Fictional novel Rosewater review by Liv Little. (2023)

Hi all. I hope you are well. My next offering on the blog, is a review from Rosewater (2023) by Liv Little. This is her debut and currently only novel. Although, it seems another one may be on the way. For now, we can roll around in the joy that is Rosewater. This novel is complex, sexy, exhilarating and zesty. At times it had me feeling the heat, intensely! There was one moment where I was gasping, then I was gagged (in the best way possible) and then found I had my legs crossed, both tightly gripped to one another. You probably think I'm weird and I do too a little bit. But the novel had me feeling a certain type of way! I'm still trying to ask myself - is it possible for a book to turn you on?

Rosewater tells the story of Elsie trying to keep it together as her life crumbles around her. As she navigates how things in life are going wrong, she finds comfort in having Bea who is more than just her co-worker. I won't even go on about her best friend Juliet, of whom she has a complicated relationship with... For Elsie, she is trying to keep everything together and believes that there is more to life than dead-end jobs that pay pittance and hookups with people that stumbled into her life. For her, poetry writing in her journal is what she tries to use to keep her grounded and one day hopes she will make it as a writer. What I loved about the novel is how open it is at exploring the good and the bad relationships that can evolve over time. Liv Little is putting black queer lives up on the main stage, front and centre. I am here for it.

Representation and visibility matter to me. Ever heard of the saying "you cannot be what you cannot see"? It's true... Children might grow up are going to recognise characters on the television and think "I feel like that, if they can be like that then so can I". This novel, speaks of lives, loves, heartbreaks and happiness in a way that is honest and acknowledges them for their likeness to life. The novel also does not shy away from the negatives that life can come with and the protagonist Elsie is a shining example of this.

I love Elsie as a main character: she's outspoken, funny, kind and unique. Then again, she can come across as unsure sometimes though it does not detract from how awesome I think she is. As someone who likes to write, I aspire to be a little  bit more Elsie.

For a debut novel with some much emotion and depth of story-telling to offer, this novel sits high on my list of the books I have read. I loved it so much it was hard to put it down. What an excellent novel, this deserves a 10/10!


Until next time,


Thomas.

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