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Rosewater: the debut novel from Liv Little Hardcover

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4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 200 ratings
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
  3. Dimensions
    6.38 x 1.34 x 9.37 inches
  4. ISBN-10
    0349702950
  5. ISBN-13
    978-0349702957
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Product details

  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0349702950
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0349702957
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.23 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.34 x 9.37 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 200 ratings

About the author

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Liv Little

Liv Little

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Liv is a writer of Jamaican and Guyanese descent via South London. Liv tells stories with heart about the people and places that matter to her. Her work spans journalism, audio, TV and curatorial projects for which she's received various accolades. Liv is most at peace in nature, and she now lives by the sea. Rosewater is her debut novel.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

DJ
5.0 out of 5 stars I Wish I Could Read It Again For The First Time 🥲
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2023
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This Was The PERFECT Book, So Beautifully Written
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jas ♡
4.0 out of 5 stars very real and raw.
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2023
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this book had its moment of humor, joy and sorrow. i won’t give away too much but it was a great coming of age novel, especially for the queer black girls who are wondering where they fit in.

i only gave it 4 stars because at some point, it got predictable. you could see the “plot twists” coming from a mile away. that’s really my only gripe with it!
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Alex
5.0 out of 5 stars buy this book
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2023
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it’s amazing but it
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Sarah Walder
3.0 out of 5 stars beautifully written as a whole
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2023
This book was really beautifully written as a whole. Though I hate the overly climactic third act, causes me anxiety.
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Tyrell
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it.
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2023
In Liv Little’s debut novel Rosewater we first meet Elise, after a drunken night with her co-worker Bea, she wakes up to two policemen knocking on her door, telling her she will be evicted from her apartment in the next hour. Elise does not know what to do, especially with Bea being there- a co-worker she hooks up with but doesn’t really know that well. With no one else to turn to, she calls her friend Juliet who she hasn’t spoken to in over a year to ask if she can stay by her until she sorts herself out. Juilet agrees, but there is still that conversation that needs to be had between them.

Elise goes through so many emotions, being 28, jobless, starving poet, living in her best friend’s apartment, little to no money, barely any contact with her family, except for her grandmother- all while trying to see if she wants Bea as more than a hook up. She tries to not be a failure but cannot help but feel like she will never make it in life, especially when she compares herself to Juilet.

This time the marketing department did not lie, if you did enjoy QUEENIE I think you will absolutely enjoy Rosewater. Yes, Elise reads way more mature than Queenie but both are going through the growing pain of finding themselves in the world. I love how relatable Elise was, as a Black woman in London, who cant seem to catch a break, who wants to be the next poet, it is great getting a look into the reality of what can happen.

I did feel like the author tried to cover a lot of different themes and some I felt got glossed over. The family bit, with the father cheating and who he cheated with- that felt a bit unnecessary because it did nothing to move the plot along. I also felt like the book dragged a bit in the middle and sprinted in the end and I wish they had taken more time to give us a slower ending.
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@michelareads
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, gripping and emotional coming-of-age story
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2023
Rosewater, debut novel of Liv Little, is the story of a queer Black poet called Elsie, who is struggling financially and emotionally, especially after breaking things off with her best friend Juliet. Thanks to her love for poetry and the support of her friends, she tries to pick up the pieces of her life and find her path in the world.

I love coming-of-age novels, especially if the main character is not a child, so I was really excited when I received a copy of this book! I really enjoyed Rosewater: Elsie's precarious world, made of self-doubt, booze and love for art, feels as real as her character, who is immediately well described and easy to root for. The novel starts a bit slow, but quickly picks up the pace and introduces lots of new characters, revelations and situations that Elsie needs to face with strength and determination. I have to say, there is way more drama than I expected, especially in the second half of the book, which I didn't mind at all! There are also A TON of different topics included in this story, the most important and deeply explored being friendship, love, sexuality and identity. The ending, though a bit quick, is quite satisfying and a nice conclusion to the story. There is only one thing that I struggled with: the character of Elsie, who is 28/29 years ago, often behaves and speaks as if she was 19, immature and selfish. I didn't expect her to talk like full adult, but sometimes her poor choices and irresponsibility made me forget she is not a teenager anymore. That being said, I'm fully aware that people grow at difference paces, this is just a personal preference.

Rosewater remains a beautiful, gripping and emotional story of a queer woman realizing her feelings for her best friends while looking for her place in a challenging world.
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C.K. Peebler
5.0 out of 5 stars Such an amazing and tender novel!!
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2023
The poetry inside was breathtaking, and I loved how real the characters felt - I couldn’t put the book down for the last 200 pages because I was just rooting for them. I will be thinking about this loveliness for a long time
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Purrrr
5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED IT
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2023
I received this book as an arc from Netgalley.

This book follows Elsie being evicted from her apartment. She moves in with her best friend and the book continues from there. This book is a clear example of finding love where it has always been. It explores family and the relationships Elise has. Also, Elsie deals with self-sabotage and how it can develop within herself. This book just shows how life can be messy and how people constantly have to adapt to their circumstances. It was just interesting to see where this book would go. I think I would check out the audiobook because there are Elsie's poems and I want to hear how they would be performed. I really appreciated the Guyanese dialect and the descriptions of food were just amazing. I feel like my review does not fully capture my feelings about the book but I would recommend this to a specific group of people.
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Top reviews from other countries

I. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars The silver lining in the damp grey cloud over Peckham
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2023
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I bought this novel after listening to an interview with the author on BBC’s Woman’s Hour. I didn’t need much convincing to buy it. The presenter made a stronger pitch for the novel than the author, but hearing Liv Little talk made me think reading “Rosewater” would be good for me – and I was right.
The star of the novel is Elsie, a poet who happens to be a young Black woman. The novel begins with her eviction from her plywood studio flat for rent arrears. That struck a chord with me as I was forced out of my tenancy a year ago when the landlord decided to turn my flat into three plywood studios. So despite the massive demographic differences between Elsie and me, I was on her side from the get-go. Then we follow Elsie as she tries to make a living as a poet against a background of poverty, homelessness and less than satisfactory relationships with family and lovers. All the while she is trying to rebuild the most important relationship she has – her friendship with Juliet.
I won’t spoil the plot. Things happen and Elsie moves on in her life. When you finish the novel you start looking forward to the sequel.
One of my favourite lines is, “There is a damp cloud of grey hanging over Peckham….” As I live just a mile or so from Peckham I can see that cloud. A great feature of the novel, alongside the author’s prose, is the poetry of Kai-Isaiah Jamal, which brilliantly complements the novel and reflects Elsie and her situation: “You ask me where home is/ And I say here……/ Or here?/ As if I don’t know….”
It’s easy to compare and contrast “Rosewater” with Candice Carty-Williams’ “Queenie”, another novel about a young Black woman navigating her way around south London in the era of BLM and #MeToo. I would also compare it with another novel I read recently: “What’s Good Is Easy To Get” by Aurora Peralta. That novel is about a young Black woman trying to leave her past behind and discovering her sexuality and what friendship is or can be. Reading all three novels back-to-back gives you an insight into a marginalised world that Bernadine Evaristo says ought to be “centre stage”. All three are highly recommended, starting with this one.
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LCF
4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly different and very contemporary.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2024
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After initially feeling rather uncertain about both the writing style and the main character, I found myself getting drawn into the story. The main characters were very well drawn and extremely believable. It was different to other novels I've read - very contemporary, and beautifully written. All the more impressive for being a first novel. I look forward to the second one!
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Dee
5.0 out of 5 stars Book of 2023
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2024
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I loved this book. All the characters were excellent. I loved Cherry (Elsie’s nan) as she reminded me of older aunts in my family and I could hear her accent as I am of Guyanese decent. Elsie was such a great character I just wanted her to win!
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DebWriter
3.0 out of 5 stars A good story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2024
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A good novel with interesting voices. Perfect description of poetry nights and the world of surviving as a writer. A little too cliched at times.
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Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
4.0 out of 5 stars A Later Life Coming of Age Story
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2023
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Elsie is exhausted. At 28 she is approaching burn out. A dysfunctional family dynamic that saw her moving out to fend for herself at sixteen means that she has never had a real chance at stability or a sense of home. Her spoken word career is exciting but also frightening and it just doesn't pay, so Elsie works in bars and lives off scraps and debt until everything starts to fall apart and the bailiffs move in. Falling back on her oldest friend for help brings her face to face with some uncomfortable truths, but also the chance to start again.

Elsie is such a great character, flawed, charming, loveable and damaged, she is also a scrapper and you find yourself rooting for her but also wanting to give her a good shake. She feels like family.

This is a later life coming of age story where circumstances have forced someone to grow old before their time and they have to come back around and do over. A queer, black love story that is gorgeously rendered and superbly readable.
2 people found this helpful
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