Beautiful queer read. Very sexy too. Little is such an engaging writer that you're instantly immersed in this story. I expect this will make lots of 2023's book of the year lists.

I was hoping this would be more relatable than it ended up being, considering it’s coming from an author who is (presumably) underrepresented due to multiple factors. But at points it read too much like a slightly grown-up Jacqueline Wilson novel, or as if it was written by someone 5-10 years too old to understand fully the world they are creating/describing. I enjoyed it, but it ultimately didn’t have the effect or weight I desired.

Girl loves her best friend - somehow decides the best way to demonstrate her love is to crash on the friend's floor and then have a series of sexual encounters. Friend decides that the girl probably isn't a wise choice and selects another partner. Whilst this is going on there are some peotry interludes and an awful lot of words which the editor should have trimmed down.

As you can tell I am not brimming with excitement over this book. There story is fine, it is the rather longwinded way of getting to it. There are some interesting characters - I enjoyed the older characters and Elsie's realisation that they had eventful lives, it wasn't just her. But overall one of those books with too many words.

This book is a whole bundle of sex-positive goodness from the perspective of a queer black woman.

I absolutely loved how sex and sexuality were discussed in this book. The characters’ openness about sex was really empowering to read, but I didn’t find it to be overly done. The LGBTQ+ rep and discussions are also great, with varying aspects of love, both hidden and open, talked about extensively.

I think the messages surrounding race and sexuality were really powerful and important, and I did really enjoy these aspects. However the plot and the writing style just weren’t everything I’d hoped they would be.

The writing was very descriptive, but perhaps a little overly descriptive in places and it felt a little clunky at times. The balance of plot vs character study seemed a little off to me as well and I couldn’t quite figure out what the book was trying to do in some parts.

This book has been compared a lot to Queenie and Such a Fun Age, so I’m sure if you’d read and enjoyed either of those books you would definitely get more enjoyment out of this than I did! It was an enjoyable read in parts, but in others it just wasn’t for me!

This has probably been one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint! From the diversity to the story telling, Liv Little, you are a shining star, this book is a treasure and I am truly in awe that this is a debut novel!

The writing felt so deeply personal to me even though my story and Elsie's are so different, she is quite the protagonist. From the first encounter, her resilience is clear and that sets the tone for how the reader engages with her and her story. She's not one in need of pity but she's one to relate to, to feel kinship with, to root for despite all her flaws; she's all too familiar to us 20-somethings.

The author wrote phenomenally about love so tender, so gentle, so all-consuming and at times heart wrenching that was present throughout all the relationships present in this story and that was by far the best aspect for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this novel quite difficult to stick with. It covered lots of important and interesting topics, from job and home insecurity, the precariousness of working in the creative industries, and the lack of funding for community spaces to miscommunication between family, taking friends for granted and navigating sexual identities. But I think it tried to do too much, and all of these ideas were only superficially explored, there wasn’t enough space to explore them in any more depth and the romance plot took precedence. Although so much space was dedicated to it, I don’t think the relationship between the main character and her bestfriend was resolved very satisfactorily either, there were more conversations that needed to happen before the slightly abrupt ending. I would have liked more focus on the main character and her poetry and the poetry scene she was entering. It had so much potential, I just didn’t love it.

I am aware readers may not share my perspective, however, I did not find 'Rosewater' particularly remarkable. The result was decent, but not what I had expected. I found it enjoyable, yet I cannot help but wonder if this was due to all the publicity surrounding this book.

Elsie is an up-to-date and unorthodox main character and though I could not find a strong bond, it did not affect my understanding of the plot. The storyline flowed well, but there was something missing for me. I cannot identify what this is.

Despite this, as this is the debut work by the author, it has not deterred me from reading any future works. There are a significant amount of advantages to be considered with the writing style, and it offers a great deal of potential.

This story could easily be relatable to some. Even if I did not find it particularly captivating, I can easily understand why others might have enjoyed it.

‘Rosewater’ may prompt soul-seeking moments and deep questions, making it an ideal book club read.

It's a coming of age story even if I think you're an adult at 28 but also a story of finding new hopes, turning points, and finding love where you never looked.
I wasn't a fan of Elsie and Juliet as I think I did some of the mistakes they did but I rooted for them.
The pace is a bit uneven, the characters are fleshed out and the poems are good.
There's a lot of potential and I hope I will read other books by this author.
3.5 upped to 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Elsie is a Black queer poet in her late twenties, trying sense of life in south London. She's had some success with her poetry, but not the type that pays the bills. She's trying to make her voice heard while her life is unravelling around her.

This was a hard book to rate. It's beautifully written, with some powerfully delivered messages, it just wasn't for me -if I had read this in my twenties I probably would have loved it. I could relate to some of the things Elsie goes through, but I found a lot of her actions so incredibly frustrating in a way that made me feel like an old lady rolling her eyes at the youth of today (which, perhaps, is exactly what I am!). This wasn't helped by the overuse of slang throughout - again, perhaps this is just because I'm a white woman who is a decade older than Elsie, but it felt unnatural and awkward a lot of the time.

While this wasn't a romance per se, there was a big focus on love, friendship, and different forms of relationship and it featured my least favourite romance trope of all time - miscommunication! It makes me want to tear my hair out, please just have a single conversation!!! (it fit in very well with Elsie's character and journey but that didn't make it any less frustrating to read!).

Something I really liked though was the inclusion of Elsie's poetry throughout the book, it really helped me connect with her a little better and they were beautifully written.

There were some plot points thrown in that I either would have liked to have seen be explored more or just left out completely, as they were interesting (for example, what happens with her parents towards the end) but just felt a bit glossed over. I also would have loved a little more of Elsie's nan because she was great! I found Juliet's character a bit hard to get a grasp on at times - the way she acted often felt very at odds with how she was described.

The ending did surprise me, and I'm mostly glad it ended the way it did even though it felt a little out of place with the rest of the novel.

I've rated this 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4, because it's a well written debut novel, it just wasn't for me. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories about people trying to find themselves and make their way through a messy world, in a way that isn't tied up in neat, palatable bow. The fact that it centres found Black and queer artists is another point in the recommend column as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dialogue Books for the ARC.

This story feels like it came directly from the heart. Liv Little perfectly captures the anxiety, the pressure, the frustration, cynicism, and constant feeling of treading water that is being a black 20-something woman in London trying to exist. I felt seen, I felt heard, I felt called out, and I saw pieces of myself and many of the women I know in all of the women in this story. Gwarn Liv!

I'm genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed this book, especially for a debut! I keep hearing the words 'bold' and 'beautiful' being used to describe this novel, and honestly, I don't think a better description fits.
Following the story of Elsie, a Black Queer poet, freshly evicted from her flat and unemployed, we move through her life and her struggles with parental relationships, friendships and romantic connections, all whilst trying to grapple with the difficult that is life.

Although there were definitely moments where you just want to shake her and ask what is she doing?!, you can't help but fall for Elsie, for all of her flaws, and end up rooting so desperately for her happy ending. Little created an incredible protagonist that felt less like a work of fiction and more like your messy friend that you love to hear all the tea from, but still hope one day she'll find her peace and stability.

Despite all the messiness that comes with family drama and complicated relationships, the breaks of poetry read like movie scenes, and were such a beautiful addition to the prose. It almost made all the messy parts of Elsie's life seem like art.

And I have to add too, there's something that's just so comforting about following other people's struggles with everyday life, and knowing you're not the only one who feels like a hopeless mess 90% of the time. It's the perfect 'struggling in your 20's' story.

I can't wait for the upcoming obsession for this book, and all the praise it will deservedly get.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me.
I felt like writing was too try hard. I didn't connect with any characters, the flow of the flow and pacing of the book was a little off

I really enjoyed Rosewater. It had a different unique feel to the writing, plot and also the characters that felt refreshing to read.

We begin by meeting Elsie who is being evicted, casually sleeping with Bea who she works with and also about to become unemployed.... She moves in with her best friend Juliet who is a teacher by day and cam girl by night - love it! The book takes us through the weeks that follows.

I enjoyed how sexual the books were in parts, the openness and frankness were great and also loved how much of a freak Elsie was and that came out with Bea but also with the relationship between her and Juliet, I could feel from the pages they bounced off each other and def something between them!

I adored the poetry and social side - the poems were incredible and great inclusion in this book,. I almost felt that I was at the poetry night with them

The book was a great story of friendship and love and I will be recommending to others and looking out for more from Liv

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I found the storyline contrived and too convenient, and the characters shallow.

🟣 REVIEW 🟣

Rosewater by Liv Little

Publishing Date: 20th April

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Elsie is a young queer black woman trying, and struggling, to make her way in London. Having had some recognition for her poetry as a teenager, she is now in her late twenties, working at a dive bar and still trying to have her voice heard. Her life begins to unravel before her, and with this she calls into question her relationships with friends and family, perhaps realising that she had been hiding from what she really wanted all along…

The beginning of this book really hooked me in. I wanted to know more about Elsie and who she was, and wanted to see her work through her flaws. I enjoyed the characterisation throughout the book, and although I found myself irritated at Elsie sometimes, it was realistic of a 20-something year old trying to sort their life out. I also really liked the inclusion of Elsie’s poetry throughout the book, as it gave me more of an insight into her character. However… the second half of the book began to go a bit downhill for me. I felt that a few plot points were added randomly, without proper thought, and would’ve preferred to see the characters develop without unnecessary outside drama. I felt that there was a lot more scope for a more believable and satisfying ending than the one chosen. Despite a disappointing ending, I did enjoy the writing, and the majority of the book, and would recommend to anyone with a liking for stories centred around young queer black artists struggling through life and relationships.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Dialogue Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Elsie is a gay, black poet. She is witty, intelligent and strives to be independent.
She wakes up to her door being hammered, she is being evicted from her council flat.
She turns to her childhood friend Juliet for help, even though they haven’t spoken for a few months.
A few days later Elsie also looses her job.
The story tells Elsie’s struggles with herself, her fight to find a new job, to put her poetry back out there and whilst doing this she realises that she is in love with her friend Juliet ‘J’.
At times I wanted to shake Elsie but I mostly found myself rooting for her, as her strength and determination is tested, delighted when she wins a book deal, and felt for her when Juliet had a boyfriend.
The story covers many different topics, friendship, mental health, identity, hope, trauma, love and more.

An amazing debut novel, Elsie was such an interesting main character to follow. Although her self-destructive behaviour was frustrating to read at times it was clear she was aware of what she needed to work on and I felt really attached to her by the end when she had grown so much. The poetry sections were amazing and I would have loved if they were included throughout the text more frequently,

Her relationship with Juliet was fascinating to explore and I felt like a lot of their confusion and deep chats were pretty painfully realistic depictions of that kind of historic and complicated friendship. I really loved her relationship with Maggie in particular and all the other side characters were nicely fleshed out. Reading intimate scenes between queer women that were written tenderly and with emotion was so refreshing.

I was completely hooked by this and can't wait to see more fiction from Liv Little!

A fantastic, contemporary story of love, friendship and family. Elsie is very relatable and you warm to her, especially as she faces up to her anxieties that trace back to her childhood. I liked how the relationships she has with the other characters change and develop as the story progresses. The last few chapters are a bit of a curve ball but the underlying love and siupport that runs through this part of the story keep it together.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Rosewater

I LOVED reading this book. I connected to the main character, Elsie, almost instantly, and found great value in the poetry. A well-written, gut-wrenching novel to get lost in, to relish, and to revisit!

I’m about a full generation off the target demographic here, but I can imagine for young queer black creatives with aspirations of escaping to the cheap ends of the big city that Rosewater could easily become The Book. I’d be very surprised if it doesn’t also soon become The Film as the vividness of both the characters and their environments really jumped off the page, from Juliet’s nag champa infused flat to Leonie’s perfect slick of red lipstick. You will love Maggie, you will fancy Bea, and you will hate Andrew - those are just the rules. Your mileage may vary with protagonist Elsie, who fumbles from one poor decision to another, but ultimately is doing the best she can to build something stable on shaky foundations.

A lot of ground is covered in ~300 pages but Little does a good job of keeping everything afloat. I’m not sure if the book is just set pre-2020 but it does seem to deny all knowledge of the past few years. Orange wine is not what springs to mind as London’s most fatal flaw these days, and in-person Job Centre meetings feel like a vision of another world - but perhaps that’s what a lot of us are looking for. Following in the footsteps of counterculture filmmakers like Spike Lee and Jamie Babbit, Little studs her story with a long run of arguably clunky cultural references - a well-mapped treasure hunt for her readers to run off afterwards and find more gold. It’s a style that’s not for everyone, but I always absolutely love it - a sucker for extra credit. Consider Yebba now on the playlist and Langston Hughes on the TBR.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for a YA sensibility with more mature themes (work, debt, drugs, super hot sapphic sex scenes) and less moral didacticism, you’re probably gonna love this book. Thanks to NetGalley and Dialogue Books for allowing me to read and review an advance copy.