique voice. I wish I could say more about the way she writes but I’m at a loss for words *pun totally intended*.

I’d like to thank Ksenia for the wonderful experience she provides through this book and for graciously sending it to me. And I hope this book reaches more people as it is highly underrated. Find Rosehead on Amazon.