Joe Murray
Reviews
If Not Us by Mark Smith
At its core, Mark Smith’s newest novel, If Not Us is a coming-of-age story – it’s just that now more than ever, an inescapable part of growing up in this modern world is reckoning with the oncoming c…
Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde
A drunken game of truth or dare. Secret wishes tossed into a campfire. The last days of Year 12. A kiss.
Rhiannon Wilde’s YA debut, Henry Hamlet’s Heart, is a gorgeous queer love story set amidst t…
The Right Way to Rock by Nat Amoore
Have you ever wanted to be something other than what people expect of you? Mac certainly feels that way; his mum wants him to be a rock star, but his secret passion is actually musical theatre. When …
The True Colour of a Little White Lie by Gabriel Bergmoser
If you’re a high school nerd with a severe case of social anxiety, there’s nothing quite so liberating as going somewhere completely new, where no-one knows who you are. That’s the first lesson 14-ye…
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas
In Garden Heights, 17-year-old Maverick Carter is many things: a dutiful son, a loving boyfriend and a conflicted member of the King Lords gang. The one thing he’s not prepared to be is a father, but…
None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney
Some say there are no new stories under the sun, and the longstanding tradition of YA reimaginings of classic stories suggests there’s some truth to this old adage. Ellie Marney’s None Shall Sleep fo…
Infinity Son by Adam Silvera
If you took the magic and mystery of the Harry Potter world and combined it with the powers and social commentary of the X-Men, with a dash of the end-ofthe-world adventure you’d find in a Skuldugger…
Angel Mage by Garth Nix
If I was offered the chance to leave the stresses of our world behind and step into Sarrance, the stunningly well-realised world of musketeers and magic in Garth Nix’s Angel Mage, where mages summon …
River Stone by Rachel Henessy
In Rachel Hennessy’s vision of the future in River Stone, civilisation has been devastated and humanity has retreated into nature to survive, living off the land and leaving modern technology behind.…
