Rose/House | Litsy

Rose/House | Arkady Martine

so-so

2⭐
• novella/short story • science fiction • murder mystery • futuristic horror • eerie architecture in the form of AI house • multiple POVs •

The premise seemed so promising that I was genuinely excited to dive in. Unfortunately, as a mystery, this failed unless you like mysteries that ask more questions than they answer. The sci-fi horror elements were present, but they created more confusion than satisfaction.

22 likes

RainyDayReading

Rose/House | Arkady Martine

pan

This was….something. It‘s been a while since I read a sci-fi but I didn‘t think that I would struggle this much through a novella no less! I‘m not really sure what the point of this was. Or maybe the point was just to be confusing and talk in circles and leave you with a general feeling of “what on earth did my eyeballs just consume”. But overall it just wasn‘t for me. Sounded like a great murder mystery but didn‘t deliver in my opinion.

22 likes

OutsmartYourShelf

Rose/House | Arkady Martine

pick

Basit Deniau was an architect who designed & built 'Rose House', a house embedded with AI. Since his death, Rose House has been sealed with no-one allowed in apart from Dr Selene Gisil, who is allowed to visit for 1 week per year as per the terms of Basit's will. So it is a surprise when the local PD receive a call from Rose House reporting the presence of a dead body inside the premises. (Continued)

OutsmartYourShelf A police officer visits the house but is not allowed in by the AI, so Dr Gisil returns to the house to gain entry for the investigation.

This novella is a distinctly odd read & I mean that in a positive way. It's an intriguing premise: an abandoned house run by an AI who controls exit & entry of the one person allowed in there. So how did the dead body end up there? 6mo

OutsmartYourShelf Once Dr Gisil & the police officer are inside the house, the AI acts almost sentient as it displays enjoyment of subterfuge, word play, & double meanings. It must have seen what happened but is strangely reluctant to divulge that information. It's a fairly short read & the ending doesn't tie up all the loose ends, rather it leaves the reader with a sense of disquiet or unease. I thought it was an interesting read.
3.75 🌟 6mo

OutsmartYourShelf My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Pan Macmillan/Tor, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7322312798
Read 10th-11th Mar 2025

#ReadAway2025 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES 6mo

DieAReader 💖💖💖 6mo

28 likes4 comments

Robotswithpersonality

Rose/House | Arkady Martine

pick

Delicious. Novella length with a short story's worth of plot, there is a glorious blend of literary sci-fi and a tingle of horror and detective noir. It's more languid and atmospheric than solidly creepy or spooky, but it had me invested quickly. I think I wanted more resolution, more answers, but I can see how that wasn't the author's intent. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? I'm stil on the search for non-evil-seeming robots/AI, but if they're going to be a negative depiction, I appreciate when they're possibly sarcastic and ominous in their curiousity, possibly, but not certifiably homicidal. A good aura of mystery remains. I also love the framing of the house as a haunt, the idea of AI built into a house being a new form of haunted house, and how that extrapolates into the threat of a whole haunted city. 10mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/3 For all that the plot felt a little truncated, I got a good feel for the characters in a relatively short space. Representation in books still being a point of contention, I continue to find it satisfying when a story is written by a female author with majority female characters. Will definitely be looking up Martine's backlist. 10mo

10 likes2 comments