This was very good! I loved the way it was written in verse, and Ilana was such a fun main character! I would definitely read more from R. M. Romero!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley and the publisher which has not altered my opinion of this book in any way.

Let me start off this review by stating the simple part: I loved this book! Books written in verse tend to be hit and miss for me simply because I don't have a lot of experience with them, but this one flawlessly combined history along with the magic of music and the natural beauty of the world around us. The history nerd in me was captivated by the mythology that was added into the story and how everything added up by the end.

Our characters were whimsical and so interesting, Ilana was relatable as a fellow violinist, magic has a way of sucking you in and I always find it difficult to read about music because we can't actually hear it the same as the author. I think writing this book in verse really helped with that musical quality that is hard to write out.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it for any musician and history nerd who loves a dash of adventure and mystery as well. This book gets 5 out of 5 from me!

This was a captivating story. The verse is a wildly affective way for delivering this story. I found Ilana to be a interesting main protagonist to follow. I loved how there was a supernatural element to this story overall a must pick up book!

"And the most impressive monsters are always the least impressive men"

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! Just pure magic.

This was my first time reading a book in this format, and while it took me a little while to get used to, I'm so glad I stuck to the story and kept reading. The writing is simply beautiful, and feels magical.
As a Jewish girl I enjoyed being a part of Illana's journey, and I felt connected to her and somehow even comforted in seeing her struggle and win. Some of the quotes from this book will stay with me for a long time.

"This is what it's like to be Jewish
in Europe.
Every beautiful thing
has horror buried under it.
I'm always walking on bones"

Not my kind of book. Poetry is always a hit or a miss for me, and at this moment this is more of a miss. Might give it another go in the future!

This is a really beautiful book! There are so many wonderful quotes in this one that I wish I had a hard copy to highlight them in.

The story is super captivating and I enjoyed following Ilana's journey in Prague. It's clear that Romero has so much pride and reverence for her culture which is shown through how Ilana takes care to clean up the graveyard that she finds.

For me, the pacing was a little wonky, with the first three quarters of the book moving quite slow and then the last quarter moving so fast I could barely keep up with what was happening. However, this did make the book feel like it really captures a few different genres: fantasy, horror, contemporary,

This is definitely a good one to pick up!

This book does a great job of capturing the magic of this city, in the history, the culture, the mundane and everyday scenario. Unfortunately I have a hard time getting into stories told in verse, I would still recomend it to ayone who would enjoy it.

Ilana Lopez is a biracial Jewish girl, sent to stay with her aunt in Prague and torn between her desire to become a violinist and her parents' to pursue a more stable career.
After discovering a forgetten Jewish cemetery, she meets the ghost of Benjiamin, died over a century ago and she's introduced into the magical side of Prague, filled with ghosts and legends.
Benjiamin isn't the only one interested in her, though and in her music and when a man with no shadow, Rudolph Wassermann, offers to share his magic and let her be with Benjamin and pursue her music, Ilana starts to understand something is wrong and when she discovers why and how Benjiamin is bound to the city she will do anything in her power to free him. Even though it means losing him forever.

The ghost of Rose Hill is a wonderful story in verse, set in the brilliant and fascinating Prague, filled with legends and ghosts and a protagonist willing to do anything to set things right and to save her loved ones.
A story told in verse, mixing magical realism and dealing with the struggles and grief in changes, from homelands to new homes, from being a child to an adult, from life to death. A story about love and hope, diaspora and magic, grief and loss.
I loved this story so much. Not only is set in one of my favourite city ever, but it's unputdownable, with amazing characters, live and dead, a captivating adventure and so much love and hope.

I chose to read this book because it is written in poems and I really enjoy this format. Also the cover is cute.
We follow Ilana who has to spend summer vacation in Prague at her aunts to study because her parents do not want her to pursue music as a career. I get that parent want their children to have a really stable career but at the same time, it is sad that they don’t encourage them to follow their dreams. Ilana is very likeable. She finds a Jewish cemetery on the hill that she restores. That is also where she meets Benjamin, a ghost who will become much more. It was a very touching story, about children and how they don’t always have the possibility to do what they want but who always dream. I enjoyed every part of it and even had a few tears in my eyes by the end.
I recommend to people who enjoy a bit of fantasy and myths
4/5

4/5 stars, a powerful poetry collection

Thank you Peach Tree Teen for the arc through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

It is always such a wonderful feeling to know that you hold a poetry book in your hand, that the author may be more honest than they ever could with just a novel. Knowing that the author will write between the lines with nuanced phrases, and reveal pieces of themselves so delicately you cannot help but feel connected to them. That was definitely the case with this book, I do not think that the feelings this book kindled in me would have been in the same way had this been a regular written novel.

The most important piece of this story to me was how the main character, and narrator, Illana was a child of immigrant parents and every piece of her story made that very apparent. She continuously talked about how her parents were people from across the sea, and her family was from all over the world. Her family is both Latin-American and Jewish, something that affects her in many ways as she goes throughout the story. I loved seeing this representation as it was critical to both the plot and the growth seen in the main character.

Other themes that I felt were important include innocence and childhood and the ability to know yourself and know what is best for you even when others don't. There is such innocence that is often centered around childhood in literature, and this book did a nice job of peeling that back. I also enjoyed how Illana knew what she wanted to do, even when others told her it wasn't good enough. She was confident in her abilities and that never changed, even when she did.

In the beginning, the story was a bit hard to get into and likewise a tad bit slow. It wasn't until Illana met Benjamin, a mysterious boy who appears in the cemetery she is trying to clean, that the story really began to pick up. From there the reader is introduced to a handful of other characters that are very important in the story. After that, the story had an intriguing plotline, and it went somewhere that I was not expecting which was a pleasant surprise.

While the romance in this was sweet, the love between Illana and Benjamin sometimes felt superficial, like it was there just for the story to take place. I think if Benjamin had been introduced earlier the romance would have felt better built up. I still think the connection they had was important. Overall it was a fun story and I really enjoyed the poetry and how it was used, and I will definitely be looking into other books by the author.

[TW: war themes, murder (mentioned), immigration, manipulation, genocide (mentioned), kidnapping, death of loved ones and self, child abuse]

Beautifully written and incredibly touching, The Ghosts of Rose Hill urges us to remember our history while we fight for our future.

"This is what it's like to be Jewish
in Europe.
Every beautiful thing
has horror buried under it.
I'm always walking on bones"

The daughter of refugees, Ilana returns to her father's homeland to find herself. Her parents want her to study, to prepare for university and her future. Ilana knows she will have to abandon her love of music to be the dutiful daughter they expect and deserve. Surrounded by her history in Prague, the boundary between worlds is thin, and magic is everywhere. Ilana spends her time clearing an abandoned Jewish cemetery and getting to know Benjamin, the friendly neighbourhood ghost.

"It must be hard
to recall how to be alive
when you've been mist and memory
for years."

I was hesitant going into an entire novel written in verse prose, but it only added to the beauty of this story. Ilana is a thoughtful and intelligent teenager, respectful of her history and her parent's expectations. However, she's torn between fulfilling these expectations and pursuing a future in music and being in Prague - a magical city between worlds - makes this decision even more difficult. Falling in love with a ghost is never a great idea, but in Prague, anything is possible.

"Maybe sixteen is a curse,
a time when everyone is stuck
between being a child
and being something else."

It is so much easier to write reviews about books with issues, but trying to find the words to convey what you love about an absolute masterpiece is difficult. The Ghosts of Rose Hill is a powerful story of good versus evil, of remembering and respecting our collective history, and of fighting for what you believe in. Filled with folklore and magic, I could not recommend this book more highly.

"And the most impressive monsters
are always the least impressive men."

I loved this fairytale aesthetic tale that was so beautiful with words, culture, and magic!
Think Coraline mythology-based villain, a heroine with Bi-racial background being lured into the world with promises and a bittersweet love doomed from the beginning!

I usually hate poetry style storytelling, but this was done most magically and added so much of the gothic fairytale vibe to the story. Getting glimpses into not only her Jewish heritage (as that was the main set for the story) but her mother's side was so fascinating. I honestly want more from this world, but I know it is standalone!

PLEASE, PLEASE READ THIS! Ghosts, culture, a dark monsters river man, Prague, a young girl chooses for herself and her future from immigrant parents who mean well but have no right to force her hand, magic and first love!

This is a hauntingly lovely book, set in the present but spilling over with the past.

It always takes me until I’m about 10% into a book told in verse to soak into it: the style, the tempo, the flow of it. I totally understand why this writing style turns a lot of people off and why so many readers find it inaccessible. In my opinion, if you dislike poetry or find poetry inaccessible, then you’re not likely to like a book told in verse either. It can take some time to get used to if you’re used to prose, day after day after day. I love poetry and even I have to switch some mental gears to adjust. But I find it can be well worth it for the right book. This is one of those books where letting my brain settle in was so worth it, because so much about this book is about the marriage of music and words but never having the two meet completely. So verse it is.

Prague is so rich with Jewish history (and some of its greatest horrors and greatest mystic stories), and Ilana Lopez is sent there for the summer to live with her aunt from her home in Miami because her Cuban mother and Jewish father want her to spend her summer studying and not partying in Miami with her friends. What they couldn’t have known or foreseen was how sending her away from the melting pot of her birth and into this ancient cradle of war after war and atrocity after atrocity–not only against Jewish people but against other before them–would only stir the curiosity and longings of a teenage girl who just wants to know who she is, what she is, and where she belongs. Just like every other teenage girl in the world. And her aunt’s cottage is on a hill with an old Jewish cemetery (“beit kvarot” is the correct translation, if I’m not mistaken?). Ilana makes it a personal mission to clear the cemetery of all the weeds, vines, and detritus that has choked the cemetery until it has become hidden from view and make it visible to everyone once more. And as Ilana communes with the soil of the cemetery, one of its denizens begins to commune with her… and soon Ilana is introduced to another side to Prague that not everyone gets to see. It’s up to her if she belongs there.

This is a coming-of-age novel, a ghost story, a history lesson, and a YA romance of sorts. It’s simply lovely and shouldn’t be passed up.

Thanks to NetGalley, Peachtree, and Peachtree Teen for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and PeachTree Teen for this free digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now!

Ahhhhh. This book. This book is so beautifully and lovingly written. I would call in a novel in verse but there are moments that feel like prose as well. Romero’s writing is stunning and lyrical and there were beautiful sentences that just leapt out of the page and lodged themselves into my heart. To try to place this in a category feels weird, but this felt more like magical realism to me than anything else. It had elements of the folktale and fairy tale about it, which I think can still fit under the magical realism umbrella.

When I wasn’t reading this book, I was thinking about it. When I was reading it, I was reading it QUICKLY. I do want to eventually read it again, because I do think I missed a little since I read it so fast (I just REALLY wanted to know what happened next). I wouldn’t exactly say the story is fast-paced though, a reader can just move through it quicker.

I would absolutely recommend this story, particularly if you like novels in verse. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

CW: The story is set in Prague, and does mention the Nazi occupation of Prague during WWII. I read this about a month ago, but I do not recall this story going into extreme (graphic) detail about the treatment of Jewish people in Prague during the occupation. It is mentioned, however, so please be aware of that in the event that my memory has failed me. This story also discusses the death of children.

This book was magical in every sense of the word. The author has a talent for transporting you to beautiful places. They also have a knack for painting the most vivid pictures in your head.

I am in awe over just how stunning this book was. I was drawn in by the beautiful cover and intrigued by the description of the story, and it did not disappoint! This magical, wonderful story starts with 16-year old Ilana being sent to Prague for a summer to study, reflect, and get her priorities in order. Her only desire is to make music, but her parents do not approve. When she arrives at her aunt's home in Prague, on Rose Hill, she discovers a long-forgotten Jewish cemetery. Ilana decides to care for the graves, and it's here that she meets a ghost, Benjamin, and the secrets of Prague, both magical and dark, are revealed to her. Ilana experiences love and loss, learns to fight for herself and those she cares about, and to follow her heart and her dreams.
What I loved about this story is the realness of the magic, of the ghosts, of the secrets. It all felt so plausible. The way Ilana develops over the course of the story, and the love between her and Benjamin made my heart both swell and break. This was just an unbelievable story, and I am so impressed by how much happened in such a short space (it's over 300 pages, but in prose). Seriously, go read this! It's wonderful!

A little out of my comfort zone, but I am glad I picked it up.

The characters were great, and I enjoyed it the read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

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.

Beautiful.

The Ghosts of Rose Hill is a novel-in-verse about a young girl finding adventure in Prague that explores identity, passion and how we deal with grief in its pages.

Ilana Lopez did not plan to spend her summer away from her friends and her violin with her aunt in the City of a Thousand Spires but that's where she is now heading to. Sent to Prague by her parents, she discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery and a ghost boy who was buried there. Intrigued by the mystery and her own connection to the Jewish history around her, she spends her days tending to the cemetery and meet more strange people like Rudolf Wassermann. As she gets offered a chance to stay and play the violin, Ilana must decide how far she is willing to go to follow her dreams and the ghost boy she is falling for.

The first part of the story does a great job of priming us for what we will expect to see in the following pages. Ilana is a great protagonist, she is passionate about her music and she loves to help everyone she meets. So much of her identity is informed by her parents who have shared their Czech and Cuban history with her. Already, we see a common theme of community and prosecution that has shaped her parents and explains their wish for their daughter to have a stable job.

In Prague, we dive more into Ilana's character. We see her wor through her feelings regarding her parents, we see her miss her parents – and then we see her discover the cemetery. I loved how the story flows from there without disrupting the pace of the poems. Romero includes some of the atrocities that have been committed over the ages, but she also includes prayers and cultural food, giving the story a balance between its heavier topics and the classic coming-of-age narrative.

I loved seeing Ilana interact with death on a more personal level for the first time and bonding through a shared heritage with Benjamin while also slowly growing closer with her aunt who she had little contact with before. It's about connections: the ones she makes with people and places and memories. It's a story about resistance and perseverance, and fighting for the life you want to live.

But looking beyond the masterful inclusion of all these themes is a wonderful fantastical tale of a girl standing up for herself and others to fight a monster with incredible verses that pull you in and let you experience it all alongside Ilana. There are small references to other magical, mythical stories (Orpheus, Narnia, Golems) which I loved and highlighted how many different identities Ilana encompasses.

It's my favourite novel-in-verse I've read so far. It's a great read and cannot recommend it highly enough.

This was a nice, quick, and enlightening read. It was lovely and well-written prose that flowed very well and I thoroughly enjoyed it too. It's a story about a girl, a biracial Jewish girl, llana, who's an artist and wants to play music. She loves music more than anything and wants to be a violinist, but her parents want her to have a more stable career to fall back on so she can take care of herself and everything.
She is sent to live with her aunt in Prague to see what it's like to live as an artist and while she's there she finds an old run-down and forgotten cemetery behind her aunt's cottage. She meets the ghost of a boy who died years ago and introduces her to the side of life there in Prague where the ghosts walk the streets. She also meets and is found to be of interest by another ghost and has to help the ghost of the boy, Benjamin along with figuring things out for herself with life and everything. It's an enchanting tale of love, loss, and life written in verse and I loved it. I would recommend checking it out if you're a fan of poetry, prose, novels in verse, supernatural, romance between a ghost and a human, figuring out and finding your way in life.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Peachtree/Peachtree Teen for letting me read and review this lovely story. Make sure to check it out if you haven't already. All thoughts and opinions are my own.