Emma watched her mother’s kayak disappear among icebergs in the Arctic Sea. Six years later, her brother, who had not spoken since their mother was lost, warns Emma of the curse of death that she brought to anyone who looked on her face—before tragedy befalls him too. Emma consigns herself to a solitary life atContinue reading “Review: The uplifting layers of The End and Everything Before It”
Category Archives: Blog-exclusive book review
Review: Dead Letters and Found Families Abound in Return to Sender
After three years away, seventeen-year-old Brodie McKellon has returned to live with her eccentric grandmother above the last remaining Dead Letter Office – the place letters go when no one is left to claim them. Soon, Brodie is consumed by an unsolved mystery – the unclaimed letters of a group of teens who seemed toContinue reading “Review: Dead Letters and Found Families Abound in Return to Sender”
Review: a contemporary mystery brings up historical tensions in The Desert Knows Her Name
In Lia Hills’ new novel, a girl walks barefoot out of the Wimmera desert, near the small town of Gatyekarr, on a hot October afternoon. She finds sanctuary with Beth, a regenerative farmer and collector of seeds, devoted to bringing her family’s farm back to life. The arrival of the mysterious ‘desert girl’ unsettles theContinue reading “Review: a contemporary mystery brings up historical tensions in The Desert Knows Her Name”
Review: Red River Road – a tense solo female travel mystery
Anna Downes’ new thriller follows a woman desperate to discover what happened to her sister on a solo road trip through the Australian outback. Katy Sweeney is determined to find her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, free-spirited Phoebe vanished without a trace on Western Australia’s remote and achinglyContinue reading “Review: Red River Road – a tense solo female travel mystery”
‘Ravenous Girls’: a tender story of love and hunger
Adelaide. Summertime. 1985. Fourteen-year-old Frankie is struggling to make sense of her older sister Justine’s admission to hospital with anorexia. But growing up is harder than it seems, and as the summer passes, Frankie has to try to make sense of her own life, too. Years later, looking back on her sister’s illness from theContinue reading “‘Ravenous Girls’: a tender story of love and hunger”
‘The Glass House’ and the pointy end of mental healthcare
Psychiatry registrar Doctor Hannah Wright, a country girl with a chaotic history, thought she had seen it all in the emergency room. But that was nothing compared to the psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital. Hannah must learn on the job in a strained medical system, as she and her fellow trainees deal with the common andContinue reading “‘The Glass House’ and the pointy end of mental healthcare”
Penny Draws a Secret Adventure continues a heartfelt depiction of childhood anxiety
Little by little, Penny Lowry is making it through grade five—with a bit of help from her friends and her loveable dog, Cosmo. There’s a lot of change to deal with this year! Penny’s newborn twin brother and sister have everyone in her family on their last nerve with their crying. Her friends, Maria andContinue reading “Penny Draws a Secret Adventure continues a heartfelt depiction of childhood anxiety”
What is left unsaid in Sharon Kernot’s ‘Birdy’
Maddy is mute. Since the Incident she has barely spoken. And now she and her mother and brother are staying in a farmhouse on an old apricot orchard not far from town. It’s a chance to rest and recuperate – or a way to hide further away from the world. Alice is waiting. Since Birdy,Continue reading “What is left unsaid in Sharon Kernot’s ‘Birdy’”
Review: loneliness, mental health, and something else in Beatrix & Fred
Emily Spurr’s Beatrix & Fred follows two lonely individuals as their lives entwined in unexpected ways. If this sounds really vague to you, that’s because this book’s premise is best discovered on your own. Topics include perimenopause, mental health, loneliness and belonging. Review Weird premise, touching execution Beatrix is a loner with a genuine attachmentContinue reading “Review: loneliness, mental health, and something else in Beatrix & Fred”
Review: Exploring humanity in Jacinta Halloran’s Resistance
As a family therapist, Nina is the ultimate listener. Yet this is of little use with her latest clients, the Agostinos, who have been mandated to see her after stealing a car and disappearing into the outback. For support with the case, Nina meets with a supervising therapist, Erin. What they unearth in their sessionsContinue reading “Review: Exploring humanity in Jacinta Halloran’s Resistance”
Novel Feelings 