Elsie goes through a lot over the course of this novel. It’s understandable that she has big feelings. But the purple prose distracts from those emotions rather than making the reader feel them along with our protagonist. A more experienced editor could, perhaps, have helped Little refine the book while staying true to her vision for the story. Bristol graduate named by Vogue as a 'new suffragette' ". University of Bristol. 5 January 2018 . Retrieved 13 February 2022. I’m not going,’ I say defiantly with all the strength I can induce. I’m holding in tears for fear that I’ll lose control, completely overflow and drown in my melancholy.”

Rosewater is sensuous, urgent and pulsating with youth -- embracing all of its messiness, discovery and boundless capacity for love." - Xochitl Gonzalez From one-night stands and situations to soul-mate bonds, Little centres the “intensity” of connections between queer women, something to which she can relate. “In my early twenties, when I made these great friendships with women, I’d have a moment where I would be like: ‘Do I like this person or I am just building this really beautiful friendship?’ Award-winning journalist Liv Little has spoken to PinkNews about the power of being seen, queer love stories and paying homage to the past in her debut novel, Rosewater.

Sharply observed yet tender at the same time, Rosewater explores the meaning of home, exposing its fragility and its tenacity as Little’s characters fight to find their place in the world.” - Gwen E. Kirby, author of Shit Cassandra Saw

Featuring the poetry of Kai-Isaiah Jamal, Rosewater is a deliciously steamy queer romance from a bold new voice. An electric and captivating debut, Elsie’s story teaches us that sometimes home is not always where we are, but who we are with . . . When you are writing from the inside, rather than the outside looking in, it’s easier to be real and tell the story in the way you want.”Rosewater is funny, witty, messy, and beautifully queer… A story that seeps into you the way warm sunshine does at the final edges of winter.” - Nicole Dennis-Benn, bestselling author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun A paeon to a queer love affair that's sexy, complex and romantic. Effortlessly capturing our uncertain zeitgeist" Evening Standard

Little gifts us with a novel that tells of the love, courage, grace and power of a connection and a softness that propels us through the messy, harsh realities of life and self-discovery—to know yourself through the love that knows you. Elsie is loveable and frustrating and swaggering and vulnerable, a wonderful protagonist. Frank, sexy, and so tender. Little’s pen shines.” - Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of Honey and Spice and Love in Color Liv Little is a writer, culture consultant, creative director, and founder of the game-changing media publication gal-dem , which has dedicated itself to telling the stories of people of colour from marginalised genders. Little’s highly anticipated debut novel Rosewater is arriving in 2023, set to be ‘a deliciously gritty and strikingly bold debut… about discovering love where it has always been.’ The difficulty of being estranged from her family, struggle of being continually rejected from jobs, and fear of never making money doing what she loves, is too great. But Elsie is determined to keep the faith, for a little longer at least. Things will surely turn around. They have to. That part of herself she is absolutely certain of and that was really important to me,” the author says. “There didn’t need to be some traumatic coming out moment or story, it’s not about that.” At its heart, however, Rosewater is a love letter to family and friendship. In one scene, Elsie discovers that her gran also had relationships with women, leading to a poignant moment of bonding.Olivia Little (born 1994) is the founder of gal-dem, an English online and print magazine run by women of colour, which ceased publication in 2023. [1] In 2016, she was listed as one of the BBC's 100 Women. [2] She published her first novel, Rosewater in 2023. A deliciously gritty and strikingly bold debut novel about discovering love where it has always been. For found family mixed with queer joy, sapphic romance, and a healing journey, look no further than Rosewater.” - LitHub

But there is a stiffness to the structure of the sentences – “The sound of smashing glass jolts me violently out of sleep, interrupting the chaos of my hellish dream” – reminiscent of seeing a dancer counting their steps on stage. The dialogue is similarly overconstructed, especially in the case of Juliet, who sometimes speaks in lines from old romcoms (“I think that if you come here, kiss me and tell me how you absolutely can’t live without me …”). Alemoru, Kemi (16 September 2016). "gal-dem just launched a print mag and it's a game changer". Dazed. A beautifully rendered story about love’s possibilities and its limits. I laughed, I cried, couldn’t put it down” Monica Heisey, author of Really Good, Actually This one’s about as buzzy as it gets in queer world—gritty characters, subtle social commentary, the messes and marvels of life itself inform this debut novel that you won’t be able to put down. A sometime stunning mediation on friendship deepening unexpectedly into love, intermixed with poetry by Kai-Isaiah Jamal, this little gem about a poet trying to make it in South London, is nothing short of gorgeous.” - no kill magazine As for what readers can take away from the book, Little simply hopes that it “touches people” in some form, no matter how big or small. “Our experiences are not homogenous but there’s a good cast of characters. I hope there is something for people figuring themselves out and trying to navigate this very complicated and messy world that we live in.”Rosewater feels like a song for the dreamers who are trying to find their way. It is a wonderful, messy, heart-filled novel." - Jendella Benson