Young adult

My Spare Heart by Jared Thomas

Reviewed by Lucie Dess

Don’t let the cover fool you, this is not just a book about basketball. Seventeen-year-old Phoebe’s life has been turned upside down. Her dad has moved her away from her home, her mum, her school and her friends to live…

Read more ›

When Only One by Meg Gatland-Veness

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr

When Only One is a requiem to every soul lost too young to violent causes. Raised in a rural Australian town, Sam lives a seemingly average teenage life. He worries about high school pressures and math tests, feels the heart-skipping…

Read more ›

The Museum of Broken Things by Lauren Draper

Reviewed by Alexa Dretzke

The Museum of Broken Things ticks quite a few of the boxes in contemporary YA writing: a mysterious past trauma, a good-looking love interest and the loneliness of relocation. Luckily the plot broadens into some interesting themes that provide added…

Read more ›

Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle & Katherine Webber

Reviewed by Emma Janes

Rose and Wren are long-lost twins. Separated at birth after the murder of their parents, Rose was raised as the Princess of Eana, while Wren was raised by the witches in the village of Ortha. The story opens with Wren…

Read more ›

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

We Were Liars, one of the most popular young adult books of recent years, is a thrilling read, and this prequel is just as enthralling. Set on the same private island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family, this story…

Read more ›

The Cult of Romance by Sarah Ayoub

Reviewed by Lucie Dess

To Natalie, marriage is a scam and love is a lie. At least that’s what her parents’ failed marriage has led her to believe. When her best friend, Janet returns from Lebanon with an engagement ring, Natalie’s response is that…

Read more ›

Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin

Reviewed by Tracy Hwang

Welcome to Mikoshima, an empire of floating sky cities, cumulous whales and shikigami paper spirits, and the setting of Ann Sei Lin’s magical debut, Rebel Skies. Our hero, Kurara, is a Crafter – a person gifted with the rare…

Read more ›

When our Worlds Collided by Danielle Jawando

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

When Our Worlds Collided is a searing novel of racial injustice with a narrative so compelling that it is hard to put down or even draw breath. Set in Manchester, this book follows the paths of three Black British teenagers…

Read more ›

We Who Hunt the Hollow by Kate Murray

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr

Kate Murray’s debut YA novel We Who Hunt the Hollow is a fast-paced, fun fantasy perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare and Lynette Noni.

Priscilla lives what looks to be a normal teenage girl life – high-school pressures, the thrill…

Read more ›

Unlimited Futures: Speculative, Visionary Blak and Black Fiction edited by Rafeif Ismael & Ellen van Neerven

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

This collection of science fiction and speculative fiction is a conversation between local Blak and Black writing communities, as the editors state in their introduction, which itself takes the form of a conversation between the two. The writers who comprise…

Read more ›