Young adult

Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

Reviewed by Dani Solomon

There are only a few weeks before Kellen’s sixteenth birthday. Three weeks to pass the three requirements necessary to earn a mage’s name. Failing will mean becoming a Sha’Tep – no more than a servant, a slave even, to the…

Read more ›

Release by Patrick Ness

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

The opening pages of a Patrick Ness novel are always a thrilling, somewhat disconcerting, place to be. You have no idea what is going on or where he will take you, but his writing is always powerful and poignant…

Read more ›

Ink by Alice Broadway

Reviewed by Ellen Cregan

In Leora’s world, people wear their hearts on their sleeves – literally. Hers is a culture where each significant life event is commemorated with tattoos. Birthdays, new careers, and even heartbreak, adorn the skins of the marked, and make it…

Read more ›

Finding Nevo by Nevo Zisin

Reviewed by Kim Gruschow

This is a thoughtful and timely personal memoir by a young Melbourne author and activist about their sexuality and nonbinary gender identity. Nevo was a tomboy during primary school and identified as a lesbian during high school, before coming out…

Read more ›

The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil

Reviewed by Lian Hingee

Melissa Keil is one of the best new voices in Australian YA fiction. Her wonderful contemporary rom-coms are always populated with a brilliant cast of well-drawn characters, and The Secret Science of Magic is no exception. The two teenagers at…

Read more ›

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Reviewed by Katherine Dretzke

Having loved Jenn Bennett’s last novel, Night Owls, a creative YA fiction about two young artists, I was really happy to be asked to review Alex, Approximately; a story that sees two young people fall in love over…

Read more ›

Night Swimming by Steph Bowe

Reviewed by Carrie Croft

Triangulated rom-com meets dysfunctional family drama in this coming-of-age novel set in a rural Aussie community. Kirby has grown up living in the tight-knit town of Alberton with her mother, grandpa and pet goat. At 17, Kirby is attached to…

Read more ›

The Things We Promise by J.C. Burke

Reviewed by Kim Gruschow

Gemma and her friends are looking forward to their school formal; as they pore over dresses in magazines Gemma is eagerly awaiting a visit from her much-loved older brother Billy, a New-York based make up artist who will be visiting…

Read more ›

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Reviewed by Carrie Croft

Mythology, feminist fairytale and coming-of-age love story coalesce to form the multifaceted tapestry of Bone Gap. Taking its cue from the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades, Bone Gap’s central mystery pivots on the unexplained arrival and then abrupt…

Read more ›

Frogkisser! by Garth Nix

Reviewed by Athina Clarke

Let me declare up front: I think Garth Nix is a genius who writes wonderful fantasy stories with exceptionally strong and feisty female protagonists, so Frogkisser! is everything I’ve come to expect – and much, much more. It’s hilarious!

An…

Read more ›