Son of Rosemary

I saw the reviews on this. I kinda dreaded getting into it, but I got the damn book for free, so I thought, hey, let's give it a go. It's Ira freaking Levin, so how bad can it be, right?

Bad. It can be really bad.

This reads like the entire thing was truncated, or badly condensed, and they kept only the boring parts. There's so many opportunities to explore some emotional depth that are simply blown right by. Instead, the reader gets a brisk run through of corporate meetings, marketing strategy meetings, business meetings, catch up meetings...meetings.

Nothing of any consequence occurs until about the halfway, then nothing until the very end of the book. In between, we're treated to the dullest non-horror a horror novel could ever show more produce.

And this fact? This is the real horror of this novel. It just sits there and does nothing...but, wait! Is the reader rewarded for their patience at wading through this mess?

No, they truly are not. Instead, the last few pages grabs the reader and slaps them around for their stupidity in sticking with the book that long.

Don't believe me? Read it and tell me I'm wrong. show less

Written 30 years after Rosemary's Baby, the sequel has a very different feel to it. The first was imbued with a sense of creeping dread, as everyone around Rosemary is gaslighting her, and she struggles the whole way to hold on to what's most important to her. In this one, she wakes from a long coma and after a quick overview and some cursory physical therapy jumps straight into her new life without even a whiff of consternation. At best it's a bit surreal in spots, but nowhere as engaging as the first book. The characters are just sort of there, and things just kind of happen, but it feels contrived and lacks the verisimilitude that made the first book so chilling.

The ending was a bit of a twist, but also quite abrupt, and not enough show more of a payoff. I unfortunately have to consider this a failed effort, he should have just left it as a stand-alone and not sullied the memory with this disappointing coda. show less

Sequel to Rosemary's Baby is a completely different type of book and I assume this was (is?) the reason why many people are not liking it. Unlike first book that concentrated on the small number of people and spooky location this book is concentrated on Rosemary, the mother and Andy, the son (half human and you know, half.... devil, not unlike Hellboy but with ability to better blend in). Again this is not slasher novel, there are weird accidents and deaths but what we do have is very slowly brewing story (that reads exquisitely fast) where we follow Rosemary constantly in fear and asking herself "What if?" while aware that she cannot trust anyone because if she tells them what she knows she would end up in mental hospital in express show more manner.

Rosemary knows what her son is but she is still his mother and she tries very hard to keep her faith in him. And Andy is like every superhuman out there, quite capable and aware of his powers and on the surface he seems to try to actually help but can he be trusted(and his feelings towards mother don't help with Andy being seen as ... a regular son I guess).

Ending is a true twist (in more ways than one) but I would not agree that it is bad. For me it is in spirit of first novel - Rosemary gets to live through Groundhog Day of her own. She is selected by someone (something?) to participate in the looong chess game and she might be unwilling pawn.

Recommended to horror fans. show less

The first one I snatched was 'Son of Rosemary' - yes, if you're thinking as in with Rosemary's Baby?, you're correct. The official sequel was written years ago and read by me when I was a teen. Another reread where I remembered liking the story but couldn't remember what happened in it.

It'd be hard to make a sequel that worked but Levin manages, the guy's a great author with a strangely serious themed style. His wording is short and to the point, being slow and psychological but never without action or importance of some sort. Told all through Rosemary's POV again, the reader is left in the air as to what is really going on with the son Andy. Is he really bad as the devil's son should be? Or are his words convincing and he's turned in show more the right direction as he's said?

Rosemary herself is fun to read through, although a little grating. You would think she'd be more remorseful for longer on how she lost 28 years of her life, but perhaps Levin just wants to keep it action-filled and not dwell on the past. Still I would have liked to see her reflect more, and I couldn't held find it odd how quickly she became wrapped up with not only Joe, but with the whole Andy campaign and welcoming arms with the public. It's obvious she'd want to be proud and supportive of her offspring, but with her former life having so little to do with the general public, didn't she accept the spotlight a bit too easily? Her character, from it's clothing and strangely lighthearted manner, was certainly eccentric. Andy himself was fascinating characterization, not only because you didn't know what to think of him, but he was charismatic in his own way, strangely repugnant - yet disturbingly not at times - with his incestuous cravings.

Either way, the two together were interesting to read about, even if at times they didn't make a whole lot of sense. Their weren't too many other main characters to concentrate on, although there were plenty scattered around, just none that took too much spotlight off the two who mattered most. In the beginning I was hooked with the unsettling opening, carried along speedily through the juicy middle to find my questions answered, but let down harshly at the ending. I've seen debates between readers on there perhaps being a cop-out of sorts to wrap the story up. I'm not sure on that, but I didn't like the last pages either way. The ending annoyed because it felt cut off, leaving me wishing it had remained Andy as the focal point. Some parts of the finale weren't surprising, such as the candles, but other parts I didn't expect (which were, ironically, the parts I didn't like.)

I will say I think I disagree with why some have an issue with the ending. I disagree it was a dream that was granted to her, but that they were all in hell, yet she was granted a saving grace fantasy of living forever young, while Guy would go on to get his big breaks. That's how the bargain was fulfilled, a twist there. Or else she was alone in her head like it didn't happen as part of her private hell. Andy would have known this - staying topside would be a continuation of the destruction. The elevator going down, and it getting hotter, makes it even more clear. She realizes it and stares when she hears that line on the mules.

I wouldn't say the book makes 100% sense , it's frilly and slightly silly, guilty pleasure sort of read. If you're a big fan of the film or original book, this one isn't the sequel you're expecting. The story isn't the best, but there's something about the characters that glued me. But, egad, the ending gets some cheese. show less

A disappointment. It felt like Levin was (understandably) trying to cash in on the successes of his earlier work, but sadly this sequel did not live up to the original, Rosemary's Baby, in any way.

The completely unnecessary sequel to Rosemary’s Baby.

What a slipshod book! Sentence fragments, overuse of the word “et cetera,” and (SPOILER) it all ends as a dream. It reads like the notes for a first draft. Levin must have dashed it off in a few days. Do yourself a favor and don’t even spend a minute reading it.

This was either a wickedly brilliant piece of horror satire, or the worst book I ever read in my life, including Listen to the Warm.

Looking back, I feel deep shame either because I didn't get the joke, or because I actually finished the thing.