The Reading Perusals of Rose Summers

Quick review for a quick read. I feel like I am giving this a higher rating for the experience of the story rather than the foundation of the story itself. This isn't so weird considering I listened to it via audiobook, but at the same time - the writing drew me in. I was hooked from point one (which began quite strong) to a somewhat lackluster ending for events but made sense for the fates of the characters.

Wink, Poppy, and Midnight are all teens with vastly different motivations in the book. You could almost call it a warped coming of age story, set with the backdrop of fairy tales. Wink is the whimsical girl lost in tales and tarot cards (I thought her name was appropriate given her dreamy qualities. ) Poppy is a firecracker of a girl who is very cruel to those around her - very amped up highs and lows. I kept thinking of the poisonous flowers from the Wizard of Oz for some reason coming across her name. Then there's Midnight, who seems to drift between phases and seems afraid to call out the things in his life that unsettle him. He's been rejected by Poppy (yet she uses him), his mom is in another country with his brother with no point of contact, and he tries to emulate his brother's attitude only to come out on the losing side.

The three have such complicated ties to each other in the scheme of the book that it leaves you wondering who's playing who in terms of how they act on this stage and why. I enjoyed the journey for sure but I'm still at odds because as short and quick as this read was, I wanted to sink my teeth into it more. I wanted their actions (or inactions) to have more weight.

But it's enough to make me curious for reading more of Tulcholke's work in the near future.

Overall score: 3.5 / 5 stars.