Just So Stories

Random Reviews and Ramblings from Redcliffe

  • Don’t Let Them Leave – Mike Lucas

    Penguin Australia May 2026 Eeek! I read this halfway through on a sunny Sunday afternoon – thank goodness, because this is absolute superb, spooky, supernatural Gothic horror at its best. Drawing on Cornish folktales and superstitions and set around the 1930s, readers who love a truly suspenseful, twisty-turning creepy narrative will eat this up with…

  • One Day Soon – Cristy Burne

    Fremantle Press May 2026 ISBN: 9781760995614 RRP: $17.99 Preorder now This is another verse novel that has given me cause to reconsider my initial lukewarm thoughts about this genre. In fact, so utterly absorbing is this one, that I binge read it in one evening. I don’t know anyone personally with MND but a friend did…

  • Letters from the Upside – Katya Balen

    Bloomsbury Publishing January 2026 ISBN: 9781526663931 Imprint: Bloomsbury Children’s Books RRP: $16.99 I have eaten up every Katya Balen title that has come my way and they never disappoint. Each new story has its own fresh and original approach and, without fail, her characters are astonishingly vibrant and so completely authentic. Each and everyone pulls…

  • An Ancient Witch’s Guide to Modern Dating – Cecilia Edward

    Simon & Schuster November 2025 It absolutely is not a Christmas themed book but it would make a great gift for a YA/NA reader in your circle because aside from anything else, it’s SO pretty! Look at those sprayed page edges!! But it is also a nice light rom-com read AND there’s plenty of cats!…

  • Lost Evangeline – Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

    Walker Books Australia November 2025 ISBN13:9781529525892 Australia RRP:$24.99 New Zealand RRP:$27.99 As it arrives hard on the heels of the 25th anniversary of Because of Winn-Dixie [one of my all time favourite books!] it is a special treat to review a new Kate book. It arrived yesterday, much to my delight, and, of course, I…

  • Gloam – Jack MacKay

    Bloomsbury September 2025 Imprint: Oneworld ISBN: 9780861549528 RRP: $16.99 Sometimes a debut novel comes along that completely blows you away, and this would be one of those. I’m not a fan of horror, but I don’t mind a bit of creepy – this was actually quite a lot of creepy! and an enormously good read.…

  • Keeper of the Octopus – Neridah McMullin

    Walker Books Australia ISBN13:9781760659479 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 As I’ve said before, I have a fascination with octopuses with their superior intelligence and facility for extraordinary physical feats. And when you combine that with Neridah McMullin’s ability to weave a narrative of magical realism that has echoes of traditional folktales and lore, you get…

  • Promises and Other Lies – Sue Whiting

    Walker Books Australia September 2025 ISBN13:9781760658649 Australia RRP:$17.99 New Zealand RRP:$19.99 This was absolutely a crackerjack read and I ate it up over two nights. Sue Whiting has such a deft hand with writing narratives that tackle difficult and emotive issues with grace and sensitivity, and this is a prime example. You will all, I…

  • The Disappearing Circus – Helen Edwards/Kate Gordon

    Riveted Press July 2025 Distributed by Simon & Schuster ISBN13: 9781763526099 RRP: AU$ 17.99 / NZ$ 19.99 I have taken my time with this, both the reading of it and the writing of the review. So much so, that I was strongly reminded of my Oddity review, four years ago, when I wrote: I read…

  • My Dog – Olivia Wakeford

    the story of an extraordinary friendship Harper Collins Australia ISBN: 9780008658588 ISBN 10: 0008658587 Imprint: HarperCollins GB RRP: $17.99 This one I will say was at times, a bit too close to the bone for me. That being said, it is truly a special book that will touch the hearts of sophisticated primary readers and, I would suggest,…