Book review: Rosehead by Ksenia Anske
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 Iāve come across. I finished her book in no time and Iāve been tossing and turning ideas in my head, trying to find out how Iām 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 grandfatherās 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, itās 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 didnāt mind it. Iād 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 thatās when things got really exciting.
Now on to the hard part, which is the things I didnāt like about the book. Itās 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 ādiagnosisā and her parents specially. I didnāt like that when it came to discussing what was wrong with Lilith, a few diagnoses were just rattled off (but thatās just me, Iām a med student and get irked by these things).
The book ended with a cliffhanger - which Iām not sure if it means there will be a sequel or itās just to keep you wondering. I quite liked that the whole book kept me wondering about whatās 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 authorās beautiful descriptive writing. She painted a beautiful and gory garden that I couldnāt 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 Iām at a loss for words *pun totally intended*.
Iād 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.