Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die: Book One)
Written by Danielle Paige
Fantasy, Retelling
Published April 1st 2014
464 Pages
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I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado, taking you with it, you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though, but even that's crumbling.
What happened?
Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.
My name is Amy Gumm, and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission:
Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.
Steal the Scarecrow's brain.
Take the Lion's courage.
Then and only then... Dorothy must die!
Broken Strings
Written by Maria Farrer
Contemporary, Musical
Published July 2014
352 Pages
Thank you to Scholastic and Scholastic Australia
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It is the story of a brilliant young violinist, her determination and struggle to achieve her dreams and the discovery that she is at the center of an extraordinary secret that has pulled apart her family for two generations. Jess, a talented seventeen year old violinist, suffers from stage fright as she auditions for a place at a prestigious music school. Her family do not have enough money for her to continue to study so when she fails, she vows not to play again. Until her wealthy grandmother, estranged from her family since Jess's mother fell pregnant - shows up at their doorstep and promises six months of tuition in exchange for Jess moving to live with her. Once ensconced in her grandmother's rich, but empty, life she starts to uncover the mystery of why her grandmother never spoke to her mother again, and the secret which tore her family apart.
'I have not got used to my new mum, even though I love her (I absolutely love her) but I miss my happy, painting, dancing, gardening, smiling mum.'
Roses are Blue is a illustrated children's book that even adults will fall in love with, including myself. Not only is Sally an accomplished author, but her previous children's books have won impressive awards such as the Children's Independent Book of the Year, Premier Awards and also Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year awards. She's a writer, she's a hard working mum of six, so who is Sally Murphy and what inspired Roses are Blue? With thanks to Walker Books Australia, I was fortunate to nab an interview with the woman herself. Roses are Blue is out now in all great bookshops.
Contemporary, Mythical
Published July 23rd 2014
364 Pages
Thank you to Text Publishing
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★★★☆
My mother always called it the eventuality. Not the maybe, or the probably. It’s going to happen, she would tell me calmly. I even know when. It’s a twist in my stars. It’s written there, and we have to accept it. My mother, Joanne Nielsen Crowe. She has a name, she’s not a was.Avicenna Crowe’s mother, Joanne, is an astrologer with uncanny predictive powers and a history of being stalked. Now she is missing.The police are called, but they're not asking the right questions. Like why Joanne lied about her past, and what she saw in her stars that made her so afraid. But Avicenna has inherited her mother’s gift. Finding an unlikely ally in the brooding Simon Thorn, she begins to piece together the mystery. And when she uncovers a link between Joanne’s disappearance and a cold-case murder, Avicenna is led deep into the city’s dark and seedy underbelly, unaware how far she is placing her own life in danger.Pulse-racing and terrifyingly real, The Astrologer’s Daughter is a stunning, original novel. It will test your belief in destiny and the endurance of love.
It's always been Avicenna and her mother, since her father passed away, but now Joanne Nielsen Crowe is missing. The eccentric Astrologer has always been in demand, possessing a gift passed down each generation, resting now with Avicenna. Avicenna has only been known as The Astrologer's Daughter by her mother's clients, her mother using their small apartment to read a client through their stars, being paid in ornaments and trinkets which now clutter their home. With nowhere to turn, Avicenna contacts the police who confiscate journals containing her last known clients, while Avicenna is expected to go about her everyday life, including school. At school where she was once teased due to her disfigurement, now the halls part for the girl who's mother is presumed to have met with foul play. Her mother had always instilled in Avicenna to left no stone unturned, so when previous clients come knocking, Avicenna begins the task of finishing what her mother began.
Avicenna also holds the gift of reading past, present and futures, from the man who insists on knowing when he'll come to pass and how, the elderly mother who needs to find her daughters killer, to the young, cocky and irresistibly handsome Hugh, who was promised a reading. Where Avicenna won't deny her mother's clients closure, somewhere, her mother is still out there. With her unfinished game of Words With Friends, alone and possibly now resting with Avicenna's father. With a major assessment due, Avicenna has little time for study, even at the insistence of overachiever Simon, who surprisingly isn't the wealthy and put together boy Avicenna had thought he was. It soon becomes apparent that Simon is as invested in her mother's case as Avicenna is, and begins to rely on the boy who once called her Frankencrowe due to her scarring.
But as the stars begin to align in her mother's unfinished cases, Avicenna begins to see a pattern between two cases she is completing and perhaps why her mother disappeared. But will she be too late?
Kelly's Thoughts
The Astrologer's Daughter was a unique contemporary, with a mythical element, depending how you perceive the gift of Astrology. It follows the story of Avicenna, who is in the midst of discovering that her mother is now missing and now fears she has lost two parents in devastating circumstances. Her mother has always instilled in her the importance of tying up loose ends, so when previous clients come knocking, Avicenna takes it upon herself to start their readings and finish what her mother seemingly couldn't. The police are skeptical of her mother's gift and believes it may be the reason she's disappeared under mysterious circumstances, but with little to go upon, the search for the truth isn't easy and Avicenna takes it upon herself to discover what her mother was working on.
Avicenna is a sassy and smart young woman, who's grief is simmering just beneath the surface. But true to her word, she picks herself up and begins to discover that being exposed to her mother's gift has left her with the knowledge and know how to carry on her work. What was so striking, was Avicenna's ability to pull herself together, when she should have been close to being inconsolable. I enjoyed the brief explanations of how she used a name, birthdate and time to determine a personality or history, but the longer passages were borderline tedious and too difficult to immerse myself in. Perhaps a short preface as an introduction would have allowed me to connect to the storyline more so, as Astrology is not all that familiar to me.
There are two love interests in Avicenna's life, handsome and wealthy client Hugh and the over achieving Simon who holds a secret of his own, but luckily it doesn't translate into a love triangle, as neither boy seems to be overly interested. The obvious choice of Avicenna's misguided feelings should have been towards Simon, who once her academic nemesis, sleeps on her couch. But even in the midst of the investigation, she described Hugh as her Dream Man, which seemed to be more a case of confusing interest with being romantically inclined towards her. It felt awkward and I was more interested in finding what happened to her mother, than Avicenna's love life.
The Final Verdict
Overall, it was a interesting read and while Rebecca Lim spun an intriguing and unique storyline, I couldn't find a connection to the characters or Avicenna's missing mother. The situation should have been heartbreaking, but the emotion and grief over not knowing what happened to her mother felt as though Avicenna had accepted her mother was gone and possibly felt more for her mother's clients. I adored the mythology behind the gift they had shared, but it wasn't enough to keep me enthralled. The ending felt very much incomplete and almost whimsical. Although the I enjoyed aspects of The Astrologer's Daughter, I just couldn't find a connection sadly.
Written by E. Lockhart
Contemporary, Mystery
Expected publication August 1st 2014
240 Pages
Thank you to Allen and Unwin
A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl. A passionate, political boy. A group of four friends, the Liars, whose friendship turns destructive.The Sinclairs are a wealthy family, they spend their summers frolicking on a private island off the coast of Massachusetts with their grandfather. Harris Sinclair purchased the island after making his fortune as a young man, inheriting houses and land, ensuring his three daughters have never wanted for anything. But with money, comes a sense of social responsibility, which the eldest grandchild Cadence had never thought about, until now.
A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth.
We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense that will leave you reeling. Read it. And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.
The Sinclairs are the white, all American family, Democrats, manipulative and entitled. Her grandparents have been bringing their three daughters to the island every summer since Cady could remember. Through births, divorces and lies. Now it's Cady and her two cousins Johnny and Mirren, along with Gat, the Nephew of her Aunt Carrie's partner. The teens, along with their mothers, will carry on the legacy of returning to Beechwood each year. They leave their lives behind, because the Island is an escape. Cady begun to see Gat as something more. They understood one another, the wealthy Sinclair girl and the outsider, equals and falling in love... Until the accident.
Now Cady is seventeen and returns to the Island in the hope of remembering...
MY THOUGHTS
I simply can't review We Were Liars coherently, it was phenomenal. From the very first page, it grabbed my attention and unraveled a storyline that left me in tears, shaking and on the verge of a literature breakdown. We Were Liars is the perfect example why I read young adult, how a novel with so few pages can have an incredible impact on the reader. I wondered if this would be just another heavily recommended book that would fall flat, but he writing was impeccable, short sharp sentences intended to draw you into the world of the Sinclairs. Personally I absolutely adored it. It gave me a sense of arrogance that came with the Sinclair name and not so much as telling a story, but stating facts.
I knew very little about the actual storyline and tried to remain as oblivious as possible, which only added to the intensity and left me on the verge of a manic hysteria. I read long into the night and with only a small few pages to go, I was pacing the house.
Forgive me, it's been two weeks since I had the privilege of unraveling We Were Liars, and my state of mind can still only be described as...
Gap
Written by Rebecca JessenFiction, Verse
Published July 23rd 2014
232 Pages
Thank you to UQP
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★★★★
Winner of the 2013 Queensland Literary Award, Best Emerging Author.When you’re at the end of the line with nowhere to turn, how far would you go to protect the one you love?A man is found dead in an inner-city suburb, a police officer walks the blurry line between duty and loyalty, and a young woman from the wrong side of the tracks is on the run. Ana soon becomes a suspect in the murder investigation, and as sole carer for her younger sister is desperately trying to stay ahead of the law. In a surprising twist, the detective in charge of the case is no stranger and Ana is forced to face her past and the things she has left behind. Unsure of who she can trust and isolated by her crime, Ana is drawn into a passionate affair that breaks all the rules.From the winner of the 2013 Queensland Literary Awards, Best Emerging Author category, Gap combines a gripping crime thriller with a style evocative of Dorothy Porter’s cult classic, The Monkey’s Mask.
Ana's life has never been carefree, she's never truly lived, only merely survived. Now as the sole carer for her sister Indie, she works to allow Indie to live the life that was never offered to Ana after her father walked out of their lives, while their neglectful mother consistently chose her string of boyfriends at the expense of her daughters. But now it seems Ana will be forced to pay for her past.
After an altercation, the police come looking for Ana, but she never expected her former partner and high school sweetheart Sawyer to come knocking on her door again. With Indie to look out for, Ana begins to worry what will happen to her underage sister and the urge to flee town seems to be Ana's only option. Until her mother hears of her alleged crime.
Never having cared for Indie's welfare, her mother now demands that the teen return home, providing the police with further ammunition to suspect Ana. The fierce need to protect her sister, the unresolved feelings between her and Sawyer and on the verge of facing incarceration, who can Ana turn to?
Kelly's Thoughts
Told in verse, Gap follows the sorrowful storyline of Ana, who had just reached the lowest point in her life thus far. After being kicked out of her mother's home at only sixteen, Ana has struggled to survive, but after taking in her underage sister Indie, it's given Ana a reason to pick herself and provide a life that their mother couldn't and Ana will do anything to keep Indie safe.
What I found so striking about Ana was her realism. Her emotions, willingness to admit her past mistakes and give everything she has to protect and provide for Indie. Her emotions, her genuine fear and her unconditional love for the girl who also rescued her in turn is honest, raw and readers will not only find themselves drawn to Ana, but can relate to her downfall. But being a prime suspect in a murder case will unravel the girl who is just barely keeping her life together.
Although she's made many questionable life decisions, Ana isn't a hardened criminal, she's merely a girl who finds herself in a situation now where she'll need to fight for her innocence, regardless of the legitimacy. As the storyline reveals itself, we see Ana's internal struggle against her only option, to admit defeat or fight to the bitter end. But hope comes in the form of her former partner, who Ana admits she can no longer trust. I loved Gap, the short, punchy style of verse not only had an enormous impact, but was incredibly engaging and left my heart aching for Ana and her situation.
My only complaint is that it felt unresolved, but rather it's left to the reader to interpret how Ana's story will end. But an incredibly worthy winner of the 2013 Queensland Literary Award for the Best Emerging Author.
Written by Claire Zorn
Contemporary, Coming of Age, Death
Published July 23rd 2014
264 Pages
Thank you to UQP
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★★★★☆
I have three months left to call Katie my older sister. Then the gap will close and I will pass her. I will get older. But Katie will always be fifteen, eleven months and twenty one days old.Hannah's world is in pieces and she doesn't need the school counselor to tell her she has deep seated psychological issues. With a seriously depressed mum, an injured dad and a dead sister, who wouldn't have problems?Hannah should feel terrible but for the first time in ages, she feels a glimmer of hope and isn't afraid anymore. Is it because the elusive Josh is taking an interest in her? Or does it run deeper than that?In a family torn apart by grief and guilt, one girl's struggle to come to terms with years of torment shows just how long old wounds can take to heal.
It's been twelve long, lonely months since Katie passed away and Hannah still morns her sister each and every day. Her father is physically broken, and her mother is mentally absent, morning for her eldest daughter and no longer functioning. Katie was the elder of the two sisters, the party girl who her peers respected, followed and very much loved. Hannah has always been seen as a social pariah. As Hannah navigated the world of high school and cliques, she'd believed that her childhood best friend would be by her side. But as the popular girls begun to take an interest in recruiting, Hannah found herself alone once more. Invited to parties as nothing more than a cruel joke, taunted, all while older sister Katie looked the other way. Hannah lost Katie long before she died.
After Katie had passed, the taunting has stopped but replaced by a forlorn pit. Her parents refuse to communicate beyond the required parental concern, and her only friend is that of her newest in a long line of mental health experts, school counselor Anna. Anna sees that Hannah is struggling with panic attacks and a lack of social interaction, but with the court case and her testimony fast approaching, Hannah begins to retreat within herself once more. Her father claims he can't remember and all Hannah knows is that regardless of what her mother believes, the accident was through no fault of his own.
But hope arrives in the guise of Josh, new student, popular and sees that there is more to Hannah than a broken girl in mourning. Despite her best efforts to push Josh away, He won't be swayed, and is determined to get to know the girl that no one else will.
Kelly's Thoughts
Claire Zorn, you are incredible. I absolutely loved Claire's dystopian, The Sky so Heavy and The Protected is absolutely brilliant. The characters are beautifully intricate, well developed with a raw and realistic quality. Claire allows each narrative to deliver their thoughts with a sassy and sarcastic wit, which is not only clever, but allows the reader to relate and invest in her characters through humour. The Protected follows the same premise, but explores the heartbreak of losing a family member, the breakdown of the family unit who are grieving and learning to live again.
While my heart ached for Hannah, I absolutely adored Josh. Even though he was aware of Hannah's grief, he never felt the need to console or tread lightly around the discussion of Katie's passing. He was a symbol of hope that Hannah was able to use as her anchor, as well as school counselor Anna. Anna was brilliant. A no nonsense woman who Hannah also felt connection to while her world was caving in. While both parents seemingly struggled to live for the daughter that lived, both were too consumed by grief and guilt to worry how Hannah was fairing.
It was an amazing story told in shades of grey, proving that grief is a personal journey to which we all endure individually. Claire Zorn is one of Australia's young adult authors that all authors should take note of. She can captivate an audience, paint us into her world with characters that stay with us long after the final page is read.
Written by Rebecca James
Thriller, Romance, Mystery
Published April 1st 2013
336 Pages
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★★★★
'I still dream about Anna London's house. In my dreams it's as if the house itself has sinister intentions. But in real life it wasn't the house that was responsible for what happened. It was the people who did the damage...'When Tim Ellison finds a cheap room to rent in the perfect location in Sydney it looks like a huge stroke of luck. In fact the room comes with a condition, and the owner of the house, the mysterious Anna London, is unfriendly and withdrawn. When strange and terrifying things start happening in the house at night, Tim wonders if taking the room is a mistake. But then his feelings for Anna start to change, and when her past comes back with a vengeance, Tim is caught right in the middle of it.A thrilling rollercoaster of a story, read it with the lights on!
Tim can't continue sleeping on friend, and former flame Lilla's couch, so when Lilla pushes him into finding somewhere else to live, he can't believe his luck when a room for board is available at Fairview, cheap and with so few conditions. His new housemate is twenty year old Anna, quaint, quiet and suffers from the debilitating condition of Agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder in which renders her scared of stepping beyond the doors of her own home. In exchange for a measly weekly rental fee, Tim agrees to run simple errands for Anna and simply keep her company in the monstrous nineteenth century home. Anna has lived alone since the death of her parents in a horrific accident three years prior, and while she and her mother didn't get along, she adored her father despite his blatant flirting and womanising, not to mention the unfaithfulness that her mother has always accused him of.
It isn't long before Tim realises that living at Fairview isn't as ideal as first thought. Anna isn't one for conversation, no matter how incredibly lonely she's been. She cries herself to sleep each night, often calling out to what Tim believes is a lost love. The only friends that Anna has come to rely on, are sibling that may in fact be even stranger than she. But for all her quirks, Anna is still not the strangest attraction of Fairview. The presence through the house, being watched while he's asleep, Tim needs answers... And Anna has a story to tell.
Kelly's Thoughts
Sweet Damage was a surprising, heart stopping thrill ride that I simply couldn't put down. The storyline follows Tim, who works in the family restaurant and spends his free time surfing and sleeping on his former girlfriends couch. Moving out, he moves into Fairview, an incredible heritage home, with cheap rent in exchange for running errands for the strange recluse Anna. Anna is an incredible character and I found myself endeared almost immediately. The living arrangements are incredibly awkward, but rather than distance himself, Tim simply wants to know who Anna is and mistakenly shares his concerns with Lilla. Lilla is over confident and lacks a social filter, often appearing to be uncaring, rude and painfully blunt and although in a relationship, Tim still pines for her. Although I have no idea why. Lilla was little more than a loudmouthed attention seeker and considering she accused Tim of struggling through his own life, she's irritating and barely tolerable in small doses.
The mixture of manic terror, mystery and suspense is enthralling and I loved every delicious moment. Rebecca James created an incredible thriller that left me guessing until the very end.
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