This book is just heart-breaking. Each character is fleshed out throughout the pages to give you individual perspectives. It’s impossible to not identify with each character in some way. The reader is privy to the wreckage divorce causes in a family and the toll it takes on everyone involved.

I chose to read this book because people tease me for always seeing life through "rosie-colored glasses." Although I enjoyed this book, it also made me sad. I kept wanting to fight for the kids. The characters were somewhat realistic, and the story held me interest for the most part. Sometimes, I kept wanting the book to end, which was why I gave it three stars.

This book was given to me in order for me to post an honest review.

Willow's parents are complete opposites. Rosie is a free-spirit who believes in the power of colors, the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and not keeping to a schedule, and seems to exist solely on Pixie Stix, cream soda, and pizza. Rex is firm and regimented and believes in balanced dinners and to-do lists. Opposites may attract, but they can also explode. And what happens to the kids when the attraction ends? Willow can tell you, but it's not pretty.

This book had the potential to be an interesting exploration of a child's experience of navigating divorced parents. Unfortunately, Rex and Rosie are both such complete caricatures of their types that it felt like reading about cardboard cut-outs. They are almost exclusively written to type, except when they do something so wholly out of character that it's nearly inexplicable.

I'm going to have to go against the grain here on this review. The blurb about for fans of Where'd You Go Bernadette feels completely off. I do feel the author is a great writer. I just wasn't that captivated by how the story was unveiled. It was a little too "once upon a time". I didn't like Rosie from the start and honestly I had a hard time connecting to Willow. Perhaps if we knew why Rosie was like she was I might have had some bit of understanding. Who I did feel bad for was Rex. He really got such a raw deal in this. None of us are perfect but at least I felt what he did was from the heart. Willow seemed to have some deep rooted issues that would require a lot of therapy. To go from where she was at the end and then flash forward to 15 years later with the way it was wrapped up didn't feel realistic.

This is a beautifully written debut novel. Rosie is flighty, Rex is rigid but Willow is unforgettable. The story is heart-breaking but also so poignant especially about the relationships between mothers and daughters. I hope the author writes more.

I received this book free in exchange for review.
I almost did not finish this book because at first I really could not get into it. But I am really glad I finished it. They end brought tears to my eyes a few times.
Rosie is fun, whimsical and can never be still. She has to keep moving. She is flighty and can't commit to anything for long. She meets Rex, who is her opposite in everything. Rex likes books and lists and rules. They say opposites attract and in this case that is true. But Rosie and Rex both know that because of their differences, their love won't last.
They have 2 kids and marry and buy a house in Virginia leaving behind New York City.
Thier daughter, Willow, is just like Rosie with a few exceptions. Willow wears the same outfit to school everyday for years. She loves Word Search books. She thinks her dad doesn't love her because he doesn't know how to show it.
Rosie has a drug problem but I think the drug use comes from mental illness and trying to medicate herself so she can get her mind quiet. She seems to be manic depressive to me. She loves her kids and shows it excessively one day and locks herself in her room the next day.
For Willow, this kind of love is confusing and exhausting but it is all she knows. Hers dad's rules and lists aren't love. She justvwishes her dad could love her like her mom does. would a good night kids hurt ever now and then.
I will not spoil the ending but once I got about halfway thru this book, I could not put it down. Maybe the author could go back and rework the beginning a little bit. I am not sure what it needs but it needs something to measure up to the rest of the book.

Fascinating and lyrically written, I was entranced and engaged. My heart went out for Willow, and I was devastated with the domesticity that ultimately destroyed her mother.

Rosie Colored Glasses is an emotional and heart breaking read. To be honest, I was not expecting to be so moved and touched by this novel.

Brianna Wolfe delivers a rare and inspiring novel about loss, love, attachment, and relationships. What I loved about this novel is how Brianna was able to create a "story" within a story. I loved this!!

The novel starts off with introducing us to a unique but unhealthy love relationship between Rosie and Rex. What can I say about Rosie?! She's wild and quirky who loves to step out of the lines with life. And then there's Rex... who is the complete opposite of Rosie... a planner, determined, and serious about his life. These two somehow form a love relationship that ironically they both know will not last? (How does this happen).... I guess love can get blurry sometimes right?... YES we all know this.

Let's fast forward to 12 years and out pops their daughter Willow and another son Asher a few years later. Rex and Rosie have now divorced (which isn't a spoiler)... and are sharing time with both children. Willow is a unique little girl that takes after her mother. Willow is a fifth grader that wears the same purple leggings and black t-shirt to school every day. She also has severe trauma/anxiety which causes her to pee her pants. She prefers the love that she has with her mother. Willow and her father Rex don't have the best relationship and attachment has become strained. This is where I was touched the most I think ..... I could see myself in Willow's shoes having the strained and unhealthy relationship that has formed with Willow and her father. I, unfortunately have always had an unhealthy relationship with my father and feel that the love has never been reciprocated my entire life. I wonder sometimes what causes some children to be closer to mothers/fathers?

Both stories slowly emerge as themes of addiction, loss, and mental illness cross this family which ultimately tears them apart but brings them closer in the end. There were multiple times I was holding my heart and aching for this family. This is not a light read my friends. I was touched the most by Willow and the amount of strength that this little girl has and truly how resistant she is.

The ending could not have been better.... oh my gosh what a pleasant surprise between the relationship Willow has with her father Rex. I truly was inspired and touched by their relationship (ironically.... ).

Thank you to Netgalley, Brianna Wolfson, and Harlequin for an advanced arc in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 strong stars! Highly recommended!
Expected publication date is 2/20/18.

Rex Thorpe is a man with a plan. He has strong morals and always prepared. Rosie is the opposite; she craves spontaneity. She flits here; skips there. Never a steady presence. Rex and Rosie meet in an unconventional way. Their romance is sudden. Then came marriage and children: Willow and Asher. Years go by with series of events happening and then divorce comes. Rosie Colored Glasses tells the story of this family focusing on central themes like love, bliss, self-medication and extreme loneliness.

Titles mean everything! It is often the first thing you notice about a book besides the cover. So was this an attempt at the cliché: looking through life with rose-colored glasses? Because if so...nice try. Rosie wasn't even looking through life with clear vision let alone following her line of view! Some call it eccentric, but she was too loopy when it came to love, life and basic interaction. Thus making it hard to embrace her as the main character.

Willow, however, was more relatable. She wanted to see the good in all people. She had firm beliefs in her little world and darnit if anyone would tarnish them. As an eleven-year-old, Willow tries her best to adapt to newly divorced parents and two households. But she really wants to spend all her time with mom Rosie. Unfortunately, Willow learns the hard way that Rosie has her own demons to deal with.

Rosie Colored Glasses was not incredibly heart-breaking. It did not cause tears or draw sympathy from me. The writing style of alternate narration was done very well though. It is what kept me interested seeing points of view from the past and present. This can be tricky for a debut novel but the author definitely made it work.

Happy Early Pub Day, Brianna Wolfson! Rosie Colored Glasses will be available February 18, 2018.

LiteraryMarie

This was an interesting story on so many different levels. Not a quick read per se, but rather the book brings up a few things that needed to be ruminated upon.

Willow is 11 years old and torn between parents. Rosie, Willow's mom, sets them off on a cross-country adventure that at times appears to have them on the lam. Willow learns a lot from the travels.

One thing about this title which is unique compared to most novels I have read is that nowhere do you learn what gender Willow is. Willow identifies with both mom and dad and doesn't want to be pigeonholed. Rosie is more than happy to allow Willow to live a more gender-neutral life.

The other thing that bounced around my head is how as a parent our actions or inaction can be perceived by our child or children. Along the way, Willow sees that Rosie isn't always the vibrant mother that makes you feel loved and special. Yet, Willow also witnesses how Rosie can love others deeply.

For some people, the lack of gender identity could become troubling. However, I see it as a tool by the author to peel away biases that we have based on gender and showcase the raw emotions underneath.

The first thing that beckoned me to this book was the title. Who wouldn't be curious with that? What kind of glasses are rosie colored ones? What magic does it possess?

This is probably the most heart-wrenching and heartbreaking tale I read for this year. This story would remain with me for long just like Colleen Hoover's It Ends With Us. This story had the same kind of effect. It affected me very deeply and even until now, days after reading it, I can't help but feel sad and sorry for Rosie. Yes, Rosie is a character in this book. She is a mom of two very adorable kids--Willow (what a lovely name!) and Asher. Rosie is a person bursting with life and personality. She is like always high with life. She loves wholly and with all of her. She does everything with great abandon. She goes all out.

Life is not all sunshines and roses. Exactly what Rosie's life was. Everything started out great until she can no longer sustain the happiness and the energy that life demands of her. No amount of love that she gives and got back would keep her strong enough. In the end, depression proved to be a very daunting and formidable force that held her. Even her love for her kids was not enough weapon to fight against it. She succumbed and surrendered, leaving her kids heartbroken and lost like a rudderless ship being tossed and thrown by the tempest.

This story squeezed my heart out until all that was left is pulp. I felt like I was Willow --lost and clueless. Hoping that the nightmare she was in was just a nightmare. When she wakes up, everything will be sunny and she can play Marshmallow City again. Her mom will shower her with love, hugs and kisses. Everything will be alright because her mom is there. Unfortunately, it was not. The nightmare continues even when Willow is wide awake. And it seemed like the fear and pain is not going to ever go away. What's worst is her dad is not even seeing all the torment she is going through. Her innocence is slowly crumbling and fading. She is unbelievably lost and she needs a hand to hold on to to keep her sane. To keep her anchored but her dad seems to be oblivious to all that.

This is a very sad story. This dealt about the battle against depression and its aftermath, whether that person won the battle or not. Especially, if the person affected succumbed to the dark void of depression. Rosie, the main character was a very bubbly person and it was so unbelievable that she did not have enough inside her to cast out depression out of her system. Which just proves that depression is a very serious condition and not a lot of people survived it. Fun-filled and loving Rosie wasn't even spared by it. In a way, she was deep in the grip of depression and her choice of weapon to fight it was addiction. It was a very wrong choice. And the casualty of that choice were Willow and Asher. These two adorable and lively kids grew up with Rosie's abundant and generous love. Her creative spirit nurtured these kids. When Rosie became powerless against her monsters, even her kids' love and presence were not enough to keep her from tumbling down into the rabbit hole of no return.

Rex, the other half of Rosie who was not blameless in all of this. I can't blame him for divorcing Rosie. He did try his best to keep his family but he was not totally there for his children. He did not love his children as much as Rosie did. Rosie's love was always bigger and she was closer and more attuned to the needs of their kids, like every mother should be. Rex, in some way was selfish and too inflexible. It took such a tragic even to shake him and be really present for his kids. It was almost too late for him to overcome his fear and embrace the reality that he and Willow were totally different individuals and that it was his duty to reach out and close the gap between them.

If there was one character in this story that touched me greatly, it was Willow. A very vulnerable kid yet very lovable and cute. How dare the other kids bully her! She is not weird as some kids in school would like to believe. She is smart and creative just like Rosie and she needs all the hugs, kisses and love she can get, just like every other kid. I just wanted to hug Willow and assure her that everything will be alright. She can depend on me if her father won't be there for her. I wanted to adopt her and Asher so they won't feel lost and abandoned.

Arg! Even writing this review felt heavy in the chest. It's as if I am experiencing again the pains of what the characters of this story had to go through. All these emotions are running amok inside me and I had to let them out of my chest. This story calls for packs of marshmallows. I don't care how many, as long as it will be enough to make Willow feel better. Thankfully, Rex came to his senses and vowed to keep his family together. He promised to make his kids feel loved and special just like Rosie did. So, everything ended well. Now, I can stop worrying for Willow because she can still have a love most mad and moonly through his dad. The world does not end with it not being rosie colored anymore and love can come in all other forms.


Willow had become a leaky faucet of sadness. She dripped, dripped, dripped with it. It never gushed out in spurts or sprayed anyone around her.
- Brianna Wolfson, Rosie Colored Glasses -


Thank you again, Netgalley for the copy.

This book is incredible. The narration is so wonderful, it reminded me of Matilda a little bit.

The characters are all so well crafted it was such a pleasure to read about them and each one's quirks.

How cute is Asher? The chapters with him were a joy.
With the band-aids? Oh, I full-on sobbed. What a sweetie.

However, make no mistake. This book will break you. I ugly cried for the entire last bit of the book. It's a truly heartbreaking tale of addiction and families who live with it. So, so raw. Rosie, the effervescent, "away with the fairies" type, so full of love and vivid colour falls in love with Rex; a man who is everything she isn't.

At first, you think "Rex is a bit of an ass" because, well, he is. Very black and white, very straight, so full of rules and so ridged. But then the story develops and you love him just as much as you love all of the other characters, despite his mistakes and downfalls.

Poor Rosie. The chapters of her with her children were so vibrant and real, it was so easy to imagine her bouncing around her kitchen, making her kids pancakes with wild hair and red lips and a flowy dress bopping to Elton John. What goes up must come down, and Rosie came down hard.

Such a tragic, beautifully-crafted novel that I couldn't recommend any more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing me with a copy of this wonderfully written book.

What a beautifully written story which will stay with you long after it's ending. Rosie is a free spirit, who meets and marries Rex, a more straight rule follower. Chapters alternate to tell the story of Rex and Rosie, while also letting us fall in love with Willow and Asher, their children. At times funny, at times quirky, but mostly heartbreakingly real, I highly recommend this novel.

A different kind of love story that will break your heart and make you laugh. It explores the world of children with a bi=polar mother and a very strict conventional father. and the clashes in the kids trying to live in both worlds.

Boy meets girl and they fall in love, except they're totally wrong for each other.
Although Rosie is playful, cute and fun, she's flitted from job to job, place to place never able to settle herself down anywhere or anytime. Not unusual for a twenty-something, but eventually most people coast to a grown-up spot of responsibility. Rosie seems to always be in double-time, never able to turn her brain off at night or put her restless body on pause. (A first hint of ADHD, anxiety) Rex was her exact opposite, still with decent energy, but a man with a plan. He had lists for his lists and he loved to check off each completed task. Structure, order, and control is what drove Rex's life. Then he met Rosie; she was not like any girl he'd ever met and he was fascinated. Her spontaneity scared him.
It's a well written story, charming at points, frustrating at others. The main event however, could have been prevented. The mental disorders evident in Rosie: anxiety, ADHD, depression, bipolar, post-partum depression, self-diagnosis & self-medication, addiction, should have been addressed and helped with good therapy, psychiatry, and counseling. Her stay at rehab was too short.
Communication within the family, especially with the children was extremely lacking. Yes, it's fiction with an irresponsible example to all those struggling with addiction, especially opiod, .Get help, you cannot do it on your own, Don't end your life. There is another way!

This is one of the best books I've ad in a long time. I loved how it brought us in to the last and present and also explained how depression can affect a family. I also loved how Willow thought her dad didn't love her but all along he picked up the slack when her mom was in her depression so she would still feel loved by her mom. I cried like a baby most of this book but it had me smiling at the end also.

This story is told in third person narrative. The story is really good and kept me interested. I laughed, cried and rejoiced through the book.

I LOVED this book!!!!! I was a mess by the end but I loved every single page!

This book reads like a fairy tale which I LOVED!!! Very nice touch.

This book touched on so many things: love, loss, mental illness, addiction, bullying, family, Mother-child relationships, Father-Child relationships, etc.

Rosie is eccentric! She doesn't stay in one spot for too long. She wanders around doing as she pleases living here and there, working numerous jobs, never staying rooted for too long. She skips to her own beat. She meets Rex when he orders flowers for another woman and Rosie changes the note on the card. He confronts her about it and finds that there is something so different yet irresistible about Rosie.

Rex is the complete opposite of Rosie. He is grounded, ordered and happy to live a normal life. He is drawn to Roise's quirkiness and energy. She brings a little fun and chaos to his life. Both have their doubts about whether this relationship will last but both love the other and forge forward with their lives. When they get married and have children things go downhill. I don't want to go into this too much as I don't want to give away too much of the plot.

This book also focuses on Willow their daughter. She is quirky herself and has a close relationship with her Mother. She loves her Mother's whimsical way of living. Her Mother is fun, always quick to give love and affection. Her Mother accepts her and loves her. Willow is happiest with her Mother. She views her father as being unloving, cold, distant and never pleased with anything she does. They have a strained relationship and Willow is sad in his home.

This books is told through flashbacks, different perspectives, and has a fairy tale feel to it. This book is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. This is a story about love in various forms: romantic love, love of a child for a parent, love of a parent for a child and also sibling love. This is a really beautiful story that had me reaching for my Kleenex. Sometimes love does not conquer all. Sometimes our good intentions hurt others. Sometimes love cannot save someone on a destructive path. But Love can also heal us and make us stronger.

I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy of this book from Harlequin and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The writing style was refreshingly simple, yet not simplistic. The 3rd person narrator told you exactly how a person felt or what their intentions were. This made an interesting contrast to the complex subjects tackled in the story. Seeing the world through Rosie's colored glasses enchanted all those around Rosie, drew them to her & bound them up in love & adoration. But for all of Rosie's energy, vivaciousness, & special way of seeing the world there was a darker price to pay. A story of love & family relationships that will touch your heart.

This is an emotional story told by an 11 year old girl whose mother has died and her father who can't figure out how to relate to his daughter and son when his ex-wife dies. Rosie and Rex's meeting and marriage are revealed in flashbacks as Rex tries to relate to the children. He loves them dearly but has a hard time being flexible and showing his emotions. My only wish with this book was having a little more of Willow as an adult. The characters will bring tears and smiles as they struggle to accept the path life gave them. Luckily, Rex realizes he need to step up for his children and comes through in the end. Can't wait for Ms Wolfson's 2nd novel. As a debut book she did a fantastic job.