Reviews

The Ghosts of Rose Hill, by R.M. Romero

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ritareadstrash's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

"This is what it's like to be Jewish
in Europe.
Every beautiful thing
has horror buried under it."

-The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R.M. Romero

When I tell you, there are at least a dozen quotes like this that made me pause my reading to really mentally and emotionally digest what I read.

I'm not one to pull quotes, but it was a struggle to choose just one this time. I landed on this one because my heart squeezes when I think 6 horrors we walk on daily.

It's so hard to find the words to explain how this book hurt my heart, but also kept a continuous thread of hope the entire time. I think being in verse really drives this story, too. To top it off, this is an own voices author, which adds so much emotion to the story.

I don't know how I stumbled upon this book. I don't remember if I placed a hold or randomly picked it up, but it's one of the best decisions I've made this year.

Content Warnings

zebrakat's review against another edition

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dark hopeful

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

bripadilla's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

readbykathleen's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

3.75

sbequette's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

hobbitslibrary's review

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I’m made up of even/older tales then [he] can imagine./My People/left Egypt,/traveled to the land/of milk and honey,/were banished/to the wilds/of Babylon,/Germany,/Poland/a thousand years/before the Grimms/set their stories/down on paper.//My peoples tale/is as old as time./And it is strong/…We will/always/outlive/you.

Told in verse, this Jewish fairytale meets ghostly love story paints a startlingly familiar picture of a girl tangled in the roots of her family’s expectations and her love of music and magic.

When Ilana–a Jewish, Latina teen–is sent away to Prague for a summer by her parents under the command to study and prepare for a steady future ahead, she stumbles upon a Jewish cemetery at the top of a hill overgrown with weeds and time. But as Ilana spends more of her time and devotes more of her heart to restoring the memories of the dead, something else, far more ancient and far more hungry, comes calling.

So many of us who have grown up with the generational trauma of ancestors who have had to run and hide and stick to the straight and narrow to survive are currently going through a revolution of our own. A revolution that demands a breaking of cycles. Asking us to trace back the paths our families took, asking us to bear witness, asking us to heal, and asking us to fight. This book is not just about fulfilling the past, but releasing it, in order to move onward without strings.

The interwoven nature of fairytales to fear and to the past is properly saturated throughout the narrative. Romero turns Prague into a mystical realm of ghosts and monsters and magical instruments, reminding the audience that places are like stories themselves, and that nothing can be owned, only experienced and loved.

Throughout the story, our main character takes on the role of a fairytale heroine, at times narratively transforming into Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Wendy Darling, and even Orpheus, showing how her footsteps follow not only her family’s personal past, but the shadows of all the girls, dreamers, and musicians that find themselves at the center of a fable, facing a monster of many faces.

Though at times, the style of verse felt rhythmically repetitive (I still wish the meter was longer in certain increments), I do feel it overall aided the story, adding a timeless and elegant quality to it. And especially since the language of the story’s parts reference Ilana’s musical passions, the lyrical aspect helped to steep the whole work with a musicality.

Definitely a beautiful and dreamy work, and one that has put R.M. Romero on my list of authors to watch.

CW: death, child death, grief, generational trauma, grooming, kidnapping, physical abuse, nonconsensual kiss, genocide/war (past), drowning, illness, starvation (mention)