Book Reviews
ALL the reviews - filter by audience
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Book review: A Forest, Darkly by A.G. Slatter
Female rage is on the rise. We’re tired out and touched out and ready to tap out. I know I’m not alone amongst my friends in the occasional fantasy of retreating to an isolated cabin somewhere away from it all. In A.G. Slatter’s latest gothic folk horror novel, A Forest, Darkly, protagonist Mehab has done exactly this – she’s very satisfied living a solitary life in her veiled forest home. Except… it can maybe be a little lonely sometimes. And she does need a little bit of help getting things done, and some quiet company over the winter months doesn’t go astray (the scenes describing her creation of a companion…
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Book Review: On the Edge by Kate Horan
What is Kate Horan’s On the Edge about? Desperate people do desperate things… Sixteen years ago, teenage Maddie Marshall’s body was found on a desolate beach near her hometown, Carrinya. Vibrant, feisty Maddie was the only daughter of a high-profile politician. The case was the talk of the town but was ultimately never solved. Nel Foley, daughter of the town doctor and Maddie’s best friend, was the last known person to see her alive, and the Carrinya rumour mill was vicious. Nel fled the town and has never been back. Until now. Now a 32-year-old city GP, Nel returns after her father’s sudden death, determined to get in and out…
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Book Review: The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns
I had the absolute please of meeting Rachael Johns this year at the Riverina Readers Festival. At the time, Rachael was preparing for the release of her next novel, The Lucky Sisters, and after hearing her talk about it I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. The lovely team at Penguin sent a copy to me after Rachael agreed to chat to me as part of my Canberra Writers Festival taster series on Instagram (you can see our chat here). The Lucky Sisters actually came out the same week as the Canberra Writers Festival and it was so lovely to hear Rachael talk about it to readers!…
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Review: Ghosted by Amy Hutton
Amy Hutton‘s previous two romcom novels, Sit, Stay, Love and Love from Scratch, are firm favourites of mine, so when I heard she was serving us up another swoony story, and this time with a spooky twist, I was onboard immediately. GHOSTED came out at the start of the month and I adored it – check out my review below the publisher’s synopsis. What is Amy Hutton’s Ghosted about? Banishing vengeful spirits from the mortal realm is Holly’s day job, but she’s never had to ghost anyone before – until Callum breaks her heart, making her wish she could exorcise her ex from her life. It’s been two years since…
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Book Review: The Set-Up Girl by Sasha Vey
I love a contemporary YA novel set in Australia – we have some incredible authors writing in this market and I’m always keeping my eye out for new ones to add to my must-read list. Given this, I was excited to receive an early copy of local author Sasha Vey’s debut YA novel The Set-Up Girl – from Allen & Unwin. No sooner had it arrived than my almost 12yr old snatched it up to read first (she loved it), and this week, in the lead up to the Canberra Writers Festival, it was finally my turn to sink into this gorgeous novel. Check out the synopsis, and then read…
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Book Review: Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill
I don’t think I know a writer doing smarter things with crime books at the moment than Sulari Gentill. Her crime ‘meta fiction’ titles are so mind-bending, and I am absolutely loving her clever takes on the genre. Sulari’s latest literary offering, Five Found Dead, gives us her spin on one of our most loved classic crime stories – Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (with nods also to other much-loved murder train novels like Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train). I’ve had the pleasure recently of not just reading Five Found Dead but also hearing Sulari speak about it at events – check out my thoughts below…
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Book Review: Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon by Sophie Green
I do look forward to a new Sophie Green book, and I have had so much fun being part of the Instagram tour celebrating her latest release, Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon. Here’s the synopsis – you can find my thoughts below. What is Sophie Green’s Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon about? Four women. Four loves. Four life-changing stories. At a little salon by the sea – on the windblown coast of 1980s Australia – four different women with intertwined lives will find themselves through love, heartbreak and learning to love again. Lost love: Trudy, 57, owns Summertime Salon in the sun-soaked Central Coast town of Terrigal. She loves her…
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Book Review: Isn’t it Nice We Both Hate the Same Things by Jessica Seaborn
Look, I love a story centred on a romance as much as the next girls, but something I’d really like to see (a lot) more of is books that look at the platonic loves of our lives. I don’t think friendship is given enough attention in literature – making friends, keeping friends, breaking up with friends, the whole. So you had better believe I jumped at the chance for an early copy of Jessica Seaborn’s new novel Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things. Check out my thoughts below. What is Jessica Seaborn’s Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things about? Charlie, a prime-time radio producer…
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Book Review: The Life Experiment by Jess Kitching
Author Jess Kitching might be from England (I mean, she is) BUT we’re 100% claiming her as a local Canberra writer these days and when her new novel The Life Experiment was announced it was straight to the top of my tbr. Read on below for my thoughts! What is Jess Kitching’s The Life Experiment about? When OPM Discoveries puts out an ad seeking participants for The Life Experiment, a study that claims to help people searching for meaning, Layla and Angus are among those who apply. Little do they know they’re about to be told when they will die. Layla, a corporate lawyer, has foregone all relationships for her…
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Book Review: Cockatoo Cove by Maya Linnell
I’ve talked here plenty of times about how much I enjoy Maya Linnell‘s writing – her rural romance novels are the perfect blend of sweet and serious, and come with such a feeling of familiarity and nostalgia that make them a perfect comfort read for me. So it probably comes as no surprise at all that I’ve been looking forward to her newest novel – Cockatoo Cove – hitting shelves today. The lovely team at Allen and Unwin kindly sent me an early copy, which I devoured in just a few sittings over the weekend, and I’m excited to share some of my thoughts. I’ve popped the blurb for Cockatoo Cove…
