March and April were brilliant months for new releases in 2020. One of my most anticipated books for the year – Sarah Epstein’s Deep Water was originally released in April of that year and has now been rereleased by Fourteen Press. I read Deep Water right before it was first released absolutely ADORED it! I loved Sarah’s debut – Small Spaces (my review is here) – and I think this one is just as wonderful. I wanted to update my post to include images of the stunning new cover on this edition – my review remains unchanged and you can read it below. What is Sarah Epstein’s Dee ..read more

What is The Glow about? Megan and her best friend Li must team up and draw on all their creativity and courage to defeat a strange monster that threatens their town. Megan is obsessed with drawing fantastical creatures and she shares them with her best friend Li who writes stories to go with the pictures. They are kindred spirits with big creative dreams. One day everyone in town – except Megan and Li – is immobilised by a strange glow coming from their phones. Megan and Li are initially frightened and alarmed, but when they realise they are somehow immune, they set out to seek help. Soon a ba ..read more

If you’ve been here before you might know that I’m a sucker for a book that brings together stories from different timelines, so I was super excited to read Julie Brooks’ new novel, The Keepsake. The team at Hachette kindly sent me an early copy for review – check out my thoughts below. What is Julie Brooks’ The Keepsake about? 1832: The morning after her father’s funeral, Prudence Merryfield wakes to the liberating thought that this is the first day of her new life. At thirty-five and unmarried, she is now mistress of her own fate. But a cruel revelation at the reading of her father’s will fo ..read more

One of the debut Aussie YA novels I’ve most been looking forward to in 2023 is KAte J Armstrong’s Nightbirds (I featured it in this post about some of the upcoming LoveOzYA books I’m excited about). I was thrilled when the team at Allen & Unwin sent me an early copy to consider for review and have been looking forward to sharing my thoughts about it here. Read on below to find out more. What is Kate J Armstrong’s Nightbirds about? Magic may be illegal in Simta, but you can find it if you know which whispers to heed. None as tantalising as the ones about the Nightbirds, Simta’s best kept se ..read more

In January I posted a little preview of some of the new novels based on Greek myths being released in the next few months that I’m looking forward to reading. When Tandem Collective Global announced they were running a readalong in Australia for The Heroines by Laura Shepperson it felt like a sign and I was thrilled to be included. Wait, what is a Tandem Collective Global readalong? The Tandem Collective readalongs are pretty fun. The team at Tandem organise for the publisher (in this case Hachette Australia) to send a copy of the book (thank you!) and they also set some guidelines for which p ..read more

In January I posted a little preview of some of the new novels based on Greek myths being released in the next few months that I’m looking forward to reading. When Tandem Collective Global announced they were running a readalong in Australia for The Heroines by Laura Shepperson it felt like a sign and I was thrilled to be included. Wait, what is a Tandem Collective Global readalong? The Tandem Collective readalongs are pretty fun. The team at Tandem organise for the publisher (in this case Hachette Australia) to send a copy of the book (thank you!) and they also set some guidelines for which p ..read more

I always love reading Aussie books and right now there is a rapidly growing list of Australian young adult books that I just can’t wait to get my eyes on. Today I thought I’d share a bit about some of the titles coming out in the next couple of months in case you would like to add them to your list as well. Four new Australian YA books I can’t wait to read in 2023 Nightbirds by Kate J Armstrong Magic may be illegal in Simta, but you can find it if you know which whispers to heed. None as tantalising as the ones about the Nightbirds, Simta’s best kept secret. These privileged girls have the a ..read more

I know I’m not the only one with a ‘to be read’ list miles long and growing all the time, but there are just more and more books released all the time that I am busting to get my eyeballs on! Today I wanted to share some of the new fantasy books coming out in the first few months of 2023 that I have my eye on already. Three new fantasy novels I’m looking forward to reading in 2023 Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo Galaxy “Alex” Stern is determined to break Darlington out of hell―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale. But Alex is playing with forces far beyond her control, and when facu ..read more

I’m sure we’ve all noticed that novels based on Greek mythology have been having a ‘moment’ for… oh…. the last DECADE (Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles was first published in September 2021!) and it doesn’t look like things are slowing down yet. I’m certainly happy to see the retellings keep coming – I think there is a reason that these stories have survived so long and continue to be told and retold and loved by new generations of readers. Today I thought I’d share a little preview of three new novels based on Greek mythology that have caught my eye and are being published in 2023. Thre ..read more

Sarah Ayoub is one of my favourite writers of contemporary Australian YA, and I jumped at the chance to read her latest novel, The Cult of Romance, when it was released last year. I loved it and since then it has become one of the books I most often, and most widely, recommend. Check out my review below to find out why. What is The Cult of Romance about? Natalie is living proof that love is a scam. She’s traumatised by her parents’ failed marriage and overwhelmed by her grandmother’s expectations of good Lebanese girls — marriage, motherhood and exceptional tabouli-making skills. When her best ..read more