Our latest reviews

Songlines: First Knowledges for Younger Readers by Margo Neale, Lynne Kelly & Blak Douglas (illus.)

Reviewed by Dani Solomon

Margo Neale and Lynne Kelly are masterful storytellers and communicators – if you’ve already read the adult edition of Songlines, you’ll already understand exactly why and how. I’m delighted people who may be too young for the adult First…

Read more ›

The Thief (The Queen’s Thief, Book 1) by Megan Whalen Turner

Reviewed by Alicia Guiney

The Thief is the perfect introduction to Megan Whalen Turner’s epic six-book series, The Queen’s Thief. It’s a fast-paced quest soaked in history and brimming with excitement.

The story follows Gen, a young thief whose claims he can steal…

Read more ›

Borderland by Graham Akhurst

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

The debut thriller by First Nations author Graham Akhurst is an engaging coming-of-age tale about a young Indigenous Australian man discovering who he is and what he stands for. When studying at performing arts school, Jono and his best friend…

Read more ›

Thieves’ Gambit by Kayvion Lewis

Reviewed by Claire Atherfold

Ross Quest isn’t a regular teenager. Already a master thief by the age of 17, she spends her days planning escape routes for fun and pulling elaborate heists with her elegant, but also manipulative, mother.

It’s an exhilarating lifestyle, but…

Read more ›

When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra

Reviewed by Angela Crocombe

The third novel by Melbourne-based author Katya de Becerra is a spine-tingling haunted house story. Sophia Galich and her family once lived in a mansion called Cashore House, which was rumoured to be haunted. When she was 12 years old…

Read more ›

The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto & Asa Yoneda (trans.)

Reviewed by Emma Davison

‘I had a premonition of setting out on a journey and getting lost inside a distant tide as the sun went down, ending up far, far away from where I started.’

Although Yayoi lives a happy life with her quintessentially…

Read more ›

Everything Under the Moon: Fairytales in a Queerer Light by Michael Earp (ed.) & Kit Fox (illus.)

Reviewed by Lucie Dess

Everything Under the Moon is the latest queer anthology edited by Michael Earp, who gave us Kindred: 12 Queer #loveOzYA Stories. For this new anthology, Earp has brought together another incredible line-up of some of Australia’s YA royalty including Lili…

Read more ›

Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone

Reviewed by Aurelia Orr

Everline Blackthorn is a sworn member of the wardens, a sect of holy warriors who protect the wall of bones surrounding the kingdom from the demons known as ‘the vespertine’, which terrorise the land. Unlike her companions, however, Everline cannot…

Read more ›

Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis

Reviewed by Nishtha Banavalikar

Capitalism is dead. What killed it? Ironically, capital itself. Yanis Varoufakis, economist and former finance minister of Greece, has been notorious for introducing widely controversial – though ultimately, quite accurate – theories that challenge his fellow economists and Marxists. Denouncing…

Read more ›

The Things We Live With: Essays on Uncertainty by Gemma Nisbet

Reviewed by Stephanie King

The Things We Live With by Gemma Nisbet is a pensive exploration of memory and family staged through her encounters with everyday objects. Nisbet is a regular contributor to the West Australian, and her work has been published in various…

Read more ›