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…

  • The Sea Captain’s Wife – Jackie French

    Harper Collins Australia It really is a given, that a new Jackie French book means that all other books are put on hold (even if half-read!) until I have devoured the newest. And that’s exactly what has happened over the past few days. Just under 500 pages flew by over a couple of nights as…

  • 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…

  • The Peak: Spy Academy #1 – Jack Heath

    Scholastic Australia February 2024 ISBN: 9781761290473 ISBN-10: 1761290479 Series: Spy Academy RRP: $17.99 Way back in 2005, I went to the ASLA Conference in Canberra. What a fun three days that was: made new friends, fancy-pants dinner at Parliament House, late-night escapade to the casino, my first visit to Jackie French, and listening to the hottest new author…

  • 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…

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