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There are currently 23 member reviews
for In Search of the Rose Notes
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Diane C. (Lutz, FL)
Claiming the truth
The friendship between Nora and Charlotte began on the first day of kindergarten, and by the time the girls are eleven they have developed a mutual history that lacks mutual respect. At least that is the viewpoint of Nora, who narrates this story that twists between three points in time. We meet the girls when they are eleven and bedazzled by Rose, an older high school girl who babysits them after school. One night, after walking Nora home, Rose disappears without a trace. In 2006, Charlotte calls Nora, who is now happily married and long gone from her hometown, to tell her that Rose's bones have been found. Keys to the disintegration of the girls' friendship, the trauma of Rose's disappearance, and Nora's suicidal breakdown, however, are buried in the experiences of 2006, when Charlotte and Nora are in high school. Clues and red herring are scattered throughout Nora's telling, and the reader is never sure if Nora is revealing the truth or her own fears and fantasies. It's an engrossing and suspenseful symphony. Fans of psychological mysteries should like this one.
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Patricia H. (Norman, OK)
High school is more than academic
If your teenage years were perplexing ones, then this novel shows you were not alone. While alternating time frames can be disconcerting in some novels, they help support who these characters were and have become. It is a tough book because it has not been a happy time for them and, in the end, it is not clear that the solving the mystery of Rose's disappearance will make a difference. A melancholy book but worth reading if you want to share the lives of your novel's charaters from either the adult or teen perspective. I would recommend the book and would read it again.
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Paula W. (Winfield, IL)
Editor, Please!!!
It caught my attention. I could see what mystery was going to be and was interested. I like secrets shrouded in the past. The writing was good. HOWEVER! The novel was too long! The same ground was covered again and again. Good editing would have tightened this up and made it better. I kept reading because I did want the solution. But the heroine did not engage my affections, so I wouldn't give it a very good rating.
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Sherri A. (westbrook, ct)
In Search of the Rose Notes
All in all, this book was worth reading--even though it felt as though the author let the story get away from her. Take the title, for instance; it means nothing to the reader until the last few chapters, and then it just feels forced. The mystery surrounding Rose's disappearance seemed to be going one way in the beginning, and then took a sudden turn fateful fake-feeling turn toward the end. A shame, because the beginning was so good and the characters real...
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Sandy P. (Gainesville, FL)
At a loss
Couldn't really find enough to say the book was good. Would appeal more to youth readers, which I'm sure is the intended market. Enjoyed the back and forth from 1990, when Rose (Charlotte and Nora's babysitter) disappeared to 2006 when Charlotte returned home to resolve Rose's disappearance. Repeated reference to Charlotte's "black books" became wearisome and had no tie in. Okay reading but not very satisfying to me.
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Susan (Maple Grove, MN)
In Search of the Mystery
This book is not what I expected – a mystery/thriller. It is more of a coming of age story and would probably be more appealing to high school/young adult readers. I found it slow moving at times and did not care a lot about the characters or the outcome. It is not a bad book, but certainly not above average.
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Peggy K. (Long Beach, CA)
Finding Rose
This isn't a bad book but for me it wasn't above average. It was very slow moving in plot and not quite the mystery I had expected. Still I found the discussions of childhood by the main characters to be of some interest. I believe a book club would really be able to to get into this because we all have those memories and the changes adulthood brought. I think that young adults say from 20's up would find this book of interest simply because it does seem to generate thoughts of the past or at least it did in my case. You have friends you grew up with but lost touch with. The Rose of the title is the center point of it all.
I suppose I expected more of a mystery but in truth this is a story about growing up and how we change or in some cases don't change so much and the secrets we keep. I would have preferred a faster pace but I think this book was written to be the way it is in order to make readers look at their own past and school days.
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