What Rose Forgot: A Novel

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Nevada Barr, and Minotaur Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I looked many times for this novel on my phone and downloaded it more than once, but it was not available on my Kindle Cloud. Come to find out (last weekend), the title had changed to/or/from The World Rose Forgot so I was able to read and review. I love Nevada Barr, both her series and single stories, so I was really pleased to find What Rose Forgot. I have read this novel of my own volition and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. This was a midnight-oil-burner of a book. It is an extraordinary look into the world of Rose - who awakens tied down in a lock-down ward of the Longwood Memory Care Unit after a virulent bout with the flu. She has no memory of being in this care home the last couple of months, no memory of the flu, no memory of the death of her beloved husband. The only hint she has that her world has imploded is overhearing the doctor tell the nurse that they must re-start her dementia medications at half strength for a day before going back to full doses. She then overhears the night nurse tell others to medicate her at her regular dosage. Did Karen just forget? Rose decides no more meds for her for a while and hides them behind the kleenex box. She is later able to escape, but she is easily recaptured as she doesn't really know where she is. Her second escape is much better planned, and with the help of her teenage granddaughter, she is able to hide out and attempt to figure out what is going on. But will she find the key to her dilemma before those trying to kill her can achieve their goal? This is a great story! I loved Rose - and Mel - from the get-go, both feisty and colorful and very determined to figure out what is going on. Even the bad guys have some saving graces, and there are characters you just automatically befriend in your mind. There are places - on the roof of Rose's house comes immediately to mind - where you get caught up in the action and don't see the hoot of laughter coming. This is a book to recommend to friends and family of all ages. This is another excellent tale from Nevada Barr.

What Rose Forgot sounded like an interesting mystery, and it does start off that way. However, it soon turns into something unbelievable bordering on ridiculous. I realize this is fiction, and a certain amount of leeway can be given, but this one is almost fantasy, especially since nothing short of magic could make a woman in Rose's condition bounce back so quickly. And I don't just say that because of her age. I would find it hard to believe of a twenty-year-old, let alone someone in their sixties. It's a shame because Rose was such a feisty character, and I did have a few laughs along the way. But once things started happening, most of it was just eye-rollingly off the wall. I like quirky characters, and they tend to be some of my favorites, but this one takes quirky to a whole new level. The mystery had potential, but by the time I got through Rose's many adventures, I was just over it and really didn't care one way or the other about the whodunit.

i love this book ❤️