Grave Talk

 By: Nick Spalding

Location: FIC SPA

Genre: Realistic Fiction

“If someone thinks humans are weak, show them what we do for love.”

The hardest part of death is learning how to live.

Time is a healer, but it helps to have a friend.

The last thing Alice expects to see at her husband’s graveside on his birthday is a giant, talking frog. On closer inspection, it’s a grown man dressed as Kermit.

Turns out Alice’s husband is buried next to Ben’s older brother Harry, who—as a parting practical joke in his will—insisted that Ben visit his grave each year, on this specific day, dressed in an as-yet-undisclosed pageant of embarrassing fancy dress.

With little but their grief and this one day in common, Alice and Ben form a very special, very strange friendship, meeting just once a same day, same time, same place—different silly costume. As the years pass and grief alters, can their unique bond help them cope with the hardest part of life?

This book was good. It made me laugh, it made me cry, but it also made me roll my eyes at some less-than-ideal writing choices. It's not perfect, but it's good. It was a sweet story about love and grief and healing, and while it has its fair share of flaws, I enjoyed my experience with it.- Kendal

The Warm Hands of Ghosts

 By: Katherine Arden   

Location: FIC ARD

Genre: Historical Fiction- War

“Magic’s just science we don’t understand.”

― Katherine Arden, The Warm Hands of Ghosts

My favourite reviewer- Nilufer- gives this RAVE reviews

This book, however, took my breath away in a different way. It is a shocking, dark, and profoundly heartbreaking tale. It is a tragic yet painfully realistic symphony that explores the devastating consequences of war, dragging people into a bleak world that lies somewhere between the realm of the living and the world of ghosts. As you read, you can almost feel the cold shiver of the lingering ghosts, their ethereal presence haunting your every step. You touch their spectral hands and are reminded that they are long gone, leaving nothing but echoes in their wake.

World War One, and as shells fall in Flanders, a Canadian nurse searches for her brother believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise in this gripping and powerful historical novel from the bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.

January 1918. Laura Iven has been discharged from her duties as a nurse and sent back to Halifax, Canada, leaving behind a brother still fighting in the trenches of the First World War. Now home, she receives word of Freddie's death in action along with his uniform - but something doesn't quite make sense. Determined to find out more, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about ghosts moving among those still living and a strange innkeeper whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could this have happened to Freddie - but if so, where is he?

November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped under an overturned pillbox with an enemy soldier, a German, each of them badly wounded. Against all odds, the two men form a bond and succeed in clawing their way out. But once in No Man's Land, where can either of them turn where they won't be shot as enemy soldiers or deserters? As the killing continues, they meet a man - a fiddler - who seems to have the power to make the hellscape that surrounds them disappear. But at what price?

A novel of breathtaking scope and drama, of compulsive readability, of stunning historical research lightly worn, and of brilliantly drawn characters who will make you laugh and break your heart in a single line, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a book that will speak to readers directly about the trauma of war and the power of those involved to love, endure and transcend it.

We Are The Wolves

 By: Katrina Nannestad  

Location: FIC NAN

Genre: Historical Fiction- War

Sometimes it's good to be wild.

Sometimes you have to be wild.

When the Russian Army marches into East Prussia at the end of the war, the Wolf family must flee. Liesl, Otto and their baby sister Mia find themselves lost and alone, in a blizzard, in the middle of a war zone. Liesl has promised Mama that she will keep her brother and sister safe.

But sometimes, to survive, you have to do bad things. Dangerous things. Wild things.

Sometimes to survive, you must become a wolf.

Elizabeth says this...It is hard to put into words how good this children's historical fiction book was. This is one of those titles that is going to stick with me for a long time. If you are even on the fence about reading it, do it! The cover drew me in, but the story absolutely held my intrigue until the very end. It managed to teach me something about world war II that I had no idea about and it does it in a delicate way to teach other children. I can see this being mandatory reading in classrooms in the future like the title Number the Stars. Though the characters are fictional, I believe they represent the true victims of this tragedy well. Very sad but so good to read and a pleasure to learn from!

When We Were Monsters

 By: Jennifer Niven   

Location: FIC NIV

Genre: Mystery

A simmering psychological thriller about a dead teacher at an elite boarding school, the students who had every reason to want her gone, and the tangled web of rivalry and romance concealing the truth—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places.

At an elite boarding school, 8 students are selected for an exclusive program, but only one will walk away with a lifechanging opportunity to realize their creative dreams. 

Effy is piecing together a story about the tragic betrayal that led to her mother's death. Arlo hopes to publish a novel—but he's also trying to start a new chapter with Effy after he broke her heart and ghosted 3 years earlier. Everyone has a compelling reason to be there—they all want a big break—but only the most ambitious will prevail as the students are eliminated one by one.

Their mentor is the one and only Meredith Graffam, an enigmatic writer, director and actress, whose unorthodox teaching methods push them past the breaking point. Under Graffam's tutelage, the students reveal their darkest secrets, take unthinkable risks, and slowly start to turn on one another. But Graffam never expected they would turn on her . . .

"A standout dark academia thriller.” — E. Lockhart

Review by Nilufer: Before diving into this one, I skimmed a few mixed reviews—but the premise had already hooked me. A dark academia setting, an eerie mansion cut off from civilization during a storm, and a group of ambitious young writers competing for a life-changing opportunity? Yes, please! Add Jennifer Niven’s name to the cover—whose past works I’ve enjoyed—and I was sold. I went in with high hopes and braced myself for a slow-burn thriller, and that’s exactly what I got (with some surprises along the way).

Never Thought I'd End Up Here

 By: Ann Liang  

Location: FIC LIA

Genre: Romance

From the author of the instant New York Times bestseller I Hope This Doesn't Find You, Never Thought I'd End Up Here is another hilarious and romantic romcom from Ann Liang, this time following a former model determined to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA - it's all she's ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She's forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can't hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China's most beautiful cities. To them, it's the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it's simply a much-needed escape.

But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who's somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.

While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody's looking, she can't get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Yet the deeper they wander into China's provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love - with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she'd call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.

Madiie lists the troupes

📍 Shanghai streets, noodle stalls, bullet trains
— A fake travel vlog series with real feelings
— Grumpy x Soft-But-Guarded
—Forced Proximity (Hi, flatmates. Bye, personal space.)
—childhood enemies to strangers to Almost-Friends to Soul-Tied Lovers
— Emotional Baggage Claim: Carousel Never Stops Turning
—Healing Through Quiet Moments and Sarcastic Teasings
— One bed. One plan. One suitcase full of emotional damage.
— That cursed letter no one wants to talk about
— Bubble tea-fueled banter
— So much tension I had to fan myself with a dim sum menu
— She likes everyone but him x He hates everyone but her!!
— C-drama vibes
— Revenge arc but make it emotionally fulfilling.
— Former model x literature nerd?? I’m listening.
— Overdressed GF and underdressed BF is a whole aesthetic.
—Travel romcom in China

A Wreck of Seabirds

 By: Karleah Olson  

Location: Fic OLS

Genre: Realistic Fiction

I finished this book at a rate that can only be described as astonishing, inhaling the pages like a swimmer gasping for air after the last lap. Beautifully developed characters, a teasing, twisting plot, and such a delicate way of portraying emotion!!! UGH, an absolutely blistering-- VICTORIA

Friendship Family  FictionGrief  Australia

When Briony first meets Ren, he is standing in the freezing sea at the edge of their tiny town.Ren hasn' t been home for a decade but has returned to be with his dying father.Briony won' t leave, hoping that Sarah, her missing sister, will one day reappear.But Sarah and her friend Aria have been stranded on a desolate island far off the coast. The longer they' re trapped there, the less alone they seem.How many secrets in this town have been swallowed by the brooding sea?

REVIEW BY JOSH

You can taste the sea salt and feel the cold water with every page. Olson has a wicked command of language and each page is brimming with lush sentences and beautiful thoughts. It's like watching a storm brew, it's dark and brooding and it builds to a perfectly executed ending. It's tender, it's gentle, it's romantic, and it's also quite heavy thematically but it handles these themes with sensitivity and respect. Briony and Ren are two perfectly realised characters, each with an incredible emotional depth and distinct voices. The short chapters (love!) alternate between the past and present to unravel dark secrets, painful histories, and private triumphs. The story maintains an excellent pace, it's never too slow nor does it rush through - it takes its time, and as you sit with it, it rewards you. Still, I flew through it, I was fully captivated and didn't want to put it down. Here is a book with rich emotional insights (fantastic) and a clear appreciation for the beauty of the Australian coastal landscape (stellar). Watching these characters come to terms with their situations was heartbreaking and life-affirming in equal parts. (I particularly loved the relationship between Ren and his little brother Sam, it broke me, but it was so well done). The book fits well into New Adult territory, a category I'm glad is gaining more traction, and I can definitely see it being taught in classes at high school or university level, since there's a lot to love and plenty to dissect. Overall, it's just an incredible debut - you can tell that Olson is an avid reader and a lover of stories, because this one is full of life, pain, and love. I can't wait to see what Olson does next!

The River Has Roots

 By: Amal El Mohtar  

Location: FIC ELM

Genre: Fantasy 

Alex reviewed it this way:

It’s half poetry, half fairytale and it WILL make you cry. Five stars, perfection❤️

"But that is not the truth of grammar. There was a time when grammar was wild— when it shifted shapes and unleashed new forms out of old. Grammar, like gramarye, like grimoire. What is magic but a change in the world? What is conjugation but a transformation, one thing into another? She runs; she ran; she will run again.”

Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.

“Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath.”

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.

There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…