Naomi Rose

Genre: Coming of age Drama/ Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Plot: 
An avid reader, ten-year-old Naomi Rose already knows the power of a good story. When her mother dies, Naomi’s emotional struggle is exacerbated by her attempts to appease her father’s demands for self-restraint and composure. 
With her father increasingly turning to the bottle for solace, Naomi seeks attention elsewhere, devising highly embellished tales to shock her classmates and delighting in their reaction. When she is befriended by Ozzy, a charismatic, confident Turkish boy, Naomi believes she has finally found someone she can trust. But when Ozzy embarks on a relationship with Naomi’s nemesis, Molly, it leads to divided loyalties and, once again, Naomi is left alone and desperate. 
As her hopes unravel, she is drawn to Mr Adams, the popular young English teacher who applauds and nurtures her talent for writing. Interest quickly turns to obsession and Mr Adams’ naivety makes him an easy target. When a chance arises to command her father’s attention whilst simultaneously punishing Mr Adams for his rejection of her, it is too good an opportunity to miss.
My verdict: I enjoyed the premise of the novel and found myself identifying with the main protagonist on many issues including finding your identity and my love of books. The author says the protagonist is loosely based on someone she knows so this helped me as a reader imagine the characters as real people. Overall, this novel is a rollercoaster of emotions and sends the message that whatever poor decisions you made in your past doesn’t have to define your future and that if you find yourself with a skill or talent, to channel it into something good and productive. Ultimately this is a modern day version and retelling of the boy that cried wolf. The reason I gave it four stars is that I found Naomi’s self pity and presenting herself as a victim quite irritating at times and found that she is the embodiment of the ‘Drama Queen’ figure we often see in YA/ New adult novels. (That’s not to say I did not sympathise with her over the events that happened at when she was at a pivotal age and a times very emotionally vulnerable.)
The author explores issues such as Mental Health, Drug addiction, class divides, lack of a maternal figure, parental affection and grief, Fans of Louisa Renson, Bridgid Kemmerer and Kelly Ried will love this angsty drama and the fall out of a wild imagination. (In the #Metoo Era) As well finding solace in knowledge and making sure that someone’s intelligence are at the forefront of someone’s priorities instead of social interaction and emotional growth.

I'm sure I should have felt sympathy for Naomi ,but I just couldn't.
She was an unlikable character for me.
The whole book felt like it was building up to something,but never quite got there..

This novel is rated 3 1/2 stars that could easily have been 4. The body of the story is about the development of Naomi from the death of her mother when she was 10 until the age of 16. The beginning and end chapters are from her viewpoint as an adult and successful writer.

Naomi's growth through adolescence would have, on its own, been an interesting and relatable tale. Being called, "weird" because she is very bright and a talented storyteller, and how Naomi deals with this and her father's withdrawal into alcoholism was interesting and moving. The final "surprise" seemed to me to be a contrivance to explain how Naomi ended up as a single parent and who Katerina's father was. (And also to tell what happened to her English teacher.)

Esden says the story was not autobiographical but based on a witness's testimony heard when she was a juror in a trial. If so, she's done an imaginative and believable job of fleshing out this coming of age tale.

Naomi Rose by Kirsten Esden begins when Naomi Rose is an adult. Naomi's real story begins when she is 10 years old with the death of her mother. Her father, a college professor, insists she be quiet and poised. Naomi, a vivacious reader, has a desire to gain her father's time and attention. Trying to grieve Naomi uses her imagination by telling or suggesting stories, some very shocking believable stories, to make herself more popular with her piers or to gain sympathyor attention. Her desire is great. Her father's grief leads him to begin drinking and his problem escalates. Thus begins her story. Naomi's story is a very good one! I think we all can see a bit of ourselves in Naomi especially in our teenage years and especially if you were lonely and sad or hurting and never quite fit in.

Read this book. Now. It's so so good. I can't say much without giving away the story but you need to put this awesome book at the too of your TBR list. You won't regret it. Happy reading!😀

An avid reader, ten year-old Naomi Rose already knows the power of a good story. When her mother dies, Naomi’s emotional struggle is exacerbated by her attempts to appease her father’s demands for self-restraint and composure.

With her father increasing turning to the bottle for solace, Naomi seeks attention elsewhere, devising highly embellished tales to shock her classmates and delight in their reaction. But one tale goes too far and Naomi’s life begins to unravel...

Naomi Rose navigates the life of a troubled teenager well. Losing her mum at a young age, sets the scene for her ongoing actions and behaviour.

The novel jumps from present day, adult Naomi, to ten year-old, to teenager. Adult Naomi questioning if “there is a cut-off point when grief becomes an excuse rather than a justification.” I enjoyed this real, it reminded me of teenage life - the ups and the downs of navigating our way through. It was a short novel (I finished it in a day) and I honestly didn’t know who the ‘Gardner’ was until the last page! An outstanding debut from @

“Life does not happen to us. We are not passive bystanders in our own destinies. We choose how to behave, we make decisions, but everything has consequences.”