Discover the new books for young adult readers that our booksellers are excited about this month!
What Have They Done to Liza McLean?
Amy Doak
The latest novel by the author of the Eleanor Jones murder-mystery series is set in an elite boarding school that oozes tradition and old money. When scholarship kids Meg and Liza arrive at prestigious Douglas College, it’s quite a culture shock. Although Meg’s a straight-A student, her younger sister is a wild child and Meg finds herself retrieving her sister from the principal’s office far too often. There she meets Benedict Hargreaves the Fourth (aka Benny), who comes from a long lineage of Douglas alumni and is the only student allowed to reside off campus. Opposites immediately attract, despite both harbouring secrets.
When Meg’s wayward sister suddenly becomes studious and robotic after a wild night out, Meg is suspicious. She enlists the help of Benny, who’s highly adept at hacking the school computer system. When the two of them find the school gardener dead, they must untangle the threads between these mysteries.
Written in dual voices with alternating chapters by Meg and Benny, and with fascinating secondary characters, including Mack, Benny’s bestie who stylishly dresses all his friends, and Kitty De Vries, the bad-tempered heiress who leads Liza astray, this is a highly entertaining murder mystery that combines the elite boarding school trope with a slow-burn romance. Those who love crime mysteries and romance aged 12+ will devour this highly addictive story and be left wanting more. Meg and Benny are a delightful crime-busting duo and I hope this won’t be the last we’ll hear from them.
Reviewed by Angela Crocombe.
The Hive
Anna February
The Hive is all that’s left of humanity in a future where oceans have swallowed the land and the heat of the sun has become deadly. But life carries on in the Hive’s subterranean network, ruled over by the two Queens at its apex. Feldspar is a Shield in the Hive, a bodyguard raised from birth to protect Euphemie, one of the Queen’s daughters, with her life. So when an assassin kills Euphemie, it should mean the end of Feldspar’s life too – Shields and their charges share a magical bond that sentences the guard to instant death if they fail in their duty. But somehow Euphemie is dead, Feldspar is still alive, and there is an assassin at large in the Hive.
Feldspar is desperate to prove her innocence, avoid execution and track down whoever killed her friend; and, fortunately, there’s one person who’s as eager for the truth as she is – a royal outcast, with a reputation for his skill with the dark arts.
This is a premise that’s hard to summarise, so while I’m not able to share all the intricacies of the world or the characters here, I will say that The Hive is a unique story filled with well-rounded characters and nuanced relationships. That’s something that can be hard to achieve in any novel, but within a story that combines a sci-fi dystopia with a mystery/thriller, it’s particularly impressive to be able to find space for it all and still end up with a story that feels this fast-paced.
As Feldspar digs deeper into the rivalries, secrets and inner workings of the Hive that she’s grown up protecting, she starts to see the cruelties that have been justified by the need to survive. I was really impressed by how Anna February handles this, showing both the motivation and paralysis that her characters feel in the face of a corrupt system that they’re determined to fight, don’t know if they can really change, but are ashamed for not challenging sooner. It’s empathetic and ultimately encouraging for any would-be activists who are intimidated by how much there is to change in our world.
Readers who loved Gideon the Ninth should definitely pick up this book, as should anyone looking for an imaginative sci-fi thriller! Recommended for readers aged 13+.
Reviewed by Bella Mackey.
We Fell Apart
E. Lockhart
We Fell Apart is the new novel from much-loved Young Adult novelist E. Lockhart, who is best known for her bestseller We Were Liars, which was recently adapted for TV.
We Fell Apart is a tense and compelling novel set in the same world as We Were Liars but it can be read as standalone tale without missing anything. It’s the story of 18-year-old Matilda, who is at a crossroads in her life as her mother has left her to follow another love interest (of one week). Matilda has also been dumped by her boyfriend and has lost all her friendship group because of it. When an email comes through from a man claiming to be her father, she is curious and intrigued to follow it. He is a famous but reclusive painter and suggests she comes to visit him, which she does as she is keen to know him and discover the parts of herself she feels are missing.
She crosses the country to find quite a different scenario from the one she expected. Her father isn’t there to welcome her – he’s apparently in Italy and hasn’t left a return date. His house is a neglected castle and there are three boys rattling around, all of whom have stories of their own to discover. They are all about to find out that sometimes family isn’t just about blood relations.
I would recommend this novel for readers aged 14+ who love classic Young Adult novels. It is a tense thriller with loads of secrets and, of course, a simmering love interest.
Reviewed by Melanie Barton.
📖 Also recommended are:
Hazelthorn
C.G. Drews
Evander has lived like a ghost in the forgotten corners of the Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in by his reclusive billionaire guardian. He can never leave, he can never go in the gardens and he can never be alone with Laurie, the boy who tried to kill him seven years ago.
But when his guardian is murdered and Evander inherits Hazelthorn, Laurie may be the only one who can help him find the killer.
As dark secrets unravel, moss bleeds though the walls, poisonous mushrooms flourish beneath the floorboards, and Evander must discover what he's really inherited before Hazelthorn's garden demands to be fed.
Eternal Ruin (The Immortal Dark, Book 2)
Tigest Girma
Kidan Adane has finally embraced her darkness. She's killed without remorse, broken Uxlay University's most sacred law by inviting elusive rogue vampires, the Nefrasi, into their campus, and made a truce with the one vampire she swore she'd never trust – Susenyos Sagad.
Trapped with a violently unstable vampire and reeling from her sister's return, Kidan wields her anger like a weapon. She vows to master her house and protect the sacred artifact hidden within, even if it means forging an alliance with the depraved leader of the Nefrasi, Samson Sagad – and betraying Susenyos in the process.
When Kidan stumbles across a dangerous new philosophical text, it seems to hold the answers she seeks and promises the very thing she has lost: control. As the dark pages consume her, Kidan realises no soul at Uxlay is trustworthy – least of all Susenyos. For Kidan and Susenyos, the lines of loathing and attraction may blur, but the quest for power rules them both. And neither is willing to surrender.
As devastating secrets resurface from the past, Kidan and her sister, June, must finally confront each other and take their rightful places in the looming war.
Coldwire (2058, Book 1)
Chloe Gong
For decades, the world has been caught in a cold war between two powerful nations: Medaluo and Atahua. The Medan orphans who live in Atahua suffer the cost. Their enrolment at Nile Military Academy is mandatory. Either serve as a soldier, or risk being labelled a spy.
Eighteen-year-old Eirale is one such orphan. Having recently graduated and joined NileCorp's forces, she's doing well for herself - until Atahua's most wanted anarchist frames her for assassinating a government official and she's given a choice: cooperate with him to search for a dangerous program in Medaluo or go down for treason.
Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Lia is close to her own graduation when she's paired with her academic nemesis for one final assignment. But when they are ordered to infiltrate Medaluo in virtual reality, Lia quickly realises there is much more at stake than her school ranking.
As Eirale and Lia tear through Medaluo on separate courses, the two start to suspect they are pieces in a larger conspiracy – and the closer they get to the truth, the closer their worlds come to a shattering collision.
Never Ever After (Never Ever After, Book 1)
Sue Lynn Tan
Life in the Iron Mountains is harsh and unforgiving. After the death of her beloved uncle, Yining has only survived as a skilled thief and an even better liar. But when she acquires an enchanted ring that holds the key to a brighter future, it is stolen by her step-aunt, and Yining must venture into the imperial heart of the kingdom to seize it back.
Amid the grandeur of the palace, Yining catches the eye of the ruthless and ambitious prince, who tempts her with a world she's never imagined. But nothing is as it seems, and soon she is trapped in a tangle of power, treachery, and greed – her only ally a cunning advisor from a rival court who keeps dangerous secrets of his own.
To break free, Yining must embark on a perilous quest to fight for a future that both frightens and calls to her, and choose who to trust when allies can be as deadly as enemies.
