Allen & Unwin, 2025. ISBN: 9781761181221. (Age:15+) Recommended.
I would recommend this book to most YA readers who are around 15-17 years old and enjoy reading urban fantasy or romance.
Imagine a world where everything you could ever want is only one small pill away.
Unfortunately for her, Nora Blakely doesn’t live in that world.
One simple mouthful of Levic - an extremely expensive magical drug – could save lives. The problem? The famous Lamours, the richest and most powerful family own all the worlds Levic, and they won’t give it up easily. Clearly, Nora’s luck is running low. Then she mysteriously wins the biggest lottery prize of the year, a free passage into the heart of the Lamour’s most famous gala. She will do anything to convince them to save her sick brother and give her a recommendation to the world’s most prestigious Dream Engineer academy. She’s suddenly the luckiest girl in the world – especially considering she never even bought a lottery ticket.
But everything is not as it seems. In her time with the Lamour family Nora uncovers secrets, enters an unsolved love triangle, and begins dredging up the past to find answers.
This Dream Will Devour Us by Emma Clancey is not one of best books in the world – but also certainly not the worst. The beginning was intriguing and interesting, but the story began to diminish from then. The characters fell flat after the first 100 pages, and the romantic subplot, though some readers will enjoy this aspect, felt like a distraction from the previously introduced themes. The plot itself is very similar to other YA novels, and the author’s voice, though very well written, lacks uniqueness. The plot shows similarities to the well-known book The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, so any reader who has enjoyed The Inheritance Games may find This Dream Will Devour Us to their taste. The book focuses on themes of economic power and inequality, with some LGBTQ+ themes included as well. The book resolves each theme near the ending; however, it doesn’t expand on these ideas. Overall, the book could be a fun read and has great potential but is underdeveloped in some parts.
I don't need a little brother by Nat Amoore and Nathaniel Eckstrom
Penguin Random House, 2025. ISBN: 9781761341946. (Age:3+) Recommended.
A zany look at the impact of a new sibling is presented as the narrator does a range of things to rid himself of this new addition to the family. Each time he is disposed of, the author cleverly relates the things he is not good at while showing him coping in the new environment.
Readers will laugh out loud as they watch the boy trying to rid himself of the annoying sibling. He takes him in the wheelbarrow to the post office where he is posted to France. Here the child climbs the Eiffel Tower, paints at The Louvre and eats at a swanky bistro. But at home he is unable to build a Lego tower, he leaves a mess when he eats, and cannot draw anything. Next the boy leaves his little brother at the zoo. Here he cleans the lion’s teeth despite being frightened of everything at home, he has a shower at the elephant’s enclosure despite being too small for the showers at home and he swims with the seals, despite not knowing how to swim.
Again the child is returned.
Not to be deterred, the boy takes his sibling to the rocket launch and the younger child is sent to the moon.
All along the older boy is giving reasons for not wanting a little brother, and the text and illustrations belie his reasoning.
When the child is returned to earth, the older boy cannot find his true companion, Beryl Bear. He searches everywhere without success, the rest of his family trying to placate him, but it is the little brother who finds his bear for him and he realises that perhaps he does need a little brother.
This charming story is quite delightful in its depiction of the new child coming into the family. I love the way the illustrations are full of humour rewarding the reader with seeing the different points of view.
Readers will understand the impetus in the family for siblings to get along, and see the humour in the older boy’s attempts to defy his parents. They will laugh with the boy saying for example, that his brother does not make friends, and there he is in the illustrations chatting to an alien on the moon. Lots of laughs about a serious topic, which everyone will recognise encouraging children to see the positives of having a sibling.
Nathaniel uses pencil and acrylic paint to create his images using Photoshop to finish the illustrations. More can be found about this illustrator here.
Jess Sanders is a social worker, educator and author. She has created multiple award-winning resources for children, to assist in understanding tricky topics. Her books focus on positive body image, self-care, and emotional literacy.
This book is the 6th in her Life lessons for little ones series. It follows You are enough released in 2022, You've got this and Your softness is your strength (both released in 2023), and You can do hard things and You know yourself best (both released in 2024).
Your body is amazing encourages young people to appreciate the body they have, to be thankful for what it can do, and to realise that there's more to being 'them' than just what they look like. It starts:
Your body is not too small, and it is not too big. It is not too short, and it is not too tall. Your body is actually amazing. Just as it is.
The book goes on to cover a range of things our bodies do automatically (converting food to energy, healing when sick, recharging during sleep) as well as what our senses allow us to experience. It encourages the reader to reflect on the positives about every body, whether short or tall, strong or flexible.
It broadly addresses changing bodies and the discomfort this might bring, and reminds us what we can do to feel amazing. It encourages talking to a trusted grown-up about any uncomfortable feelings.
The last few pages show ways to take care of our body, and the book ends with a website link. The 'resources' tab on the website contains multiple useful links, including age-appropriate discussion questions for young people.
The bright, cartoony illustrations by Christine Cuddihly add vibrancy to the information on each page - bodies of all shapes, sizes and abilities are shown, including a diverse range of skin colours, disabilities, manners of dress, and ways of moving.
For positivity around body image, mindset and embracing differences and uniqueness this book is fabulous. It would be a great read-aloud to classes from pre-school through to Year 2, and an ideal starting point for important conversations.
Nicci French returns with another riveting psychological suspense thriller which kept me glued to the page. Nancy North is trying to pull herself together after a psychotic episode that meant she lost her restaurant and had to spend time trying to get back to normal. She has been supported by her partner Felix and together they move to a new flat hoping for a fresh start. Nancy is doing everything she can to get better; she takes her pills and talks to her therapist, but she feels that something is very wrong in the building which houses her new flat. When a young woman Kira Mullan is found dead and the police believe it is suicide, she disagrees. What had the young woman said to her on the steps? Why would she commit suicide? Because of her background with mental illness no one believes her, not even Felix or Kira’s close neighbours. Will she be able to trust her own instincts and convince the police that it was murder or will she be pushed to the edge with her illness? Meanwhile Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor, first seen inHas Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? has misgivings about the thoroughness of the investigation and the quick way the case was closed and when the lead detective is away does some investigating.
This a novel that is very difficult to put down after the first few chapters. What kept me engrossed was Nancy’s plight with no one believing her because of her past medical history and the steps that are taken to keep her quiet are disturbing. Maud’s investigation almost takes a backseat to Nancy’s story; however fans of police procedures will not be disappointed, with enough red herrings and suspects strewn throughout the book to keep readers engaged in the plot. It is not until the very end that readers finds out whether it was suicide or murder.
The Last Days of Kira Mullan can be read as a stand-alone but people who enjoyed this will want to read the first in the series, Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter? And I look forward to more books in this series from the very talented duo, Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.
Pan Macmillan, 2025. ISBN: 9781035011384. (Age:Adult, young adult)
When Thayer Wren dies suddenly his three children must reassess their relationship with their father and the family business, Wrenfare Magitech. The older two, Meredith and Arthur, are relatively close and remember their mother’s struggle with an eating disorder. After her death Meredith dabbled in witchcraft with her best friend Lou, experimenting with the possibility that she could have made her mother happy and saved her; she couldn’t, but with skill, hard work and ruthless ambition she has created her own biotech company, Birdsong, backed, not by the family company, (her father told her she was talentless) but its rival. They have an app, Chirp, which trumpets the claim “this app will make you happy”. Arthur, who his father considered weak, is one of the youngest congressmen ever elected but he feels he is failing, “a new age jester putting up bills that are rendered toothless by the political process and condemned by the echo chamber hive mind of social media” p8. He comforts himself with sex, drugs and partying with his rich friends, Phillippa and Yves, while his wife Gillian manages his public profile and keeps him calm. He suffers from electrokinesis, disrupting electrical signals when not under control. Eilidh Wren was a brilliant ballerina and close to her father but a car accident ended her career and she was given the job of marketing executive at Wrenfare for which she has no talent. Since the loss of her ability to perform she is adrift, and a powerful magic has become a demon in her chest which can help her, but always at an apocalyptic cost. Hovering around the age of 30, the siblings face a time of self-evaluation. In the vacuum of no longer having to question their father‘s love they must confront the randomness of life and question what success really looks like.
Olivie Blake has her finger on the pulse of her generation, the concerns which carried her characters through a privileged but troubled childhood, and complicated search for success as adults, reach a turning point as they approach 30. They must face the versions of themselves left after their father no longer looms large. They may never know who or what their father loved but they can look at their own relationships and test their own values independent of outside ideas of success. There is very little plot and the narrative flagged at times, but Blakes’ sharp and witty dialogue keeps drawing the reader back into the lives of these damaged characters. I loved the integration of magic into the Atlas Six stories but it was not so successful here, the apocalyptic events were odd and Arthur’s electro kinesis a bit interesting but they added nothing to the story. The narrator as a character didn’t work for me but it is interesting that wanting, or having, their own children is put into the mix along with just about every permutation of sexual relationships you can think of, a very modern family saga.
Larrikin House, 2025. ISBN: 9781922804945. (Age:5-7) Recommended for reluctant readers.
In the Boy vs Beast series, Kai and his robotic dog are border guards keeping earth separate from beasts. In this book, Kai must fight an attack from morphing Mud Beasts using a variety of technology features in his hi-tech armoury. With amazing (almost magical) ability, Kai proves his skill against the mighty foes.
This series uses many different text formats to tell the story. There are visual illustrations with captions, maps, ‘screen shots’ from computer displays and a brief section is told using graphic novel presentation. But the main written text is communicated with simple sentences - complex sentences are completely absent, so the book reads like a story from a very young writer. I presume that this is designed to appeal to male readers who prefer TV cartoon dramas with robotics and action features. Target audience - early readers 5-7 years. I am sure that advanced readers (even in this age group) who can cope with some complexity in sentence construction will find the story frustrating, but there will be some who will lap up this tech-heavy science-infused action story despite its simplicity.
Themes Battles, Robots, Beasts, Graphic novel.
Carolyn Hull
Unhallowed halls by Lili Wilkinson
Allen & Unwin, 2025. ISBN: 9781760631673. (Age:14+) Highly recommended.
Florida high school student Page Whittaker is awarded a scholarship to Agathion College, a newly opened boarding school on the Scottish moors. Page, having had a traumatic event happen at her old school, believes that this is a chance to start fresh. Agathion boasts old buildings made of stone, foggy scenery, and tough assignments, so it appears to be a great place to start fresh. But the moment Page settles, she realises that the school has secrets as well, such as a club practising dark magic. Her new friends - Cyrus, Ren, Gideon, Lacey, and Oak - have secrets of their own, which makes the story even more exciting.
Wilkinson's writing is descriptive and atmospheric, and it brings to life the eerie atmosphere of the Scottish moors and the Gothic structure of Agathion. The book mixes dark academia and supernatural horror. The novel explores complex themes like moral ambiguity, the lure of power, and identity, which deepen the narrative and keep readers engaged. It's an excellent read for teenagers who enjoy scary school tales and supernatural fiction in the style of Leigh Bardugo, Naomi Novik, and V.E. Schwab.
The energy engine of the body is introduced starting at the mouth and ending with the bottom. The gut is responsible for breaking down the food we ingest, taking the nutrients our bodies need for their energy. This process, called digestion, begins with the breaking down of food, then the making of energy, ending with removing the waste.
From then on more detail is given about the process along with funny illustrations adding to the underlying humour.
Lots of information is given to the reader along the way, answering questions they probably never thought about, but involve digestion. Did you know that digestion starts before you put food into your mouth? Sights and smells start the process, stirring the gut to be ready. Once in our mouth food is softened by our saliva. Our mouth makes up to six cups of saliva in one day! Did you know it’s the bile from our liver that makes our poo brown? Otherwise, it would be white. What an amazing load of facts, kids will love reading about them as well as sharing the facts with their friends, and their parents! Wonderful dinner time talk.
After being buffeted by saliva and roaming over the taste buds, the food travels down the oesophagus, where it is rhythmically moved down the gut to the stomach where it is squeezed and shaped, and hit by powerful acids to break the food down further. The small intestine absorbs the nutrients, then the large intestine absorbs the water from the food we have eaten and readies the waste for its evacuation.
Readers will be totally absorbed in this no fuss description using humour to make it more digestible. Bright, funny illustrations cover every page, using blocks of colour, landscape and portraiture in a style with an arresting use of one double page, making readers turn the book around to see the whole of the digestive system.
Lots of funny facts are discussed in the following pages, including questioning how your body gets the right amount of nutrients, or how many microbes are contained in your body, and how long it takes for food to pass through your body. All the information will titillate and enthral younger readers.
Themes Gut, Body, Digestive system, Humour.
Fran Knight
Divine mortals by Amanda M. Helander
Hyperion, 2024. ISBN: 9781368113960. (Age:Adult)
Mona Arnett describes herself as ‘the girl who killed her brother, who never leaves the house’. She’s also a reknown soothsayer able to divine each person’s soul-mate. It’s a gift she’s received from her protector, Irinorr, Crow God of Love. Her notoriety leads to an invitation to join the elite group of royal magicians charged with the task of selecting the ideal partner for the ailing king, to ensure a successor before the kingdom’s bond with magic fades.
It’s an intriguing idea, an agoraphobic heroine wracked with grief and guilt but quick with smart repartee and impertinence. However her self-revilement along with her self-centred disregard for the feelings of others makes it hard to empathise with her as a character.
At the front of the book there is a much needed cast listing of gods and court members, and while the narrative is divided into distinct episodes, the multitude of strangely named characters and the intricacies of the convoluted plot means that the reader is completely in the dark as to what is really happening. It’s one of those stories that requires a lot of explanations as it rushes towards its conclusion.
This is a romantasy in the style of Lyra Selene’s A feather so black (2024). Mona drinks a lot of whisky, and is sexually provocative on more than one occasion, so I would suggest that the book, while labelled as YA, is more suited to a slightly older readership.
For those who enjoy this genre, the sequel ‘Wayward gods’ is due to be released later in 2025.
Themes Fantasy, Romance, Gods, Magic, Guilt.
Helen Eddy
The Amber Owl by Juliet Marillier
New Dawn Publishing, 2025. ISBN: 9781763662513. (Age:14+) Highly recommended.
What a thrill to have a new fantasy from Juliet Marillier, who is a favourite author of mine. The amber owl is the first in a duology featuring a young woman, Stasya, who lives alone on the edge of Heartwood Forest with her strange little dog Flip after her grandmother had died when she was young. Her only friend is Lukas a goatherd who shares her love of the forest and storytelling. The villagers tolerate her as she works hard and possesses a gift for helping ailing animals, one she is careful not to display overtly as it is dangerous to be labelled a witch. The peace of the forest and village is destroyed by a group of soldiers led by Rihard, the Commander, who have orders to hack down the trees to make a path to the Hermit in search of treasured amber. No one has ever returned from this place deep in the heart of the forest. The mighty Ancestor tree guarding the entrance to the forest is razed to the ground and Stasya knows that only evil can come from its destruction. Standing up to the soldiers results in her being taken to the court by Aleksis who is Lady Elisabeta’s advisor. Here she is imprisoned and told she must find a way to the Hermit, although she knows she cannot break her vow to protect the forest.
Told in multiple points of view by Stasya, Rihard, Lukas and Aleksis the reader is drawn into a wonderful world of giant trees and magical beings, of feelings of guilt and growing love, of power-hungry rulers and warrior monks, of secrets and stories. Keeping the forest safe is a key theme and as Stasya and her companions travel through the forest, she communicates with the trees and animals that live there. She also has the power of telling stories that lighten the hearts of her group on their dangerous quest and communicate feelings and hope that she has difficulty articulating aloud. Gradually secrets are peeled away leaving the reader satisfied and hoping for the next in the duology.
Marillier’s world building and character development is outstanding. Readers who are new to this author and enjoyed The amber owl with its strong young woman and melancholy atmosphere, will want to read her Sevenwaters and Warrior bards series while older readers might like the Blackthorn and Grim series. Others could try books by Emily Lloyd-Jones, The bone houses and The drowned woods.
Themes Fantasy, Magic, Forests, Storytelling.
Pat Pledger
Maggie the dragon by Tony Armstrong. Illus. by Emma Sjaan Beukers
Maggie is the best flyer, she can do rolls and skydives. The dragons’ work is to patrol the skies, keeping the kingdom safe, and with her skills she is patrolling the faraway edges of the kingdom. Here she uses her fire breathing skills to repel unwanted visitors. But she wants to see the rest of the kingdom. She longs for a holiday. But last time she tried this, she frightened the villagers with her fire breathing and their wizard put up a shield to keep her out.
One cold morning as she set out on her patrol, she sees a green flash of lightning. Every protector knows that this is the warning of an incredible storm and it is up to her to alert the kingdom. But as she sets out she is overcome with a case of hiccups. This is so debilitating, she needs help in stopping them. She notices the wizard and his friend from the village. George and Harriet stop to help, encouraging Maggie to calm down and breathe. This simple instruction works and the hiccups stop. Maggie and George climbed onto Maggie’s back and they fly through the storm to warn Summervale.
But the storm comes more quickly than expected so George once again climbs onto Maggie’s back and the two fly into the heart of the storm. George’s magic keeps the storm at bay and together they save the village.
Bright vivacious illustrations cover each page illuminating the wonderful Maggie, a bright red dragon living on her mountain. Children will empathise with the dragon, repelled by the villagers because of her fire breathing, but showing just how useful she can be in an emergency. The story and the eye catching illustrations show a character looking for acceptance and a place where she belongs. Kids will love reading about her dilemma, knowing that this is a universal concern, one which is obvious to them all. They will be able to suggest ways to find their place, a place they feel safe and comfortable. The solution to Maggie’s problem is one that is comparable to their own lives, as they offer different skills to those around them.
A pleasing sequel to George the wizard (2024) which introduced the kingdom and some of its inhabitants.
Scarlet Defender of the Universe, is a smart, 9-year-old redhead who answers an advertisement for the role of Defender of the Universe to prove to her annoying younger brother that it's not a real thing. Thus, she's a little surprised to be told that she's got the job and is now responsible for the safety of the entire galaxy. Along with her co-Defender Jasper, Pom-Pom, the cutest alien in existence, and Bot, the cleverest AI robot that's ever been invented, Scarlet is thrown into a whirlwind adventure that takes her to the furthest reaches of the cosmos and back again, on a mission to prevent the destruction of planet Earth by an alien species who will do anything for a warm cup of hot chocolate.
The genre 'fantasy adventure' is described as combining "the elements of fantasy (supernatural, magical, and often imaginary worlds) with the adventure genre (epic journeys, quests, and exciting undertakings), resulting in stories with magic, danger, and exploration." Unique landscapes, societies and cultures are the background to seemingly ordinary human characters embarking on personal quests that involve action, risk and danger and usually in company or conflict with imaginary beings to quell the malicious intent of those who seek to harm them. As they seek to ensure that good triumphs over evil, often with unique and mysterious powers, they also learn much about themselves, who they are, what they stand for and what they can accomplish and achieve as regular people.
Popular since the days of Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree series when young readers transported themselves away from the horrors of World War II to lands where fairies, elves and other magical beings dwelt and life was so different to their lived reality, continued through the 50s as my generation went through the wardrobe into Narnia, then brought into the realm of the modern young reader through the exploits of Harry Potter and his friends and the making of the movies based on Tolkien's classics of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and perpetuated through any number of video and computer games, it is a firm favourite with independent readers across the ages. Those written for children not only allow the child to dwell in an alternative world that may be more appealing than the one they are in, but also enable them to become the hero with both power and powers that the real world denies them. They are in charge, they are calling the shots and making the decisions - something rare in the pre-teen's life.
Scarlet: Defender of the Universe fits the genre, the demand and the library collection perfectly. It features those essential elements of the fantasy adventure genre with fast-paced narrative that draws the reader into both the setting and the action, while dropping tiny but important clues along the way whose significance only becomes apparent as the climax approaches. There are elements that echo the reader's world making the transition to the imaginary one seem more seamless as they take on the role of the protagonist as they are able to relate, perhaps even empathise, with the struggles they face, yet each features a lightness of touch that makes them ideal read-alones or read-alouds. They also all seem to set themselves as the possible beginning of a new series that keen readers will seek out.
Currently, in the school library in which I volunteer, it is series like these that seem to be constantly circulating, so to be able to bring some new reads to the selections will definitely spike interest as our long winter nights approach.
Themes Heroes, Life on other planets, Robots, Aliens.
Fascinating! Absolutely enthralling! Ann Dombroski has created an exciting thriller, set in a very believable future world, after a historic ‘Great Storm’. Storms have become a regular event, and ‘Great Storm no.5’ is another that uproots trees, cracks buildings apart, and derails transport Sliders.
Alice Kaczmarek’s husband Daniel is imprisoned in the Maximum Security Vertical Farm, convicted of sabotaging a Slider and causing the deaths of seven people. Convinced of his innocence, and that he has been framed, Alice is desperately juggling finances to pay for appeal lawyers, IVF fees, her Eterne anti-aging treatment, residential care for her grandmother, her brother-in-law’s special care, storm damage to her home, and possibly even bribe money to get Daniel out.
Communication during prison visits has to be covert, secret messages implied in casual conversation. Outside, there is the tension of constant surveillance, cameras, vans, people watching, calls tapped. Alice doesn’t know who to trust. Is Daniel’s friend Lowell really his friend, or a spy? Amidst all this, a strange creature drags onto her doorstep, half human, half bat, injured and seriously ill.
Dombroski’s novel is both speculative fiction and tense thriller. The elements of the modern world are not described in detail, they are just taken for granted that this is the usual way of things: transport by Sliders and autopods, communication by wrist-phone, biometric scanning, automatically operating homes. Alice’s job is creating patient-specific implants: heart valves, kidneys, bones. The medical world experiments with genetic selection and xenotransplantation. ‘Mission to Mars’ televises in real-time the daily lives of astronauts on their seven month trip.
At the same time, Alice has to navigate the world of secret surveillance, corporate corruption, and the dark underworld of criminals and thugs. There is constant suspicion, and constant questioning of morals and ethics. It makes for a tense thriller that keeps readers engaged to the end, raising many issues that will linger in the mind long afterwards. It’s an absorbing novel, highly recommended, even for those who might not normally select speculative fiction.
Themes Thriller, Future, Ethics, Surveillance, Corruption, Medical experimentation.
Helen Eddy
When Haru was here by Dustin Thao
Pan Macmillan, 2024. ISBN: 9781761264511. (Age:14+)
Eric and his best friend Daniel are excited for their final year of school, their summer trip to Japan, where Eric has a chance encounter with an amazing local teen called Haru. Back home in America, Eric and Daniel are looking forward to life after school, and Eric is hoping his friendship with Daniel might be something more, but a few crossed signals means that amounts to nothing and then the unexpected loss of Daniel leave Eric grappling. To cope with the changes, Eric sees and talks to Daniel in his own way, while working at whatever job he can find, no longer pursing his filmmaking aspirations. Then one day, he runs into Haru, who is travelling from Japan, and Eric feels the chance to connect and be less alone - but something feels a bit off.
Thao has written about several different kinds of losses and grieving in this novel, and varying levels of friendship. The novel moves between present and past, with a 'before' section, and then some flashbacks through the story. The beginning of the novel feels stilted, and multiple characters appear to only know how to smirk, however the pacing works well for the story. There are some questionable judgement calls by several characters, hence for slightly older readers. Good for fans of They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera or Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland.
Themes LGBTQIA+, Contemporary, High School to Life after School, Tragedy, Loss, Grief, Romance, Japan.
Birthday wishes can come true and for Frankie, hers finally does when she receives a much longed for puppy. But unfortunately, right from the start a series of mishaps occur one after the other. From Frankie being piddled on, then knocking over the snake tank which leads to a hungry snake swallowing the birthday wish, this calamitous story will have readers wondering what will happen next.
All through the story though, Frankie and her family stay positive and keep using the word ‘lucky’ each time something occurs. The roller coaster of events, that might just include candles setting wrapping paper on fire, cats stuck in trees and the arrival of emergency services, will keep young readers on their toes.
This story is full of action and energy with bold and colourful graphic style illustrations often presented in a variety of formats including panels to further engage the reader. An entertaining read.
Themes Luck, Family, Mishaps, Neighbours, Police, Fire brigade, Animals, Humour.
