Reviews Archives : Dark Matter Zine

Reviews Index

Nalini — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 02:00:12 +0000

This is an index of all the reviews of stories in all different media.

The post Reviews Index appeared first on Dark Matter Zine.

Star Trek: Section 31 (2025)

Nalini — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 22:31:00 +0000

Section 31 is a Star Trek spin off movie. It’s 95 minutes long although a standard episode length might have improved it. IMDB gave it 3.8. Hubby and I are cynical about ratings in the current environment, where movies and TV series are “review bombed” for featuring women and minorities. However, this rating is about […]

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Nautilus season 1

Nalini — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 21:41:13 +0000

Years ago hubby and I heard about the impending Nautilus tv series from Disney. Then Disney “cancelled” it in 2023 although it appeared finished. They sold it. AMC made it available this year on Stan. When the distributor offered a review screener, I jumped at it. Nautilus is based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the […]

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Mother Tongue by Naima Brown

Nalini — Fri, 16 May 2025 02:13:26 +0000

I love Naima Brown’s debut novel, The Shot. Mother Tongue is a stand alone story with similar themes: Brown questions the place of women in the world. This story reminds me of a book I borrowed from Tasmania’s state library in the 1990s, a collection or anthology of short stories that I think was called […]

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Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

Nalini — Fri, 16 May 2025 01:33:54 +0000

Upon a Starlit Tide is a retelling and mashup of many different fairytales, woven together seamlessly to create a compelling overarching story. This is author Kell Wood’s second novel but both are stand alone stories. Her first, After the Forest, is adult in content although Upon a Starlit Tide is, I think, a fabulous read […]

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When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A Parker

Nalini — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 20:00:03 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Raeve has no past and a doubtful future. She lives secretively, protecting the one person she cares about while also trying to help the dispossessed. However, her thieving violent ways catch up with her. And then her forgotten past catches up too. When the Moon Hatched is an epic fantasy […]

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Seven Faceless Saints by M K Lobb

Nalini — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:00:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Captain Damian Venturi is too young to be head of security in the palace, headquarters of the religious order worshipping the seven faceless saints. But nepotism bought him his place. Now he might lose it all, because he was at the market while the head of one religious faction was […]

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Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt by Mark Mupotsa-Russell

Nalini — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 23:25:08 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In recent years I discovered a love of vigilante fiction: fiction where anti-heroes mete out justice because social systems have failed. In this vein I adore The Change by Kirsten Miller and Seven Sisters by Katherine Kovacic. When I read the blurb for The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt, […]

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SpellShop by Sarah Beth Durst

Nalini — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 20:37:51 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The SpellShop is a cosy fantasy story where low stakes provide escapist comfort for readers struggling with the trauma of the real world. Kiela’s parents moved to the city when Kiela was a child because they wanted opportunities and variety their island home could not provide. They died, leaving Kiela […]

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White Noise by Raelke Grimmer (an ND novel)

Nalini — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 04:18:16 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Emma is 15 and in grade 10 in a Darwin (Australia) high school in this contemporary young adult novel. In the opening scene, she climbs in to bed with her father who just had a nightmare. This intimate moment emphasizes the healthy safe relationship between father and daughter in White […]

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Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

Nalini — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 02:36:46 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Kel is an orphan living a happy-ish life in the orphanage until Legate Jolivet takes him to the palace to serve as bodyguard and body double for Prince Conor. Kel becomes the Sword Catcher. Now Kel is out of touch with himself. He doesn’t even know what he wants as […]

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Promise by Bridget Hodder and Fawzia Gilani-Williams

Nalini — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 01:51:34 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Bridget Hodder was a guest on DMZ’s International Women’s Day 2022 podcast, talking about her collaboration with award-winning Muslim author Fawzia Gilani-Williams. (Time zones and Fawzia being a busy woman meant she could not join us). Hodder talked about how our differences should excite us not divide us. Now Hodder […]

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Starling House by Alix E Harrow

Nalini — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 03:58:12 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I adored the Ten Thousand Doors of January and the Once and Future Witches so I expected to love Starling House. Then I read the author’s note included prior to the story opening. I usually skip over these because I want to approach a book without forming prior opinions. But […]

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After the forest by Kell Woods

Nalini — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 06:10:08 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hans and Greta survived the forest and the old witch who tried to fatten up Hans. After the forest, they became adults, living with and living down their past. Greta uses the witch’s grimoire to bake the best gingerbread that can tempt a body. Meanwhile, Hans drinks and gambles away […]

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A Dead and Stormy Night by Steffanie Holmes

Nalini — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 20:00:59 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Mina needs a job DESPERATELY. She was a successful student then an intern for a famous fashion designer, destined to secure the one paid job available to one of the interns. Then her eyes caused problems, she literally couldn’t see when she should have been able to. A trip to […]

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Bone Ranger by Louisa Bennet

Nalini — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 02:29:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Monty and Rose from Monty and Me return in this second instalment of the series, The Bone Ranger. Rose’s near death experience left her traumatized and on stress leave. Monty wants Rose to get better. He believes Rose’s best chance of recovery is to reclaim her confidence via success. So […]

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Monty and me by Louisa Bennet

Nalini — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 00:06:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Monty is a failed guide dog whose post-guiding-career master was murdered. Rose rescues Monty from the vet and gives him a home. Rose is, presumably, the “me” in Monty and Me. A constable in training in the Major Crimes unit in a small town, Rose is accustomed to being the […]

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Never A Hero by Vanessa Len

Nalini — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 07:37:38 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warning: torture and other forms of violence Joan stalks Nick because she’s in love with him from a previous time in a different timeline that only she can remember. Strangers try to kidnap her, Nick is caught up, then they flee together. But Joan is a monster and a […]

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The Sun and The Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

Nalini — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 07:18:30 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Sun and the Void are symbols representing the gods of the native nonhuman species and races in this fantasy world that strongly evokes South America. Reina is Nozarel so was rejected by her father’s race, the humans. She flees a harsh life where she is ostracized. Reina runs towards […]

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When one of us hurts by Monica Vuu

Nalini — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 06:23:11 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes When One Of Us Hurts is written about a small town in rural Tasmania by an author whose bio implies she doesn’t like living in Tasmania. In the interests of full disclosure: I hated this book so much it took a couple of weeks to get around to writing the […]

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Minds of Sand and Light by Kylie Chan

Nalini — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 05:41:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ruth and Carrie run a small indie journalism outfit while trying to break the big stories. Zeng is a brain-in-a-box switching from chassis to chassis to fight Britain for their country, the Greater Far East (GFE). And a council of AIs fight the GFE. While planning the destruction of humanity. […]

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Prince and the Apocalypse by Kara McDowell

Nalini — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 06:47:01 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Prince and the Apocalypse reads like fanfic of the British Royal family – with Prince Harry, the nice one, as heir but as a young single man – running concurrently with Armageddon or Space Cowboys. And with a touch of Mama Mia towards the end. Wren Wheeler is on […]

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Silkie reviews Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

Nalini — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 01:33:15 +0000

A review by Silkie When my pack sat down to watch TV the other night, I lay beside Human Number 1, leaning against her, while I watched the movie with them. They put on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Cosmo, the Russian cosmonaut dog from decades ago, is the Most Important Character (MIC). She […]

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How To Kill Men And Get Away With It by Katy Brent

Nalini — Mon, 12 Jun 2023 20:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Kitty Collins accidentally kills a stalkery entitled dipshit who threatened to rape her. Boo hoo. It’s ruled an accident and no one even looks at Kitty as the perpetrator. The thrill, the rush, is apparently addictive. She decides to do a Dexter and hunt down men who rape women. It’s […]

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The Shot by Naima Brown

Nalini — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 07:19:51 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes 21 year old Kristy lives in a trailer park in Florida, USA, with her parents and works at a local department store owned by her ex’s parents. Kristy’s ex, Max, broke up with her upon graduation before leaving for college. Kristy had no expectations of attending college because she “wasn’t […]

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Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

Nalini — Wed, 24 May 2023 04:15:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Selly is running away from home, the Lizabetta, a tall ship. Her father left her with the captain as a kind of apprenticeship to train her to become first mate. But Selly is over it. Problem is, the docks are full of Queensguard so she can’t get to the ship […]

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Nightbirds by Kate Armstrong

Nalini — Wed, 24 May 2023 03:43:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Nightbirds are teenage girls who sell magical abilities via a kiss. They are daughters of the Great Houses, protected by their privilege from the church that wants them dead. These three Nightbirds are Matilda, a Great House daughter; Saya, a bastard daughter of a disgraced Nightbird and a Great House […]

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Naked Ambition by Robert Gott

Nalini — Mon, 01 May 2023 20:00:47 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Gregory Buchanan is a government minister in a state cabinet. Regardless of (Western) country, readers can probably translate that role to their system of government. Premiers in Australia are kind of like governors in the US while the prime minister, colloquially called “the PM”, is Australia’s equivalent of the president. […]

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Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson

Nalini — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 20:00:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes While dodging her ex and working, Maggie Moore spends her days and nights with the 50-something friends of her father. Or reading history books. Passionately. How can you be passionate about a history book, you ask. She notates the books. No library books for her! Especially not the secret ancient […]

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Luminaries by Susan Dennard

Nalini — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 20:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I can’t believe it – I’m back in Hemlock Falls for another novel! Each story, every author, tells a different story set in their own world but SO MANY AUTHORS use Hemlock Falls as a location! It’s hilarious. Anyhoo, Winnie Wednesday… Yes, that’s her name. Apparently Americans are pretty staid […]

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The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais

Nalini — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 00:55:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes There are six witches of Moonshyne Manor. Like a honeycomb that starts as a circle but resolves into a hexagon, they are strongest together. (I did not know this prior to reading this book!) A wrecking ball threatens their home. A LITERAL wrecking ball. A decades old family feud, men […]

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The Library of the Unwritten by A J Hackwith

Nalini — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:00:15 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Claire is a librarian but it’s a library with a difference. It’s a library of the unwritten books, and it’s located in Hell. Occasionally a book comes to life in the form of one of its characters. Often it’s a hero, seeking out its author in an attempt to inspire […]

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Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Nalini — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 01:13:54 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A group of scientists are terraforming a planet in a solar system about 20 light years from Earth. At home, MAGA-types are fighting against science and they’re happy to destroy the planet to prevent scientists from sciencing. (Cue eye roll at “unbelievable” stupidity.) Anyhoo, Avrana Kern sees that everything is […]

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Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

Nalini — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 23:24:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Mackenzie wakes from a nightmare, holding part of a crow. (My stomach clenches. Is this THAT kind of book? THAT kind of horror?) She worries that she’s a bad Cree, a Cree who left her family in mourning, who didn’t return for her sister’s funeral. Now she dreams of her […]

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Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree

Nalini — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 19:00:40 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Viv is an orc who, with her bad back, wants to retire from a life of adventuring. She seizes her prize from her band’s latest quest, a stone embedded in the skull of a monster, then leaves. In a new city she uses some kind of divining rod to find […]

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Seoulmates by Susan Lee

Nalini — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 00:02:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hannah Cho lost her best friend Jacob Kim 3 years ago when he moved to Korea. A year ago, she acquired a new boyfriend but he just broke up with her. The reason? He’s a white American into K-pop and K-drama. He says they have nothing in common because she’s […]

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From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper

Nalini — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 19:00:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In Payback’s a Witch, the scion of the necromantic Avramov family, Talia, falls in lust with the scion of another family. Now, in From Bad to Cursed, Talia’s younger sister, Isidora, holds a grudge against Rowan of the Thorn family, a green-focused witch. And, consistent with this genre, we just […]

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Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Nalini — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 19:00:44 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Never mix magic and vodka. Especially not curses. A young woman just learnt that the love of her life – or, at least, her love of that summer – is betrothed. She and a dear friend play at hexing the creep. When the candle flame burns ridiculously high, it’s a […]

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CoOp by Tarah Dewitt

Nalini — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 02:14:53 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes LaRynne is a train wreck, returning to the “scene of the crime” because she inherited half an apartment that she needs to sell. Deacon is her ex from her teen years. Something happened way back then, which remains rather vague despite being pivotal to this entire story. Suffice to say, […]

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Everything’s Changing by Chelsea Stickle

Nalini — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 07:02:21 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Everything’s Changing is a collection of weird very short stories. Possibly flash fiction depending on your definition. Supernatural stories featuring everyone from Medusa to women repressing their screams while vying for perfection while wasting away. From a family huddling down in a bath tub hiding from a hurricane to a […]

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Picard season 2

Nalini — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 05:32:15 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Picard season 1 saw an ancient Picard head off on an adventure, revisit old friends and save the day. Season 2 picks up again with Picard in his home in France, working his vineyard, with a backstory explaining his British accent and French origins. However, this time his emotional journey […]

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Funny Feelings by Tarah Dewitt

Nalini — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 05:05:55 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Farley is a comedian about to embark on a tour as warm up for a couple more established women. The publicity team want Farley to have a fake romance to increase interest in her personally. Apparently women need a man to promote their careers in comedy, hence the funny feelings. […]

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Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Nalini — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 02:32:25 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Love Hypothesis is another romantic comedy recommended during a Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) romance writers’ event. The full list of recommendations is here. Olive Smith is a postgrad student at Stanford, with a “chosen” family of two: Anh and Malcolm, the latter of whom is her roommate. […]

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Black Adam (2022)

Nalini — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 19:00:34 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Dwayne Johnson plays Black Adam, originally Teth-Adam. As a former wrestler – the performative kind not the “real” kind – he’s been typecast as an actor. He’s more likely to star in cheesy schlock like The Scorpion King and Jumanji than serious movies. And I am here for that. However, […]

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Payback’s a witch by Lana Harper

Nalini — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 01:52:21 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Last weekend I attended a SFWA romance writers’ event where we compiled a list of speculative fiction/fantasy stories featuring romance. Afterwards, on the “high” of such a lovely event, I decided to read some more of these stories. I feel the need for some fun reads, some R&R without super […]

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Deluge by Stephen Markley

Nalini — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 19:00:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Deluge is a CliFi (Climate Fiction) doorstopper at about 900 pages. Nearly the first 100 pages read like short stories, encounters with individuals, setting the stage for each. As the novel progresses, we return to these characters intermittently over decades. The prelude introduces the research scientist whose book was […]

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Animal Life by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

Nalini — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 19:00:07 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Animal Life is touted to be in a similar vein as The Animals In That Country. I disagree. As I loathed the latter, this is a good thing. I have pondered this novel and yet struggle to start describing it, so I’ll quote the publisher. In the days leading up […]

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Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone

Nalini — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 01:52:59 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Once upon a time a teenage girl, Bee, had a crush on a boy in a boy band, Noah. That girl became a porn star called Bianca von Honey. Then Noah’s secret passion, his self-care during hard times, was to watch HIS crush, Bianca. Bianca’s porn producer, Teddy, tries to […]

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Small Town Big Magic by Hazel Beck

Nalini — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 06:07:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Emerson is an OCD woman in her twenties running a bookstore and elected as a town councillor. Her family abandoned her years ago and don’t even check in. But her school friends are her “family by choice”, surrounding her with love and support. Then one day something weird happens, blood […]

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I am not fine thanks by Wil Anderson

Nalini — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:23:35 +0000

I am not fine thanks begins with the pandemic. Comedian Wil Anderson quit his radio job to tour a few shows in 2020 because what could possibly go wrong? Despite his anxiety and possible depression dripping off the page, or perhaps because of it coupled with his usual comedic style, I laughed and cackled my […]

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Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Nalini — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 03:50:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Devon is one in a family of book eaters. They might look human at first glance but they have “book teeth” for eating books not food. Living in relative seclusion, the family’s strict gender divide ensures Devon is ignorant and vulnerable. The book eaters learn by eating books but the […]

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Wolfsong by TJ Klune

Nalini — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 05:21:00 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ox is a lonely teenager with an undisclosed disability working part-time in a mechanical garage while at high school, cared for by his single mom. One day he meets a primary school aged boy who takes him to meet the family who moved in to the house at the end […]

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How many more women by Jennifer Robinson and Keina Yoshida

Nalini — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 04:28:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes How Many More Women: exposing how the law silences women is an important non fiction expose of how women are currently fighting for their rights. And contending with powerful perpetrators who seek to silence them. Using the authors’ histories of legal practice and other women’s stories, they discuss how perpetrators […]

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Upwelling by Lystra Rose

Nalini — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 01:46:10 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Upwelling has a bit of a back story, at least for me. It arrived as an unsolicited review book without explanation. I looked at it. The cover says “Black&Write writing fellowship winner” so, for some completely inexplicable reason, I thought it was US or Canadian. Publicists often send me […]

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Yesterday is history by Kosoko Jackson

Nalini — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 04:37:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Yesterday is history is a young adult queer romance crossed with the time travel story. It’s very much feels like a young adult version of the Time Traveler’s Wife, which is even mentioned in this book. But they only mention the MOVIE, never the BOOK. (To be honest, I’ve never seen […]

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A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

Nalini — Sun, 09 Oct 2022 19:00:40 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Prince Kadou is terrified. All the time. But especially right now. His sister, Zeliha the Sultan (NOT Sultana!) has just given birth to her first child. The princess’s body-father doesn’t have claim to the child but Zeliha likes her lover so she may bestow that privilege upon him. Meanwhile, the […]

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Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa

Nalini — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 00:34:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Solange Pereira is not quite a wedding crasher: she’s helping out her wedding planner cousin when she overhears the bride talking to man – not the groom – in a stairwell. Shocked, she can’t decide what to do. Then she hears Dean’s, the groom’s, personally written wedding vows. She can’t […]

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Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

Nalini — Sun, 18 Sep 2022 05:40:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Spoiler warning – to skip what could be a spoiler, go from the first section right to The Verdict. In the very beginning, some girls are about to swear oaths to join Her Majesty’s Royal Coven. 25 years later, they mostly survived a war. Their friendships have suffered due to […]

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Animals In That Country by Laura Jean McKay

Nalini — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 05:57:54 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warning: a pandemic. The Animals In That Country was published in 2020, so the first year of the pandemic. When I first heard about it I thought I should read it but, when push came to shove, I just couldn’t. So it’s been floating around my TBR (To Be […]

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Path of Thorns by A G Slatter

Nalini — Sat, 10 Sep 2022 08:34:13 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes This novel acquires its name from a short myth told within about a woman’s path being a path of thorns. Asher Todd, a woman in disguise with many secrets, arrives at an estate ostensibly to care for the children. However, we soon learn she was sent there to investigate a […]

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The Change by Kirsten Miller

Nalini — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 07:48:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Change’s cover features a woman’s face with a bee below her mouth, subverting Silence of the Lambs’s official movie poster, which has an insect covering the woman’s mouth. All I can say is THIS. COVER. IS. LEGENDARY. But you may get this cover instead if you’re living overseas: thistles […]

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A Lady’s Guide To Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin

Nalini — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 07:11:31 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes With both parents dead, the extended family estranged and creditors at their door, Kitty Talbot decides to travel to London for the Season. And to marry a rich man. Hence she is the Lady Fortune Hunter of the title. Kitty Talbot is the eldest of five girls. She was engaged […]

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With This Kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Nalini — Wed, 18 May 2022 20:00:51 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lorelai works at an old-fashioned cinema while secretly writing screenplays for books that haven’t been converted to movies yet. But with this kiss – with any kiss – she sees the way the person she kisses will die. To date everyone she’s kissed has died a violent death, causing nightmares […]

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The Suicide Squad (2021)

Nalini — Wed, 18 May 2022 07:13:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The original Suicide Squad was SO BAD that I decided not to watch any sequel. However, Daniel Haynes raved about Peacemaker the TV series so much I watched the pilot. Peacemaker’s pilot includes a recap from The Suicide Squad (the second movie) because the movie is pretty much a pilot […]

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The Gifts by Liz Hyder

Nalini — Tue, 17 May 2022 07:11:57 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes It is 1840 in Shropshire, England, when Etta spontaneously grows wings only to be shot by a surprised young man. A corpse salvaged from the Thames is a winged woman. The fisherman sells her to a a surgeon with entitlement issues. The surgeon’s wife, Anna, is a gifted painter. Etta […]

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No Hard Feelings by Genevieve Novak

Nalini — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 04:31:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes No Hard Feelings is a rom-com featuring lots of common tropes but, in an absolute win, left me wanting to hug the author instead of throwing the book across the room. Full disclosure: I loathe the tropes in stories like You’ve Got Mail. But it depends on how these tropes […]

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Lies my memory told me by Sacha Wunsch

Nalini — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 01:01:04 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes From the title, Lies My Memory Told Me, the reader assumes Nova has false memories. This is somewhat spoilery. However, the mystery is what are the false memories? Who and how they were planted is less of a concern than why. Nova seems too good to be true, too much […]

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Gallant by V E Schwab

Nalini — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 00:26:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Gallant usually refers to a behavior or personality trait but not so in this story. Um… How do I write a review without resorting to clichés? And without giving away spoilers? Here goes… Olivia Prior is a teenager in an orphanage. She cannot speak although she understands language and can […]

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Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Nalini — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 19:00:04 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Elizabeth Zott is a chemist determined to research abiogenesis, the chemistry version of researching the big bang. However, as a woman in the 1950s, she faces insurmountable hurdles. Society’s lessons in chemistry included her rape (backstory only) then expulsion from a PhD program in retaliation for complaining about the rapist. […]

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Murder Most Fancy by Kellie McCourt

Nalini — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 05:00:44 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Indigo of the multiple-hyphenated-names is an heiress who, in the first novel, proved she wasn’t guilty of murdering her husband. Now, in her second adventure, Dame Elizabeth (Indigo’s grandmother’s best friend and neighbor) asks Indigo to identify a corpse found in Grandmother’s back yard. It appears a Murder Most Fancy […]

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Manifest seasons 1–3

Nalini — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 04:35:14 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Warning: because I’m reviewing 3 seasons of Manifest in one review there are some spoilers. A plane leaves the Caribbean bringing a lot of American nationals home to NY. Only it disappears for 5 years en route. When it finally arrives, officials divert the plane to another airport where the […]

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Resident Alien season 1

Nalini — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 19:00:40 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes An alien spaceship crashes on Earth. The alien kills a human and shape-shifts to take his place while searching for missing equipment, becoming a resident alien. While also searching for his human victim’s body before humans find it. Then the local doctor is murdered so the mayor asks the alien, […]

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King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St Clair

Nalini — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 00:09:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Isolde is princess of the House of Lara. Her father is about to surrender to the Blood King to save lives. The Blood King is a vampire and king of a vampire kingdom. Previously a king under threat from the Blood King planned to entrap and murder him. The King […]

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Midnight in Everwood by M A Kuzniar

Nalini — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 04:27:30 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Midnight in Everwood is a fantasy novel set in a non-magical world where Marietta lives with her parents who plan to force her into marriage very soon. She’s a ballerina, rehearsing in her home studio when she first sees Dr Drosselmeier on the street. This is no Romeo and Juliet […]

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Cults of Death and Madness

Nalini — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 19:00:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Doctor Archibald Shaw arrives in India as a young man in 1878 during the British occupation. He’s assigned to an outpost that appears quite pointless unless the local Raj intends them to be sacrifices. The doctor Shaw is replacing died, allegedly of suicide. However, that doctor was too afraid to […]

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The Chase by Candice Fox

Nalini — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 06:46:17 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Prison warden Grace Slanter receives a phone call telling her a bus full of security guards’ family members is a mile away in the Nevada desert. A sniper is ready to fire after already killing the bus driver. While Grace grapples with the phone call, at first fumbling then engaging […]

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The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

Nalini — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 05:55:51 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ren is a Reaper living in London in a society of Reapers. The problem is, she’s also half-Japanese, which makes her a Shinigami or Japanese death spirit too. And the London Reapers are RACIST. With the focus on anthropomorphic “deaths” (yes, multiple deaths with one Death), the title The Keeper […]

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The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

Nalini — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 03:13:08 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Anna Sun needs to learn the Heart Principle. She gives her boyfriend Julian a blow job although she doesn’t like doing that. What’s worse is he expects her to swallow and she HATES that. Then she walks into the bathroom, brushes her teeth REALLY thoroughly, agonizes about “blow job face”, […]

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Starlight Enclave by R A Salvatore

Nalini — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 19:00:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes HarperCollins Australia says of Starlight Enclave: From New York Times bestselling author R A Salvatore comes a new trilogy and adventure of Drizzt and fantasy’s beloved characters from Dungeons & Dragons’ Forgotten Realms. After the settling dust of the demon uprising and two years of peace, rumblings from the Menzoberranzan drow have […]

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Neodymium Exodus by Jen Finelli

Nalini — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 19:00:06 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Neodymium Exodus’s Goodreads blurb is as follows: A universe of sentient insectoids, purple jungles, and insane electromagnetic fields. A mace-wielding teen space-ninja who is kidnapped by a vengeful zealot who forces her to choose between the fate of the Universe, and the ones she loves. A blend of hard biomedical […]

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Unworthy Duke by Charlotte Anne

Nalini — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 00:35:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ellen flees a domestic violence situation with her brother to pose as a Miss Smith, lady’s companion. When arriving in London she finds the dilapidated mansion to which her new employer, Lady Faye, directed her. After standing in the rain with no one answering the door, a drenched Ellen climbs […]

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Wolf’s Curse by Jessica Vitalis

Nalini — Sun, 19 Sep 2021 20:00:11 +0000

A review of a middle school fantasy novel Twelve-year-old Gauge lives with his grandfather behind a carpentry shopfront. Years ago Gauge told people he saw an invisible wolf so the townspeople believe he’s a Voyant. Because of this wolf’s curse the mayor sentenced Gauge to death. Grandpapa bribed the guard who came to take Gauge […]

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A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

Nalini — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 00:35:20 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The slow fire burning in this story is the rage of women whose power men stole. Men stole stories and ruined lives, and now the women are coming for them. Miriam lives on a houseboat, watching her neighbors. She notices a neighbor’s door has been open for a while so […]

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Here in the After by Marion Frith

Nalini — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 04:21:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Terrorists hold Anna hostage in a travel agency in Sydney. Nat, a veteran who toured Afghanistan, watches, feeling responsible. He and his army buddies chat on social media, talking about going in to rescue the hostages. In the end the police rescue Anna. Seriously injured but alive, Anna, the sole […]

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Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Nalini — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 05:50:12 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The reader discovers a magical circus, a night circus only open under cover of darkness and laid out in circles or a spiral. Thus Morgenstern foreshadows her manner of storytelling, circling around the whirlpool before taking us down, down, to the resolution. Prospero has an unexpected daughter. He invites a colleague […]

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You’ll Be Fine by Jen Michalski

Nalini — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 19:06:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Alex is in a kind of limbo. She’s still grieving her ex leaving abruptly. Then her mom dies. She flies home to help her brother, Owen (failure to launch type), manage the funeral and sort through the house. People say “you’ll be fine” but Alex isn’t so sure: she feels […]

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The Unusual Abduction of Avery Conifer by Ilsa Evans

Nalini — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 20:00:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I have a confession to make. Spin Cycle inspired my love of Ilsa Evans’s writing. And I’ve loved her work ever since. Having said that, somehow I missed several of her books including the Nell Forrest Murder Mysteries and her YA. I have some catching up to do! Anyhoo, I […]

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Lights of Prague by Nicole Jarvis

Nalini — Mon, 23 Aug 2021 06:02:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Lights of Prague is a historical fantasy novel. Set in gaslight era Prague where monsters roam freely, with a team of gaslighters (literally, they light the streets’ gas lights) fighting the monsters. Domek Myska is a monster hunter who, after vanquishing a vampire, finds a wisp trapped in a […]

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Fading Fame: Women of a Certain Age in Hollywood by Pam Munter

Nalini — Sun, 22 Aug 2021 23:00:32 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Fading Fame is a shocking historical fiction collection of stories told in different media – short stories, poems, plays – about women in Hollywood. While the author stresses these stories are fiction, she appears to have researched her subjects and written plausible stories to explain pivotal moments in their lives. […]

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The Inheritance by Gabriel Bergmoser

Nalini — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 00:24:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Well, it’s getting harder to get access to my computer to write up reviews lately. Admittedly that’s partly my compulsive news-watching, but it’s also due to hubby working from home in my study. Not to mention having the Pfizer jab and not feeling the greatest afterwards. But hey, I’M FULLY […]

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Wednesday Weeks and the Tower of Shadows by Denis Knight and Cristy Burne

Nalini — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 03:18:44 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Wednesday Weeks is struggling in school. She’s in year 6 and is terrified her teacher will fail her because whenever Wednesday is stressed her magic causes a disaster. Today she has to program her robot to navigate a maze. Computers tend to go haywire when she’s near so this is […]

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The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

Nalini — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 02:57:14 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes One night Tallula Murray went to a party at a friend’s place and didn’t come home. A year later, Tallula’s mother, Kim, is raising her teenage daughter’s son Noah, while grieving for her daughter. The Night She Disappeared shuffles forwards and backwards through the timeline from 2016 to 2018, carefully […]

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The Therapist by Helene Flood

Nalini — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 23:08:08 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Sara’s husband Sigurd goes away for the weekend. She is a therapist so sees her Friday clients before expecting a weekend to herself. But, on Sigurd’s first evening away from home, his friends call to say he never arrived. She veers from worried to angry. It appears Sara is trying […]

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The Husbands by Chandler Baker

Nalini — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 07:47:40 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Nora is a full-time lawyer, has one child at home and another on the way. Meanwhile, her husband Hayden pulls a disappearing act or wants to be directed then applauded if he does anything inside the house. Nora wants a larger house to accommodate their growing family so they look […]

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The Dark Lady by Akala

Nalini — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 07:16:15 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Henry is an orphan raised by an (unofficial) foster family who use his magical gift of reading any language to make money. He’s also a pickpocket who roams the streets with his foster cousins. However, tensions mount between the children. Meanwhile the foster mother Joan tries to protect Henry from […]

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The 22 Murders of Madison May by Max Barry

Nalini — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 20:00:13 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Madison May is a real estate agent with acting aspirations. Then Clayton Hors murders her. Felicity Staples is a political reporter. Her crime writing colleague isn’t available so she receives a tip and visits the crime scene. Suddenly she’s hooked: Felicity needs to know why. Then she discovers Clayton Hors […]

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An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

Nalini — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 19:11:14 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Shadi is a Muslim teenager living a couple of years after 9/11 while America gears up for war in the Middle East and hate crimes are on the rise. Wearing the hijab means she cannot hide. Others take off their hijabs, earning scorn from their religious community. But Shadi has […]

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Someone I Used To Know by Paige Toon

Nalini — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 18:43:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Someone I Used To Know centers Leah, whose parents foster troubled teenagers and, when necessary, some gorgeous little children too. Two such children are with the extended family, including two other fostered teenagers, when George arrives. Desperate for a placement, social services overloads the family. George must sleep in the […]

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The Other Side Of Perfect by Mariko Turk

Nalini — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 20:00:47 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Alina, a Japanese American ballet dancer, had an accident. The resulting damage to her ankle prevents her from ever dancing pointe again. Her entire life she’s worked and trained for ballet, vying for perfection, and now, the other side of perfect, she needs to rebuild her life. Allen and Unwin’s […]

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Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce

Nalini — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 20:00:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ivy is a security guard in a high school, endeavoring to save hormonal magic-using teenagers from murdering each other. Today is not a good day – unless you count any day you can limp away from, using a crutch, to be a good day. These are the consequences for a […]

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All The Murmuring Bones by Angela Slatter

Nalini — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 20:00:30 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Miren O’Malley’s home is set in a fantasy world evoking Ireland, possibly in the 19th century. Her family has a long prosperous history of trading and pirating on the seas without suffering the losses normal to those professions. All the murmuring bones tell stories… After generations of giving one true-born […]

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Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker

Nalini — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 06:04:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes “Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” quoth Juliet, who’s writing the play (not THAT one) in 2083 to exorcise the ghost of the comatose Romeo. However, Heathcliff Ellis has come from the past to the end of the world to 2083 to complete her story by waking Romeo. How to […]

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Now That I See You by Emma Batchelor

Nalini — Wed, 02 Jun 2021 23:54:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Emma and Jess have been in a long-term relationship – six years, 3 living together – when Jess admits to cross-dressing. This quickly evolves into Jess becoming trans. The transition is difficult for both of them, told at length in Now That I See You. This novel is written idiosyncratically […]

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The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

Nalini — Mon, 31 May 2021 20:00:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Once upon a time Red Riding Hood’s cloak wasn’t red. And Red Riding Hood was the wolf. Who lived in fear of the Woodsmen, who are coming to steal away a wolf-girl on the king’s orders. The village women are tying down the trees to prevent them fleeing from the […]

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Sister of the Bollywood Bride by Nandini Bajpai

Nalini — Wed, 26 May 2021 20:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In the interests of full disclosure: I am not Indian although my name hints otherwise. Mini is an Indian American whose sister, Vinnie, announces her engagement and a speedy wedding. Their mother died several years ago so Mini is determined to give Vinnie a good Punjabi wedding. Thus the Sister […]

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Nancy Business by RWR McDonald

Nalini — Tue, 25 May 2021 08:18:03 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Nancys introduced Chinese Kiwi Tippy Chan, her white uncle Pike and his boyfriend (and possibly a person of color) Devon. They formed the Nancys to investigate a murder in the small town of Riverstone. Well, several months later there’s another murder so Nancy Business is afoot. Yoast and Google […]

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Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (2021)

Nalini — Tue, 18 May 2021 20:00:10 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Looking for something easy to watch while my eyes recover from yet another trip to the ophthalmologist with even more bad news, I wanted something light and fun. I tend to get bored with TV series so I don’t even know why I found myself watching the pilot episode of […]

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Lovebirds by Amanda Hampson

Nalini — Mon, 17 May 2021 00:20:50 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lovebirds as a title may be a little misleading; it certainly didn’t align my expectations with the novel. However, the cover page also says “Not all marriages end in happily ever after…” The only love birds in this novel are not the feathered kind. And Hampson has written eloquently, realistically […]

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Stowaway (2021)

Nalini — Mon, 10 May 2021 01:31:04 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warning: spoilers and ranting about Stowaway. By me. You have been warned. The Hyperion takes off for a two year mission to Mars with 3 personnel on board, Captain Marina Barnett (Toni Collette), Doctor Anna Levenson (Anna Kendrik) and the science guy David Kim (Daniel Dae Kim). During launch […]

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A Class Full of Lizards by Alison Hart

Nalini — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 05:32:52 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Josh and friends are back for the last term of grade 6 while deciding on high schools for next year. Mum puts the family on a “healthy” diet that sounds dreadful. (It IS possible to do a healthy diet that is actually edible, you know!) And some rangers visit, creating […]

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Shadow in the Glass by JJA Harwood

Nalini — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 05:45:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warning: rape Eleanor is a servant in a Victorian household where maids are dismissed after evidence of the master raping them becomes visible. (Harwood does not actually describe rapes.) Eleanor used to be the kind-of-adopted daughter of the house but, after the mistress of the house died, Eleanor was […]

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Stealing time by Rebecca Bowyer

Nalini — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 23:58:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I read Stealing Time in a few chunks because I can’t read for very long at a time without a break and – during that break – I was distracted by “interview this” and “review that”. Distractions, shiny toys, etc; I might just be part cat. However, Stealing Time stole […]

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The Nancys by R W R McDonald

Nalini — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 19:00:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Tippy Chan’s uncle Pike comes to stay while her mum goes on a cruise that she won. Pike and his boyfriend, Devon, are colourful characters. Shortly after Tippy’s mum leaves, Tippy’s BFF falls from a bridge landing in hospital in a coma then someone murders and decapitates her teacher. As […]

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Centre of My Everything by Allayne Webster

Nalini — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 19:00:47 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warning: drug & alcohol use including by teenagers and preteens; domestic violence; rape Centre of My Everything has several point of view characters who are all either teenagers or in their early 20s. Justin is an ex-meth-head, trying to dry out without support so he’s returned home to his […]

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Ruby Tuesday by Hayley Lawrence

Nalini — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 05:15:23 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warning: rape Ruby Tuesday Matthews (not the model) lives in the bush near a small town where her mother grew up. Nana just died. Ruby’s mum, Celeste, is a paraplegic after a horse riding accident. Celeste is also incredibly secretive about her past, not wanting anyone to know she […]

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Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim

Nalini — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 04:52:26 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warnings: domestic violence (depicted), depression, and suicide (not depicted but discussed) Wen is the Tiger Daughter of two Chinese immigrants, one of whom was a surgeon in China. His frustrations at not qualifying in Australia ended with him working at a restaurant. And taking his frustrations out on his […]

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Witness Infection (2021)

Nalini — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 19:00:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Two guys sit in a tent. It looks like they’re supposed to be hunting and it’s a sort of hide. One of them is eating a meat roll and starts to fart. AND FART. The other goes for a walk to escape THE STENCH. When he returns, the other guy […]

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Shadow and Bone (Book 1: The Grisha) by Leigh Bardugo

Nalini — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 06:11:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes After reading The Ninth House, I promised myself some more Bardugo books. Then came her Wonder Woman story. Now Rule of Wolves is coming out, I decided to take some time out and catch up on Bardugo’s stories that made her so popular. Shadow and Bone appears to be her […]

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Sing The Four Quarters by Tanya Huff

Nalini — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 19:00:03 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes If you’ve bitched and moaned about authors sidelining pregnant women, this is the story for you. Annice is a Bard. She walks – and Walks – the country, a messenger service and entertainer and spy in her home country. She sings to elemental spirits; because she sings to all of […]

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World Between Blinks by Amie Kaufman and Ryan Graudin

Nalini — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 19:00:24 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Marisol is half-American and half-Bolivian but lives in Bolivia with regular visits to LA, where her Nana lived. Now the extended family is assembling at Nana’s house to pack it up to put it on the market. She and her cousin, Jake, are grieving. They take the family boat, a […]

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The Gaps by Leanne Hall

Nalini — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 06:00:50 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trigger warning: there are no actual depictions of rape or murder but characters contemplate these possibilities and live under the threat of a serial rapist/kidnapper. Chloe is a scholarship student in year 10 at Balmoral College. It’s not going well but she’s surviving. Natalia is an entitled rich kid with […]

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Dispossessed by Piper Mejia

Nalini — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 05:15:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Slate is a dispossessed foster kid in LA when Malice collects him to take him to his family in New Zealand. Apparently Malice only just found him after looking for years. Within an hour of his departure, agents arrive to abduct him and murder his foster parents. (Mejia never explains […]

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Emporium of Imagination by Tabitha Bird

Nalini — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 07:00:42 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes For those who’ve read my review of A Lifetime Of Impossible Days or listened to my podcasts featuring Tabitha Bird as a guest, just run along and buy The Emporium of Imagination, ok? It doesn’t take much imagination to anticipate this review. You’re still here? Ok. What can I say? […]

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Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox

Nalini — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 00:05:09 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A fairy tale unfolds in contemporary England… Taryn Cornick wrote a book about library fires, burnings and conversion to toilet paper. A footnote about a box dubbed “the Firestarter” included in her book sets events in motion. Demons want the Firestarter. The Sidhe want the Firestarter. Taryn wants libraries to […]

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Dragon and Her Boy by Penny Chrimes

Nalini — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 08:09:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes TRIGGER WARNINGS: SUICIDE, DISABLED ABUSE WARNING: SPOILERS. This is a children’s book. I feel very strongly about some of the tropes in this CHILDREN’S BOOK so this review includes END OF STORY SPOILERS. The story starts hopefully with the dragon and her boy – Stick – in close proximity but […]

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Last One At the Party by Bethany Clift

Nalini — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:58:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A woman is the last person alive. The Last One At the Party. She goes on a drug-and-alcohol binge for a month then, after the electricity grid fails, she wanders down to the BBC broadcasting station to broadcast a call for help. Because everyone will be watching the TV with […]

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Witch by Finbar Hawkins

Nalini — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 19:00:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Evey and Dill, two sisters, watch as a group of men murder their mother. They flee to their mother’s coven to seek safety. Then Evey sets out to murder those who murdered her mother for being a witch. Point of View Evey’s point of view narrates Witch. She’s not an […]

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Gender-swapped Fairy Tales by Karrie Fransman and Jonathan Plackett

Nalini — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 19:00:26 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A husband-and-wife/wife-and-husband team created Gender-swapped Fairy Tales. Plackett wrote an algorithm to change male pronouns to female and vice versa. They plugged this algorithm in to some of Andrew Lang’s fairy tales then fixed some of the linguistic problems that arose. However, according to their Author’s Note, they did not […]

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In My Past Life I Was Cleopatra by Amal Awad

Nalini — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 00:49:52 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In My Past Life I Was Cleopatra: A sceptical believer’s journey through the New Age is part memoir, part caution, part sales pitch. Part of “The World of Woo Woo” chapter includes a table to define your level of “woo”. I find myself in the second column, “Woo-curious”. However, I […]

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Rise of the Mythix: Flight of the Griffin by Anh Do

Nalini — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:00:57 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Rise of the Mythix tells the story of humans becoming reincarnated personifications of formerly mythical animals. There’s a prophecy and an evil dictator with magical powers pursuing them for his “collection”. In Flight of the Griffin, the griffin-human, Jimmy, shows up to rescue the “unicorn” Kelly, Minotaur Minh (who is […]

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Outlawed by Anna North

Nalini — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 06:26:07 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Outlawed is a change of pace from my recent reads despite the feminist theme running through all the shiny books right now. Outlawed is historical fiction and alternative history. Ada is a midwife’s daughter learning to be a midwife herself. However, after a year of marriage at the age of […]

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Hero Is A Four Letter Word: a short story collection by J M Frey

Nalini — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 05:05:44 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hero Is A Four Letter Word features characters and romances of all kinds. Probably the only consistent thread between the stories is that they’re all subversive in one way or another. Arthur returns in Albion’s hour of greatest need – but not as you might expect. A dragon-man who looks […]

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Poo and other words that make me laugh by Felice Arena and illustrated by Tom Jellett

Nalini — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 01:45:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Poo! * and other words that make me laugh is a joyous exploration of the English language for younger children to read with a carer or older sibling. It reads like poetry, with alliteration and assonance as well as a few rhymes. Vivid illustrations depict children of all skin tones […]

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The Nobody People by Bob Proehl

Nalini — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 19:00:23 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Prologue. The Nobody People – or one, at least – saves the lives of his workmates trapped down a mine. To thank him, and because he’s different – superpowered – a lynch mob of 20 men come to his house to murder him and his family. Niiice. But believable, after […]

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Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

Nalini — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 00:24:18 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Nix Song lives on a time travelling tall ship (hence the title, the Girl From Everywhere) with her father and a small crew of misfits and runaways. Her relationship with her father, whom she usually calls ‘Captain’ or ‘Slate’, is tempestuous. Slate is an opium addict who lives in the […]

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The Watch s01e01

Nalini — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 07:56:56 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes It’s New Years day and I discovered a TV series I liked – Siren – is on Stan. Hubby promptly subscribed for a month, only to discover The Watch, a Terry Pratchett story, is a tv series on Stan. Our viewing plans promptly changed. We watched episode 1. Over the […]

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E-Boy 2: Robofight by Anh Do

Nalini — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 19:00:32 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes E-Boy Ethan had a brain tumour but, thanks to Doctor Penny, he’s cured – or, at least, in remission. A lot seems to have happened in book 1! Suffice to say that, by book 2, Ethan is E-boy, a superhero or antihero on the run from the evil president of […]

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Influence by Sara Shepard and Lilia Buckingham

Nalini — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 19:00:16 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Delilah, Scarlet, Fiona and Jasmine are four famous influencers in Hollywood. They’re all around the same age – 16 to 18 I think – but are at different places in their careers. Some parents are protective in a “no way in hell are you making yourself vulnerable for your career” […]

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The Forest of Moon and Sword by Amy Raphael

Nalini — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 19:00:46 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Art hides in the attic with several women but escapes through a trapdoor into a room above the attic. There she hides while the Witchfinder General’s men drag the women away, killing all except Art’s mother. Soldiers take Art’s mom to the Witchfinder General’s castle for ceremonial execution on the […]

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Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow

Nalini — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 06:17:11 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Juniper limps towards New Salem, alone after murdering her father. Her sisters fled home seven years earlier, leaving her alone, stewing in her hatred and bitterness. Now she’s heading into the city to find a new place for herself. Little does she expect to become one of the Once and […]

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Future Friend by David Baddiel

Nalini — Mon, 21 Dec 2020 05:36:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Rahul Agarwal misses his best friend who moved to Scotland. He’s also lost his inventing mojo after she used his invention – a super wheelchair – to leave. But never mind, a new friend appears through a toilet seat portal in time. She’s his Future Friend. Pip lives in a […]

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All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

Nalini — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 19:00:07 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Princess Amora turns 18 so faces a rite of passage where she must publicly kill a prisoner with magic. She does it at night, usually in secret as “benevolent” rulers do, and uses teeth, hence “all the stars and teeth”. Anyhoo, all the stars and teeth don’t save her, her […]

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Code Name Bananas by David Walliams

Nalini — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 07:48:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes This is the story of a spy mission with the code name bananas. It all begins with Eric, who loves animals. So much so that his best friend is Gertrude the Gorilla. He teaches Gertrude to blow raspberries. So Grandma yells at him after beating people with her hearing trumpet. […]

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Wolf Girl 4: The Traitor by Anh Doh

Nalini — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 19:00:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Gwen is Wolf Girl: she can understand wolves, dogs and possibly some other animals. Gwen and Rupert are looking for their parents whom they carelessly lost during an invasion of their country. A dire wolf (a wolf as tall as Gwen), called Sunrise, and two dogs comprise the rest of […]

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How To Make A Pet Monster: Hodgepodge by Lili Wilkinson, illustrated by Dustin Spence

Nalini — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 22:33:50 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Artie just moved in to a spooky house with his mom, stepfather and stepsister Willow. Mom is renovating the house so Artie takes refuge in the attic, where he finds the Big Boke that tells him how to make a pet monster. Willow is scary. She plays electric guitar, has […]

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Future Girl by Asphyxia

Nalini — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 19:00:07 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Piper is Future Girl and she is Deaf. The nerves to her ears stopped working when she was about 3 years old. She grew up in a hearing family with her mom, Irene McBride, desperate for Piper to Fit In With Normal People. Any admission of difference, any request for […]

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The ScoMo Diaries by Tosh Greenslade and Andrew Weldon

Nalini — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 03:30:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In The Scomo Diaries, Scott Morrison is, effectively, Adrian Mole of Secret Diary fame all grown up and become prime minister of Australia. Scotty gave himself – in real life – the nickname “ScoMo” to try to be cool. Which only makes him LESS cool, but don’t tell him that. […]

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Betrayals by Bridget Collins

Nalini — Sun, 15 Nov 2020 04:00:46 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Leo is a politician who, thanks to a passionate letter objecting to extreme bigotry in a bill under consideration in parliament, loses his position and power. He’s sentenced to exile at his old alma mater, Montverre, where all students study the grand jeu, the great game. It’s also where he […]

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School Rules Are Optional by Alison Hart

Nalini — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 19:00:09 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes School Rules Are Optional is a whodunnit for primary schoolers. Jesse McCann’s jumper is missing. Later they find the corpse. But whodunnit? Jesse is in grade 6 with old friends, old enemies and some new kids. Did any of the above do it? Jesse is not afraid to reach out to […]

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The Dawnhounds: Against the Quiet by Sascha Stronach

Nalini — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 19:00:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Goodreads introduces the Dawnhounds: A ship rolls through the fog, its doomed crew fallen victim to an engineered plague. Yat Jyn-Hok —disgraced cop, former thief, long lost love to a flame-haired street girl — stumbles across its deadly trail, but powerful men will do anything to keep it secret. They […]

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Dead Man In A Ditch By Luke Arnold

Nalini — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 19:00:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Fetch Phillips is a detective living in Sunder City. Fetch Phillips is, ironically, a human living in a post-apocalyptic world where he is personally responsible for humanity destroying the magic. Now he’s trying to make amends by being a Man For Hire. Problem is, the jobs he’s hired for are […]

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A Wizard in My Shed by Simon Farnaby, illustrated by Claire Powell

Nalini — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 04:05:52 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A warlock in the 6th century is wild – or, in this case, Wyld – and unkempt. He’s also committed offences so grave he’s about to be executed. However, the princess pleads for his life, begging her father to commute his death sentence into a 7-year sentence to purgatory. The […]

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Hanna (TV series 2019-)

Nalini — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 19:00:00 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hanna lives in the forest with her father, like so many stories involving hero’s journeys before her. She’s a teenager and restless. Wanting more from life, she emerges to befriend a boy, bringing human hunters down upon her father and herself. Cue an international escape and evade while the pair […]

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The Boys (TV series 2019-)

Nalini — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 19:00:03 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hughie (Jack Quaid from Star Trek: Lower Decks) is in love. He holds his girlfriend’s hands while they kiss goodbye in a quiet street. She’s one step off the footpath. Then superhero A-Train (Jessie T Usher from Independence Day: Resurgence and Level Up) runs through the girlfriend, who explodes in […]

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House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess

Nalini — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 19:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Emilia hides a destructive power. If found out, authorities will torture her until she dies. Lucian was a soldier who committed war crimes under his father’s command. Now he wants nothing more than to enter into service in a religious order. Vespir is a servant, a dragon handler. Ajax is […]

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Left-handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

Nalini — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 04:22:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Susan Arkshaw moves to London to attend art school but arrives early, allowing her to spend the holidays looking for her father. Problem: she’s not even sure what his name is. Following the leads her extremely vague mother has given her over the years, she contacts an underworld boss. While […]

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Deadly Education: Lesson One of the Scholomance by Naomi Novik

Nalini — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 01:46:01 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Bram Stoker’s Scholomance provides a deadly education in the magical world existing alongside the ordinary non-magical world in this tale of demons, magic users and murderers. Galadriel Higgins (aka El) is ready to murder Orion because he saved her life. Again. She’s furious. (Novik reads the opening scene in this […]

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The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza

Nalini — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 23:19:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Bo is the titular Boy of the Boy, the Wolf and the Stars. He lives in the forest with his austere guardian. While he’s supposed to be doing chores, instead he’s watching the village children play. Although a child, he’s never been accepted by the villagers, he’s a complete outsider. […]

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Odds by Matt Stanton

Nalini — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 19:00:32 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Odds are invaders from another world. From your imagination. Kip is a quiet kid in a loud city. She’s easy to miss and that’s the way she likes it. Then, one day, Kip’s quiet life is suddenly interrupted. Ten of her favourite characters have stepped out of their worlds […]

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Wife and the Widow by Christian White

Nalini — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 07:48:19 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee The Wife and the Widow by Australian author Christian White is a thrilling murder mystery. Set on a small holiday island off the coast of Melbourne, it takes place during the frigid “off” season. Seriously?! Annabelle, YOU LIVE IN CANBERRA. At Melbourne’s coldest it doesn’t get down to the average […]

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What We’ll Build by Oliver Jeffers

Nalini — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 20:00:42 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton From acclaimed author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers comes the companion to the number 1 New York Times bestseller Here We Are! – What we’ll build. What shall we build, you and I? We’ll build a watch to keep our time. I’ll build your future and you’ll build mine. Inspired by the birth of his daughter, […]

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Great Realisation by Tomos Roberts

Nalini — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 20:00:34 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton First performed in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, Tomos Roberts’ inspiring poem ‘The Great Realisation’, with its message of hope and resilience, has been viewed over 60 million times and translated into over 20 languages worldwide. Magical resonance From simple acts of kindness, to the creativity within us all, The […]

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The Breakup Artist (2009)

Nalini — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 20:00:23 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Britney (Amanda Crew) had a bad breakup when she was in primary school so now she runs a hugely successful business telling people their former partner has broken up with them. Because apparently texting and ghosting wasn’t a thing when this movie was made. I got maybe 20 minutes in […]

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Funny Kid Belly Flop (Funny Kid #8) by Matt Stanton

Nalini — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 20:00:10 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Max and Abby hardly ever agree on anything … until now! They are both desperate to get out of this Friday’s swimming carnival. A sea-monster, the maths Olympiad, spotty rashes, good twin versus bad twin and a swimming instructor named Chad are just some of the things in store for […]

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The Arrangement (2013)

Nalini — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 20:00:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Billy Whitley (Brian Greenberg), a Kennedy-type, needs a Latina wife to succeed as a politician, so his manager advises him to enter into an arrangement. Lourdes Nieves (Stephanie Sigman) has reasons for leaving Columbia, she’s bi-lingual and gorgeous so Billy brings her to America to get a green card. Alfred […]

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Santa and the Sugar Glider by Alexa Moses and Anil Tortop

Nalini — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 05:31:17 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton It’s Christmas Eve, and Snap the sugar glider is practicing his moves. He wants to be the greatest flyer in the rainforest but the other animals just laugh at him. When Santa makes an emergency landing, all the animals get a chance to audition to fill in for Comet, who […]

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Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dangerous Animals by Sami Bayly

Nalini — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 00:07:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dangerous Animals is a nonfiction book about (surprise!) dangerous animals. Every double-page layout focuses on one animal. Of the double-page layout, one page features a gorgeous illustration of the animal while the other fact-filled page has a line drawing of some detail and a silhouette image […]

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Either Side Of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson

Nalini — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 20:00:45 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning comedian who has successfully made the transition to crime writing. The Ned Kelly Awards shortlisted his first novel, Greenlight. Either Side of Midnight is the sequel to Stevenson’s 2018 debut but can be read as a standalone release. I have not read Greenlight. This latest […]

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The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham

Nalini — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 20:00:18 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The German Midwife is a heartbreaking yet poignantly beautiful “what if” story. Anke is a German midwife who is in a Nazi work camp during World War Two. Anke is not Jewish but it is her beliefs about how all laboring women and newborn babies should be treated that lands […]

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Love Letter (1999)

Nalini — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 20:00:13 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A small American coastal town has quirky characters played by big name actors. A bookshop owner, Helen MacFarquhar (Kate Capshaw) finds a love letter. It’s not addressed to anyone specifically nor is it signed but, sure, she decides it’s for her. She sets about trying to discover who it’s from. […]

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Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend

Nalini — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 08:34:02 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Morrigan Crow turns thirteen and still shows more maturity than many adults in her quest to study Wunder, the source of magic in Nevermoor. Battling superstition, politics and now a new twist: speciesism, aka racism. A new threat, a pandemic called Hollowpox, sweeps through the Wunimal community, anthropomorphic animals, sending […]

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Godmothers by Monical McInerney

Nalini — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 21:00:24 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Eliza Miller grew up an only child. Her only family was her mother and two godmothers. Jeannie, Eliza’s mum, moved around a lot and told a lot of tall stories so now no one is really sure what is the truth. Just before Eliza’s 18th birthday, Jeannie died. Eliza never […]

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From Snow to Ash by Anthony Sharwood

Nalini — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 20:00:17 +0000

A review by Emma and Nick Streeton Anthony Sharwood grew up with a view of the Brindabella Mountains, which lie to the west of Canberra. In the evening when the light catches them, they take on this beautiful glow. His attraction to this landscape undoubtedly goes back to his gazing out the window growing up. […]

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Tindims of Rubbish Island by Sally Gardner and Lydia Corry

Nalini — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 05:05:45 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The tiny Tindims do a very important job. They are keen recyclers, who turn what is thrown away by the Long Legs (us humans) into treasure. Mother-and-daughter duo, Sally Gardner and Lydia Corry, create a fun new world of characters and adventures in their empowering new series for 5-8 year […]

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Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend

Nalini — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 02:59:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In the first Nevermoor book, Morrigan Crow is smuggled into Nevermoor to enter the Wundrous Society trials. We see Nevermoor through the delighted and frightened eyes of a snarky 11 year old whose attitude entertains even moi. Although this series is aimed at primary children, Townsend does not dumb down […]

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What Zola did on Wednesday by Melina Marchetta

Nalini — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 20:09:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The What Zola did series is an adorable series about a primary school aged Italian Australian girl going about her daily life. In one book she meets her Muslim neighbors and becomes friends with the family. In another book, her Nonna has trouble knitting so starts a group for company […]

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Sad Mum Lady by Ashe Davenport

Nalini — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 20:00:21 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ashe Davenport is the titular sad mum lady. She has childhood trauma coming to the fore while struggling with post-natal depression. It sounds like a recipe for a depressing, challenging book. For the most part, however, this book is hilarious. Each chapter is an anecdote strung together to form a […]

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Cobra Queen by Tara Moss

Nalini — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 20:00:18 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee The Cobra Queen is the fourth book in the Pandora English series by Australian author Tara Moss. Pandora has recently discovered she is a very important figure in the supernatural world, the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. It will be her job to stop the undead from taking over […]

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Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde

Nalini — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 02:40:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes It’s England in 2020 and there are over a million sentient anthropomorphic rabbits living in concentration camps – I mean “residential” camps – with some allowed to live in the human community. There are also a few other species but none suffer the derision heaped upon the constant rabbit. Some […]

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Self Help for Babies Series: Sleep 101 and Whine Guide by Beck and Matt Stanton

Nalini — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 01:31:14 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton You know babies don’t come with a manual. Well, now they do, in this self-help for babies (parents?) series. When we give birth, what tends to be the one thing that we wish our little darlings were clutching on their exit?! If your answer is a manual, then you would […]

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Olive by Emma Gannon

Nalini — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 20:00:29 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Meet Olive. Olive is Independent. Adrift. Anxious. Loyal. Kind. Knows her own mind. Olive has decided to be child-free by choice. Her three very close friends have not. As Bea, Cecily and Isla all settle down, marry and start their families, Olive feels herself helplessly cast adrift. Everyone thinks Olive […]

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Kokomo by Victoria Hannan

Nalini — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 20:00:54 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton When Mina receives an urgent call from her best friend back in Melbourne, her world is turned upside down. Her agoraphobic mother, Elaine, has left the house for the first time in twelve years. Mina drops everything to fly home, only to discover that Elaine will not talk about her […]

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My Year of Living Mindfully by Shannon Harvey

Nalini — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 01:18:52 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Preamble To be honest my usual method for reading anything non-fiction is to dip in and out and find the key information. With this book my non-fiction experience was totally and utterly different. Shannon Harvey had me hooked from the start and I have not stopped telling anyone who will […]

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Polar Bear in Sydney Harbour by Beck and Robin Feiner

Nalini — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 00:32:31 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton “Sydney Harbour is home to many amazing things, but polar bears are not one of them. Sydney is Down Under, and polar bears are from, well, Up over.” A polar bear in Sydney Harbour? When Hannah spots a polar bear in Sydney Harbour, she knows something isn’t right … But even […]

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Fire Star by A L Tait

Nalini — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 03:49:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Reeve is a squire. His former mistress, the Airl’s (Iord’s) wife, placed him in a vassal’s (Sir Garrick’s) household. (Everyone seems to be related.) Maven is the daughter of a bankrupt nobleman. Her father placed her as companion to Lady Cassandra, Sir Garrick’s arranged bride. The Airl arranged the marriage […]

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Hollow Ones by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Nalini — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 20:00:01 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The prelude introduces us to a strange letterbox in Manhattan. Ironically, the letterbox is not a link to the Hollow Ones. It’s a link to their nemesis. Earl Solomon is one of the first Black FBI agents in 1962 so his masters send him to the racist deep south to […]

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Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed (Graphic Novel)

Nalini — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 08:28:17 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed is a full-color graphic novel with a substantial origin story. Diana is a teenager with all that entails, which is all alien to the Amazons who never went through puberty. Their healers treat Diana as a medical curiosity, much to her chagrin. She believes she’ll be […]

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Maybe the horse will talk by Elliot Perlman

Nalini — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 07:06:07 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes There’s an old story about a jester or a teacher who ran foul of his king. The king sentences the jester/teacher to death. The desperate jester tells the king he has a brand-new trick. If the king gives the jester his best horse for a year (or 5 years), he […]

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World’s Worst Parents by David Walliams

Nalini — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 20:00:53 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton In a nutshell, the World’s Worst Parents is about children with ridiculously embarrassing, disgusting or just plain awful parents. We are huge fans of David Walliams’ books in this house and once again he does not disappoint. My bookworms were so excited when this latest gem by Walliams arrived. I […]

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Marshmallow Pie The Cat Superstar by Clara Vulliamy

Nalini — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 04:54:17 +0000

Marshmallow Pie The Cat Superstar, Book 1 and Marshmallow Pie The Cat Superstar on TV, Book 2 A review by Emma Streeton Marshmallow Marmaduke Vanilla-Bean Sugar-Pie Fluffington-Fitz-Noodle is a big, fluffy and grumpy cat who thinks of himself as the most fabulous cat in the world. He loves the simple life: lazing in the sun, […]

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Erasure Initiative by Lili Wilkinson

Nalini — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 02:15:57 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Cecily wakes up on a bus in the middle of nowhere with 6 other people, all of whom have amnesia. The Erasure Initiative has erased their memories. There is no driver. The bus drives and drives without pause. A computer asks them to answer the Trolley Problem. Every time people […]

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Rebel Gods by Will Kostakis

Nalini — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 20:00:52 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Rebel Gods is Monuments book 2 and the conclusion to this story about the Pillars of the World coming to life, fighting it out with their errant children, and trying to protect the world. Throw in a gay romance, an orphaned teenager, time travel and superpowered humans and you have […]

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WeirDo #15: Planet Weird! by Anh Do

Nalini — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 00:30:35 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Weir (aka WeirDo) is back and it is his birthday, a birthday that coincides with Planet Day. Hence the title “Planet Weird”. Weir’s party is going to be huge. So huge you will be able to see it from outer space! A party like this won’t be easy to pull […]

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Light At The End Of The Day by Eleanor Wasserberg

Nalini — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 23:54:24 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Light at the End of the Day focuses on Alicia and her family, who flee Krakow to escape the Nazis. In their flight, they leave behind all their possessions. This includes Alicia’s most prized object: the portrait her father commissioned of her. As they move from country to country, […]

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Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Nalini — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 06:43:07 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Anxious People is the newest release by Swedish author Fredrik Backman, best known for his novel A Man Called Ove. In many ways, Anxious People is a simple story of a botched bank robbery, which accidentally becomes a hostage situation. And yet, Anxious People is so much more. As the story […]

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Extraordinaries by T J Klune

Nalini — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 07:08:30 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Nick Bell writes really bad, incredibly cheesy fan fic putting himself – as Nathan Belen – as Shadow Star’s love interest. Shadow Star is one of the Extraordinaries who are superheroes and villains. Nick wants to be an Extraordinary superhero but he’s just a teen with ADHD and a super-sized […]

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Wonder Woman: WW84 by Patty Jenkins and Geoff Johns

Nalini — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:44:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Wonder Woman has been a feminist icon for over half a century. The first Wonder Woman movie with a woman director, Patty Jenkens in 2017, was a triumph. In my opinion, that movie ties with Black Panther (2018) for the best superhero movie of all time. After women nearly single-handedly rebooted […]

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Fin & Rye & Fireflies by Harry Cook

Nalini — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 02:50:24 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Fin kissed a boy who baited him. It was a trap. When Fin’s dad finds out, he moves the entire family to a new town almost overnight. Thus new boy in semi-rural town is trying to make new friends. The first teenagers he meets are part of the Queer pride […]

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What Zola did on Monday by Melina Marchetta

Nalini — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 06:14:26 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Zola loves living on Boomerang Street with her mum and her Nonna. Every day of the week is an adventure. But Zola has a problem. No matter how much she tries, she can’t keep out of trouble! From the author of Looking for Alibrandi and the Lumatere Chronicles comes this […]

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Artemis Fowl: Guide to the world of fairies by Andrew Donkin with art by Gonzalo Kenny

Nalini — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 19:42:11 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton This beautifully illustrated novel is an absolute must have for fans who are keen to learn more about the fascinating and fantastical world of Artemis Fowl. The book compiles Artemis Fowl’s knowledge gathered from the The Book of the People (a book within the Artemis Fowl series) and his time […]

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Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Nalini — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 19:23:46 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and above all, a criminal mastermind. But even Artemis doesn’t know what he’s taken on when he kidnaps a fairy, Captain Holly Short of the LEP (Lower Elements Police). These aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories—they’re dangerous and cunning! Artemis Fowl is […]

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Ocean Atlas by Tom Jackson with illustrations by Ana Djordjevic

Nalini — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 19:05:47 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Ocean Atlas provides a comprehensive exploration of our oceans and seas. It covers geography, ecosystems and animals through a mix of illustrations, photographs, maps, and diagrams. It maps out the ocean’s layers, from the sunlight zone to the abyss, exploring the conditions within each zone and revealing the different creatures […]

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Starfell: Willow Moss and the Forgotten Tale by Dominique Valente

Nalini — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 18:44:42 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Willow Moss, the youngest and least powerful sister in a family of witches, recently saved the world. The problem is nobody can remember it. To make matters worse, her magical ability seems broken. Instead of finding lost things, objects keep disappearing against her will. This is especially troubling now that […]

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Edie’s Experiments by Charlotte Barkla

Nalini — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 18:28:10 +0000

Book 1 – How To Make Friends Book 2 – How To Be The Best A review by Emma Streeton Edie’s Experiments is a fun junior fiction series featuring Edie, an optimistic and vibrant science lover. Edie always has the very best of intentions but often her plans do not quite turn out the way […]

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The End of Cuthbert Close by Cassie Hamer

Nalini — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 04:10:24 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Set in an idyllic suburban Australian street, The End of Cuthbert Close follows three neighbors with little in common besides motherhood and a shared love of cake. Each of them has different careers, family dynamics and stresses but they come together as a new arrival to the street threatens to […]

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Cursed by Thomas Wheeler, illustrated by Frank Miller

Nalini — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 03:52:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Nimue runs away from home because most people in her village despise her, calling her cursed. However, her plan is foiled when she learns that the ship she planned to catch left days early. She returns home to find Red Paladins – think the corrupt Knights Templar – attacking her […]

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Plastic Free: The inspiring story of a global environmental movement and why it matters by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and Joanna Atherfold Finn.

Nalini — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 06:28:28 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton and Nick Streeton When I had the opportunity to get my hands on a copy of the book Plastic Free, my husband was keen to read it. This review is written with a lot of his help and thoughts. This makes it official: it is a family affair. The only […]

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Elsa Goody Bushranger by Darry Fraser

Nalini — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 05:57:34 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton When Elsa Goody’s father and brother George die in quick succession, she and her sister Rosie are in trouble. Pursued by an unpleasant suitor with dubious motivation, Elsa leaves for Victoria on the hunt for a fortune in gold coins that her brother has hidden. If Elsa can find it […]

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The Beast Within, A Tale of Beauty’s Prince by Serena Valentino

Nalini — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 05:45:06 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton A cursed prince sits alone in a secluded castle. Few have seen him, but those who claim they have say his hair is wild and nails are sharp – like a beast’s! But how did this prince, once jovial and beloved by the people, come to be a reclusive and […]

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Who Am I? by Anita Heiss

Nalini — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 05:26:00 +0000

A Review by Emma Streeton Who Am I? is the fictional diary of a young Aboriginal girl, Mary Talence, a member of the Stolen Generation. The Sister in charge of Bomaderry Aboriginal Children’s Home gave her a diary. Through its pages she describes her life – from her arrival there, aged five, through her struggle […]

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Pink! By Margaret Wild and Judith Rossell

Nalini — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 05:14:58 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Pink is a small dinosaur. Like her name clearly suggests, she is pink. She loves to play hide and seek but her color means she is always the first one to be found. Her disappointment is huge. She decides she does not want to be pink anymore. That is, until […]

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What Do You Call Your Grandpa by Ashleigh Barton and Martina Heiduczek

Nalini — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 05:05:05 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton What do you call your grandpa? is beautifully illustrated. It pays tribute to the special bond between children and their grandfathers. No matter what name you call your grandpa, one thing is for sure: it is always fun to spend time with them. This book celebrates that special time spent […]

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Demelza and the Spectre Detectors by Holly Rivers

Nalini — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 04:36:57 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Demelza loves science – she loves it so much that she’s been known to stay up late to work on her peculiar inventions! But Demelza discovers she has inherited a distinctly un-scientific set of skills: Spectre Detecting. Like her grandmother, she can summon the ghosts of the dead and she […]

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Nit Boy by Tristan Bancks and Heath McKenzie

Nalini — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 20:00:16 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Meet Lewis Snow. He has the worst case of nits in world history. Everyone wants him to shave his head but Lewis thinks of his nits as pets. He’s determined to keep his hair and his nits, whatever it takes. That is why he is “nit boy”. Meet Ned. Ned […]

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The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina

Nalini — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 20:00:44 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Set in Japan the story follows Yui and Takeshi, both of whom have lost people close to them. Yui’s mother and daughter died in the tsunami that hit the north of Japan in March 2011. Takeshi’s wife died, leaving his young daughter mute. Both find comfort in the ‘wind phone’ […]

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Hodgepodge: How To Make A Pet Monster by Lili Wilkinson

Nalini — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 20:00:40 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Artie is 11 years old. He does not believe in ghosts, or monsters. He believes in science. So when he and his step sister Willow find The Bigge Boke of Fetching Monsters in the attic he is both scared and intrigued. The book tells you how to make your own […]

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Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan

Nalini — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 20:00:55 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes We all know people obsessed with status and wealth. Four years ago, my husband and I sat down to lunch with – let’s call him Joe. Joe promptly told us – repeatedly over the course of two lunches – that his wife earns 6 figures. “And HIGH six figures, not […]

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Lost Soul Atlas by Zana Fraillon

Nalini — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 06:10:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Forget John Dies At The End. Twig dies at the beginning. The Afterlife is a treacherous place where gods eat the memories of the deceased, making the Afterlife a kind of hell for lost souls. Ensnared by the gods, Twig follows the path that will end up with the gods […]

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Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal by Anna Whateley

Nalini — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 01:24:06 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Peta Lyre is 16 and has “alphabet soup” diagnoses including ADHD and is on the autism spectrum. Over a period of years she engaged in social training. As long as she keeps her meds up, she is a successful performing monkey. However, when stressed and tired, Peta forgets her meds. […]

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The Switch by Beth O’Leary

Nalini — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 20:00:06 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village […]

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When Grace Went Away by Meredith Appleyard

Nalini — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 20:00:31 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton ‘Everything had ended, and started, the day her youngest brother had died.’ But that was not when Grace went away. ‘Functionally dysfunctional.’ That’s how financial analyst Grace Fairley describes her family. A family fractured by tragedy and kept that way by anger, resentment and petty jealousies. As the eldest sibling, […]

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Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner

Nalini — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 06:31:06 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Jane Austen Society takes place in 1940s England. A group of vastly different people are brought together by their love of Jane Austen. Together they attempt something remarkable. To fight and save the home where Jane Austen once lived and continue her legacy. Although on the outside this band […]

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Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Nalini — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 06:20:17 +0000

A Hunger Games Novel A review by Emma Streeton Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes begins on the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow prepares for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has […]

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Better Luck Next Time by Kate Hilton

Nalini — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 06:05:37 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton It isn’t easy being related to a feminist icon. Just ask the daughters of Lydia Hennessey, who could have it all if only they’d stop self-destructing. Mariana, the eldest, is on the verge of throwing away a distinguished reputation in journalism, along with her marriage. Nina, the middle daughter, has […]

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League of Llamas by Allesah Darlison

Nalini — Mon, 22 Jun 2020 05:48:02 +0000

Book 1 – The Golden Llama; Book 2 – Llama Impossible; Book 3 – Undercover Llamas; Book 4 – Rogue Llama A review by Emma Streeton League of Llamas (aka LOL) is a laugh-out-loud junior fiction series featuring llamas as secret agents. With high action, great adventure and loads of laughs along the way, the League of Llamas […]

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Sticks and Stones by Katherine Firkin

Nalini — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 03:23:19 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton It’s winter in Melbourne and Detective Emmett Corban is starting to regret his promotion to head of the Missing Persons Unit, as the routine reports pile up on his desk. So when Natale Gibson goes missing, he’s convinced this is the big case he’s been waiting for – the woman’s […]

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Schoolmaster’s Daughter by Jackie French

Nalini — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 03:06:41 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton January 1901. Sharks circle a stranded ship as a young girl and her family stagger from the waves. Rescued by a Pacific Islander boy named Jamie, Hannah’s family begin a new life in Port Harris, which at first seems a paradise for the schoolmaster’s daughter. But local fortunes are built on […]

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Shuri: A Black Panther Novel by Nic Stone

Nalini — Thu, 18 Jun 2020 02:13:26 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Shuri is the 13-year-old sister of King T’Challa, Black Panther of Wakanda, who has reigned for the last 3 years since his father’s death. She works in a laboratory, developing splodey technology. Her “friend” (as arranged by her mother the Queen Mother), is Dora Milajae in training K’Marah. K’Marah is […]

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Again Again by e lockhart

Nalini — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 06:27:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Adelaide is a dog-loving dog-walking student at a private residential high school in the US. She’s living on campus with her dad who is on staff, working over summer to pay the bills after both he and his wife sacrificed their retirement funds to try to help their addict son […]

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Evie and Pog: Party Perfect by Tania McCartney

Nalini — Tue, 09 Jun 2020 20:00:40 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Evie and Pog are the best of friends. Evie is a six-year-old girl and Pog is a dog. But Pog is the best kind of dog ever as he likes to make beds, tidy up and drink tea when he reads the newspaper. While Evie is a girl who loves […]

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Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Nalini — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 20:00:01 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton “I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus of Nazareth. I am a voice” – The Book Of Longings. It is widely believed that Jesus was the son of God. An unmarried man who was crucified and buried. The Bible tells us about Jesus’s life. However, much of his […]

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Body Book by Nosy Crow, illustrated by Hannah Alice

Nalini — Fri, 05 Jun 2020 20:00:08 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton What’s going on inside the human body? How do we move, eat, think and breathe? Children will love looking inside the human body to discover the answers with this incredible interactive board book. With labelled acetate diagrams of the muscular, skeletal, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, excretory and nervous systems, this is […]

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Come Again by Robert Webb

Nalini — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 20:00:59 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Come Again is the first novel by award-winning British actor, comedian and author, Robert Webb. Nine months widowed, and not coping, all Kate Marsden wants to do is drink herself into oblivion, where at least she can dream of Luke. On reaching the anniversary of ten thousand days since they […]

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Stormblood by Jeremy Szal

Nalini — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 05:06:32 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Vakov Fukasawa is half-Japanese half-Russian from a planet that is entirely Asian. He explodes onto page one on this asteroid in a far-flung deep space future in his robotic armor (think Iron Man). Vakov is pumped full of alien tech called Stormtech so I guess his is stormblood. His sidekick, […]

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Eddy Popcorn’s Guide To Parent Training by Dee White

Nalini — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 05:01:58 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The school holidays have started and Eddy Popcorn can’t wait to hang out with his friends. Then disaster strikes. Eddy’s parents ground him for not doing his homework. Faced with not seeing the beach or his mates for the whole holiday, Eddy puts all of his frustration into creating a […]

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Faraway Truth by Janae Marks

Nalini — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 04:27:21 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Zoe Washington never met her father. He was sent to prison right before she was born and she has had no contact with him since. So when she receives a letter from him on her twelfth birthday it is a huge surprise. Zoe’s mum always told her that her father […]

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Greenwood by Michael Christie

Nalini — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 03:23:04 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton I have been delaying writing this review for a bizarre reason. I am worried that what I write will never be able to do this book the justice it deserves. What I will say though is that if there is just one book you must read in 2020 it is […]

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Making a baby: an inclusive guide to how every family begins by Rachel Greener and Clare Owen

Nalini — Sun, 31 May 2020 20:00:33 +0000

A Review by Emma Streeton For any parent whose younger children are, every now and then, asking questions about how babies are really made, this is the book for you! Aimed at younger readers, this is an honest and accessible guide to what is needed to make a baby and the different ways it can […]

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Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag

Nalini — Mon, 25 May 2020 20:00:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Wilhem Grimm has been wandering the Earth for thousands of years having sex with his daughters (!) to spawn a new generation of sons and daughters. Now four sisters born on the same day approach their 18th birthday. We meet this batch of Sisters Grimm. Goldie’s features match her name, […]

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Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans

Nalini — Sun, 24 May 2020 20:00:54 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Iris grew from a seed in a garden and uses ‘they/them’ pronouns. Babs has a firey nature and turns invisible. Her invisibility is a magic that is out of her control. They live in Melbourne but in the country with a national park that is in this world and in […]

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Monty’s Island: Scary Mary and the Stripe Spell by Emily Rodda

Nalini — Thu, 21 May 2020 20:00:52 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Monty is an adventurous boy who lives on a small perfect island with his loyal companions Tawny the Fearless Lion, Clink the Shipwrecked Pirate Parrot, Bunchy the elephant Magician, Silent Sir Wise (an owl) and Marigold who runs the island café. Together they must foil the dastardly plans of Scary […]

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Super Sporty Girls: be inspired and celebrate Australia’s amazing sportswomen

Nalini — Thu, 21 May 2020 20:00:30 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Super Sporty Girls celebrates women in sport. It celebrates eighteen inspirational Aussie teams and sports women who are kicking goals, smashing records and playing with passion. These formidable athletes across all type of sports are inspiring the next generation to get active and this book introduces us to these amazing […]

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Coco: Big City Kitty by Laura Bunting, illustrated by Nicky Johnston

Nalini — Wed, 20 May 2020 07:03:17 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Once there was a small kitty called Coco. Coco lived on the top floor of the tallest building on Meowington Avenue. She filled her days with action, excitement, noise and activity. And nothing made Coco happier than being a Big City Kitty. What if this city living was about to […]

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So This is Love by Elizabeth Lim

Nalini — Wed, 20 May 2020 06:48:36 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton So This is Love is the ninth book in the A Twisted Tale series and it is written by author Elizabeth Lim. I love the idea behind the twisted tale series. Each of the books take a different, and at times darker spin on a classic Disney story. So This […]

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The Minute I Saw You by Paige Toon

Nalini — Wed, 20 May 2020 06:30:19 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton When Hannah and Sonny meet – The Minute I Saw You (or they saw each other) – a spark ignites that is hard to ignore and impossible to forget. Weeks later, their paths cross again, but Sonny appears distant and reluctant to meet Hannah’s eye. It soon transpires that Sonny […]

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The Year The Maps Changed by Danielle Binks

Nalini — Wed, 20 May 2020 06:05:10 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Year the Maps Changed follows 11-year-old Winifred (Fred) and her life in Sorrento when 400 Kosovar-Albanian refugees arrive. We follow Fred through the year of 1999. Unlike most other middle grade novels this coming of age story is not just about Fred growing up. Instead it is about her […]

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Disney A Twisted Tale series: Straight on Till Morning by Liz Braswell

Nalini — Wed, 20 May 2020 05:50:21 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Straight on till morning is set 4 years after Nana tore Peter Pan’s shadow from his body. Wendy is frustrated and disappointed that Peter never came to reclaim it. She seems to have taken this very personally. She sees his abandonment of his shadow as an abandonment of her. But […]

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Pests by Emer Stamp

Nalini — Tue, 19 May 2020 20:00:18 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Stix is a tiny mouse who lives behind the washing machine. He has always followed his grandmother’s rules to avoid contact with the mans who lives in the flat. But he stumbles across PESTS – the Peewit Educatorium for Seriously Terrible Scoundrels. Here Stix makes friends (and enemies) with some […]

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The Loudness of Unsaid Things by Hilde Hinton

Nalini — Mon, 18 May 2020 20:00:26 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Loudness of Unsaid Things starts with Miss Kaye working at The Institute. A place for the damaged, the outliers, the not-quite rights. Everyone has different strategies to deal with the residents. Some bark orders. Some negotiate tirelessly. Miss Kaye found that simply being herself was mostly the right thing […]

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Fabio the World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective: Peril at Lake Lizard by Laura James

Nalini — Mon, 18 May 2020 01:19:41 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Fabio the World’s Greatest Flamingo Detective: Peril at Lake Lizard is a quirky little book is sure to delight both children and adults. The ‘crime to solve’ element is a clever and unique spin on an animal tale and is a great way to introduce young readers to the mystery […]

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Fartboy: Ready, Aim, Fart By Adam Wallace

Nalini — Wed, 13 May 2020 20:00:00 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Everyone thinks Martin is the tidiest boy in town. They have no idea that he is also Fartboy, the STINKIEST super hero EVER. A disgustingly evil villain known as Madam Wax is terrorizing Sparkletown with sticky sculptures made out of her own earwax. But Fartboy is determined to stop her […]

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Nat Enough by Maria Scrivan

Nalini — Tue, 12 May 2020 20:00:52 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Natalie has never felt that she’s enough (Nat Enough) – athletic enough, stylish enough, or talented enough. And on the first day of middle school, Natalie discovers that things are worse than she thought – now she’s not even cool enough for her best friend, Lily. As Natalie tries to […]

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DK Help Your Kids With Maths – An Australian Step-by-Step Guide

Nalini — Sun, 10 May 2020 20:00:35 +0000

A Review by Emma Streeton Like most parents in the past few weeks, I have been tasked with the joys of homeschooling. Now, my girls are still both young but I have to admit that helping them with maths has proven a bit of a challenge. It has been many years since I have had […]

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The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

Nalini — Thu, 07 May 2020 20:00:19 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by American author Margarita Montimore is a new twist on the time travel genre. Based on the concept of a life lived out of order, we follow Oona Lockhart as she suddenly jumps through time at the moment she turns 19. Consciously she is still […]

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I’m Ready Puffin Picture Book Series Illustrated by Jedda Robaard

Nalini — Wed, 06 May 2020 20:00:46 +0000

Review by Annabelle Lee The I’m Ready series by Puffin Books, illustrated by Jedda Robaard contains four titles, I’m Ready for Christmas, I’m Ready for the New Baby, I’m Ready for Pre-School and I’m Ready for Easter. Printed as sturdy board books in full bright color these are for 3-4 year olds. Each book features Australian native […]

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HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy by Kathy Lette

Nalini — Tue, 05 May 2020 20:00:08 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy opens at Ruby Ryan’s 50th birthday when she drops truth-bombs until she bombs herself into social Siberia. In her defense, she just discovered her husband had an affair and she’s got terminal cancer. Both within hours on the day of the party. Ruby’s dying wish is […]

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Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Nalini — Tue, 05 May 2020 20:00:05 +0000

A Review by Emma Streeton The book begins with an eleven-year-old Hamnet running around town looking for his mother or a doctor or anyone to tell that his twin sister Judith is very ill. She has a fever and there are lumps on her neck, a revealing sign of the bubonic plague. He can’t find […]

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House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

Nalini — Sun, 03 May 2020 20:00:59 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee At long last, we finally have the newest release from bestselling author Sarah J Maas. House of Earth and Blood is the first book in the brand new Crescent City series. The book introduces a new world where all manner of magical and non-magical creatures coexist. The protagonist is Bryce, […]

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Lost Jewels by Kirsty Manning

Nalini — Fri, 01 May 2020 20:00:10 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Lost Jewels is a riveting historical fiction inspired by the true story of ‘The Cheapside Hoard’. The ‘hoard’ was a large collection of expensive jewelry unearthed during construction in a London street in 1912. It is one of the most famous and mysterious finds of jewelry and gemstone treasures […]

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Providence by Max Barry

Nalini — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 00:55:47 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Providence is a battleship designed to wage war against an aggressive alien foe, staffed by only 4 people. The ship has an AI deemed better equipped to make decisions than humans. So much better equipped that it chooses its own crew, with interesting consequences. Gilly, Talia, Anders and Jackson […]

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My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Nalini — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 20:00:05 +0000

A Review by Emma Streeton I think I am still processing what this book has raised for me. As a result it has taken me some time to write this review. To be quite honest I am not even sure I can gather the words to give this book the review that it deserves. It […]

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What’s Left Of Me Is Yours by Stephanie Scott

Nalini — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 23:52:34 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Sumi is a young woman, just barely qualified to practice law in Japan, when she receives a strange phone call. She feels compelled to dig into her mother’s death. Sumi’s mother, Rina, is – years earlier – living in a loveless marriage that has rendered her colorless, invisible. While she […]

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Parlour Games For Modern Families by Myfanwy Jones and Spiri Tsintziras

Nalini — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 20:00:57 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Reviving the tradition of indoor family games, this book guide brings mental stimulation, silliness, and laughter back into the house. From games of logic, memory, and wordplay to rough-and-tumble activities and even simple recipes, this collection takes the environment into consideration, only requiring items easily found around the home. Parlour […]

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Devoted by Dean Koontz

Nalini — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 07:03:41 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Devoted is a twisted, crazy roller coaster of a book. Written by bestselling American author Dean Koontz, this story (due for release on April 6th 2020) is at times genuinely frightening and disturbing, and at others feels like a PG family movie. It’s one of the few books I have […]

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Desire Lines by Felicity Volk

Nalini — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 21:02:07 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton ‘ARE YOU STILL a liar?’ This is the opening line to Volk’s incredible novel Desire Lines. These words pulled me in from the start. I gripped onto this book tight and did not want to let go. The Story Catastrophe is all seven-year-old Paddy O’Connor has known. Abandoned by his family […]

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Trespassers by Meg Mundell

Nalini — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 05:23:02 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Trespassers opens with everyone wearing breathing masks while boarding a ship. Everyone is terrified of disease. (UQP published this novel 6 months before the world knew about COVID-19.) Cleary became deaf after surviving this fictional plague but, due to living in poverty, he hasn’t had access to learn sign […]

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Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth

Nalini — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 03:48:21 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Plot Jenny McLaine is an adult. Supposedly. At thirty-five she owns her own house, writes for a cool magazine and has hilarious friends just a message away. Sounds like a pretty perfect life right? But the thing is she can’t afford her house since her ex-boyfriend left, her best […]

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Deceptions by Suzanne Leal

Nalini — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 19:00:11 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton In 1943, a young woman is taken to a Jewish ghetto outside Prague where one of the guard, a Czech gendarme, is quickly drawn to her. Believing he will offer her protection, Hana reluctantly accepts Karel’s advances only to find herself alone and abandoned in Auschwitz. Decades later, Karel carries […]

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Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver

Nalini — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 02:26:21 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton When I read Josie Silver’s previous book One Day In December I was charmed. So when I saw her latest release was available I was eager to see if this one was as good. I was not disappointed one bit. Why? Because The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is an […]

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Out by Angela May George and Owen Swan

Nalini — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 19:00:53 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton I’m called an asylum seeker; but that’s not my name. Out tells the story of a little girl who flees her homeland, making a long and frightening boat journey with her mother to seek asylum in a new country. Starting a new life is challenging, but they work hard to […]

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High Fire by Eoin Colfer

Nalini — Sun, 15 Mar 2020 19:00:47 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lord High Fire has fallen from the pinnacle of the foodchain to become a loner hanging out with alligators in a swamp near New Orleans. Those pesky humans: they start as familiars only to become torch-wielding mobs. And now they have missiles! High Fire has taken the name “Vern”, short […]

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Nelson: Pumpkins and Aliens by Andrew Levins

Nalini — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 23:10:14 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton Introducing Nelson Meet Nelson . . . he’s an ordinary kid. Everyone thinks he’s shy but, really, he’s just bored. Nelson hates vegetables. He hates the smell of them, he hates the look of them. Most of all, he hates eating them. But what if they gave him superpowers? Superpowers […]

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Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli

Nalini — Sun, 01 Mar 2020 07:00:15 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Audrey Lee, Rey to her friends, is a gymnast. She’s vying for a position on the USA 2020 Olympics team. Her goal: to win two gold medals before her injuries force her to retire from the sport. Then the team coach is arrested for pedophilia, grooming and sexually assaulting team […]

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Bass Rock by Evie Wyld

Nalini — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 19:00:56 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Bass Rock opens in 1720s Scotland when a priest and his son lose themselves in a forest while transporting a witch to the coast to stop their village from being lynching her. In the gloomy slow years after World War II, Ruth finds herself the replacement wife to a […]

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Taking the Lead: How Jacinda Ardern Wowed the World by David Hill, Illustrated by Phoebe Morris

Nalini — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 19:00:36 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Taking the Lead (due for release on March 3rd 2020) is the latest in the series by New Zealand writing and illustrating team David Hill and Phoebe Morris. This children’s book focuses on current NZ Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. This book is a biography, in a child friendly format, covering […]

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Mirror Mirror: A Disney Twisted Tale

Nalini — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 06:20:48 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Story Mirror, Mirror: What if the Evil Queen poisoned the prince? Following her beloved mother’s death, the kingdom falls into the hands of Snow White’s stepmother, commonly referred to as “the Evil Queen” by those she rules. Snow keeps her head down at the castle trying to make the […]

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Women Artists A to Z by Melanie LaBarge, illustrated by Caroline Corrigan

Nalini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 19:00:27 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Women Artists A to Z (due for release on February 18th, 2020) is a collaboration between New York writer and Melanie LaBarge and illustrator Caroline Corrigan. It is pitched as a children’s book. It’s a colorful alphabet book where each letter captures the essence of a female artist’s work in […]

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Lost Ones by Anita Frank

Nalini — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 19:00:15 +0000

A Review by Emma Streeton The Story The year is 1917. While struggling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her impressive country home, Greyswick. She arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister fearful. Before long Stella is aware of […]

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Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin

Nalini — Sun, 16 Feb 2020 19:00:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Elle and her friends gatecrash a party on her 16th birthday. Someone drugs her drink. A group of boys date-rape her. She changes her name, her look and her school in order to avenge her innocence. Thus begins a 21st century novel with strong parallels with The Scottish Play, hence […]

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Frozen 2: Forest of Shadows by Kamilla Benko

Nalini — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 19:00:19 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton The Story Frozen 2: Forest of Shadows begins with Elsa absorbed in her role as queen of Arendelle. Anna wants only to be helpful, supporting both her sister and her kingdom. She is struggling to see where she fits in, looking for the role she should play since Elsa’s coronation. […]

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Beast Within by Serena Valentio

Nalini — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 19:00:36 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Beast Within is not to be confused with the 1982 movie of the same name. This novel is an authorized retelling of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast but the ratings could well be interchangeable. Perhaps the title was a bad omen. For those overseas, yes this novel was originally […]

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Agency by William Gibson

Nalini — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 03:30:10 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Verity just landed a new job, working for Tulpagenics testing out a new AI, a more advanced version of Siri and Alexa called Eunice. Eunice identifies as African American (in the beginning). She has attitude and agency. Eunice is the electronic assistant of which you dream. Netherton lives in the […]

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This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay

Nalini — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 19:00:30 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton This Is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor is a collection of diary entries written by Kay during his medical training from 2004 to 2010 within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). During this time Kay specialized in obstetrics and gynecology. His contact with patients in these […]

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Jane in Love by Rachel Givney

Nalini — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 19:00:58 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee A tale of desperation, romance, misunderstanding, feminism with a dash of time travel! Jane in Love has it all! A stunning debut novel from Australian author Rachel Givney, Jane in Love is due for release on February 4th, 2020. As you may imagine, the Jane in the title is none […]

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Evolution of Claire

Nalini — Sun, 02 Feb 2020 19:00:50 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Claire just finished her first year at college. She applied for several internship programs only to wait until the closing date (two days before the internships start) to accept one of them. Her program of choice: Jurassic island. Of course. Against her family’s objections, Claire flies out two days after […]

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Riptides by Kirsten Alexander

Nalini — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 19:00:09 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Set in Queensland, Australia in 1974, Riptides (due for release on 4 February 2020) by Kirsten Alexander centers around siblings Abby and Charlie. She is a twenty something wife and mother, just about to start a new chapter studying law. He is home for Christmas, begrudgingly, away from his life […]

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Good Liar by Nicholas Searle: Book vs Film

Nalini — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 19:00:13 +0000

A comparative review by Annabelle Lee Overview The Good Liar, originally written by Nicholas Searle, has recently been adapted into a film starring Hollywood A-Listers Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren (DVD release February 4th 2020). It tells the story of Roy, an elderly con man using the medium of internet dating to find his next […]

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Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Nalini — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 07:59:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A young Wonder Woman is living on Themyscira trying to live up to her mother’s expectations and trying to overcome others’. She enters a race but sacrifices winning to break the rules and rescue a shipwrecked girl, Alia. There’s a reason for the rules: the island suffers natural disasters while […]

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Carved from Stone and Dream by T Frohock

Nalini — Sun, 19 Jan 2020 19:00:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Carved from Stone and Dream starts several years after Where Oblivion Lives and is a very different novel although it follows the same characters. The year is 1938. The Spanish Nephilim, Los Nefilim, are children of angels and humans with a few exceptions like Diago whose parentage is an angel […]

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Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Nalini — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:35:06 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Do you have any plans for February 27th? You do now. That’s the release date for Dear Edward, the most recent novel from US author Ann Napolitano. This book deserves to be devoured. Dear Edward begins in the airport lounge with a collection of strangers, each boarding the flight for […]

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Saving Missy by Beth Morrey

Nalini — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 19:00:24 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes HarperCollins is publishing Saving Missy in Australia and provided my review copy. However, Penguin Random House is publishing it elsewhere under the title The Love Story of Missy Carmichael, which gives much more positive overtones to the story. The display image is PRH’s because HC hadn’t put their cover on […]

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Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling

Nalini — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 19:00:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Qualityland doesn’t declare its location: the story could be in any Western country in the not-too-far-distant future. Although perhaps the fact that it was first published in Germany is a clue. The story and the translation are brilliant, however. Peter Jobless is named for the job his father did not have […]

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Shadow By Lucy Christopher, illustrated by Anastasia Suvorova

Nalini — Wed, 25 Dec 2019 22:31:32 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee A young girl tells the story of her experience moving with her mother to a new house in the children’s picture book, Shadow, written by Lucy Christopher and illustrated by Anastasia Suvorova. The girl finds an imaginary friend called Shadow, who serves as a metaphor for grief, sadness and loneliness. […]

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Captain Marvel: Higher, Further, Faster by Liza Palmer

Nalini — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 22:12:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Carol Danvers is not yet Captain Marvel. She’s driving towards the US Air Force academy for her first day of airforce college. She’s wanted to fly her whole life. She’s obsessed with driving higher, further, faster. On the way, she sees a woman in a car chasing a sports car […]

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Fairytale Christmas by Merrie Destefano

Nalini — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 19:00:12 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Eire, Queen of the Fairies in Ireland, faces an invading army. Her family and her own troops fight valiantly but many fall in the face of Druid Silver, a poisonous metal that kills her kind. To avoid annihilation, Eire agrees to banishment but that is just the beginning… Review With […]

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Blade Witch by Jenny Schwartz

Nalini — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 19:00:40 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Martha is a Blade Witch who hasn’t been home in 7 years and six months but, dammit, she’s going straight home straight after her current bodyguard contract is done. The only problem is, once her contract is over, her client, Eric, wants to come too. Eric thinks he’s in love […]

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Haunting of Henry Twist by Rebecca F John

Nalini — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 19:00:54 +0000

A Review by Emma Streeton I picked up the Haunting of Henry Twist because the COSTA awards shortlisted it for ‘first novel’ award back in 2017. This usually guarantees a pretty decent read. Reading the title and glancing over the back cover I expected it to be a Gothic ghost tale full of suspense. However, without giving […]

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Trouble at Home by Cate Whittle, illustrated by Kim Gamble

Nalini — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 19:00:54 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee and offspring In Trouble at Home, written by Australian author Cate Whittle, Georgia is on her way home from school one day when she sees a huge dragon carrying off her house with her baby brother inside! Soon the grown ups discover that the house is indeed gone and Godfrey […]

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A Cinderella Story: A Christmas Wish (2019)

Nalini — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 06:00:42 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Kat (Laura Marano, Heroes) is 17, hanging out for her 18th birthday when her stepmother says she might (if Kat is a good girl and does all the things Cinderella is supposed to do) release her trust fund. Meanwhile, Kat is writing and singing songs (autotuned to fuck, disappointing), working […]

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Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

Nalini — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 19:00:44 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I read this book a while ago but forgot to write the review. I picked it up today to read it then the story seemed too familiar… flipping through pages, a feeling of déjà vu crept over me. The Last Namsara is a Middle Eastern style fantasy story with two […]

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Merry Happy Whatever (season 1)

Nalini — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:00:34 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Emmy Quinn (Bridgit Mendler) and her boyfriend Matt (Brent Morin) go to Philadelphia to spend Christmas with Emmy’s family. At the airport, they meet the patriarch of the family, Don Quinn (Dennis Quaid). The meeting goes badly with canned laughter irritating me like nails on a blackboard. Merry Happy Whatever […]

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Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson

Nalini — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 19:00:53 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee The Accidental Further Adventures of the Hundred-Year-Old Man is the sequel to Jonas Jonasson’s hit comedic novel The One Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared and this review contains spoilers for the first book. Given that the main character, Allan Karlsson, was 100 years old at the […]

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Christmas gone perfectly wrong by Cecilia Grant

Nalini — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 19:00:48 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby In the vein of Marian Chesney (think Georgette Heyer but more racy including some sexytimes), comes Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong. Andrew Blackshear travels hours to see a man about a bird (the feathered variety). Lucy Sharp, the man’s daughter, is outrageous. She finagles a ride in his coach to a […]

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Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Nalini — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 19:00:23 +0000

A review by Emma Streeton I recently decided to delve into the 833 pager that is The Labyrinth of the Spirits. Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s previous three Cemetery of Forgotten Books set high expectations. I expected suspense, heart palpitations and mystery. Guess what? I was not disappointed. Those who enjoyed Shadow of the Wind will love […]

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Institute by Stephen King

Nalini — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 19:00:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Tim Jamieson is on a plane to New York when staff and security call on a passenger to give up their seat. Instead of assaulting and dragging a coloured passenger off the plane, these people are respectful. They offer money and accommodation (although it’s crappy) as compensation. So Tim decides […]

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Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Nalini — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 19:00:30 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Lou is many things she isn’t proud of, a liar, a thief… and a witch. She spends her life hiding in plain sight. Being a witch will get you hunted and burned. Reid is all the things he is proud of. He came from nothing, an orphan found in the trash. […]

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Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow

Nalini — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 19:00:26 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes January is a red-skinned child, an oddity in a world that likes to categorise skin colour. Ultimately, people put her in the ‘colored’ category because she’s not white. However, her father’s employer, Mr Locke, is her carer while her father travels the world seeking treasures to increase Mr Locke’s wealth. […]

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Permanent Record by Mary H Choi

Nalini — Thu, 28 Nov 2019 19:00:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Pablo is working in a ‘bodega’ (a new word for me). It’s a sort of corner store I think. One day a celebrity, Lenna Smart, walks in. He’s smitten. She comes back. Cue Cinderella story but curiously lacking any kind of permanent record. All the commitment and sacrifice goes one […]

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Gods and Heroes: Rise of Fire by Brendan Wright

Nalini — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 19:00:05 +0000

A Review by Annabelle Lee Gods and Heroes: Rise of Fire is the first book in a fantasy series written by Australian author Brendan Wright. It is set in the fantasy land of Pandeia, which is an incredibly diverse landscape. It features huge cities, vast ash coloured desert, immense mountain ranges and massive ancient forests. […]

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Bee and the Orange Tree by Melissa Ashley

Nalini — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 19:00:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The blurb — from Affirm Press It’s 1699, and the salons of Paris are bursting with the creative energy of fierce, independent-minded women. But outside those doors, the patriarchal forces of Louis XIV and the Catholic Church are moving to curb their freedoms. In this battle for equality, Baroness Marie […]

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Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Nalini — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 16:38:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Ancient Eight are fraternity houses at Yale in New Haven. The Ninth House is Lethe, the house appointed to oversee the other houses in the hopes of preventing magical disasters. Or at least in the hopes of covering up said magical disasters. Alex Stern is a survivor. She dropped […]

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In Love With George Eliot by Kathy O’Shaughnessy

Nalini — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 19:00:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In Love with George Eliot is a glorious debut novel that tells the compelling story of England’s greatest woman novelist as you’ve never read it before. She has shocked polite society, and women rarely deign to visit her. In secret, though, she has begun writing fiction under the pseudonym George Eliot. […]

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Storm Wake by Lucy Christopher

Nalini — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 19:00:28 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee Storm Wake is a young adult fantasy fiction novel that explores the power of the stories we tell, the truths we create and the secrets we hide. Written by award winning British/Australian author Lucy Christopher, the book centres around a girl called Moss who has lived, stranded, for as long […]

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The Fare (2019)

Nalini — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 23:02:56 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Setting the scene Opening: black and white. A taxi driver, Harris (Gino Anthony Pesi), is heading to pick up the fare in the middle of nowhere. It’s dark. A storm looms on the horizon. The fare is a beautiful woman, Penny (Brinna Kelly). Dressed to the nines, she looks like […]

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Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton and Daniel H Wilson

Nalini — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 19:00:44 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In the Andromeda Strain, the US government captured a sample of toxic space matter that killed dozens of people and nearly escaped containment to destroy the entire planet. Now it has evolved. The Andromeda Evolution is Wilson’s sequel. Cue assembling of scientists, ‘savage’ porters and a half-American guide who threatens […]

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One Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Nalini — Mon, 11 Nov 2019 23:10:32 +0000

A review by Annabelle Lee If you haven’t yet read The One Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared, what have you been doing for the last ten years? It’s not a new book, published way back in 2009 (published in English in 2012), but it’s worth a revisit. The One Hundred-Year-Old Man […]

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Barely Lethal (2015)

Nalini — Sun, 10 Nov 2019 19:00:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Agent 83 aka Megan (Hailee Steinfield) is a barely lethal ‘Prescott Girl’. The US government raised her in a secret facility, training her to become an assassin. She helps take in Victoria Knox (Jessica Alba) but on the way has a fall that should have killed her so she seizes […]

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Holiday in the Wild (2019)

Nalini — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 06:49:55 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Kate’s (Kristin Davis) son leaves for college then, as he walks out the door after this momentous event, her dick of a husband tells her their marriage is over. He’d been planning to break up with her but didn’t want to upset their son by doing it before he left […]

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Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Nalini — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 02:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The story… Zachary Rawlins (never ‘Zach’) is an introvert passionate about books and computer games. During a foray into the fiction section of his university’s library, he finds a book in which he is a character. He reads the book several times in quick succession. He sits in his closet […]

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Bruny by Heather Rose

Nalini — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 23:40:13 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I pick up Bruny, stroke its cover. Turning it over, I puzzle over how the cover seems an inviting orange despite the image of a bushfire, something that terrifies me from my time growing up in Tasmania. Then the pull of ‘home’, the sense of being Tasmanian and yearning for […]

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Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Nalini — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 23:16:26 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In a restrictive society where women’s appearance and every movement is restricted, Tierney is turning 16. For this year, her ‘grace year’, she swaps a white ribbon for a red ribbon on the braid she must wear for her entire life. She and all the other girls of her age […]

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Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer

Nalini — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 20:00:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Miles and Beckett Fowler, Artemis’s 11-year-old twin brothers — the Fowl Twins — are at home alone when a convergence of coincidences sends them off on an adventure. A toy troll (‘toy’ for its size or lack thereof) emerges on the beach of their island home. Duke Bleedham-Drye is hunting […]

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Daughter of Lies and Ruin by Jo Spurrier

Nalini — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 20:00:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In A Curse of Ash and Ember (review here), a summons to work ensures Elodie’s parents allow her to leave home to travel to the mountains to take up service with Mrs Blackbone, a lady. Or so they believe. Turns out Mrs Blackbone is an evil witch who’s dead by the […]

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Rampant by Julie Day

Nalini — Mon, 23 Sep 2019 01:06:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Mel and Gillian live next door to each other in a post-apocalyptic world where the Rapture tried to happen. 6 god-siblings showed but not the full set of seven. Because Rampant was a no-show, the Rapture didn’t happen but the world went to shit anyway. It turns out Christianity was […]

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Cruel Stars by John Birmingham

Nalini — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 03:42:52 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lieutenant Hardy is waiting among the cruel stars while she looks at her reflection, worrying about her off-the-rack dress uniform that does not fit properly. She’s met by a man of slightly lower rank whose motormouth promptly informs her that he’s from a wealthy but not noble family. Then they […]

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Warehouse by Rob Hart

Nalini — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 22:35:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Gibson is the Jeff Bezos of Cloud, The Warehouse‘s version of Amazon. Gibson is dying so he’s touring his empire, a chain of MotherCloud live-work centres across the United States. He’s also blogging his life story. (Cloud is The Warehouse.) Paxton was a businessman sent out of business by Cloud, […]

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Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke

Nalini — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 20:00:59 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Those of you who came in late may not have heard of Pan’s Labyrinth, the Del Toro movie about a little girl living in Spain during World War II. Her mother marries a commander who is seeking out rebels. He’s nearly as brutal to her and his stepdaughter as he […]

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Frankly In Love by David Yoon

Nalini — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 01:30:46 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Frankly In Love is an adorable coming-of-age story that centres around Frank Li, a Korean American teenager with a crush on his best friend’s sister. However, he’ll never act on that crush because his best friend — and therefore the sister — are African Americans. Frank’s parents disowned his sister […]

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Monuments by Will Kostakis

Nalini — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 20:00:35 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Connor Giannopolos is a 16 year old private school student in Sydney when he wags class (skips class). While skyving off a the top of a bell tower he finds a trapdoor. And so he falls into Wonderland, figuratively speaking. He discovers that five gods, called Monuments, created the world. […]

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Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay

Nalini — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 20:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Somlata is a Hindu living in Bangladesh. So this novella follows on from my recent viewing of Viceroy’s House. Somlata is newly married to an impoverished aristocratic layabout. To survive, she manipulates him into opening a shop before they cash out all their assets. Familial politics are treacherous, especially when […]

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From Time To Time (2009)

Nalini — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 20:00:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Tolly (Alex Etel) arrives at a train station during World War II, to be met by Boggis (Timothy Spall, Wormtail in Harry Potter), who is Tolly’s grandmother’s servant. Tolly’s grandmother is the indomitable Dame Maggie Smith. Shortly after arriving at Grandmother’s manor, called Green Knowe, Tolly discovers that, from time to […]

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This is Gomorrah by Tom Chatfield

Nalini — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 03:39:34 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes This is Gomorrah opens by convincing me it’s not Gomorrah, it’s hell. ISIS recruited Western brothers, one of whom sees the other shot by enemies while trying to take Syria. The survivor takes lots of photos of his brother’s corpse in the hopes of winning the social media war. That […]

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I Am Change by Suzy Zail

Nalini — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 20:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lilian is a Ugandan girl dreaming of teaching while adults tell her she won’t amount to anything. The best she can hope for is to marry and keep her husband happy. At home her aunt teaches her to satisfy her husband sexually. While at school her education includes humiliations by […]

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Eyes of Tamburah by Maria V Snyder

Nalini — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:00:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Shyla is ‘sun-kissed’, born with brown skin but blonde hair, so her parents left her to die in the desert. An order of monks found her, a highly unlikely coincidence in the described conditions. The monks raised her until she was 18 then, when she refused to take her oath […]

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Viceroy’s House (2016)

Nalini — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 20:00:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lord Mountbatten (Hugh Bonneville) and family arrive in India to live in Viceroy’s House while overseeing India’s transition to independence. Britain syphoned off India’s wealth and manipulated its society for three centuries. Therefore, preparing India for independence is a gargantuan task. Mountbatten’s wife Edwina (Gillian Anderson, Scully from the X-Files) […]

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This Hasn’t Been A Very Magical Journey So Far by Homeless

Nalini — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 20:00:47 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hank Williams (self-named) is in a hospital. He’s dead when Sid, an orange cat wearing a black leather jacket, half helps and half kidnaps him. Hank Williams and Sid ride off in a beaten up old van called Nancy. Hank Williams — never just Hank, never just Williams — has […]

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This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Nalini — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 05:37:36 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Red is a super-human woman wandering the highways and byways of space, time and quantum universes. Her job is tweaking timeline strands, braiding them together, to ensure her Agency wins the Time War. Blue is a super-human woman, an elite if slightly estranged-from-her-collective warrior in the Time War. Her job […]

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The Happiness Quest by Richard Yaxley

Nalini — Tue, 09 Jul 2019 20:00:59 +0000

A commentary by Nalini Haynes Tilley used to be happy or at least ‘average’ but now depression clouds her thoughts and days. Anxiety harangues her, fears of death, fears of decay haunt her. Macy, Tilley’s best friend, prescribes Tilley food and a dog (without asking before getting the dog) and demands that Tilley stop moping. […]

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Where Oblivion Lives by T Frohock

Nalini — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 20:00:22 +0000

A review essay by Nalini Haynes Where Oblivion Lives is a historical fantasy novel based on meticulous historical research. Diago is a member of the Los Nefilim, the Spanish branch of the nefilim. Nefilim are descended from angels and/or daemons who mated with humans. Diago has angel, daemon and human heritage so his history and […]

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Speechless season 1

Nalini — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 20:00:01 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes JJ (Micah Fowler) has cerebal palsy in Speechless and in real life. He uses a wheelchair to get around and a speech board to communicate. He’s sharp and funny despite being ‘speechless’. Maya (Minnie Driver) is as nutty as almond milk. She’s JJ’s caring mother who fights for her son […]

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Daughter Of Bad Times by Rohan Wilson

Nalini — Sun, 30 Jun 2019 20:00:30 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Yamaan is a refugee in a migrant detention centre on Eaglehawk Neck, Tasmania. This centre is a combination of Australia’s refugee camps on Manus and Nauru and a privatised prison providing slave labor. Historical convict prison Port Arthur is nearby, emphasising the historical reference. Rin is the Daughter Of Bad […]

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Promise by Alexandra Alt

Nalini — Fri, 28 Jun 2019 04:15:59 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lene is a teenager in World War II Nazi Germany, attending BDM (a Nazi girls’ group) while her love interest Ludwig attends Hitler’s Youth. The titular promise is that of young love. Both struggle, knowing that Nazi ideology hurts people, that people are being imprisoned and murdered by millions. Both […]

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All That Impossible Space by Anna Morgan

Nalini — Sun, 16 Jun 2019 20:00:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lara Laylor is 16 years old and in grade 10 in a $20,000 per annum private school in Melbourne. She thinks about all that impossible space in many ways. (What is it with Australian YA authors and private schools? Am I the only person who went to a public school? […]

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Bride Test by Helen Hoang

Nalini — Sun, 09 Jun 2019 20:00:46 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Khai is Vietnamese American with a large extended family. After his cousin died as a teenager, Khai is convinced he is broken, with a heart of stone and unable to love because his grief doesn’t meet others’ expectations. He isolates himself, avoiding using the phone (he learned of the accident […]

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Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom by P M Freestone

Nalini — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 20:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Rakel is a poor teenager with a gift for creating perfumes alongside creativity that has resulted developing unique skills when harvesting and processing the plants that are her ingredients. She sells her products on the black market, which has its risks. Her father is dying of the Rot, a flesh-eating […]

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A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird

Nalini — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 01:02:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Super gumboots Willa is aged 8. Middle Willa is aged 33. Silver Willa is aged 93. They are all the same person. In 2050, Silver Willa is (word of the day) catawampus (adjective): awry or askew. She picked up an ocean in a soggy box at the post office. Willa […]

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Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Nalini — Sun, 02 Jun 2019 20:00:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Jane tells her story in Dread Nation, the United States as a nation fallen during the 19th century civil war when the dead rose from their graves to attack both the North and South. Jane is trained as an Attendant. Think ‘Handmaiden’ but instead of being ritually raped, Attendants are […]

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Zombies vs Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Nalini — Sun, 26 May 2019 20:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Zombies vs Unicorns is an anthology of short stories about — you guessed it — zombies and unicorns. Black and Larbalestier’s preface and dialogue woven between chapters provides the zombies VS unicorns aspect. Black is pro-unicorn while Larbalestier advocates brain eating in all things. Stories about pet unicorns that grow into […]

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Mindcull by K H Canobi

Nalini — Tue, 21 May 2019 20:00:56 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Mindcull is launching on 30 May 2019 at Robinson’s Bookshop in Melbourne! Eila is invited to a Big Brother House type event for vloggers in this near-future speculative fiction novel. Although Eila is 16 and the other contestants are adults, Eila goes alone. With some kind of NSA-type agency bullying […]

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The ‘Adults’ by Caroline Hulse

Nalini — Sun, 19 May 2019 20:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The ‘Adults’ is a romantic dark comedy about couples who are trying to be adults after a parenting couple (Claire and Matt) separated and found other partners. This idea is all well and good, but the incompetent Matt whose idea of dealing with unpleasant mail (like bills) is to ‘lose’ […]

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Time and Time Again by Ben Elton

Nalini — Sun, 12 May 2019 20:00:46 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hugh Stanton travels back in time to 1914 to change the twentieth century so it doesn’t end up in the disaster that it became. When Isaac Newton had his ‘nervous breakdown’, he discovered relativity centuries before Einstein and predicted a cross-over point allowing someone from 2022 to travel to 1914. […]

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Echidna Jim Went for a Swim by Phil Cummings and Laura Wood

Nalini — Tue, 07 May 2019 20:00:59 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes On the surface Echidna Jim Went For A Swim is a cute picture book for little children about an echidna and his friends going to the beach for a day. It’s a bit short: I prefer picture books with a bit more substance. Even three year olds have longer attention […]

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Fandom by Anna Day

Nalini — Sun, 05 May 2019 20:00:14 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Violet, Katie, Nate and Alice all love the book Gallows Dance by Sally King. Gallows Dance is a sensation that even had a movie. The foursome head to ComicCon to have their photos taken with the lead actor but have an accident, waking up in the world of the Gallows […]

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Space Alien at Planet Dad by Lucinda Gifford

Nalini — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 20:00:08 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Space Alien at Planet Dad is a picture book for young children. Every Saturday Jake visits Planet Dad where Dad is awesome and they do awesome things together, until one day a Space Alien invades Jake’s space. This is a cute book with an engaging story and colourful drawings for […]

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Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Nalini — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 20:00:38 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I wrote this review in 2016 and left it in drafts. With uni, disability discrimination and assaults, this review of the Liveship Traders Trilogy was forgotten until now. My tastes have changed. The books are a dim memory after the past 2 years of hell. In the beginning… Althea Vestrit […]

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Star Trek TNG s01e05: Where No One Has Gone Before

Nalini — Fri, 26 Apr 2019 20:00:38 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Spoilers, Sweetie Kosinski (Stanley Kamel) is an arrogant engineer hurtled into the Admiralty’s good books when his gobbledygook engineering formula produces unwarranted results. “You don’t understand,” seems to be his typical response. His mysterious assistant, an alien known only as “my assistant”, raises no questions, not even from security personnel. […]

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Stop Being Reasonable by Eleanor Gordon-Smith

Nalini — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 01:39:49 +0000

Gordon-Smith is a philosopher and reformed debater. Her mind was changed. She says it's time to stop being reasonable because coherent logical argument is futile when money-hungry agent provocateurs

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Cyclone by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

Nalini — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 20:00:26 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Cyclone tells the story of the cyclone that destroyed Darwin in the 1970s in rhyming verse with evocative watercolour illustrations. While the cyclone rips through Darwin, families separated. The cyclone ruins Christmas and families lose all their worldly possessions. However, they rebuild, they endure. And Christmas is around the corner […]

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99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

Nalini — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 20:00:37 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Darcy Barrett and Tom Valeska have known each other since they were eight years old, and Darcy has had a crush on him since then. Now Tom has broken up with Megan, his girlfriend of eight years, and he’s renovating Darcy’s grandmother’s house that was left to Darcy and her […]

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Star Trek TNG s01e04: The Last Outpost

Nalini — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 20:00:24 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The USS Enterprise pursues what they suspect is a Ferengi ship. The Ferengi are little more than rumours to Federation citizens; records don’t even include images of the race. The Ferengi ship and the Enterprise come to a stop above a deserted planet, the former home of a powerful empire now […]

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Pocket Dogs and the Lost Kitten by Margaret Wild and Stephen Michael King

Nalini — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 20:00:59 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Pocket Dogs and the Lost Kitten is about two toy dogs who love their carer, Mr Pockets, but a stray kitten moves in. At first the pocket dogs are happy to welcome the kitten. Then they get jealous, fearing they will be displaced. Mr Pockets talks to them, explaining […]

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Emergency Contact by Mary H K Choi

Nalini — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 20:00:29 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Emergency Contact is a young adult coming-of-age romance. Penny heads off to college, relieved at leaving behind her mother who’s a stereotypical MILF. Penny wants to write. (Sound familiar?) Simon looks goth, cooks and shares the running of a cafe while attending community college because he’s too short of cash […]

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Vox by Christina Dalcher

Nalini — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 20:00:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Jean McClellan is a wife and mother, removed from the workforce by white male supremacists who’ve decided the way to fix society is to segregate the ‘inferior’ and put bands on female’s wrists to administer escalating shocks when the wearer has spoken over 100 words in a day. Her son […]

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Cicada by Shaun Tan

Nalini — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 20:00:59 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Cicada works in an office job, possibly in the public service or at a university. He’s been there a very long time. He’s disregarded by his colleagues. He seems lonely. This adorable book is mostly illustrated in shades of grey because Cicada’s world is so bleak, but these shades are […]

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No Limits by Ellie Marney

Nalini — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 23:21:15 +0000

No Limits for Harris Derwent, a bad boy but he's not so bad that he wants to be a drug mule, not even when a friend offers him a job could get him out of his father's house. Amie is a nursing assistant in the local hospital. Her Punjabi family ties keep her in this small town although she had dreams of being a photographer. They meet in hospital, Amie caring for Harris after he was shot helping a friend. Sargent Blunt, Amie's father, encourages Harris to accept a job as a runner for a drug ring so Blunt can take down some local drug dealers before his health forces him to retire.

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Wisp: A Story of Hope by Zana Fraillon and Grahame Baker-Smith

Nalini — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 20:00:48 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes One day a wisp lands at Idris’s feet, feet trapped in a dark refugee camp surrounded by rolls of barbed wire. Idris finds the wisp’s owner, who remembers better days, days of hope and wonder. This happens many times, showing Idris colour and sights he’s never seen. Then, one day, […]

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Pirate Songs in the Accessing the Future anthology

Nalini — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 07:27:38 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I began reading the Accessing the Future anthology (edited by Kathryn Allan and Djibril al-Ayad) at the beginning because that seemed to be a very good place to start. My advice? Skip the acknowledgements, preface and introduction, at least until after you’ve read the anthology. There is a lot of repetition between […]

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Daintree by Annie Seaton

Nalini — Sun, 07 Apr 2019 20:57:13 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby A while ago I read Daintree by Annie Seaton, a romance between two doctors based in — you guessed it — the Daintree forest. It’s a reunion-style romance after their initial relationship went awry. Overall I enjoyed it but it’s a classic case of ‘AUTHOR, DO YOUR RESEARCH!’ Some of […]

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Disabling Characters: Representations of Disability in Young Adult Literature by Patricia A Dunn

Nalini — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 01:57:16 +0000

Patricia Dunn selected several Young Adult literature texts for discussion in Disabling Characters: Representations of Disability in Young Adult Literature, which focuses on teaching disability via literature to improve inclusion in the classroom and in society. Disabilities in the narratives include deafness, vision impairment, acquired spinal injury and wheelchair users’ impairments. Dunn groups two or […]

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Carved from Stone and Dream T Frohock

Nalini — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 19:00:49 +0000

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A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier

Nalini — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:34:29 +0000

A Curse of Ash and Ember is book 1 of the Tales of the Blackbone Witches. Elodie is restless; she’s a prisoner in her own home, a regular Cinderella at her stepfather’s whim. She dreams of leaving then, one day, her mother receives a letter summoning Elodie to service at Mistress Blackbone’s in the mountains. […]

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Asshole Survival Guide by Robert Sutton

Nalini — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 02:47:36 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Last year I read How To Be An Academic by the Thesis Whisperer, Inger Mewburn (I recommend her book); Mewburn recommends The Asshole Survival Guide, so I bought a copy. Like all researchers I’m overwhelmed by my researching reading pile, so I didn’t get around to picking up The Asshole Survival […]

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The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Nalini — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 01:44:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Camellia Beauregard is one of the Belles; she was born with colour in Orleans, a magical archipelago where the God of the Sky cursed the people because the Goddess of Beauty loved them more than he. The God of the Sky turned the people all gray with red eyes; Belles have […]

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Persepolis Rising by James S A Corey

Nalini — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 05:15:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Persepolis Rising is the 7th book in The Expanse novel series that is entwined with 6 ‘short fictions’ located as prequels and in the interstices. The novels continue to follow James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante just like the TV series. However, a little like George R R […]

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Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King

Nalini — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 23:02:30 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lila Norcross is the sheriff of a small town in Midwest America, struggling to hold it together after learning that her husband had a daughter to another woman after they were married. Clint Norcross doesn’t know why his wife seems out of sorts. Meanwhile he idly reflects on the buffedness […]

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How to stop time by Matt Haig

Nalini — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 06:13:44 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In 16th century England, Tom Hazard’s mother is accused and tried for witchcraft because Tom doesn’t appear to have aged in the years since pre-pubescence. Witch trials were notorious: suspects were dunked in deep water. If they drowned, they were innocent; if they survived, they were burnt at the stake. Tom’s […]

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Defenders (2017)

Nalini — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 07:38:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Once upon a time there was the brilliant 5 star TV series Jessica Jones, starring a kick-ass female protagonist (Krysten Ritter) dealing with her former lover and current stalker. Then there was the almost-as-good TV series Luke Cage, with a bullet-proof African American (Mike Colter) looking after his own in […]

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Corpselight by Angela Slatter

Nalini — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 15:40:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Corpselight is Verity Fassbinder book 2; in book one, Verity learns she’s half-fae and her father was a monster, even by fae standards. She ends up policing the fae, ensuring the peace and the secret of their existence is kept from mortals. Book one also had time for romance, which […]

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My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen by David Clawson

Nalini — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 01:14:13 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Chris Bellows lives in a house with his alcoholic step-mother, stunning but spoilt step-sister and hunky step-brother of ambiguous intelligence level. After Chris’s dad committed suicide — a GFC termination — Chris works his ass off to maintain a scholarship at his private school and look after his step-family so […]

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Leviathan Wakes vs The Expanse

Nalini — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 20:00:12 +0000

A review/commentary by Nalini Haynes Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away… Actually, in this galaxy. Actually, in this solar system. The story is set a few centuries in the future when Humanity has settled Mars and the asteroid belt but international politics is just as fucked as it is today. This […]

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Rise and Fall of the D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

Nalini — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 20:00:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Melisande Stokes is a linguist at Harvard, enticed away from academic life by Tristan Lyons, a mysterious man claiming to be a government agent with quite a large budget. Translating Tristan’s documents is an eye-opener for Melisande, who learns, first, of magic then of time travel. Magic used to be […]

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CHIPS (2017)

Nalini — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 00:55:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes 40 years after the TV series started airing, a CHIPS movie hit screens — and the movie spoofs the TV series! Dax Shepard plays Jon Baker, a motorcyclist stuntman who’s had more accidents than I’ve had hot dinners (at least recently! J ). His wife has taken over their house, […]

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The Ones That Disappeared by Zana Fraillon

Nalini — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 05:33:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ezra, Miran and Isa are children living in slavery, tending opium plans in a basement in Australia. They’re rarely allowed outside, instead they have to ration their food and collect their water from the sprinkler system. Eventually there’s a fire, destroying the plants. They’re lucky — the sprinkler system came […]

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Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

Nalini — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 20:00:55 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Humpty Dumpty fell off his wall and broke into hundreds of pieces. Detective Jack Spratt and Sergeant Mary Mary of the Nursery Crimes Division investigate his death while Mrs Singh pieces Humpty back together to determine cause of death. The Big Over Easy may appear a random choice for review […]

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Kong: Skull Island

Nalini — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 20:00:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A US soldier and a Japanese fighter crash on Wonder Woman’s island. There can’t be two islands that look the same. Bill Randa (John Goodman) rocks up to lobby a senator in Washington. The first dialogue in the movie was Randa getting out of a taxi saying something to the effect […]

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Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield and Kate Fillion

Nalini — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 20:00:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Commander Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who sang Space Oddity while floating in the International Space Station and who did science experiments for school children, was the best thing to ever happen to the space program. Now he’s teamed up with another author, Kate Fillion, and a couple of illustrators, […]

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Patriots Day (2016)

Nalini — Tue, 23 May 2017 20:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes It’s Patriots Day, April 15 2013, and the Boston Marathon is about to start. Mark Wahlberg plays Tommy Saunders, a homicide cop who’s been in trouble at work so his ‘reward’ is to be on the finishing line like an overpaid meter maid according to his fellow officers who give […]

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Selling the Dream by Hugh Mackay

Nalini — Tue, 16 May 2017 06:26:17 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Lincoln the Hunter is suspiciously like Russell Howcroft from ABC’s Gruen, springing to 3D life in the pages of Selling the Dream. Like Russell, Lincoln would be happy to sell the planet to make a few bucks out of bottled water. But Linc’s latest advertising campaign is even more dire: […]

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Remind me how this ends by Gabrielle Tozer

Nalini — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 04:13:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Milo has been branded a loser by just about everyone he knows. He’s from a small country town (more of a small rurally-located city because it has a bookshop). After high school, nearly everyone he went to school with left, except him. Even his girlfriend moved to Canberra, three hours […]

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Beauty and the Beast (2016)

Nalini — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 20:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Beauty and the Beast opens with Belle (Emma Watson) living in a village in France, wandering around with her nose in a book and being abused for teaching another girl to read. She lives with her father, Maurice (Kevin Kline), a Geppetto-type who takes a clockwork diorama to market to […]

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Logan (2017)

Nalini — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 05:30:06 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Logan (Hugh Jackman) is back. Again. At least this time he wasn’t in a remake of his own origin story. This time he’s an aging, suffering, dying mutant-who-cannot-age-or-die. He’s looking after Professor Charles Xavier (the mentor and telepath) who miraculously survived the bloodbath at the end of X-men 3. Logan […]

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Underworld: Blood Wars (2016)

Nalini — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 05:11:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Death dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is back, older but trying to look the same, replacing Bill Nighy with Charles Dance as Thomas and introducing new (vampire) coven politics to justify another blood bath, a new phase of the eternal war between the vampires and werewolves. David (Theo James) seeks Selene because […]

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The Awesomes season 1

Nalini — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 20:00:09 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Awesomes is an animated superhero comedy created by Seth Meyers and Michael Shoemaker, both known for late night comedy shows like Saturday Night Live. Proc (Professor Doctor aka Seth Meyers) is Captain Awesome’s (Captain America spoof) son and a disappointment to his father who, upon his retirement, wants to […]

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Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (book & movie)

Nalini — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 09:16:04 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them begins with Tina (Katherine Waterston), dressed in early 20th century clothing, eating a hotdog while watching Mary Lou (Samantha Morton) preach against magical creatures to a crowd. Newt (Eddie Redmayne) alights from a ship with a somewhat animated suitcase to which he utters soothing words. […]

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Walkaway by Cory Doctorow

Nalini — Wed, 15 Mar 2017 07:06:54 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Etcetera and Seth attend a Communist Party: an event where a lot of people gather at a disused factory, get the machinery going and 3D print whatever the factory used to make. Some are just playing but some people need the furniture and try to take it with them. Etcetera […]

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Thorne by Charlotte McConaghy

Nalini — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 19:00:20 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Finn is a rebel without a cause, a seemingly bipolar teenager. When she sees Prince Thorne, the son of ‘The Slaughterman’ from Pirenti, she rushes towards him. Her eyes glow golden when they look upon each other, which, for Kayans, usually means they’ve bonded as partners for life. However, this […]

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Danger Mouse (2015)

Nalini — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 20:44:56 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A long time ago in the time of the dinosaurs, Danger Mouse and Penfold (two actual albeit cartoon mice) saved the world time and again under the supervision of Colonel K, and often from the dastardly schemes of Baron Greenback. Recently I received a Danger Mouse DVD for review. To […]

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Arrival (2016)

Nalini — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 19:00:42 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Arrival is a science fiction movie where alien ships that look like rocks you’d skip over a lake come to Earth. It’s a race to learn their language. First Louise Banks (Amy Adams) has a baby. The baby grows up, contracts a rare disease and dies. Louise teaches languages in […]

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Travelers season 1

Nalini — Sat, 04 Feb 2017 06:21:54 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Travelers is yet another made-for-television time travel story. Although far from the first in its genre in the past few years, it’s one of the more intelligent. Travelers have their consciousness transported through time to overwrite the minds of existing people who, effectively, die. Only people who died according to […]

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This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

Nalini — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 19:00:52 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Rosie is a student at med school when she meets Penn, an aspiring author. She tells Penn she doesn’t have time for a boyfriend because she’s in a medical residency so Penn woos her by sitting in Emergency, writing, during her 36 hour shifts. Penn tells Rosie a fairy story, […]

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The Albino Redwoods by Heather Nelson

Nalini — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 19:00:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Joey is a Caucasian girl living in a world where albinos (never ‘persons with albinism’) rule. Society is segregated into Pigs (people with pigment) and albinos. The purer one’s albinism, the higher their rank and wealth. Joey experiences daily discrimination in an apartheid society because of her light brown hair […]

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Avery by Charlotte McConaghy

Nalini — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 19:00:31 +0000

The Chronicles of Kaya book 1 A review by Nalini Haynes Avery is 25 years old when he dies during an assassination attempt: they were trying to kill the queen of a neighbouring kingdom. Avery and his girlfriend, Ava, are the ‘good guys’ though: the Barbarian Queen promotes violence and bloodshed as a way of life. In […]

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Vamps (2012)

Nalini — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 19:00:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Goody (Alicia Silverstone) and Stacy (Krysten Ritter) are BFF vamps who share the same apartment in New York, texting each other from their respective coffins during the day. Like Whedon’s Angel, they drink from animals not humans. They even belong to Sanguination Anonymous, a 12-step program for vampires who say […]

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Secret Ministry of Frost by Nick Lake

Nalini — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 19:00:03 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, ‘Frost at Midnight’, begins ‘The frost performs its secret ministry’. The Secret Ministry of Frost is heavily influenced by the poem. Light is an albino. Not a person with albinism (PWA) but an albino. Her father disappeared from a research station in the Arctic and has been declared dead […]

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Daughter of Blood by Helen Lowe

Nalini — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 19:00:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Daughter of Blood is book 3 in Lowe’s Wall of Night quartet, an award-winning epic fantasy science fiction series set on an alien world. Heir of Night is book 1 and The Gathering of the Lost is book 2. The stakes are high: the Derai people fled from the Swarm, […]

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The Refugees (TV series)

Nalini — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 19:00:15 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Refugees is a science fiction TV series about people from the future transporting themselves into the present “because we had no choice” and how a small town copes with the refugees. Initially I thought this sounded promising, especially with current attitudes towards refugees, but this series promises to reinforce […]

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Blacklist (TV series)

Nalini — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 19:00:30 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington (James Spader) walks into FBI headquarters, alerts authorities then kneels on the seal so they won’t shoot him when they arrest him. (It’s ok, he’s white.) He has a blacklist of bad guys not even on the FBI’s radar and he wants them all dead or in […]

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Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton

Nalini — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 19:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Set in 17th century Europe, Margaret the First is historical fiction of an author and feminist from the era of Elizabethan, Cromwell and Charles II. The author, Danielle Dutton, was inspired by A Room With A View and Virginia Woolf’s writing on Margaret, who became Duchess of Newcastle. While reminding readers […]

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Designated Survivor (TV series)

Nalini — Sun, 01 Jan 2017 19:00:12 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Tom Kirman (Keifer Sutherland) is no longer FBI agent Jack Bower. (Thank you! I was sick of the poor writing in that series by the end of season one, and that was BEFORE I started reviewing!) Now he’s a hesitant bureaucrat, Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, and designated survivor […]

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Trepalium season 1

Nalini — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 19:00:02 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Trepalium is a short TV season from France with English subtitles, set in a 1984-style dystopian France where a wall divides the 20% who are the ‘haves’ and the 80% who are the ‘have nots’. Izia (Léonie Simaga) is a mum in The Zone, the walled-in area for the unemployed. She’s […]

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Regression (2016)

Nalini — Fri, 30 Dec 2016 05:35:17 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes A spoilery review. You have been warned. Regression begins with a note on screen stating that this story is inspired by true events. In other words, Regression is fiction based upon an inspirational grain of sand. This is so common that making this statement is superfluous and it confuses viewers into believing […]

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Supergirl season 1

Nalini — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 19:00:06 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Kara (Melissa Benoist) flees her home planet of Krypton in a space ship minutes after her cousin was launched, heading to Earth. Her parents tell her to look after her cousin but, because of a freak accident, she arrives years later when her cousin has already come out as Superman. […]

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Christmas with the Kranks (2004)

Nalini — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 19:00:18 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes This is a spoilery review. You have been warned. Tis the season to go nuts because it’s Christmas. Christmas with the Kranks. In this movie, very loosely based on the superior John Grisham novella by the same name, the Kranks are a middle aged couple who decide to save over […]

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Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Nalini — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 19:00:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Strange the Dreamer is Lazlo Strange’s nickname because his head is in the clouds and his research is in the mythology of his world: fairy tales, myths and the lost city of Weep. Lazlo was one of hundreds of orphans during a plague in his home city, hence the name ‘Strange’, […]

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Rogue One (2016)

Nalini — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 01:48:24 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Rogue One is the latest Star Wars movie but this one is set just before A New Hope (1977), the original Star Wars movie. Jyn Erso (played by Felicity Jones when she grows up) is a small child when her father tells her and her mother to run and hide. […]

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Perfect Christmas (2012) aka Holly’s Holiday

Nalini — Sun, 18 Dec 2016 19:00:04 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Holly (Claire Coffee) wants a perfect life with the perfect man and a perfect Christmas. She slips and falls on the pavement on her way to work one pre-Christmas morning. Shortly afterwards, a new (perfect) man appears in her life, someone who looks suspiciously like a mannequin in a shopfront […]

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Mechanic Resurrection (2016)

Nalini — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 01:01:52 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Mechanic, Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham), faked his own death in the previous Mechanic movie (that I haven’t seen). It sounds like a splodey fest where he rescued Mei (Michelle Yeoh), who now acts as caretaker for Bishop’s hut in a remote tropical island visited only by locals and tourists. And […]

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Girl In Time by John Birmingham

Nalini — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 08:00:10 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Cady lives in an alternate reality where Hillary Clinton won the election. (I suspect Birmo expected her to win but, strangely, this version works with the storyline. Note: I AM AUSTRALIAN. SO IS JOHN BIRMINGHAM. Hence “John Birmingham” = “Birmo”.) Cady is a kick-ass programmer who’s expecting a cool $4 […]

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Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) PG

Nalini — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 19:00:53 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a family movie with a PG rating based on Wild Pork and Watercress, a book by Barry Crump. Ricky (Julian Dennison) is a troubled teen forced into foster care because “he’s trouble, this one”; according to his care worker, Paula (Rachel House), he litters, graffitis and other […]

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Sully (2016)

Nalini — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 19:00:57 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In 2009 a flock of birds struck a US Airlines plane, destroying both engines. Without propulsion, the plane was going down fast. Captain Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) — Sully — landed that beast in the Hudson River. Sully the movie tells that story and the story of the aftermath where the […]

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Kakadu Sunset by Annie Seaton

Nalini — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 19:00:15 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Kakadu Sunsets are gorgeous but underlying danger lurks, threatening the lives of locals and tourists alike. Ellie Porter is a helicopter pilot taking tourists on scenic flights over Kakadu, a World Heritage listed park in the Northern Territory in Australia. Her family fractured after her father’s suicide so, although she has […]

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Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion

Nalini — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 19:00:18 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The author of The Rosie Project has done it again: he’s knocked it out of the park with another novel that subverts genres and expectations. The Best of Adam Sharp is a story of middle age, love, lust and finding your way. I want to put it in the […]

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Legends of Tomorrow season 1

Nalini — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 19:00:08 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes DC’s minor superheroes are the Legends of Tomorrow, men and women whose contribution to history is negligible, are recruited by Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill aka Rory from Doctor Who) to travel through time to find villainous Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) who killed Rip’s wife and son and destroyed the future. With […]

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On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas (2015)

Nalini — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 19:00:02 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Freshman Maggie (Brooke Nevin from Breakout Kings and Scorpion) is working at the campus radio station on the twelfth day of Christmas when her ride home for Christmas leaves early. Mitch (Robin Dunne from Sanctuary), the DJ, is going the same way so offers her a lift. On the highway […]

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Suicide Squad (2016)

Nalini — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 23:59:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Amanda Waller wants to put together a new kick-ass team to beat the next Superman in case he’s not as altruistic as the last one. She presents her selected team: Harley Quinn (Margo Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Katana (Karen Fukuhara), Diablo (Jay […]

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The Crown season 1

Nalini — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 19:00:26 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Netflix has joined the trend of screen productions focusing on the British Monarchy by bringing us The Crown, a season that begins with Elizabeth (Claire Foy) about to marry Phillip (Matt Smith) and ends in the mid-1950s. We follow a naive princess homemaking for her demanding husband only to be […]

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Goodwood by Holly Throsby

Nalini — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:00:41 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Jean is in her final year of high school in Goodwood, a small Australian country town in 1992, when people start to go missing. First it’s Rosie White, a year older than Jean, who disappears without a trace leaving everything behind. Then, a week later, it’s Bart Macdonald, the local […]

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Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

Nalini — Sun, 20 Nov 2016 19:00:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Tilly Dunnage, the dressmaker, returns to a small Australian town in the 1950s to look after her mother, colloquially known as ‘Mad Molly’. The locals despise Molly, who was mistress to respected Councilman Pettyman. Their loathing of Tilly is far worse because of her involvement, as a ten year old, […]

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Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Nalini — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 19:00:11 +0000

The third in the reboot/new universe series, Star Trek Beyond has the distinction of being co-written by Simon Pegg, a science fiction aficionado, fanboy and successful writer in his own right. IMDB says: The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and […]

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Doctor Strange (2016)

Nalini — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 02:46:37 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Doctor Strange is another comic book superhero movie from Marvel so it’s from the most popular comic book–movie stable with a tried-and-true formula. In this iteration, Benedict Cumberbatch is Doctor Strange and Tilda Swinton is his mentor in Katmandu, once he’s had his car accident (totally his fault) and couldn’t […]

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Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

Nalini — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 19:00:22 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Twenty years after the first Independence Day movie, humanity expects the aliens to return and they’re ready. Or so they think. In the beginning there is some good character work, setting up Jake (Liam Hemsworth) and his fiancé Patricia Whitmore (Maika Monroe) to be a likeable couple in whom the audience […]

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Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2016)

Nalini — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 19:00:17 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Jake (Asa Butterfield) is at school when he’s called to help his grandfather, Abe Portman (Terrence Stamp) who Jake believes has dementia. When he arrives, the house is trashed and a trail leads him into the woods where he finds his grandfather, dying and eye-less. Abe tells Jake to find […]

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We Were On A Break by Lindsey Kelk

Nalini — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 19:00:13 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Liv and Adam are on holiday. Liv’s best friend Cassie told her Adam is going to propose and it’s the last night. Everything goes wrong. They have a fight on the plane home then Adam says he wants a break from Liv. Liv sees Adam kissing another girl. Liv’s besties set […]

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Boy Made Of Blocks by Keith Stuart

Nalini — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 19:00:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Alex has left home, his marriage is in tatters, his son is unable to engage. While Alex holes up at his best mate’s, Dan’s, flat, he’s confronted with ripples of the past affecting the present: Alex’s brother, George, was killed outside their primary school’s gates. Filled with self-pity and blaming his […]

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Star Wars Aftermath 2: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig

Nalini — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 19:00:38 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Aftermath 1 brought together a new rag-tag group working for freedom in the name of the Rebellion/New Republic while the tattered remnants of the Empire fought for survival, planning a war to recoup their losses. Aftermath 2: Life Debt rejoins our rag-tag band while they’re breaking into strongholds to kidnap […]

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Whisper To Me by Nick Lake

Nalini — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 19:00:23 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Shelby is walking along a beach when she finds a foot in a shoe. No body, just a foot. She reports it to the police then, before she even leaves the police station, she starts hearing a voice. At first she thinks it’s the voice of one of a serial […]

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Today will be different by Maria Semple

Nalini — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 19:00:12 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Eleanor Flood starts out with #firstworldproblems like needing to make a resolution to only wear yoga pants when doing yoga, which she will actually attend. Eleanor’s mantra-resolution could almost have been extracted from Alanis Morissette’s ‘Incomplete’, so she seems relatable on many levels. Also, this mantra-resolution explains the title, Today Will […]

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Luke Cage season 1

Nalini — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 19:00:40 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Over the long weekend, the minion and I watched the entire first season of Luke Cage. For those who came in late: Luke Cage (Mike Colter) was Jessica Jones’s sex toy (in a different TV series) then he left to live in Harlem, hiding out from the bad people. The […]

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Warcraft (2016)

Nalini — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 19:00:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes After years of a strategy game followed by an MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online game), Warcraft has a definitive legacy and mythology with which a huge player base is familiar. Then along comes Warcraft the movie, seeking to do something different, changing the history, trying to engage viewers who don’t play […]

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Valdur the Viking and the Ghostly Goths by Craig Cormick

Nalini — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 01:51:27 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Valdur the Viking emerges from a pickle barrel after eating nearly all the pickles to discover all the Vikings on his father’s ship have disappeared. A few other kids emerge then they set off to save Valdur’s dad. The Goths have captured the grown ups. Goths, you say? They’re all […]

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Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Nalini — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 20:00:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Celestine is a perfect girl with perfect grades and the perfect boyfriend. Her mother is a model and her father runs a TV station. The only fly in her ointment is her not-quite-perfect sister who has dyslexia, an imperfection that only affected the family when sister Juniper started high school. […]

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Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell

Nalini — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 23:41:21 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes This is a new special edition of Odd and the Frost Giants. The first was released in 2010. This hardcover edition is illustrated using line drawings, silver gilding and a cutout on the front cover featuring Chris Riddell’s artwork on the cover with monstrous eyes peering between stalactites and stalagmites from the […]

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Killjoys season 1

Nalini — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 20:00:43 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The minion was down with a virus last weekend so, in his manflu-pathology, he meeped about wanting Killjoys. ‘I wanted it for my birthday but it wasn’t released until a month after,’ he sighed. ‘If it had been released earlier, we could have got that instead of Sleepy Hollow.’ I […]

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What The Family Needed by Steven Amsterdam

Nalini — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 20:00:07 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Giordana is upset and angry: she was given a few minutes to pack her bags because her parents were breaking up, followed by a 3-hour car trip to stay with extended family for a few weeks. Cousin Alek is a bit of a space cadet: he comes across like a […]

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Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier

Nalini — Sun, 11 Sep 2016 20:00:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Den of Wolves is the third and, presumably, the final in Marillier’s Blackthorn and Grim series although I’d love more. Give me more. [Beseeching look at Marillier.) Anyhoo, Blackthorn and Grim are going about their business, not discussing what happened at the end of the previous novel, which amounted to a […]

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Easy Way Out by Steven Amsterdam

Nalini — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:00:11 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Evan is assisting Teddy to exercise his right to die with dignity, avoiding the last weeks of increasing pain and degenerative illness. Legislation has passed, allowing determined terminally ill patients to elect euthanasia but the protocols are strict, cameras are rolling and Evan spills the Nembutal. There will be consequences. […]

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Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer

Nalini — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 20:00:00 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Mara Carlyle is a senior at Covington High School. She’s in pre-calc when seniors start to spontaneous -ly explode early in the school year. No one knows why, there’s no common factor other than being seniors at Covington High. Mara gets on with life. She has a crush on investigating […]

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Blood In The Beginning by Kim Falconer

Nalini — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 20:00:25 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ava Sykes isn’t afraid of a fight: she’s a bouncer at a night club. The Blood In The Beginning isn’t hers. Yet. But her stalker wants to change that. In the beginning, Ava works as a bouncer at your run-of-the-mill post-apocalyptic night club then she’s head-hunted for a more upmarket […]

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Family Skeleton by Carmel Bird

Nalini — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 20:00:49 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Margaret O’Day, matriarch of the Funeral Home O’Days, is in her seventies when a distant relative starts snooping around, researching the family tree. From the beginning Margaret is apprehensive, fearing this interloper will shatter the carefully cultivated public and private image of her family. Regardless of whether the behaviour was […]

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Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr

Nalini — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 01:11:23 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Twelve-year-old Aissa, whose name means dragonfly, must metamorpihize like the dragonfly to save herself and her island. Set at the time of Minoan Crete, Orr re-imagines the legend of the minotaur to be something more believable, based on archaeological artefacts. Aissa was born with a vestigial thumb on each wrist. […]

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Kraken Rising by Greig Beck

Nalini — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 20:00:58 +0000

A review by C J Dee When a missing, top secret US submarine has its emergency beacon activated beneath the surface of Antarctica, Alex Hunter and an elite team of soldiers are sent to ensure it does not fall into China’s hands. Hunter and his soldiers know the Chinese PLA isn’t the only threat: another […]

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Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley

Nalini — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 20:00:19 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Stiletto is the sequel to The Rook, a first-class debut novel in the fantasy genre starring Myfanwy Thomas, a woman who loses her memory and must bluff while in a key role in a shadowy secret magical society, the Checquy. If she missteps, her own agency will order her slow […]

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Your heart is a muscle the size of a fist by Sunil Yapa

Nalini — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 01:17:05 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes It’s 1999. Crowds have gathered to protest the World Trade Organization’s meeting in Seattle, protesting against how the WTO disadvantages impoverished countries. Victor, a runaway who has travelled the world to find himself, ponders life while sweeping the space in front of his tent. Using a toothbrush, he cleans his […]

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I Robot: National Science Week 2016

Nalini — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 23:42:38 +0000

The panel for National Science Week‘s I Robot showing discussed the science in the movie after watching Will Smith’s biceps and pecs — I mean the movie. I Robot is a Frankenstein story about a man’s fear of robots that may not be unfounded but no one believes him; he’s crazy. It’s a timeless movie that holds together […]

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Down Under (2016)

Nalini — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 07:01:12 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Shit-stick is a stoner sloth type who’s giving his cousin Evan a driving lesson before they settle in to watch Lord of the Rings that evening. Evan has Downs Syndrome but he’s a happy guy, looking forward to watching the trilogy that he hasn’t seen. Shit-stick has some ‘friends’ who […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e10: Golem

Nalini — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 20:00:59 +0000

A commentary with spoilers, snark and very bad puns by Edward and Nalini Haynes Ichy is obsessing about his son and why his wife didn’t tell him she was pregnant. I wonder why he assumes that she knew she was pregnant considering she wasn’t big enough for him to notice before he died. I assume […]

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Game of Thrones s04e05: First of His Name

Nalini — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:00:19 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes and puns by Edward Haynes Watching the intro sequence fills me with need to see someone’s real-life clockwork versions of these Game of Thrones places. I bet someone somewhere has either done it or is working on it and it would be gorgeous. The Septon crowns Tommen king, […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e09: Sanctuary

Nalini — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 20:00:48 +0000

A commentary with spoilers and puns by Edward and Nalini Haynes A woman, Lena Gilbert (Erin Cahill) rocks up to a house with dead vines hanging from the gutters. Her driver, Sam (Anthony K Hyatt), tells her not to go inside but she rushes in anyway. Sam says it looks haunted. A raven caws a […]

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The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Nalini — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 20:50:40 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Lucy Hutton is at war with Joshua Templeman. It’s a game. The hating game. They stare at each other. They mimic each other. They never smile at each other. And all of this takes place in a shiny office at work. Note to Lucy: don’t wear short skirts or you’ll […]

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Game of Thrones s04e04: Oathkeeper

Nalini — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 20:00:42 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes; this one is sadly lacking in puns Grey Worm is learning to read. He says he doesn’t want a different life, he wants to kill the masters like Daenerys told them to when she freed them. From the reading room to the sewer, Grey Worm’s transition is swift. […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e08: Necromancer

Nalini — Mon, 25 Jul 2016 20:00:45 +0000

A commentary with spoilers and puns by Edward and Nalini Haynes There are SERIOUS spoilers and TERRIBLE puns. You have been warned. To recap: Andy Brooks (John Cho), the guy who sold the human race out for what, exactly, now wants to help Abbie (Nicole Beharie) for no apparent reason. The headless horseman is chained […]

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Game of Thrones s04e03: Breaker of Chains

Nalini — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 20:00:04 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes Sansa (Sophie Turner) flees with Dontos (Tony Way) who is betrayed by Littlefinger (Aiden Gillen). Because he’s such a reliable trustworthy chap. Tywin (Charles Dance) lectures Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman, man he must have suffered at school!) over his brother’s bier so one wonders if Tywin murdered Joffrey to […]

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Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Nalini — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 03:06:56 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes This is a review of a speculative fiction thriller called Dark Matter by Blake Crouch with no actual dark matter: it’s about quantum universes. Although Jason loves his wife and son he sometimes regrets choosing family life over making scientific breakthroughs, especially when a friend receives a lucrative award. In another […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e07: The Midnight Ride

Nalini — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 20:00:47 +0000

A commentary with spoilers and punishing puns by Edward and Nalini Haynes Paul Revere rides to warn the Americans that the Regulars are coming: it’s the midnight ride. Crane (Tom Miso) rocks up for a very important meeting with the Freemasons who are going to tell him what he needs to know to combat the headless horseman. […]

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This Is Where The World Ends by Amy Zhang

Nalini — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 20:00:29 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Janie and Micah live next door to each other. Micah is a quiet nerd while Janie is a terror, inciting trouble and performing ‘practical jokes’ while dragging Micah in her wake. However, she doesn’t talk to Micah in public. Then there’s a fire. People judge Micah on what they haven’t […]

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Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

Nalini — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 02:44:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Yolanda was gang raped by a group of footballers so, as punishment, she was sent to a concentration camp in the Australian bush. When she was abducted, she realized what was happening and she fought. The other 9 women sent to this camp were deceived, drugged and abducted. Verla was […]

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Game of Thrones s04e02: The Lion and The Rose

Nalini — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 20:00:01 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes Another wedding. George R R Martin has become predictable: it’s a wedding? SOMEONE MUST DIE. Who will it be this time? This zode leads into the wedding between the Lion and the Rose (Joffrey Lannister played by Jack Gleeson and Margaery Tyrell played by Natalie Dormer), with Shae […]

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The Bit In Between by Claire Varley

Nalini — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 20:00:58 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Alison vomits all over Oliver in an airport lounge, the perfect beginning to a romance. Not. And yet a couple of days later she changes her entire life to fly from Melbourne to the Solomon Islands, supporting him while he writes his second book. A book Oliver is determined will […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e06: The Sin Eater

Nalini — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 20:00:04 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes This week, just for a change, starts with Abbie (Nicole Beharie) and Crane (Tom Mison) attend a baseball game THEN Abbie has a dream. Just to be different. WHILE DRIVING. Abbie goes to Katrina’s parallel world where, for a change, she’s in a facsimile of her home with Crane instead […]

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Toad Delight by Morris Gleitzman

Nalini — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 20:00:50 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Limpy is a slightly squashed cane toad living in Queensland. For the past four books he’s been on a mission to find out why humans don’t like cane toads. Now he really knows but he’s reluctant to tell his family. He’d still like to make friends with humans so we […]

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Game of Thrones s04e01: Two Swords

Nalini — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 20:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The recap is epic, jumbling up the previous 3 seasons. IT’S NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. Trigger warning for all OCDs. Tyrion waits to meet the Dorn representative on the road but, when the Dorn entourage arrives, he learns the second son has come instead of the crown prince and the […]

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Civil War II by Bendis, Cheung, Dell & Ponsor (FCBD 2016)

Nalini — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 20:00:57 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Civil War II is a ‘flimsy’, a slender paperback volume containing a teaser for one story starting in the Triskelion (Avenger-type headquarters; if it’s like the movies, it’s hovering around somewhere) and a brief backstory for a new Avengers character, the Wasp. As someone who has (shock! horror!) never read […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e05: John Doe

Nalini — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 20:00:10 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes Warning: may contain traces of snark A boy (Matt Lintz) dressed in antique clothing plays with a girl (Summer Parker) who appears to be in 21st century dress. The girl disappears and a horned rider chases him into the road. He collapses in town and becomes a John […]

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The Pain, My Mother, Sir Tiffy, Cyber Boy & Me by Michael Gerard Bauer

Nalini — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 20:00:12 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Maggie Butt is a teenager managing a mother who’s suddenly started dating again, hence The Pain. Sir Tiffy is a cat whose owner has been permanently hospitalized. The Pain took in Sir Tiffy but his landlord threatened to evict them both so he asked Maggie and her mom to take […]

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Nest written and read by Inga Simpson

Nalini — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 20:00:17 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Jen, a middle-aged woman, treats her house like her nest while watching nests and drawing a bird’s nest. A child is abducted, echoing her past when Michael, a friend who was like a brother to her, was abducted when she was a child. Jen volunteers in land care management but, […]

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Allegiant (2016)

Nalini — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 20:00:56 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Allegiant is out on Digital and available on Blu-Ray and DVD from 27 July. Allegiant is the 3rd movie in the Divergent series, following the precedent Harry Potter set for splitting the final book in a popular series into two movies. (We won’t mention The Hobbit. Not. Ever.) After watching […]

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Cleverman s01e03: A Free Ranger

Nalini — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 20:00:09 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Rather than delving into the detail of ‘A Free Ranger’, today I’ll talk about 3 items arising from the episode: slavery arising from a refugee camp, a corrupt frame-up and symbolism (comparing the Containment Authority logo to that of the Aboriginal and Hairy community). Slavery In the previous episode, Araluen (Tasma […]

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Cleverman s01e02: Containment

Nalini — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 20:00:32 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes The Containment Authority processes — and abuses — the captive Hairies while Cleverman explores his new abilities. And his brother seethes with jealousy. In the previous zode, Jimmy West breathed life of some kind into a corpse after promising Slade that he’d give him a spirit. The corpse — a […]

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Gods of Egypt (2016)

Nalini — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 20:00:23 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Nikolaj Coster-Waldau narrates the opening in a slightly queer voice. It’s delicious. I hope the rest of the movie proves just as camp as the opening. Then the voice changes; I’m not sure if they changed narrator or he just changed his style of speaking to cover the fact that […]

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Game of Thrones s03e10: Mhysa

Nalini — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 20:00:53 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes Kings landing receives news of the Red Wedding. Joffrey looks set to top Aegon as the maddest king. His latest plot is to have Rob Stark’s head brought hither so he can serve it to Sansa at her wedding. No one else is amused but it’s Tyrion who […]

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Cleverman s01e01: First Contact

Nalini — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 07:37:13 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes In a parallel universe set in contemporary Australia, a group of Moari and Indigenous Australians have too much hair — like werewolf too much hair — but they’re still people. However, authorities have branded them ‘Hairies’ and decided they’re subhuman. They’re mostly allowed to live in a West Bank-style walled […]

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Eye in the Sky (2016)

Nalini — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 20:00:04 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Out on bluray, DVD and digital on 20 July 2016. Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) wakes up to a phone call in the middle of the night. She readies herself for work and arrives in army camos, giving orders and questioning the inappropriately autonomous decisions of her underlings. Alan Rickman […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e04: The Lesser key of Solomon

Nalini — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 20:00:42 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes It’s the Boston Tea Party! How did the GOP party think their subversion of the name was at all appropriate? Rebellion, liberty and freedom and not just for the 1%. A redcoat invokes Death before an explosion. Crane monologues on his love for his wife while sitting in […]

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When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Nalini — Sun, 26 Jun 2016 20:00:02 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Michael and his dad are at a rally against refugees. There aren’t many on their side of the protest so he’s pretty close to the other side, the pro-refugee side, when he sees a gorgeous teenage girl. He doesn’t speak to her — then. Mina attends a pro-refugee rally with […]

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Ruins by Rajith Savanadasa

Nalini — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 20:00:33 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Ruins is set in 2009 in Sri Lanka, following the lives of one family from 5 perspectives. Civil war rages then comes to a close while peer pressure, corruption, bombs and street violence impinge on these 5 very different personalities. Latha is the servant who raised Anoushka and Niranjan, still […]

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Game of Thrones s03e09: The Rains of Castamere

Nalini — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 20:00:48 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes ‘The Rains of Castamere’ is a song commemorating the destruction of the House of Castamere by Tywin Lannister. It has nothing to do with this episode, no, nothing at all. [shifty eyes] So… This zode we see Jon Snow arguing with the Wildlings not to murder an old guy […]

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Master Keaton by Naoki Urasawa

Nalini — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 20:00:39 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Master Keaton is an archeology professor without tenure teaching in a college. His wife is estranged but he has a reasonable relationship with his teenage daughter. Career progression is hampered by taking leave to investigate insurance fraud like a bounty hunter. Volume 1 is slow to start but becomes more […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e03: For the Triumph of Evil

Nalini — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 20:00:45 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes. May also contain traces of snark. Abbie (Nicole Beharie) is having a nightmare. Can’t they find a different way of opening a zode? If they keep this up no one will pretend to be surprised next week. The woman from Abbie’s dream is about to jump from a […]

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How to find love in a bookshop by Veronica Henry

Nalini — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 20:00:08 +0000

A review by Lynne Larby Emilia Nightingale returns from Hong Kong to take over the family business, Nightingale Books, because her father is dying. Stricken with grief, she worries that he was lonely as a single father. Cue backstory where Julius Nightingale is swept off his feet by Emilia’s mother who dies in childbirth, leaving […]

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The Returned s01e05: Serge et Toni

Nalini — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 20:00:30 +0000

A commentary with some spoilers by Nalini Haynes 7 years earlier Toni shouts “Why did you let him out?” and tears off in his car, searching for Serge. Serge is stalking women with ill intent; one is saved by meeting her boyfriend in the underpass. Cat woman (Julie) isn’t as lucky. Serge is the murderer who […]

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Countdown to Danger: Bullet Train Disaster by Jack Heath

Nalini — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 20:00:28 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Last Tuesday I attended the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Celebrate Story Creators event, where I listened to an entertaining lineup of children’s authors, of whom Jack Heath was one. Imagine my surprise and delight when I realised one of Jack’s books, Bullet Train Disaster, was sitting in my […]

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Game of Thrones s03e08: Second Sons

Nalini — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 20:00:26 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes Soooo…. The latest wedding looms. What is it with weddings? People make such a fuss and they score in ratings season, whether they’re fictional or real. The British Queen’s upcoming birthday has been in the press; apparently the lack of significant Royal anniversaries and events has caused a slump […]

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Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Nalini — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 20:00:00 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Alison Bechdel of The Bechdel Test is the comic book artist and author of Fun Home, a recently assigned comic for Impact Comic Books Club so it was a must read. Fun Home is short for ‘Funeral Home’. Which is probably about as much as you need to know unless […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e02: Blood Moon

Nalini — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 20:00:12 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes In the intro we see the Sleepy Hollow sign with the original population quota. Justifiable because it’s a recap but I want to see the population count declining appropriately. Crane (Tom Mison) flees the headless horseman. I hope there’s not too much of this, it could get repetitive. […]

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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

Nalini — Sun, 12 Jun 2016 20:00:46 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes I was a bit slow to watch Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because I loathed Warm Bodies in spite of its failed attempt to mash-up Shakespeare and zombies. However, I feel myself being converted — by inches — to the zombie genre. Or, at least, to highlights of the genre. From […]

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The Returned s01e04: Victor

Nalini — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 20:00:24 +0000

A commentary with some spoilers by Nalini Haynes Two kids playing under the covers telling horror stories. One is Victor, dressed exactly as he is 35 years into the future. A woman, presumably his mother, tells him everything will be fine then turns out the light. Banging and screams sound in the night. Victor sits up […]

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Conjuror by John and Carole E Barrowman

Nalini — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 06:25:57 +0000

A review by Nalini Haynes Matt and Em Calder are twins facing an induction into a secret magical society. One is Animare the other a guardian — or they’re both — or the roles are interchangeable. I’m confused. Anyway, they’re each to be paired with another in this solemn ceremony except Matt opts out so […]

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The 100 s01e08: Day Trip

Nalini — Sat, 11 Jun 2016 01:46:03 +0000

A commentary with some spoilers by Nalini Haynes It’s been a few weeks since I watched The 100 and today the next review is due so yesterday I jumped back in and watched another zode. Before ‘Day Trip’, I was side-tracked by episode 1 of Ascension. OMG The 100 is brilliant in comparison. The 100‘s […]

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Game of Thrones s03e07: The Bear and the Maiden Fair

Nalini — Wed, 08 Jun 2016 20:00:51 +0000

A commentary with some spoilers by Nalini Haynes I’m not sure who is the bear and the maiden fair in the attached picture. I think the bear looks pretty cuddly, don’t you? Jaime Lannister heads home to Kings Landing, leaving Brienne with Roose Bolton’s charming men. Theon Greyjoy is cut down from his cross by 2 women. […]

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Sleepy Hollow s01e01: Pilot

Nalini — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 20:00:44 +0000

A commentary with spoilers by Nalini Haynes The minion requested Sleepy Hollow for his birthday; who am I to say no? So, after hearing much ado about nothing — I mean Sleepy Hollow — this weekend we sat down to watch episode 1. The red coats are coming. Apparently the British are evil supernatural creatures wearing a […]

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Alexandria Connection by Adrian d’Hagé

Nalini — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 04:38:56 +0000

A review by CJ Dee While on holiday in Egypt, CIA agent Curtis O’Connor and archaeologist Aleta Weizman stumble across a finding that could lead them to an ancient secret. If true, this secret could do away with the world’s need for fossil fuels. Meanwhile, an organisation known as Pharos Group uses fossil fuel funding, […]

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