R. M. Romero

Magic will burn you up. Sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and witness the humble life of an artist, Ilana Lopez--a biracial Jewish girl--finds herself torn between her dream of becoming a violinist and her immigrant parents' desire for her to pursue a more stable career. When she discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery behind her aunt's cottage, she meets the ghost of a kindhearted boy named Benjamin, who died over a century ago. As Ilana restores Benjamin's grave, he introduces her to the enchanted side of Prague, where ghosts walk the streets and their kisses have warmth. But Benjamin isn't the only one interested in Ilana. Rudolph Wassermann, a man with no shadow, has become fascinated with her and the music she plays. He offers to share his magic, so Ilana can be with Benjamin and pursue her passion for violin. But after Ilana discovers the truth about Wassermann and how Benjamin became bound to the city, she resolves to save the boy she loves, even if it means losing him--forever. With spellbinding verse prose, R.M. Romero channels the spirit of myth into a brilliantly original tale, inspired by her experiences restoring Jewish cemeteries in Eastern Europe.

The Ghosts of Rose Hill

Alison

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a musician descends into the underworld.

alya adlina

i gave this 4.3 stars!!! i adore the writing so much!! very beautiful, unique and interesting storyline. it was written in verse but it’s so interesting and the way i became a mess after i finished this like i couldn’t believe i cried over a romance between a human and a ghost. i know that sounds weird but believe me it’s really sad yet so beautiful. this author really did great with the charachter development. the main character is biracial jewish and there’s also a bit about history of her people in prague. really great plot!! i learned a lot in this book and i really recommend this book to everyone. you guys need to read this once in your life.

Christine Bruce

I really loved this book. I went in expecting the usual supernatural summer adventure. I got a beautiful poem and so much emotion. 

Illana has a history of persecution and political upheaval in her roots, her mother's family were Jewish who escaped the pogroms to Cuba, then escaped the cultural revolution to Miami where she then met Illana's father- a political refugee from Prague escaping the USSR. Illana has only known the joys of a free America, and the passion her violin fills her with. But this is not the practical life her parents want for her. In an effort to teach her a lesson, they send her to her father's home country. "at least she can visit our family home now" as her mother says. She stays with her artist aunt, who sees Prague as a city bursting with creativity despite the Russian attempt at stifling it. While there, she discovers Rose Hill, a long abandoned Jewish cemetery left to the vines after the Holocaust wiped Europe of millions of people. 

Shoah, the calamity, is evident in the distinct lack of Jews in Europe, something that hits Illana in a way that hadn't ever before. She had always felt a closeness to her religion, enjoying her lessons despite knowing it was cooler to say she hated them. She decides to take it upon herself to clear the cemetery and take care of the graves. To preserve their memory. Then she meets Benjamin. A Jewish boy who died before the horrors. Who felt the frustration of not being able to rise up with his fellow Praguer, knowing had he lived he would have been old enough to do so. They spend time together, discussing life and the way being a teenager hasn't REALLY changed in the hundred years since his death. 

They also discuss the monster Rudolph Wassermann. A figure prominent in fairy tales. The mysterious stranger, the wizard, the voice in the night promising a better life, promising more. Always more. A greedy man living off the souls of Jewish children out of spite for the rabbi who banished him from his homeland. He fills his hunger with their memories. But he is never full. We learn early on that he is a villian with nefarious goals, but it takes a while for those goals to unravel. But even once they do, defeating him isn't the main purpose of this story. 

That's what I enjoyed most about this book. There was so much typical of a YA ghost romance, and yet at every turn, Romero circumvented it. Most of all by removing the WEIGHT of defeating the bad guy. It was tense, and the stakes were high. But more than that, this was a story about Illana discovering herself. About standing up for herself and what she wants, about better understanding where she came from and where she wanted to go with her life. It was a stunning read.

Elizabeth Hagenlocher

The Ghosts of Rose Hill follows a young teen, Ilana, as she spends the summer in Prague with her Aunt Zofie. Her parents hope that she'll take the time away to become more serious about her studies, and let go of her dream of being a musician. They even hope Zofie's lifestyle will make an impression on Ilana. After all, Zofie is a working artist with a modest lifestyle. But Ilana can't forget what it feels like to play the violin, and as she spends her summer tending to the cemetery on Rose Hill, she meets a boy and a man who change her life. The boy is a ghost, and Ilana is drawn to him from their first meeting. The man is more mysterious, but he insists that there's a way for Ilana to have the life she wants, if she trusts him. As she unravels the mystery around these people, and Prauge itself, she finds her courage and sense of self. 

The Ghosts of Rose Hill was a delightfully lyrical walk down memory lane for me. I know that the description says the book is in verse, but I truly wasn't expecting it, and I thought it was a beautiful way of telling this particular story. This book returned me to a time when I myself lived in Prague, and I could see the city so vividly in Romero's descriptions. I was studying art and writing at the time, and I can't think of a more fitting style to write about Prague and the ghosts that inhabit it. I could see in my mind's eye the locations and things mentioned, and I loved the relationships built in this story. 

I feel like this book so effortlessly and naturally captured what it is like to live in Prague. I also love how Romero wove in details about Old Town and WWII and tied them to this book's antagonist. It was an expertly told story about Jewish history and identity.

While this is a "quick" read, I recommend really spending time with this one :) 

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is written entirely in poems, something I absolutely adored. It’s a very dark fairytale like story that is very much all about the atmosphere and less about a complicated plot. I found it a relatively simple and very beautiful read. 

Definitely a quick read and would recommend if you’re in the mood for something thoughtful and somewhat quiet. It reminds me somewhat of a bedtime story or childrens fairytale with a darker twist or warning. 

Tace

This book is written entirely in poems, something I absolutely adored. It’s a very dark fairytale like story that is very much all about the atmosphere and less about a complicated plot. I found it a relatively simple and very beautiful read. 

Definitely a quick read and would recommend if you’re in the mood for something thoughtful and somewhat quiet. It reminds me somewhat of a bedtime story or childrens fairytale with a darker twist or warning. 

Inez

Thank you Peach Tree Teen and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I remember picking up this book because it has one element that I like, cemetery. The prose style that this book offered was not really new to me but this one book didn't fail to deliver a pleasant experience on reading such style.

The story was rather fast, but still enjoyable. I love that I can also discover about some myth and fairy tale within. It reminds me of one of my favorite movies but with a darker hue all over the pagesㅡwhich I love. It was charming and engaging, lovely in a coldest touch but made you want for more. 

It's a beautiful (love) story about the dead and the living, the beginning of an ending, about being a human and being greedy for life.

Alex Najera 

I’ve never read such style, i fell in love with the words, the writing and Ilana, my snarky fierce girl who can be as monstrous as the monsters mama used to tell us. 
The Ghost of Rose Hill is a beautiful story about our past and our future ❤️

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Seher Mohsin

"Maybe 
my father is still running from Prague. 
Maybe 
my mother is still fleeing Havana. 
Maybe 
my entire family is still trying to escape history. 
(But if that’s true, what am I doing here, drowning in it?)"

Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree for the chance to read and review The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R. M. Romero.

I was a little confused when I started the book. I liked it, but I was like, is the formatting just off? Well, turns out NetGalley put it in the poetry section for a reason.

Do I like modern poetry? No. 9 times out of 10 I don't care for it and I have to think of something nice to say because I like the poet. In this case, it weirdly works, and while individual quotes won't work for you, the overall effect of the book does. It makes it soft and slow and perfectly conveys a haunting, and the darkness behind it.

Ilana has been banished from Miami for the summer. Her parents have taken her violin and want her to focus on studying for the SATs for the summer in Prague with her aunt. 

"I fight with my parents. I dream about monsters. What else do you do when you’re sixteen?"

They also hope that the life of a writer will scare Ilana away from becoming a musician and turn to a more sensible career. Ilana instead tends to a cemetery and meets a Jewish ghost named Benjamin, who shows her around Prague and the ways in which it's haunted by more than just ghosts.

"I want to clean Benjamin’s grave, lay a stone there for him. 
(Flowers would wither 
and fade. A stone is eternal— like memory, 
like love.)
But how can I honor a disappearing boy when I don’t even know where he’s buried?"

Ilana meets the 3 other ghost children, all Jewish; it was a rabbi who had cast the man without a shadow out of his original home. While she wants to join them and be understood for her music in their home, she slowly comes to understand what it means to be a vodnik and why the ghosts are fading. 

"If you must live with a monster, it’s safer to be adored by him above all others."

Can't wait to see more by this author in the future!

Hannah Wall

I really didn’t think I’d like it when I began reading, but the beauty of the story just captivated me. It’s written in poem form, but doesn’t rhyme. The story is wonderful and well thought out. The history and religion is captivating and a perfect blend that adds so much depth. I love this book and how to turned out!

The Ghosts of Rose Hill

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