Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Catch Your Breath – Ravena Guron

    Harper Collins Australia March 2024 I really do love me a good cozy murder mystery, going right back to when I had almost every single Agatha Christie title, so I’m absolutely relishing this trend in YA fiction. This is the second of this author’s books I’ve read [see This Book Kills] and it’s even twistier…

  • The Unexpected Mess of it All- Gabrielle Tozer

    Harper Collins Australia May 2024 Oh yes, a rom-com that will have your young readers absolutely in paroxyms of delight! This was just so engaging from the very first page, and I loved every word, character and certainly, the outcome. Jamila Dakhoul feels her life is in a complete mess. Since her family home (and…

  • Those Girls -Pamela Rushby

    Walker Books Australia April 2024 ISBN13:9781760657840 Australia RRP:$19.99 New Zealand RRP:$22.99 Pamela Rushby’s books are always a treat. For me though, it’s a given that those historical fictions set in Brisbane are the most fascinating. Because I didn’t grow up here, I knew a bare minimum of the city’s history prior to moving here in…

  • This Book Kills – Ravena Guron

    Harper Collins Australia March 2024 I recently read someone ‘predicting’ that murder mystery for teens/YA was going to be a big new trend this year. I have news for them. It has been for quite a few years now as any of the devotees of Karen McManus, Holly Jackson or Robin Stevens will affirm –…

  • Smoke & Mirrors – Barry Jonsberg

    Allen & Unwin January 2024 ISBN: 9781761180750 Publisher: A&U Children’s Imprint: A & U Children RRP: $19.99 Anyone who has ever read a Jonsberg book will know that there is always more, just beneath the surface, and this particular title is especially apt. This was one of my favourite reads in December, and I quickly…

  • Chasing the Stars: Moonlight Dreamers #4 – Siobhan Curham

    Walker Books Australia November 2023 Imprint:Walker Books ISBN13: 9781529504026 Australia RRP:$16.99 New Zealand RRP:$18.99 Don’t think for one moment, that though this came out in November and I’m not reviewing it till now, that I put it off. In fact, I didn’t receive at the time of its release but only last week (as of…

  • Sense and Second-degree Murder – Tirzah Price

    Harper Collins Australia November 2023 Book #2 Jane Austen Murder Mysteries Now that I’ve read this one, I’d really like to get hold of #1 because this is a really top-notch, fresh take on detective stories. Of course, young ladies in Regency England did not pursue business, nor study chemistry and so on, but a…

  • Borderland – Graham Akhurst

    UWA Publishing October 2023 ISBN: 978760802646 RRP: $22.99 This is a really fresh perspective on First Nations YA, and was a hugely enjoyable and gripping read.  Jono and Jenny have known each other all their lives and have just graduated as the inaugural First Nations scholarship students from their private school. Both enrol at Brisbane’s…

  • Alex Rider: Nightshade Revenge #14 – Anthony Horowitz

    Walker Books September 2023 ISBN13:9781529517422 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 My fondness for Alex’ adventures is pretty well-known, and some people may remember my huge excitement with an exchange I had with the boy spy’s creator, Anthony himself, when I did my promo for Alex’ 20th anniversary. Well I remember our collective sadness when we…

  • In times of bushfires and billy buttons – Steven Herrick

    Ford St Publishing October 2023 ISBN: 9781922696366 RRP: $19.95 Ethan’s early years were not the stuff of idyllic wholesome family stories. When both his parents went to jail for fifteen years, as the result of drug-dealing, it was either foster care as a ward of the state or living with his Aunt Helen in another…