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A review by ian
Rosehead by Ksenia Anske
4.0
The novel follows Lilith Bloom on her trip to attend the Bloom family reunion being held at her Grandfather's estate in Berlin. Lilith is not your average 12 y/o girl, even before you consider the fact that she has a talking dog. Her dialogue is witty and sharp, and I loved being in her head.
Despite the fast paced, almost frantic action, there is not a lot of actual plot development until after the 50% percent mark. During the first part of the book, the action goes like so: Lilith visits the garden, learns some minor thing, returns to the house and accuses her Grandfather of murder. Rinse and repeat for six or seven garden visit scenes. I think the entire thing could have been condensed down to one MAYBE two visits to the garden, where she learns the entire set of secrets. As it was, I ended up skimming about 50 pages of material after about her third visit to the garden.
The plot really takes off at the point that Lilith is visited by the psychologist. After this I couldn't put it down until I'd finished. The ending is a bit predictable and the wrap up chapter is suitably cheesy.
Overall I give it 4 stars, taking off a star for the fact that I judge it to be about 35% longer than it needs to be.
Despite the fast paced, almost frantic action, there is not a lot of actual plot development until after the 50% percent mark. During the first part of the book, the action goes like so: Lilith visits the garden, learns some minor thing, returns to the house and accuses her Grandfather of murder. Rinse and repeat for six or seven garden visit scenes. I think the entire thing could have been condensed down to one MAYBE two visits to the garden, where she learns the entire set of secrets. As it was, I ended up skimming about 50 pages of material after about her third visit to the garden.
The plot really takes off at the point that Lilith is visited by the psychologist. After this I couldn't put it down until I'd finished. The ending is a bit predictable and the wrap up chapter is suitably cheesy.
Overall I give it 4 stars, taking off a star for the fact that I judge it to be about 35% longer than it needs to be.