My Sister Rosa

4,5owls This book.. Omg! Where to start? This book contains so many questions! Why doesnt the parents do anything? Why doesnt anyone believe Che? Why haven't they Done Any tests on Rosa before? Etc.. It was a very touching story about a boy who tries to have his own life but instead feel obliged to protect his sister from the world - or the world from his sister. Che knows when something happens, it most likely is his sisters work. Rosa is really charming to others, really manipulative, a mythomaniac, and just over all a very scary little girl. She doesnt care about people and dont love anyone, she just find people useful or not. Some events makes you drop your jaw, other makes your heart break.. I dont know how many Times i Said "noooooo" or "ooooh myyyyy gooooood" or just put My hand over My mouth. The only reason im not giving the book 5owls, is because i wished it would have been a little more about Rosa and less about Ches boxing! But other than that, a great book!

The last couple of years, Che's parents have been moving them all over the place every couple of months. They've been to New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia and now they're in New York City. Che has four goals for this new move: 1) Keep Rosa under control. 2) I want to spar 3) I want a girlfriend 4) I want to go home By far the hardest is number one. Rosa is his ten-year-old sister. His psychopathic ten-year-old sister who checks off everything on the checklist: callousness, disinhibition, fearlessness, charisma. She hasn't physically hurt anyone yet. But Che feels like it's only a matter of time before she goes too far. And their parents are no help in keeping her under control because they won't admit there's a problem. This move to New York might be the one that finally brings things to a head and Che's dreading the coming climax. This was a creepy book that had me on edge every time Rosa showed. The constant question of what Rosa was going to do next, who she was going to manipulate, how she was going to mess with people's head left the book with a constant feeling of suspense. At the same time, the first-person perspective had me questioning Che in so many ways. There was no doubt that Rosa exhibited a low level of empathy combined with a tendency towards cruelty that was more than a little worrisome. And Che definitely worried about her a lot. At the same time, there was a feeling that Che could have done something differently. That he could have spoken directly to a psychologist himself about his worries about Rosa. Until the last few pages, Rosa has never been formally diagnosed. Che's read the DSM himself and used that to form his opinion regarding Rosa's mental state, but he's an unqualified teenager. Instead he keeps a journal of his interactions with Rosa, recording their conversations to prove (to whom?) that she's a danger. In some ways, Che's worldview is as twisted as Rosa's is. Is that because of the way he's had to deal with Rosa all her life or because he inherited the same lack of empathy as Rosa? The number of times that someone says that Che's personal views in his journal about Rosa were disturbing makes me wonder about him and what's not being shown from his limited and biased point of view. The twists at the end felt totally out of left field and left me reeling and confused (in a good way?). They emphasized just how limited Che's experience was and how crucial POV is to the crafting of an engaging story. This was by no means my usual fare, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I've never hated a character more than I hate Rosa. Wow. The ending really saved it and turned it into a quite amazing read. Lebalestier really doesn't shy away from dark and from sacrificing certain things to make it a better story. That being said, my only complaint was how long this book was. It could have done with at least 50 pages less.