Young Adult reviews
Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat
Someone is trying to kill Will. They already murdered his mother months ago, and now they’re hunting him. Disguised as a dock boy in 19th-century London, Will is almost captured, but escapes with the…
Self/Less by AViVA
Self/Less is the first book in the much-anticipated new series by multidisciplinary local artist AViVA.
AViVA has already found international success with more than three billion global streams of …
Pony by R.J. Palacio
Dear reader, I was compelled to devour this extraordinary adventure in one sitting and am desperate to read it again; such was its power over me. So, this is not so much a review as a love letter to …
Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer
Defy the Night is the first in a new series by Brigid Kemmerer, author of the highly acclaimed Cursebreakers novels. The story takes place in the Kingdom of Kandala, a far-off land plagued by a conta…
It’s Not You, It’s Me by Gabrielle Williams
Who would have thought a 1970s Brother typewriter would be the inspiration for this fabulous time-slip young adult story?
Forty-year-old Holly is returning from her birthday lunch in Melbourne 2020 …
Sabriel: 25th Anniversary Edition by Garth Nix
As a bookseller you know you’re getting old when your childhood favourites reach major milestones. 2021 marks 25 years since the release of Garth Nix’s Sabriel, the first in his Old Kingdom series. T…
The Monster of Her Age by Danielle Binks
Ellie comes from an acting dynasty: her family home – a huge old Gothic mansion in Hobart – contains at least one of every film industry award (including a couple of Oscars); Errol Flynn was consider…
Half My Luck by Samera Kamaleddine
Layla considers herself sort of Lebanese, sort of Australian, and is struggling to find where she belongs. When she was a baby, she was cursed by the evil eye. At least, that’s what her grandmother t…
Sugar Town Queens by Malla Nunn
Set in the shanty towns of Durban, South Africa, and featuring a biracial protagonist, Malla Nunn’s second novel explores identity and belonging with a loving eye.
Fifteen-year-old Amandla has been…
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…