Billy Wallace: A True Rugby Legend

 By: Denis Dwyer

Location: NF 920 DWY Sport

Genre: All Black Legend

I loved reading the The Good Citizen- the story of Tom Ryan by Denis Dwyer, it was an incredible yarn of rugby, early travel, early art in Aotearoa and more importantly a pakeha pioneer who chose to engage in the Maori community in the Taupo region. I even went on a hikoi to see a few of the spots he captained his postal boat too around the lake. So when this book was published - it was a must for me. Denis writes well and keeps the narrative flowing as the story is told. 

In the history of New Zealand sports, few players have achieved the legendary status of Billy Wallace - one of the first, and most gifted, rugby players to ever be associated with the game.

In 1905 Billy Wallace was selected to represent New Zealand, touring the British Isles, France and North America, as part of a rugby team that became known as The Original All Blacks. It was during this landmark tour that Billy Wallace showed the rest of the world how the game should be played. Wallace's rugby career highlights include: scoring the first points for New Zealand in an international test match; being the first Kiwi to score 500 points in first-class rugby; holding the New Zealand record for the most points scored in a single All Blacks match for 46 years. To this day Wallace holds the world record for the most points scored on a rugby tour by any player. Including previous unseen rugby archive and family photographs, this fascinating biography tells the complete story of the life and career of Billy Wallace, a true rugby legend.

Starminster

 By: Megan Hopkins 

Location: FIC HOP

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Astrid has lived in the rhubarb shed her whole life. The outside world is dangerous, Mama explains; she will understand when she’s older, but she cannot set foot beyond the door. Astrid longs to see the world; to meet other children; to live in the farmhouse with Mama. But what she longs for most of all is to see the stars. Then one night, a stranger unlocks the a stranger with wings. She has come to take Astrid to a secret city in the sky called London Overhead, far above the highest peak of the Shard. For Astrid, like her, is a Librae – and will soon grow wings of her own . . . Astrid is swept into a breathtaking and magical world of new friendships, sweeping adventures and unimaginable discoveries at the ancient, beautiful school for Librae Starminster. But quickly she learns that all is not well in the glimmering city. And when rumours abound of missing children in London Underfoot, she begins to realise that Mama may have been right about the dangers waiting for Astrid all along .

Review by Nicola

This is one of those books that I’m glad to have picked up. First the cover drew me in and after reading the plot, it sounded like a great adventure. It was!

The opening chapter was an immediate hook and I quickly grew to love Astrid. Isolated in her rhubarb shed, she yearns to explore the outside world and get a glimpse of the stars she’s always wanted to see however her mother is determined to keep her safely enclosed from the dangers of the outside world..

And there’s plenty more to this world than meets the eye. Thought the sky above London was an empty space? Think again! A whole civilisation of the London Overhead exists into the clouds and there’s a whole life above there - Of Librae and people with wings. Astrid finds herself thrust into this strange world but she begins to make friends for the first time and finds life outside the shed isn’t that scary after all.

I loved seeing Astrid grow and the friendships she made was so heartwarming. It was such a feel good story and one that I absolutely blew through and was left smiling at the end. Fantastic world building, brilliant characters and a compelling story. 5/5 easy and now the next instalment can’t come quick enough!

The Forbidden Daughter

 By: Zipora Klein Jakob

Location: NF 920 JAK

Genre: Holocaust

A emotional roller-coaster of a book. It's a amazing story to read

The unforgettable true story of one Jewish orphan’s survival against impossible odds, and her lifelong quest for family, safety and a sense of belonging.
Elida Friedman was never supposed to have been born. In the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania, Nazi law forbade Jewish women from giving birth. Yet despite the danger they faced, Dr. Jonah Friedman and his wife Tzila, choose to bring a daughter into the world – a little girl they name Elida, meaning non-birth in Hebrew.

To ensure her survival, the couple must smuggle their precious baby out of the ghetto into the arms of strangers. So begins a life of constant upheaval, with Elida changing families, countries, continents and even names, countless times. Surviving the war and the Holocaust that stole her parents, the young woman never gives up hope of finding a sense of family, and the chance to belong.

A moving, powerful chronicle of overcoming impossible odds, The Forbidden Daughter is the true story of one unforgettable girl and her will to survive.

Review by A

“The Forbidden Daughter" is a soul-crushing, yet ultimately uplifting true story of unwavering hope and resilience in the face of unspeakable horrors. Elida Friedman's journey, from her secret birth in the Kovno Ghetto to her precarious childhood, is a testament to the unbreakable human spirit that will leave you shattered and inspired.

As I read about Elida's parents, Jonah and Tzila, risking everything to bring their daughter into the world, I am struck by their courage and selflessness, and my heart is shattered into a million pieces at the thought of them being brutally torn from her life. The inhumane cruelty of the Nazi regime snuffed out their lives, leaving their precious child to navigate a treacherous and unforgiving world alone.

But Elida's story is more than just a tale of survival - it's a testament to the indomitable human spirit that refuses to be extinguished. Despite being uprooted and renamed multiple times, she never loses sight of her identity or her determination to thrive, even in the face of unimaginable loss and trauma. Her unwavering belief in the power of love and belonging propels her forward, like a beacon of light in the darkness.

Every page of this book is a reminder of the unspeakable horrors that humanity is capable of, but also of the boundless capacity for love, hope, and resilience that exists within every human soul. You'll read of Elida's struggles to find her place in a world that seems determined to reject her, and of the miraculous moments of kindness and connection that sustain her.

"The Forbidden Daughter" is a book that will leave you changed, like a piece of clay that's been broken and remade into something stronger and more beautiful. It's a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome even the darkest of circumstances, and a reminder that love and hope can bloom in the most barren of landscapes.

The Fimiliar

 By: Leigh Bardugo

Location: FIC BAR

Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Spanish Inquisition

Historical fiction meets magical fantasy

From the New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent, and creator of the Grishaverse series comes a highly anticipated historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position.

What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor.

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.

As a lover of a good story, I was captivated by this book. I felt the highs and the lows with each of the characters throughout. The writing is masterful. The descriptions were full of life and the characters felt like old friends. It would have been easy to make some of the characters one-dimensional, but we see real depth in everyone.
This book as audiobook format is full of surprises and the pacing was such that I couldn't help but turn the page. At its heart, this is a story about family and Bardugo shows how complicated family can be. Backstabbing, forgiveness and family secrets wrapped up in beautiful words played out in scenes that moved me. As a reader, I found myself thinking about my own family and friends as the story unfolded. The characters in this novel felt like some of the most three dimensional characters I've come across.


They're not "standard archetypes", but they feel like people I've known. They make mistakes - big ones and small ones - and those mistakes have consequences. Of course, sometimes there are happy accidents, too. In the end, I was sad that I had to leave them.

This is a book that will stay with me for a long time to come. I get utterly lost in a good book, but this was a story that made me think long after I had turned the final page and the cover closed. A perfect balance of escape and introspection.
Could not have asked for more. Suzi

Hamlet is Not OK

 By: R A Spratt 

Location: FIC SPR

Genre: Fiction, Mental Health

“I can learn anything and travel anywhere without leaving town. That is the magic of books. I can travel around the world, into space, back and forth in time. All through the power of reading.”

Funny, shocking and from bestselling author R. A. Spratt, a whip-smart take on Shakespearean moral dilemmas

Selby hates homework.

She would rather watch daytime television – anything to escape the tedium of school, her parents’ bookshop and small-town busybodies.

So Selby didn’t plan to read Hamlet. She certainly never planned to meet him.

This novel transports Selby, and the reader, into the cold and crime-ridden play itself. Here she meets heavy with grief, the young prince is overthinking and over everything. Selby can relate. But unlike Hamlet, Selby isn’t afraid of making decisions. In her world, Selby is used to feeling overlooked. But in the bloody, backstabbing world of Shakespeare, Selby’s good conscience and quiet courage might just save some lives . . . hopefully before Hamlet stabs one of her classmates

"I think that the idea was brilliant, and I had fun reading this. I am not the biggest fan of Hamlet, and I am not the biggest fan of classics in general, to be honest, but I think that this is a great way to make people interested in them, and “scholastic” reasons aside, it was a nice reading. It is also quite fast and short, so I think that all in all, it was well worth my time. And Selby is soooo worth meeting!" Sibil

That Self-Same Metal

 By: Brittany N. Williams 

Location: FIC WIL

Genre: Fantasy,  Historical Fiction, LGBGT

THE COVER!!!!!!

...a fun, swashbuckling adventure set in Shakespeare's London with a fast-moving plot and lots of things to love!

Sixteen-year-old Joan Sands is a gifted craftswoman who creates and upkeeps the stage blades for William Shakespeare's acting company, The King's Men. Joan's skill with her blades comes from a magical ability to control metal-an ability gifted by her Head Orisha, Ogun. Because her whole family is Orisha-blessed, the Sands family have always kept tabs on the Fae presence in London. Usually that doesn't involve much except noting the faint glow around a Fae's body as they try to blend in with London society, but lately, there has been an uptick in brutal Fae attacks. After Joan wounds a powerful Fae and saves the son of a cruel Lord, she is drawn into political intrigue in the human and Fae worlds.Swashbuckling, romantic, and full of the sights and sounds of Shakespeare's London, this series starter delivers an unforgettable story-and a heroine unlike any other.

You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight

 By: Kalynn Bayron

ion: FIC BAY

Genre: Horror LGBGT

At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?

This heart-pounding slasher
Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

Review by Charlie

Well... I don't think I'll ever be able to look at owls the same again.

Kalynn Bayron really can write anything and I'll devour the story. No matter the genre, I'll be there to read her work because she really is an incredible writer. You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 for obvious reasons. Bayron is one of my favourite authors and the premise sounded incredible. Horror is not a genre I typically read but I was ready to dive into this because I trust the author to deliver something brilliant.

Expect the unexpected. Bayron subverts the readers expectations and flips slasher tropes on their head. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, a new twist would be introduced and leave me completely frazzled (Gemma Collins voice). You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight carves a place for itself within the horror genre by simply being something new and bold. This book takes the characters that are always on the sidelines of horror and slasher films and puts them front and centre. As our Final Girl, Charity takes control of the narrative and fights for survival. It was wonderful seeing a queer woman as the protagonist of a horror novel. I'm all for making the genre more queer!

The atmosphere was incredible. I loved learning about the history of Camp Mirror Lake and its shady past. I really wasn't expecting this to have dark academia influences, but the second half of the novel really took me there when Charity and her friends stumbled upon something pretty sinister. This novel was the epitome of shining your flashlight on something horrifying in the middle of the woods. Oh, and there's no cell reception. So... you're asking to die!

I've always admired Bayron's ability to normalise queerness. Kalynn's queer characters are not defined by their sexuality, but always feel empowered and comfortable within their identities. Charity and Bezi's relationship was casual, wonderful, and thrilling. Two queer women fighting for their lives amidst stolen moments of gentle intimacy? 

Kalynn had me giggling and snorting like an idiot. The humour was fun and joyous. It's not a slasher if you're not laughing a little. Charity had some hilarious lines. I really enjoyed that Charity was self aware and knew what would get her killed and completely avoided doing exactly that. The tone just felt so fresh and queer.

Society of the Snow

By: Pablo Vierci

Location: NF 920 Exploration

Genre: Survival Story

This book is written by a journalist who is friend with the victims of the Andes's tragedy. He interviews each of the 16 survivors and retold the story using the memories and the feeling of these amazing men. They survived 72 days in the mountain without food and with very frozen temperatures. And still their memories are plenty of hope and affection for each other.

This is the story of the society of the snow.

It was 13 October 1972. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, carrying a team of young rugby players, their families and friends, took off for the very last time. A deadly miscalculation saw F571 crash directly into the Andean mountains to devastating consequences: the body of the plane broke violently into two, its floor torn to smithereens; seats flew out of the air taking passengers with them. In the weeks that followed, the remaining people who were on board - the society of the snow - emerged to fight a dire, gruelling battle for survival.

Waiting for a rescue team that didn't arrive, the survivors became fewer and fewer in numbers. Stranded alone on a glacier, they had to face brutal temperatures, lethal avalanches and the loss of friends and family with no access to supplies, food or water. In order to survive, they had to do the unthinkable . . . It wasn't until seventy-two days later that they were able to reach safety.

Alarmingly gritty, moving and powerfully told, journalist Pablo Vierci recounts the unsettling stories of the sixteen survivors in intimate detail. Drawing on exclusive interviews, Society of the Snow delves into the tragedy of the crash and how it radically redefined the rest of the survivors' lives. Ultimately, however, the book is a touching testament to the strength of faith, friendship, and the resilience of the human spirit.

"There are many different reasons why I paint, but without intending it I always recreate the same scene over and over again: a group of boys with outstretched arms, standing on the freezing mountain with two helicopters arriving from the valley. I paint them again and again, but what is most curious is that every time I paint them I count the boys, never knowing whether they are greeting the helicopters when they arrive or saying goodbye when they leave. I count them and I count them again, and with tears in my eyes I always discover that there are more than sixteen. -Coche Inciarte"

Kay's Incredible Inventions

 By: Adam Kay

Genre: Random and ridiculous inventions

Location: NF 608 KAY

Have you ever thought about the fact that before the fridge you’d have had maggots in your margarine? Ever thought about what you might use to wipe your bum before loo roll was a thing? And what about what everybody did before computers?!

In this third hilarious book from Adam Kay and Henry Paker you’ll learn about all of these and more. Full of funny findings and disgusting discoveries, you’ll uncover important inventions that changed the world and saved lives like electricity and the internet, and captivating creations that absolutely did not (but are still a lot of fun) like smell o vision and trampolines.

An A to Kay to Z of the best, grossest and frankly most ridiculous inventions in the world.

In the latest laugh-out-loud book from the record-breaking and extremely handsome Adam Kay and Henry Paker, you’ll learn about everything ever invented, from the daft to the disgusting to the downright dangerous.


You’ll discover all about:

- The queen who pooed on the first ever toilet

- How velcro was invented by a dog

- Why the Ancient Greeks wiped their bums on dinner plates

Cover Story

 By: Susan Rigetti

Location: FIC RIG

Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Mystery

"I picked this up on a whim and it unexpectedly became a new favourite. Just go read it, you won't regret it" Steph

Netflix’s Inventing Anna and Hulu’s The Dropout meets  Catch Me If You Can in this captivating novel about an ambitious young woman who gets trapped in a charismatic con artist’s scam. A Most Anticipated Book by  Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, Parade ,  New York Post , Shondaland, E!,  Fortune , PopSugar, and more! “It’s exciting, it’s surprising, it’s satisfying, it’s darkly funny, and it will keep you guessing.”—Linda Holmes for Today.com After a rough year at NYU, aspiring writer Lora Ricci is thrilled to land a summer internship at ELLE magazine where she meets Cat Wolff, contributing editor and enigmatic daughter of a clean-energy mogul. Cat takes Lora under her wing, soliciting her help with side projects and encouraging her writing. As a friendship emerges between the two women, Lora opens up to Cat about her financial struggles and lost scholarship. Cat’s Drop out of NYU and become her ghostwriter. Lora agrees and, when the internship ends, she moves into Cat’s suite at the opulent Plaza Hotel. Writing during the day and accompanying Cat to extravagant parties at night, Lora’s life quickly shifts from looming nightmare to dream-come-true. But as Lora is drawn into Cat’s glamorous lifestyle, Cat’s perfect exterior cracks, exposing an illicit, shady world. A whip-smart and delightfully inventive writer, Susan Rigetti brilliantly pieces together a perceptive, humorous caper full of sharp observations about scam culture. Composed of diary entries, emails, FBI correspondence, and more, Cover Story is a fresh, fun, and wholly original novel that takes readers deep into the codependency and deceit found in a relationship built on power imbalance and lies.

𝑭𝒖𝒏! 𝑭𝒖𝒏! 𝑭𝒖𝒏! 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 by debut author Susan Rigetti should be in everyone’s beach bag this spring and summer. It’s one of those books that is pure, unadulterated fun! The story centers around a world class grifter, Cat Wolff, and Lora Ricci, a 24-year old intern working for Elle magazine. Cat quickly has Lora under her spell and eager to do almost anything asked of her. Now, if you’re thinking this sounds a little like 𝘔𝘺 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢 by Rachel DeLoache Williams or the hit @netflix show 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢, you’re absolutely right. There is that premise, but trust me when I say 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 ends up going in entirely different directions.⁣
⁣
That’s all I can tell you about the story because it’s best to go in knowing as little as possible. I just want to leave you with two things. First, the entire book is written in diary entries, emails, text messages, etc., making it a very fast read and adding to the fun of the book. Second, I 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 saw the ending coming. I should have, but I didn’t.

Tweet

By: Morris Gleitzman

Location: FIC GLE

Genre: Birds, Fiction and Gleitzman

The people of the world are puzzled. Birds everywhere are sitting on highways, on buildings, on BBQs, stopping traffic, lawnmowers and leaf blowers. Then a boy and his pet budgie discover the secret to what the birds are up to. Jay and Clyde embark on an urgent journey – an exciting, emotional, sometimes hilarious, always risky journey with a message about the environment for humans. 

Elisha

This was a weird one.
It starts out from the POV of a pet budgie, which was fantastic. Eventually it adds in his child owner too, and we get their adventures through their eyes.
It’s part apocalypse, but also adventure and activism and secret agents and bad guys and defeating impossible odds, with some heartache and magical realism thrown in. Which is quite the combo.
But mostly it’s about the love of a boy called Jay and his budgie Clyde being stronger than anything else in the world.

Kathleen

This story could be really wacky, with the narrator being a little pet budgie called Clyde,
but it is simply delightful. His bird-brain view of humans and the world takes the reader into some serious matters but with an approach that saves it from getting heavy. We have themes such as standing together, environmental imbalance, and seeing things from a different perspective, and issues about who’s in control (us? our parents? the government?) and courage.

An excellent story.

Delicious

 By: Liselle Sambury  

Location: FIC SAM

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller, Paranormal

The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.

Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend. So when her mother inherits a secluded mansion in northern Ontario where she spent her childhood summers, Daisy jumps at the chance to escape. But the house is nothing like Daisy expects, and she begins to realize that her experience with the supernatural might be no match for her mother’s secrets, nor what lurks within these walls…

A decade later, Brittney is desperate to get out from under the thumb of her abusive mother, a bestselling author who claims her stay at “Miracle Mansion” allowed her to see the error of her ways. But Brittney knows that’s nothing but a sham. She decides the new season of her popular Haunted web series will uncover what happened to a young Black girl in the mansion ten years prior and finally expose her mother’s lies. But as she gets more wrapped up in the investigation, she’ll have to decide: if she can only bring one story to light, which one matters most—Daisy’s or her own?

As Brittney investigates the mansion in the present, Daisy’s story runs parallel in the past, both timelines propelling the girls to face the most dangerous monsters of all: those that hide in plain sight.

Here are the content warnings directly from the author: childhood sexual assault (off page, some details discussed), childhood physical abuse (corporal punishment, off page, described), childhood physical abuse (confinement punishment), childhood neglect, gaslighting, grooming, suicide (off page, mention), killing of a goat (off page, described), discussions of fatphobia, body horror/gore, violence, death

Review by Britanny

Omg this book is SO GOOD! A haunted house with a dark past, a forgotten Black girl, toxic parents, dark secrets, cycles of trauma, and a girl who sees the dead blend together in Delicious Monsters.

Listen, I'm internet friends with the author and I'm sure I went in with added goodwill, so feel free to take my review with a grain of salt. But I'm genuinely floored at how smart, well-crafted, and creepy this upper-YA horror novel is. Liselle goes hard with the body horror, and weaves together a narrative with so many layers to unpack. This is easily the best thing I've read this month.

Daisy can see the dead and is getting out of a toxic relationship. She moves with her controlling mom to a mysterious estate in rural Canada with a dark past and a dangerous present. 10 years later, Brittany is trying to succeed apart from her abusive mother, creating a show about haunted houses. This season, she's investigating a forgotten Black girl connected to the very same house and is determined to uncover the truth of what happened there.

I think having Brittany's story as a framing device is very effective and what she's going through dovetails with some of the themes present in Daisy's narrative. Delicious Monsters does my favorite thing in the horror genre- using supernatural horror elements as a way of talking about real life horror. And this is not a light book by any means. It tackles abuse, neglect, racism, sexual assault, grooming, PTSD, gaslighting, and how cycles of abuse are perpetuated. It can be intense to read at times, but it's handled thoughtfully and isn't gratuitous in depicting certain kinds of violence. (though there is graphic body horror!) And what's so great is that while a character might not always see abuse for what it is, the reader can. And the character will eventually get there too.

One note I want to make about the narrative choices here: I suspect some reviewers will say that a certain"twist" is too obvious and use that as a reason to be negative. I would argue that thing actually isn't intended to be a twist at all and is supposed to be very clear to the reader from early on, even if it isn't to the characters. While there ARE twists in the book that I think are really well done, this particular thing (if you've read it, you should know what I mean) is instead creating tension, hanging ominously over the entire narrative. And if a character takes awhile to put it together, I think it's because they are still in denial about their OWN trauma and are unable to see things for what they are until they are willing to confront the truth. I think that was such a smart way to execute a story like this and focus on character growth without using trauma for cheap shock value. I have a lot of respect for how this book was crafted.

So clearly I'm a fan. The creepy vibes and atmosphere are on point, the character work is excellent, and the narrative structure works. Highly recommend, though this obviously comes with plenty of content warnings. I'll add to the things mentioned above violence to animals (off page), bugs, and carnivorous birds. I received a copy of this book for review as part of a unpaid book tour, all opinions are my own.

Unraveller

 By: Frances Hardinge

Location: FIC HAR

Genre: Fantasy. Horror, Magic

In a world where anyone can cast a life-destroying curse, only one person has the power to unravel them.

Kellen does not fully understand his unique gift, but helps those who are cursed, like his friend Nettle who was trapped in the body of a bird for years. She is now Kellen's constant companion and his closest ally.

But the Unraveller carries a curse himself and, unless he and Nettle can remove it, Kellen is a danger to everything – and everyone – around him . . .

Natalylta recommends...

It’s wonderful that in a story about unravelling - curses, yes, but also the tangled webs of resentment and hate and pain - Frances Hardinge instead weaves a very complex and deeply nuanced tale with a whole onion-worth of layers.

This is a story for which it’s hard to give an “elevator pitch”, a deft distillation of ideas and themes in a few pithy sentences. It’s too complex for it, and its characters are layered and messy and difficult, and full of wonderful contradictions and sharp corners. And the brilliantly fantastic worlds of Hardinge’s imagination resist the soothing simplicity of stark binary contrasts, instead showing (always showing, never telling) the lived-in ambiguity of reality, however fantastic it might be.

“My hosts started to realize that just because somebody *feels* wronged, that doesn’t mean they are.”

Unraveller is a story with so much plot that never lulls and yet never feels rushed. It’s rooted in the ideas of strong friendship and responsibility, the subtle but extremely important distinctions between anger and hate, and recognition that there are at least two sides to every story, and what you believe isn’t always true. It is about the importance of thinking for yourself and asking questions, even when painful and uncomfortable, and questioning assumptions, and thinking about the consequences. It’s a story about learning to deal with your pain, and not in the easy way. And it’s a story about the power of understanding and empathy, and the heavy weight of guilt.

“I think anger’s alright, actually. Lots of you have been treated badly, and most of you never asked for any of this. But… hate’s different. It eats you up and makes everything worse. You’ve all suffered enough already, haven’t you?”

Frances Hardinge is without a doubt among my absolutely favorite writers, and her books are always a delight and pure pleasure. Not only is she excellent with words and is able to create brand-new fully fleshed worlds that are fresh and feel vividly real, but she also does what I wish every writer felt comfortable doing. She trusts her readers. She trusts us to understand subtleties and nuances and to make our own conclusions without ever hitting us over the head with any anvil-sized messages. She’s too skilled for that. She trusts us to think — actually, she *expects* us to do that. And for that I love her works. She makes her writing feel effortless — and that’s the skill to be admired.

“Even if you didn’t dwell on the past, however, sometimes the past dwelt on you. Sometimes it remembered you and came after you for revenge.”
—————
“Gentleness is often mistaken for weakness, but the two are not even close cousins.”

It’s “middle grade” literature, which is ridiculous. Hardinge writes more than suitably for adults, but these are also stories that you can hand to a young reader without cringy embarrassment for your book tastes. Young age of her characters does not detract from the high level of clever complexity, but does - thank all the literary deities - end up romance-proof, which at least to me is a welcome reprieve of the easy storytelling trends that lets us because they sell. This book is carried on the strength of its story, not on the whiff of hormones, and it’s wonderful.

“The rest aren’t bad people. They’re just desperate and wounded, putting their faith in the first person who told them they weren’t monsters.”

The Foot Of The Cherry tree

 By: Alli Parker 

Location: FIC PAR

Genre:  Historical Fiction, War, Japan, Australia

A stirring story of love and hope, based on the incredible true story of Australia's first Japanese war bride and a love that changed a nation forever.


Gordon Parker is just an eager eighteen-year-old Australian boy desperate to fight for his country, and Nobuko 'Cherry' Sakuramoto is a sixteen-year-old girl struggling to survive in Japan in the aftermath of World War II. But when they fall in love, they change the course of history.

When Gordon arrived in Japan, he expected ruthless samurai, angry Japanese men ready to kill Australians at every corner. Instead, he found Cherry, terrified of ex-enemy soldiers, a 16-year-old survivor of the atomic bomb. Against all the rules and against all odds, they fall in love. But when Gordon discovers the White Australia Policy prevents Cherry coming home with him as his war bride, Gordon does what any 20-year-old soldier would do. He vows to fight. Leaving Cherry alone and pregnant in post-war Japan, Gordon somehow has to convinces his family to accept his marriage and wage a desperate campaign against a xenophobic and war-scarred government to allow his wife and his family to come home.

A story spanning seven years and two countries reeling from the aftermath of war, At the Foot of the Cherry Tree is a sweeping and moving novel about faith, trust, and the power of a love that alters history - 

A review by Natsha Lester and that makes it very worth the read

Absolutely loved it!

Parker tells a fictionalised story of her grandparents, an Australian soldier and a Japanese woman, who meet in Kure, Japan, in 1946 and fall in love, which is against all the rules at the time. What follows is a true story of resilience as the two young lovers try to change the minds of the Australian government and the Australian people about the White Australia policy.

Parker’s grandmother was the first Japanese war bride to be permitted to enter Australia, a process that took eight long years. It’s both a fascinating and heartbreaking tale of prejudice and stubbornness – thankfully Cherry and Gordon’s stubbornness is the victor here and also a catalyst for a too-slow change in attitudes towards immigration in Australia.

My Life With The Walter Boys

 By: Ali Novak

Location: FIC NOV

Genre: Romance, Fiction, Young Adult

Moving in with twelve boys was not part of her plan.

Jackie's goal is perfection--perfect grades, the perfect look, getting into the perfect school. If she can achieve that, then maybe her too-busy mom and dad will take notice. But when her parents die in a tragic accident, Jackie is shipped off across the country to live with the Walters, her new guardians...who just happen to have twelve sons (well, eleven, but their daughter, Parker, is basically one of the boys).

The Walter boys are loud, dirty, annoying--and, okay, some of the older boys might be Greek god level hot, but they don't think a city girl belongs on their horse ranch. How is Jackie supposed to fit into their chaotic world when she needs to keep her parents' memory alive by living up to the promise of perfect?

But as Jackie spends more time the Walter boys, she begins to wonder if the perfection she's always strived for isn't the only way to find love after all.

Review by Daly

In this book Novak weaves a captivating tale of love, loss, and self-discovery as we follow the journey of Jackie Howard, who finds herself thrust into the chaotic world of the Walter family after a tragic accident leaves her orphaned. From navigating the dynamics of a large and boisterous family to wrestling with her own grief and guilt, Jackie's story is as heartwarming as it is heart-wrenching. 
Novak's writing is both heartfelt and engaging, drawing me in from the very first chapter and refusing to let go until the very end.

What I loved most about this book is its authenticity. Novak's characters are incredibly relatable, each with their own quirks, flaws, and hidden depths. I found myself rooting for Jackie as she navigated the ups and downs of teenage life, from navigating high school drama to grappling with her growing feelings for one of the Walter boys.

Always Isnt Forever

 By: J C Cervantes

Location: FIC CER

Genre: Romance, Young Adult, Paranormal

Cover Art Love!!!

The characterizations are excellent, and the plot is interesting enough to warrant a movie adaptation. Keep your napkins close and dive into this book blindly! You won't regret it!- Nilfur- Goodreads

Best friends and soul mates since they were kids, Hart Augusto and Ruby Armenta were poised to take on senior year together when Hart tragically drowns in a boating accident. Absolutely shattered, Ruby struggles to move on from the person she knows was her forever love.

Hart can’t let go of Ruby either…. Due to some divine intervention, he’s offered a second chance. Only it won’t be as simple as bringing him back to life—instead, Hart’s soul is transferred to the body of local bad boy.

When Hart returns to town as Jameson, he realizes that winning Ruby back will be more challenging than he’d imagined. For one, he’s forbidden from telling Ruby the truth. And with each day he spends as Jameson, memories of his life as Hart begin to fade away.

Though Ruby still mourns Hart, she can’t deny that something is drawing her to Jameson. As much as she doesn’t understand the sudden pull, it can’t be ignored. And why does he remind her so much of Hart? Desperate to see if the connection she feels is real, Ruby begins to open her heart to Jameson—but will their love be enough to bridge the distance between them?

This book surprised me by being quite emotional, and it was undoubtedly an emotional ride. If I had to compare the book to You've Reached Sam, I would say it was far better done. I adored how the multiple points of view allowed us to hear each perspective of the tale. the manner in which it addressed loss and tragedy.

With its brief chapters, quick pacing, significant mystery, and unexpected turns, the entire book is simple to read. Although I thought some of the supernatural aspects weren't properly stated, I thought the characters were fantastic. However, this novel was still quite charming and had me from page one.

I cannot stress how highly I suggest this book! In the same breath, this book was both upsetting and inspirational! Aninda