BOOK REVIEW: ROSE BY RAMI UNGAR

​With cover art reminiscent of the Poison Ivy character introduced in the Batman comics, and a blurb which promises a supernatural mystery, Rami Ungar's Rose is an intriguing title that doesn't always deliver on its promises.


Starting with a burst of body horror as the titular character finds herself transformed into a plant/human hybrid with no memories, the story then walks you through Rose's gradual rediscovery of her self. There's a heavily signposted revelation about how she came to find herself shacked up with a deceptive young man called Paris, after which things slide into an uncomfortable mix of psychological torture and sheer frustration, as you hope alongside Rose that she can escape the situation she's in.


It's a story which has things to say about the cycle of abuse, and as such you're forced to endure scene after scene where Rose finds herself helpless at the hands of Paris, who's used an ancient Japanese spellbook to bring her back to life. At first he's concerned, then romantic, forceful, violent, manipulative, demanding, you name it. As the story progresses things get darker and increasingly perverse, to the point where I had to skim through certain sections as they dwelled a little too long on Paris' cruel, psychotic behaviour. There are never any excuses made for how he is, though there is a suggestion that dark forces are pulling his strings. He's irredeemably foul.


As for Rose, your sympathies rest with her from page one, as she desperately tries to make sense of the weirdness around her. She's far from helpless thanks to the plants she's fused with, which she learns to control, but she's never actually in control, which is where most of the chills come from as Paris – and those aforementioned dark forces – take advantage of her. I can't say that her journey is a satisfying one, and for a story centred around abuse, I didn't like the way things panned out. There aren't that many directions a story like this can take, and while it's definitely effective in making your skin crawl, there weren't enough moments of catharsis for my tastes. It's a downward spiral, in other words, and when the supernatural elements become more prevalent towards the end, the story takes an exhausting turn towards shared tragedy which didn't pay off for me.


The dialogue also feels a bit clunky at times, knocking the drama out of many a scene. And while the imagery of Rose and her plant-based powers comes across effectively, other times it's hard to place scenes and characters, as more focus is given to those supernatural elements. As Rose's memories return, there are a few scenes where you're given a large information dump, and while this is meant to be a rush of remembrance for Rose, it feels like heavy-handed exposition, especially during one late scene where a key character and their relationship to Rose is described right before they pop into the story.


With a bit of pruning, Rose might have bloomed into something great, but as it stands, this is more of a last minute bouquet from a petrol station forecourt than something you'd see at Kew Gardens. It does its job, but it's not the best.

​Rose Taggert awakens in a greenhouse with no clear memory of the past two years and, to her horror, finds her body transformed into an unrecognizable form.
Paris Kuyper has convinced Rose that they are lovers and as Paris could not bear for her to die, he has used an ancient and dark magic to save her from certain death.
But the dark magic Paris has used comes at a price. A price which a terrible demon is determined to extract from Rose.

As Rose struggles to understand what is happening to her, she must navigate Paris’s lies and secrets; secrets that Paris will do anything to protect.

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