A thriller that appeals to the young adult audience. What would you do if you thought your sister was a psychopath?

This book unfortunately sounded more interesting than it turned out to be, for me. About a girl who is behaving like a sociopath, hurting things, and being protected by her big brother. Most of the book was uneventful, but the focus on lots of boxing and religion stuck out to me the most. Disturbing, for sure.

I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this book. I have never read anything like it where a character is a young psychopath. I liked that when Rosa meets Simone and you learn about the peanut allergy that you know what is coming, but then it isn't the worse thing that happens. I also liked the little twist at the end, but hate how everything ended up for Che.

I really enjoyed how all the elements of a psychological thriller were adapted into the YA genre

Riveting and scary, this psychological study is all too real

I gave this one a really fair try. I got to the halfway point before I finally gave up. From the description, I was expecting slightly scary, twisty, thriller. But by the halfway point, I had nothing yet but info on the life of a whiny teen boy who lives for boxing and really wants this really pretty girl to like him. He also happens to have a little sister who he fears is just crazy enough to hurt someone. But that's it, and I just couldn't continue.

Awesome psychological suspense! Rosa is a truly disturbing character, seen through Che's eyes. Larbalestier effectively captures a teen boy's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; she even more effectively presents a very creepy little girl. The plotting, pacing, and overall execution of this story are excellent. The reader will think and rethink, and then rethink some more to try to figure out what exactly is going on. Well done!

Note: I received a free advanced copy of My Sister Rosa from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. And then I forgot to send it to my Kindle and eventually checked it out from my library nearly a year later. So yes, I'm completely failing at actually reading my NetGalley books before they're published. Probably defeats the purpose of getting an advanced copy. Maybe one day I'll get better at this.

Since I waited so long to actually getting around to reading it I'd had a chance to hear lots of good things about My Sister Rosa. And I'd already been really intrigued by it. A male Australian narrator with a younger sister who he's pretty certain is a psychopath? It sounded interesting and kind of terrifying! Only, it wasn't.

Che was a decent enough narrator. I liked seeing his inner thoughts and confusion and the mixed feelings of "I hate my family" and "I must protect my family at all costs." That seemed normal in a less than normal household. But the writing style was slow and languid. I honestly felt like not much happened even once I hit the ending and everything was going on at once.

Yes, Rosa did some very bad things and more or less acted like a robot with no emotions of feelings most of the time but I didn't feel the sense of horror that I was expecting. When a book description contains phrases like "what if the most terrifying person you know is your ten-year-old sister?" I expect to feel terrified. I figured the narrator was going to feel terrified and that would leak over to me. Instead Che, and I, just felt resigned. Like "well she's crazy and even my family doesn't see it so whatever."

It was just not what I was expecting.

I really loved the premise of this book. I found the relationship between Che and his sister fascinating. His whole relationship with his parents is super fascinating too! It is very scary to think that a child could be born with this disorder, and what is a parent to do? I feel like the book would have been better for me, if there hadn't been so much extra stuff in it. Knowing my teen readers the way I do, I feel like the book will move too slowly for them. When a story has a lot of extra characters and scenes in it that aren't central to the story, they tend to lose interest very quickly. It is a book that is best for excellent, super-readers and high school students, in my humble opinion. It also can be graphic at times. The end is great, and I think there is a lot to talk about in this book, but it just wasn't the book for me.

Che and his family have moved from Australia to the United States. Though he is far from happy with the move, Che has a few priorities on his mind on how he would like to start a fresh start. On his mind are two simple tasks: find a new boxing gym and keep the world safe from his sister Rosa. For almost as long as she's been alive, Che has known that something is not right with his sister. Rosa is different from other children. She is cold, callous, fascinated by pain, and has no and does not understand empathy. Rosa does however know how to play people, using her sweet demure visage and her innocence as a weapon. As we learn through some startling events, Rosa is a threat to all those around her, whether or not her parents see it. When their lives collide with old family friends, Che struggles to keep Rosa in line at the same time as he's experiencing his first love.
I had high hopes for My Sister Rosa, but was ultimately let down and felt underwhelmed by it. I would not categorize the book as a thriller but more of a psychological character sketch as we see Che record his conversations with Rosa in order to present it as evidence to his parents that Rosa needs professional help. We do get eerie moments with Rosa but the slow pace and Che's rumination of whether or not his sister is evil got boring and repetitive. I also found the twist at the end to be forced and undeveloped. Despite my issues, however, I did appreciate the wide variety of nuanced and complex diverse characters in the book which was done really well. The author also tried to touch above a variety of subjects such as religion and social status but it wasn't explored as much as I would have liked.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were all interesting and I never saw the twist coming!

3.4 - reading about a child sociopath and the impact she has on her brother's life was bizarrely fascinating; there were a few plot threads that seemed to meander nowhere and/or disappear, which bothered me; but I'd say recommended, especially for a YA audience

A creepy, compelling read! The suspense was in waiting for the inevitable! I am handing it to students and can't wait to hear what they think!

What a strange, creepy, yet enjoyable read. Just Wow! I'll be talking about and recommending this book for a long time. Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read.

I stayed up too late to finish this and it gave me a stress stomachache!!!!!

also props to this for the realistic diversity of race, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity!

This remake of The Bad Seed (a book I loved when I was in my teens) was quite the disappointment. Rather than hiding her evil nature as she did in the original story, she blabs to her brother and father about the evil things she wants to do. And in turn, her brother blabs it -- but somehow no one believes him, although supposedly many people can see how creepy she is. Also, the original story masterfully revealed bit by big the evil things Rhoda was up to--this one just puts it all out there and over-explains everything about her, ruining any suspense or tension in the book. The only thing I really enjoyed in this book, is the brother/narrator's love for boxing and the information about the sport.

This is a great psychological suspense thriller. Well-written and disturbing. However, there was just something about this one that wasn't for me. A few things seemed to be added in for no reason, maybe just for story filler. Other parts didn't seem to work out. I did see the big surprise coming as far as the MC, but only caught the last twist just before it was officially revealed to all.

Overall, I think the writing and story was great, but I personally really didn't like the book itself. Usually I love this type of thing, so I'm not sure what the problem is, but this one was just not for me.

Wow. This book was pretty great. But in that creepy way like when you watch a really good psychological thriller but it leaves you looking at everyone a little askance because what if they're a psychopath and are just really good at hiding it. WHO CAN YOU TRUST?! I loved that there were some major curveballs in this story (though one I could kinda see coming just from little mentions of certain things throughout the story which was good because then the reveal wasn't too surprising or out of place. Instead it just made previous things fall more into place, both for me as a reader and for Che as our narrator). I liked the darkness to this story, how creepy and off-putting things could be when Che talked to Rosa. The general sense of foreboding was great as it was apparent from almost the beginning that despite Che's best efforts to make sure Rosa didn't do anything too bad, he was most likely going to fail, though I kept hoping he wouldn't fail and that everything would get better for him. Poor, sweet Che.
I really enjoyed this book and if you like tense thrillers or stories reminiscent of The Bad Seed (an inspiration for this story), check this out. Also yay for diverse characters and belief systems (Christians who aren't all strict and crazy and puritanical, love it) and for it being somewhat subtle but not totally ignored, with a few people getting called out for some questionable behaviours.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Having a ten-year-old sister who may be a psychopath is absolutely terrifying, and Australian Che Taylor makes no secret that it is. His sister Rosa is physically angelic, compared to Shirley Temple, yet there is no question in Che’s mind that Rosa is deeply disturbed and no one seems to understand or accept this except for him. His family is constantly uprooted, yet this time, the family finds themselves in New York, and boxer Che is desperate for normalcy – sparring at the gym, having a girlfriend, and keeping Rosa controlled. His sister’s actions escalate to the point of disaster that forces everyone in their life to admit to Rosa’s unhinged thought process, yet even that’s overshadowed by the secrets in Che’s family that comes to light.

As a reader, my heart went out to Che – his struggles between brotherly love, parents that refused to listen, and the issues of being a typical teenage boy in an atypical family made me wish for a happy ending for Che. I’d recommend it for older teens as there are some slightly disturbing passages and mature content.

An intriguing and compelling look at psychopathy, nature vs. nurture and family.