This was a total cover buy with its beautiful rainbow border and hard cover, but I was astonished to find out in the afterword that Cole’s Book Arcade and the family that lived there really did exist in Melbourne in the 19th century! Amelia has given this story a magical realism twist and introduced a very Count Olaf-seeming villain in the form of the Obscurosmith. 

 

What I didn’t expect was the surprisingly poignant, and sometimes dark, exploration of grief and how a grieving parent can appear to their children. The stakes of the story also felt very real and there were very real consequences of failing a trial as the story progressed. 

 

The interactions between all the Cole siblings were so genuine and authentic (and I love any book where I get to read any Aussie colloquialisms!) which only added to the emotional conclusion of the story. That said, despite being junior fiction, I probably would recommend ages 10-12+ given some of the themes. 

 I picked this book up on a whim at my local bookshop last year purely based on its cover and HELLO NEW INSTA-BUY AUTHOR. 

 

The first 50 pages is a whirlwind explanation of the caste system built into this fantasy world, why it’s the way it is, and the current razor-edge politics at the current time. Basically, the Crow caste are the undertakers of this world and as such, are immune to a plague that can devastate communities. It’s their job to answer the call when plague affects towns, yet they are treated with contempt and considered the bottom caste. There a several tense and chilling scenes that parallel the KKK attacks on African-Americans in the South during the Crows travels on the road. 

 

My big make-or-break of any novel is there is a protagonist I want to barrack for, and Owens delivered strongly in the form of Fie. She’s fierce, skilled at what she does (and you see her growth in her skills throughout the book – no insta-power trope here), loyal and willing to do anything it takes for her caste to have better protection. Her anger at the state of her world bleeds from the book; I was willing to bring a pitch-fork to her cause by page 100! 

 There are so many variations on Arthurian legend, whether it’s through books, movies or TV shows, but none have flipped them on its head and shaken it about quite like the Black Girl Magic of Legendborn. Not to mention the diversity of reps in these book (there are bi characters, gay Asian characters, and a non-binary character). 

 

The most transcendent feature of this book is the exploration of grief after the loss of a parent. The author describes in the afterword that much of the story came from her own experience where the matrilineal side of her family has often died early. This book also confronts the modern-day racism that has an extensive root system in colonialism, marginalisation and violence against African-Americans. 

 

The only things I didn’t love was the heaping of information in the early parts of the books. While the world-building of the story was incredible, it was also combined with the introduction of a lot of side-characters, which made it doubly confusing! I also felt that the relationship between Bree and the love interest fell into the YA insta-love trope a little. 

Otherwise, this book was incredible; both uplifting and devastating in equal measure! 

 I was delightfully relieved with this latest book by Garth Nix after I felt that Angel Mage was a bit of a let-down. 

 

Booksellers is a fantastic urban fantasy based in an alternate 1980s London with creepy monsters and some truly excellent British/Australian style humour. A big highlight is the character of Merlin, who appears to be gender-fluid and dresses however he damn well pleases and gets zero flack for it! Now that I’m typing this, all the characters are actually a big highlight of this book. From Susan’s grit and determination, Vivian’s competence and intelligence, and Merlin’s wit and eccentricity. 

 

Read this if you’re in the mood for a light-hearted, stand-alone fantasy romp! 

I can’t review it in too much detail without spoiling a whole lot of plot for every other book in the series, but I loved how much detail Leigh managed to pack into these two books without losing a single iota of momentum. 

The characters, as always, are *chef’s kiss* and I was incredibly invested in all their stories. I found Zoya rather prickly and unlikeable in the initial Shadow and Bone books, but like what ACOSF was for the character of Nesta, the King of Scars duology is for Zoya; explores an unapologetically angry women who has been shaped by the circumstances around her. Other highlights include the Zoya’s sheer competence; this is a woman who gets things done (that said, she’d still terrify me in real life!) as well as Nina and Hanne’s interactions.

There are few book worlds that I’ve totally immersed myself in, but the Grishaverse is one of them. Now and forever.

 This a fun, clever and truly delightful middle-grade novel that, if I still worked in a bookshop, I would be aggressively pushing into children’s’ hands for school holiday (or otherwise!) reading! 

 

Kaufman and Graudin are both authors that are auto-buys for me, so I had extraordinarily little hesitation buying this book and I wasn’t disappointed. Admittedly, you do have to suspend your belief a little in the beginning but once you settle into the world that is between blinks, it was simple to enjoy all the quirky characters “missing” from history that made an appearance (I had my money on Harold Holt making an appearance, and I wasn’t disappointed!). 

 

The story also explores some profound themes of grief and coming to terms with the loss of a loved one. The authors do a terrific exploring these in both Jake and Marisol who have both reacted differently to the loss of their grandmother. 

 

The historical glossary at the back, with quick summaries of all the different historical references was much appreciated and you can tell the authors had a lot of fun finding missing things for the story! 

 

This was easily read in one sitting but by golly does it pack a punch! This is the type of book we need to be studying at school in Australia. 

 

What begins as a simple investigation into a deadly fire (as simple as it can be when the detective’s dead daughter is around in ghost form to help him), ends up uncovering a harrowing tale of survival and long-held grief. The plot also begins the scratch the surface of the tragedy that is the Stolen Generation in Australia, whereby numerous Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families to try and assimilate them in “white society”. 

 

Much of the book is told in prose, which I admittedly stay away from a lot of the time, but now I’m starting to think that that has been a mistake. The prose is lyrical, easy to read and the use of allegory to veil to a terrible truth is simply superb. 

 

Story-telling and family is at the heart of this book, and oh, what a mighty heart it has. 

 

 I won’t go to far into spoiler zones for this book! 

 

For a conclusion to a trilogy, the plot was surprisingly character-based for most of the book. The first half of the book explores the fall-out of Rhen’s actions in the second book and the repercussions for his relationships with Harper and Grey. Brigid explored these morally grey areas with care and did a good job of highlighting what people can do when they’re afraid but didn’t condone these actions. 

 

I was a little disappointed with Lia Mara’s lack of character development; she was unsure of herself and her abilities to lead in the second book but instead of coming into her own in the finale, what follows is relentless dithering. It would’ve been nice to see her compassion paired more with competency in her trying to rule a kingdom build on cruelty. 

 

Plot wise, this book is not the strongest in the trilogy, but it does set itself up nicely for future books (which I will more than likely read!). The biggest standout was Harper’s character, as usual showing courage and kindness in the face of overwhelming adversity!