The Star Dust Thief

 By: Chelsea Abdullah

Location: FIC ABD

Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Retellings

Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land—at the cost of sacrificing all jinn.

With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems, and she must decide who she will become in this new reality.

Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights, The Stardust Thief weaves the gripping tale of a legendary smuggler, a cowardly prince, and a dangerous quest across the desert to find a legendary, magical lamp.

At its heart The Stardust Thief is a magical tale of unlikely heroes and thrilling quests, of chaos and bloodshed, of love and loss, all told through Abdullah’s dreamy prose. This is a book where everyone has a story to tell but the truth may dispel the very illusion that has been believed for centuries.

“Some people hide their scars; I prefer to wear mine like badges. They remind me of everything I survived, and of who it is I must seek revenge against.” Niuls

Summer in the City of Roses

 By: Michelle Ruiz Keil

Location: FIC KEI

Genre: Myth, Greek, Fiction, LGBGT

Inspired by the Greek myth of Iphigenia and the Grimm fairy tale "Brother and Sister," Michelle Ruiz Keil's second novel follows two siblings torn apart and struggling to find each other in early '90s Portland.
 
All her life, seventeen-year-old Iph has protected her sensitive younger brother, Orr. But this summer, with their mother gone at an artist residency, their father decides it’s time for fifteen-year-old Orr to toughen up at a wilderness boot camp. When their father brings Iph to a work gala in downtown Portland and breaks the news, Orr has already been sent away against his will. Furious at her father’s betrayal, Iph storms off and gets lost in the maze of Old Town. Enter George, a queer Robin Hood who swoops in on a bicycle, bow and arrow at the ready, offering Iph a place to hide out while she tracks down Orr.

Orr, in the meantime, has escaped the camp and fallen in with The Furies, an all-girl punk band, and moves into the coat closet of their ramshackle pink house. In their first summer apart, Iph and Orr must learn to navigate their respective new spaces of music, romance, and sex-work activism—and find each other before a fantastical transformation fractures their family forever.

Told through a lens of magical realism and steeped in myth, Summer in the City of Roses is a dazzling tale about the pain and beauty of growing up.

"I picked up this book for the wrong reasons, but aren't I glad that I did! This is a contemporary YA novel exploring family betrayal and love, anxiety, autism spectrum, LGBTQ feelings, trangender identity, family violence, prostitution, homelessness, baby blues, creativity, bohemian lifestyles and so many important and difficult subjects."

The Butterfly Assassin

 By: Finn Longman

Genre: Thriller, Fantasy, LGBT, Queer

Location: FIC LON

 Review by Kate

A fast paced, murderous thriller following an ace-aro teen assassin with a chronic illness as she attempts to live a life away from her abusive parents and the oppressive life of murder guilds.

A dark and gritty exploration of trauma, PTSD, abuse (parental, medical, physical and mental) and the pains it takes to get help with a chronic illness, Finn Longman brilliantly places very contemporary issues within this dystopian setting.

This works brilliantly as both a standalone and the start of a series and I look forward to seeing where Finn takes this story in future books.

TW: abuse, trauma, panic attacks, PTSD

Innocent by day, killer by night: a dark, twisting thriller about a teen assassin’s attempt to live a normal life.

Trained and traumatised by a secret assassin programme for minors, Isabel Ryans wants nothing more than to be a normal civilian. After running away from home, she has a new name, a new life and a new friend, Emma, and for the first time in Isabel’s life, things are looking up.
 
But old habits die hard, and it’s not long until she blows her cover, drawing the attention of the guilds – the two rival organisations who control the city of Espera. An unaffiliated killer like Isabel is either a potential asset . . . or a threat to be eliminated.

Will the blood on her hands cost her everything?

From Finn Longman, an exhilarating new voice in YA fiction, comes an addictive new blockbuster series for fans of global phenomena The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Killing Eve and The Hunger Games.

A Dark Inheritance

 By: H.F. Askwith

Location: FIC ASK

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery

Felix Ashe is sure of only one thing. In thirty days, on his eighteenth birthday, he will die. He might be the only one convinced of this, but the gruesome deaths of his three brothers before him seem to point to only one thing: a curse, one doomed to stop anyone inheriting his family's incredible fortune.

Felix doesn't care about money, or himself, particularly. It's hard to have a stake in the future when you know you haven't got one. But he does care about his little brother Nick, very much. And when an opportunity to break the curse appears to present itself, it's impossible not to heed its dark call.

Soon long-buried secrets will take Felix to the darkest underbelly of Jazz-Age New York, to the far-flung wilds of the Yorkshire moors and back again. And bound to everything is a deadly secret society who will either be Felix's downfall . . . or his one chance at redemption.

Extasia

 By: Claire Legrand

Location: FIC LEG

Genre: Horror. LGBGT. Paranormal. Witches. Cult

Reviews by Britanny

There are ALL the content warnings for this one. Sexual assault, physical abuse, religious abuse, gaslighting, gore, murder...

I would recommend this for those looking for a deeply unsettling horror fantasy with lots of religious trauma, wlws, and witches- so probably couldnt recommend it!

From New York Times bestselling author Claire Legrand comes a new, bone-chilling YA horror novel about a girl who joins a coven to root out a vicious evil that’s stalking her village. Perfect for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Grace Year . Her name is unimportant. All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain—an evil which has already killed nine of her village’s men. She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove. Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother’s shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you? This searing and lyrically written novel by the critically acclaimed author of Sawkill Girls beckons readers to follow its fierce heroine into a world filled with secrets and blood—where the truth is buried in lies and a devastating power waits, seething, for someone brave enough to use it.

Hester

 By: Laurie Lico Albanese

Location: FIC ALB

Genre: Historical Fiction- Goodreads Finalist 2022

Who is the real Hester Prynne?

A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England's witchcraft trials.

The first Hester I met  had a surname Harrison was from Hamel Hamsted in Hertfordshire and her Dads name was Henry.

Hester  Harrison from Hamel Hamstead Hertfordshire , lived at Henrys House!

A vivid reimagining of the woman who inspired Hester Prynne, the tragic heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, and a journey into the enduring legacy of New England's witchcraft trials.

Who is the real Hester Prynne?

Isobel Gamble is a young seamstress carrying generations of secrets when she sets sail from Scotland in the early 1800s with her husband, Edward. An apothecary who has fallen under the spell of opium, his pile of debts have forced them to flee Edinburgh for a fresh start in the New World. But only days after they've arrived in Salem, Edward abruptly joins a departing ship as a medic––leaving Isobel penniless and alone in a strange country, forced to make her way by any means possible.

When she meets a young Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two are instantly drawn to each other: he is a man haunted by his ancestors, who sent innocent women to the gallows––while she is an unusually gifted needleworker, troubled by her own strange talents. As the weeks pass and Edward's safe return grows increasingly unlikely, Nathaniel and Isobel grow closer and closer. Together, they are a muse and a dark storyteller; the enchanter and the enchanted. But which is which?

• 'Like the greatest historical fiction, Hester makes you believe utterly'

  Gillian Flynn, international bestselling author of Gone Girl

• ‘Full of lush and colourful prose, Hester proves that a woman will do whatever she must to prosper, even when she is left with nothing but courage – and a few secrets of her own’ 

  Sarah Penner, bestselling author of The Lost Apothecary

• ‘A masterpiece that should be required reading alongside Hawthorne’s classic tale of adultery. Enthralling, ambitious and a total knockout’

  Fiona Davis, bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

• ‘A luminous blend of fiction and truth, Hester weaves a spellbinding tapestry of Salem history as it has never been told before’

  Afia Atakora, author of Conjure Women

This Place is Still Beautiful

 By: Xixi Tian

Location: FIC TIA

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Sisters

COVER LOVE!!

"Tian excavates the awkward, ugly truths we avoid, and exposes them with raw emotional honesty and grace. This book made me feel seen in a way that very few books ever have. I found myself nodding and saying, 'Yes, that's so true!' over and over again." -- Misa Sugiura, author of This Time Will Be Different

With five starred reviews, this is an acclaimed novel about sisterhood, family, and the pernicious legacy of racism. Perfect for fans of Tahereh Mafi, Jandy Nelson, and Emily X.R. Pan, with crossover appeal for readers of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half. The Flanagan sisters are as different as they come. Seventeen-year-old Annalie is bubbly, sweet, and self-conscious, whereas nineteen-year-old Margaret is sharp and assertive. Margaret looks just like their mother, while Annalie passes for white and looks like the father who abandoned them years ago, leaving their Chinese immigrant mama to raise the girls alone in their small, predominantly white Midwestern town. When their house is vandalized with a shocking racial slur, Margaret rushes home from her summer internship in New York City. She expects outrage. Instead, her sister and mother would rather move on. Especially once Margaret’s own investigation begins to make members of their community uncomfortable. For Annalie, this was meant to be a summer of new possibilities, and she resents her sister’s sudden presence and insistence on drawing negative attention to their family. Meanwhile Margaret is infuriated with Annalie’s passive acceptance of what happened. For Margaret, the summer couldn’t possibly get worse, until she crosses paths with someone she swore she’d never see her first love, Rajiv Agarwal. As the sisters navigate this unexpected summer, an explosive secret threatens to break apart their relationship, once and for all. This Place Is Still Beautiful is a luminous, captivating story about identity, sisterhood, and how our hometowns are inextricably a part of who we are, even when we outgrow them.

Review by Jessica

for such a heavy and serious topic, this is one of the prettiest debuts ive read in a while. XTs writing is so, so lovely.

while the focus of the story is how a family handles a horrible act of hatred, i found the complicated relationship between the two sisters the most compelling aspect of the book. i could understand margarets need to escape her hometown and i also could empathise with annalises desire to defuse conflict by just going along with things. there are parts of each sister that i could relate to, so i really was hoping to see them work through their differences.

overall, i found the character relationships to be a great tool for discussing and analysing a topic that is so painfully relevant in todays society. and im so excited to see what XT writes next!

The Cleaner

 By: Mark Dawson

Location: FIC DAW

Genre: Thriller, Crime, Mystery

Series: John Milton#1

“Come on,” Milton said. “Look at me—do I look like James Bond?”

"This novel takes a hard look at gangs, drugs, alcoholism, poverty, working three jobs and still not being able to pay all of the bills, atonement, helping others, jealousy, corruption, theft, riots, murder, revenge, and much more." pam

John Milton is the man the government call when they want a problem to vanish . . . but what happens when he's the one that needs to disappear?
After a botched job leaves a bloody trail, government assassin John Milton does the one thing he's never done before: he hides.

Disappearing into London's bustling East End and holing up in a vacant flat, Milton becomes involved with single mother Sharon and her troubled son Elijah, who are caught in an increasingly bloody turf war between two rival gangs.

Unable to ignore the threat, Milton sets about protecting mother and son, meeting violence with violence. But his involvement puts him in the sights of the government's next best killer, and before long Milton is not just fighting to save a family and a home – he's fighting to stay alive . . .

Review by Collin

Secret Government problem solver John Milton sorts out things that the usual agencies can’t touch. When the results of his most recent assassination job begin to prick his conscience, Milton wonders if it’s time to get out and do something different. Trouble is, his boss doesn’t agree - simply leaving the ‘service’ isn’t an option. However, while reflecting on his future, Milton finds himself in a situation that demands quick thinking. In saving the life of a young mother, the former killer is given a new perspective – perhaps he can make up for his past by helping the woman and her wayward son?

This is the first of Mark Dawson’s John Milton series and I’m happy to say it got off to a cracking start. I was gripped from the beginning and could hardly bear to put it down. The writing is tight and to the point, with a whole host of interesting and dangerous characters. Be warned, though, there’s a massive body-count in this one and the hero probably isn’t someone you’d want to invite round for dinner.

The comparison to Lee Child’s Jack Reacher is often bandied about in relation to Milton, yet while the characters are similar in terms of their abilities, I’d say they don’t have a lot in common. In any case, ‘The Cleaner’ is a great read and I’m already looking forward to the next volume.

Razor Blade Tears

 By: S. A. Cosby

Location: FIC COS

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

“I ain't gonna lie and say I get you, because I don't. I can't even pretend I know what it must be like to be... you. But if all this has taught me one thing, it's that it ain't about me and what I get. It's about letting people be who they are. And being who you are shouldn't be a death sentence.”

A black father and a white father join forces on a crusade for revenge against the people who murdered their gay sons, by S.A. Crosby, the award-winning author of Blacktop Wasteland.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for 15 years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.

The last thing he expects to hear is that his son, Isiah, has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Isiah was a gay black man in the American South; Ike couldn’t bring himself to attend his son’s wedding. Isiah was a man Ike never understood. A boy he was never there for the way he should have been.

Derek’s father, Buddy Lee, is also suffering. He’d barely spoken to his son in five years; he was as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.

Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, alpha-males Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices, about each other and their sons, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

Provocative and fast-paced, Razorblade Tears is a story of bloody retribution, heartfelt change - and maybe even redemption.

Among the Ruins

 By: Ausma Zehanat Khan

Location: FIC KHA

Genre: Thriller, Political Intrigue, Mystery

This author is the real deal

Ausma Zehanat Khan is a British-born Canadian living in the United States, whose own parents are heirs to a complex story of migration to and from three different continents. A former adjunct professor at American and Canadian universities, she holds a Ph.D. in International Human Rights Law, with the 1995 Srebrenica massacre as the main subject of her dissertation. Previously the Editor in Chief of Muslim Girl Magazine, Ausma Zehanat Khan has moved frequently, traveled extensively, and written compulsively

On leave from Canada's Community Policing department, Esa Khattak is travelling in Iran, reconnecting with his cultural heritage and seeking peace in the country's beautiful mosques and gardens. But Khattak's supposed break from work is cut short when he's approached by a Canadian government agent in Iran, asking him to look into the death of renowned Canadian-Iranian filmmaker Zahra Sobhani. Zahra was murdered at Iran's notorious Evin prison, where she'd been seeking the release of a well-known political prisoner. Khattak quickly finds himself embroiled in Iran's tumultuous politics and under surveillance by the regime, but when the trail leads back to Zahra's family in Canada, Khattak calls on his partner, Detective Rachel Getty, for help. Rachel uncovers a conspiracy linked to the Shah of Iran and the decades-old murders of a group of Iran's most famous dissidents. As Khattak gets caught up in the fate of Iran's political prisoners, Rachel sees through to the heart of the matter: Zahra's murder may not have been a political crime at all.

Review by Sue

Esa Khattak is in Iran, on a personal trip, a vacation of sorts, visiting historical and religious sites important to him and his Muslim heritage. He entered the country not as the Canadian policeman he is but as a more acceptable, to the Iranian government, Pakistani, the country of his parents. Now he is in the midst of unanticipated problems, dealing with a repressive state, the apparent murder of a Canadian woman from Iran, and mysteries dating back to the last Shah.

This is a fascinating series, dealing as it does with the daily intersection of a Muslim citizen and policeman in Canada with all of the fraught emotions and incidents of these times. In this, the third novel of the series, there is even more interesting detail on hand as Khattak takes what is essentially for him a pilgrimage to Iran to see holy and famous sites. That this trip turns into something very different is part of today's world of suspicion, hate, fear, power, torture, and misplaced trusts. As in the previous books, Rachel Getty also figures prominently in this episode. This pair is a good one--very different and well matched, each respecting the skills of the other.

I am looking forward to Khan's next entry in the series, whenever it comes. She provides a good story, with history that is new to me, details of Muslim life and beliefs that are also new to me. And all within a mystery that she works out in a believable fashion. (Though all mystery series seem to demonstrate remarkable amounts of luck, Esa and Rachel also demonstrate physical and mental agility.)

Definitely recommended, along with the rest of the series.

She's Not Your Average Damsel In Distress

 By: Karen Cushman

Location: FIC CUS

Genre:  Historical Fiction. Medieval

Now an Amazon Prime movie, written and directed by Lean Dunham, the creator of Girls.

Shaggy Beard wishes to take me to wife! What a monstrous joke. That dog assassin whose breath smells like the mouth of Hell, who makes wind like others make music, who is so ugly and old!

Catherine’s in trouble. Caught between a mother who is determined to turn her into the perfect medieval lady and a father who wants her to marry her off to much older and utterly repulsive suitor. Luckily, Catherine has a plan. She has experience outwitting suitors and is ready to take matters into her own hands.

A fun and vibrant coming-of-age novel about a 14-year-old girl’s fight for freedom and right to self-determination.

I won't be able to read another book for a while. I'm ruined.

This book boasts a delightful heroine, and in spite of the (wonderful!) medieval setting, all the angst and rebellion and other feelings I had in my own adolescence came spilling out of the pages. Kids are kids, no matter when or where.

I loved the characters (the goat boy, the dairy maid, the brothers, the uncle, the best friend!), the hilarious diary entries, the main character's love of animals (from ants to sad, dancing bears!), and the descriptions of medieval life. So fun! And nerve-wracking, too, with the horrible old husband-to-be lurking on the horizon.

Now I guess I'll go find some cleaning to do, or perhaps organize my toiletries or mend a pair of tights. Because I'm scared the next book won't be, can't be, this enticing. Review by Wanderer

Shaggy Beard wishes to take me to wife! What a monstrous joke. That dog assassin wow breath smells like the mouth of Hell, who makes wind like others make music, who is so ugly and old!

Corpus bones, I must make a plan. Luckily I am experienced at outwitting suitors . . .

Catherine's in trouble. her father is trying to marry her off to disgusting old Shaggy Beard, and her mother's determined to turn her into the perfect medieval lady. Will either of them succeed? Not if Catherine has anything to do with it!

Catherine, Called Birdy is Karen Cushman's funny and poignant novel about a 14-year-old girl's fight for freedom.

The Other Side of Night

By: Adam Hamdy

Location: FIC HAM

Genre:  Mystery, Thriller

“I couldn’t stop thinking about the story’s incredible twist…like no crime novel I’ve ever read.” —James Patterson

For fans of Matt Haig and Anthony Horowitz, an “intriguing and thought-provoking” (Liv Constantine, author of The Last Mrs. Parrish) novel in which the lives of a disgraced police officer, a prolific author, and an upstanding citizen are inextricably bound together by a series of mysterious deaths.

The Other Side of Night begins with a man named David Asha writing about his biggest regret: his sudden separation from his son, Elliot. In his grief, David tells a story.

Next, we step into the life of Harriet Kealty, a police officer trying to clear her name after a lapse of judgment. She discovers a curious inscription in a secondhand book—a plea: Help me, he’s trying to kill me. Who wrote this note? Who is “he”?

This note leads Harri to David Asha, who was last seen stepping off a cliff. Police suspect he couldn’t cope after his wife’s sudden death. Still, why would this man jump and leave behind his young son? Quickly, Harri’s attention zeroes in on a person she knows all too well.

Ben Elmys: once the love of her life. A surrogate father to Elliot Asha and trusted friend to the Ashas.

Ben may also be a murderer.​

Nilufer review

The Other Side of Night is a thought-provoking, moving “head-spinner of a novel” (John Connolly) with intriguing narratives and plot swerves that will leave you reeling. By the end, you’ll be shaken as each piece slots satisfyingly into place.

 I didn’t know this was sci-fi thriller. Especially the last third was mind blowing. All the pieces fit at the right places. Thankfully the author didn’t leave any plot hold behind even though the answers are mostly unconventional, jaw dropping and overwhelmingly confusing!

Overall: this is smart, romantic, eccentric, confusing, well written sci-fi thriller! It took a little time for me to get used to the characters. I found Harriet a little irritated for bring extra heartbroken after Ben and Ben was also acting like suspicious, talking riddles, obsessive, acting like a mad scientist at any minute he’ll be forced to wear straitjacket and pushed into an ambulance to head to the nearest cuckoo’s nest but at the end I understood how I got everything wrong.

After the revelations I’m rounding up my 4.5 stars to 5 sci-fi, starry, mysterious, poignant love story stars!

Stone Blind

 By: Natalie Haynes

Location: FIC HAY

Genre: Mythology Fiction, Retellings, Fantasy

“So to mortal men, we are monsters. Because of our teeth, our flight, our strength. They fear us, so they call us monsters.”

Medusa is the sole mortal in a family of gods. Growing up with her Gorgon sisters, she begins to realize that she is the only one who experiences change, the only one who can be hurt. And her mortal lifespan gives her an urgency that her family will never know.

When the sea god Poseidon commits an unforgivable act in the temple of Athene, the goddess takes her revenge where she can - and Medusa is changed forever. Writhing snakes replace her hair, and her gaze now turns any living creature to stone. The power cannot be controlled: Medusa can look at nothing without destroying it. She is condemned to a life of shadows and darkness.

Until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon...

In Stone Blind, Natalie Haynes - the Women's Prize-shortlisted author of A Thousand Ships - brings the infamous Medusa to life as you have never seen her before...

Edinburgh Night

 By: T.L.Huchu

Location: FIC HUC

Genre: Fantasy, Urban, Edinburgh

A paranormal, surprising, entertaining, magical, fast pacing,  series of Scottish scary goodness

Sixth Sense meets Stranger Things in this sharp contemporary fantasy series, Edinburgh Nights, from acclaimed Scottish author T.L. Huchu.

The Library of the Dead introduces readers to Ropa, a precocious and cynical teen who can talk to ghosts. She explores the shadowy magical underside of modern Edinburgh searching for clues to uncover what’s behind the evil bewitching all the children, leaving them shells of themselves. Along the way she encounters an occult library, a magical mentor, and some unexpected allies. This atmospheric, paranormal fantasy series continues with Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments.

When a child goes missing in Edinburgh's darkest streets, young Ropa investigates. She'll need to call on Zimbabwean magic as well as her Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. But as shadows lengthen, will the hunter become the hunted?

When ghosts talk, she will listen...

Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker. Now she speaks to Edinburgh's dead, carrying messages to the living. A girl's gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone's bewitching children--leaving them husks, empty of joy and life. It's on Ropa's patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns will change her world.

She'll dice with death (not part of her life plan...), discovering an occult library and a taste for hidden magic. She'll also experience dark times. For Edinburgh hides a wealth of secrets, and Ropa's gonna hunt them all down.

I'll say that The Library of the Dead is an enjoyable dark urban fantasy tale that is set in a nicely depicted alternate Edinburgh, with a great lead character and a vibrant supporting cast. To say that this is a debut release though means that a lot of plaudits should go to Huchu here for what he's accomplished. There are many great elements to this novel which I've mentioned throughout the review but it doesn't quite live up to the lofty heights of the concept and what the blurb presents the book as. The Library of the Dead works perfectly as a standalone with everything wrapping up expertly with enough intriguing hints and ideas of what is to come in the follow-up- James

Steady For This

 By: Nathanael Lessore

Location: FIC LES

Genre: Humour- Young Adult

I loved this SO much. Laugh out loud funny, but also with such heart and emotional depth.  I haven't enjoyed a book so purely in a long time. Just brilliant.

A fantastic read, real, deep social issues, peer pressure, fitting in with society finding your true self.

Yeah they call me Growls, I'm like a tiger on the prowl.
King of jungles so you better take a bow.
King of concrete so you better say it loud!

Shaun (aka MC Growls) is ready to drop his best bars and smash the competition at Raptology. That way, he's convinced Tanisha, his crush, will finally give him a chance.

But when a livestream practice goes epically wrong, Growls's dirty laundry is literally exposed. He's finally achieved his dreams of going viral - not in the good way.

Now Tanisha won't look at him, he's the joke of the school and there's no way he can show his face at the competition. Will he ever catch a break?

Then a new girl on the block appears who might be just the friend Growls needs. Especially when she points out that Raptology could be the answer to his problems after all. . .

STEP UP TO THE MIC! It's MC Growls and he's ready for this. He's steady for this. It's comeback season and they call him comeback king for a reason.

A hilarious debut from breakout star Nathanael Lessore, perfect for teen readers of Alex Wheatle and Jason Reynolds.

This was pure joy! A novel bursting with heart, which tackles massive issues super deftly.

Blue Hour

 By: Tiffany Clarke Harrison

Location: FIC HAR

Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction. Obama Read

Blue Hour is on President Obama’s best of 2023 and deservedly so. This is a compact book at only 130 pages; Harrison makes every word count. Brutal and in your face making you see the world as it really is, and heartbreaking and tender and making you thankful for the moments of beauty that life offers to try to counter its pain.
Our unnamed narrator is a bi-racial woman, someone who is having great difficulty maintaining a pregnancy, struggling with terrible loss in her family, trying to make a living as an artist, to work her way through insurmountable grief. Harrison creates a very intimate portrait, letting us see the raw, ragged life with all its anguish and possibilities for joy and connection.

What is motherhood in the midst of uncertainty, buried trauma, and an unraveling America? What it’s always been—a love song.

Our narrator is a gifted photographer, an uncertain wife, an infertile mother, a biracial woman in an unraveling America. As she grapples with a lifetime of ambivalence about motherhood, yet another act of police brutality makes headlines, and this time the victim is Noah, a boy in her photography class. Unmoored by the grief of a recent devastating miscarriage and Noah’s fight for his life, she worries she can no longer chase the hope of having a child, no longer wants to bring a Black body into the world. Yet her husband Asher—contributing white, Jewish genes alongside her Black-Japanese ones for any potential child—is just as desperate to keep trying. Throwing herself into a new documentary on motherhood, and making secret visits to Noah in the hospital, this when she learns she is, impossibly, pregnant. As the future shifts once again, she must decide yet again what she dares hope for the shape of her future to be. Fearless, timely, blazing with voice, Blue Hour is a fragmentary novel with unignorable storytelling power.

A Glasshouse of Stars

 By: Shirley Marr

Location: FIC MAR

Genre: Magic Realism, Rascsim

A touching and quietly magical story of family, belonging and strength that compassionately explores mental health, grief and the varying experiences of immigrants of all ages and backgrounds.

A beautiful story about finding your place in the world.

WINNER, CBCA Book of the Year - Younger Readers 2022
WINNER, WA Premier’s Book Awards - Writing for Children 2021

Meixing Lim and her family have arrived at the New House in the New Land, inherited from First Uncle who died tragically and unexpectedly while picking oranges in the backyard. Everything is vast and unknown to Meixing and not in a good way, including the house she has dubbed Big Scary. She is embarrassed by the second-hand shoes given to her by the kind neighbours, has trouble understanding the language at school, and with fitting in and making new friends. Her solace is a glasshouse in the garden that inexplicably holds the sun and the moon and all the secrets of her memory and imagination.

Her fragile universe is rocked when tragedy strikes and Ma Ma refuses to face the world outside. Meixing finds herself trapped within the shrinking walls of Big Scary. Her parents said this would be a better life for them all, but it feels like the worst and most heart-breaking experience of Meixing's entire existence. Surviving will take all the resilience and inner belief of this brave girl to turn their world around.

A Glasshouse of Stars is based on the real childhood experiences of the author, brushed with a light touch of magic realism.

'Are you scared of the darkness? Kevin asks you.
'No,' you say.
With your answer, the black sky is at once filled with a million galaxies.
It is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen.
'No,' you repeat. 'Because you can only see the stars when it is dark.'