Drama
Written by Justine Larbalestier
Paranormal, Historical Fiction
Published June 25th 2014
365 Pages
Thanks to Allen and Unwin
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★★★☆
The setting: Razorhurst, 1932. The fragile peace between two competing mob bosses, Gloriana Nelson and Mr Davidson, is crumbling. Loyalties are shifting. Betrayals threaten.Kelpie lives on the mean streets of Surry Hills in Sydney, where the seedy underworld struggle to maintain a truce, where men slash each other with razors instead of guns, and how a young girl on the streets leaves her fate in the hands of the ghosts who guide her. She's hungry and can't remember the last time she ate, now that Snowie is in prison, the man she grew up with before her guardian died and her main source of finding her next meal. On the advice of a spirit, Kelpie finds an derelict house which promises apples in abundance. But what Kelpie finds is Dymphna, dressed immaculately and standing over a dead body.
Kelpie knows the dangers of the Sydney streets. Ghosts have kept her alive, steering her to food and safety, but they are also her torment. Dymphna is Gloriana Nelson’s 'best girl', experienced in surviving the criminal world, but she doesn’t know what this day has in store for her.
When Dymphna meets Kelpie over the corpse of Jimmy Palmer, Dymphna’s latest boyfriend, she pronounces herself Kelpie’s new protector. But Dymphna’s life is in danger too, and she needs an ally. And while Jimmy’s ghost wants to help, the dead cannot protect the living...
Dymphna is Glory's best girl, with only the toughest Razormen spending an evening in her company. Known on the streets as the Angel of Death, Dymphna is never long without a man for protection, until her latest boyfriend and conspirator Jimmy is killed violently, with only a note from Mr. Davidson as a warning. Glory and Mr. Davidson run Razorhurst, a truce called after the brutal killings a few years prior, but Davidson wants Dymphna and seems will stop at nothing to make her his. Both girls are in a panic as they sirens near, and both girls decide to run. Kelpie can see and hear Jimmy's spirit, pining away for Dymphna even in death. She knows her time may be coming to an end, as she's fears her plans with Jimmy to take over Razorhurst may have been what lead to his demise. But Dymphna holds a secret, not only can she see ghosts, but can hear Jimmy's warnings.
When the girls hide in the home of aspiring writer Neal Darcy, much to the annoyance of Jimmy's ghost. If Dymphna tries to flee, Glory's men will find her, her only option is to confront her before Davidson finds her first. Both their lives are about to become a dangerous game of cat and mouse through the streets of what is now known as Sorrow Hills. Will either make it out alive?
Razorhurst was sassy, sultry and a brilliant take on gangland warfare with a paranormal twist. Keplie, named after the likeness to being a wild pup, is a phenomenal young lady, her life has been little more than tragedy and destitution but yet she's tough, feisty and isn't afraid to go down swinging. She and Snowie were raised by a woman known as Old Ma, who would tell Kelpie the story of how her parents died before being able to name her. It wasn't long before Old Ma had passed as well, and Kelpie relied on her ghosts to keep her safe, leading her to food and away from trouble. But for the past few years Kelpie has been on her own. Her clothing is threadbare and disintegrating, her hair wild and knotted and not only can't she remember the last time she ate, she has no idea how old she is. Kelpie broke my heart, her short life thus far was incredibly sad and finding Jimmy's dead body only added to more trouble the young girl doesn't need.Kelly's Thoughts
Dymphna is a prostitute. Not only does she know that Kelpie can see and speak to the dead, but she holds the same gift. She knows to survive the streets of Surry Hills, she needs the protection of her man, but a succession of murdered boyfriends has now left Glory's 'best girl' alone and vulnerable. The two girls were essentially from two very different worlds, but brought together through circumstance and now share a bond.
I loved the glimpse of Sydney during the Razor Gangs era, where it's said that the surge in organised crime was caused by the prohibition of sale of cocaine by chemists, street prostitution and the local watering holes closing at 6:00pm each night. It paved the way for the Davidson and Glory's of the era to run racketeering and underground crime syndicates. The paranormal aspects of Razorhurst only seemed to serve the purpose of Dymphna and Kelpie meeting, and sharing Kelpie's memories of how she survived the streets. I would have enjoyed it more so without it, it took what could have been a very realistic scenario of that era and added a element that felt incredibly out of place.
Regardless of the gift both girls shared that let the storyline down, I really enjoyed it. It was slow to start, but the sorrowful story of Kelpie drew me in, and the seedy underworld of the Razor Gangs kept me enthralled. If you're a fan of mobsters, hired goons or the tough street life and hard living of the twenties and thirties, you'll love this one.
Breaking Butterflies
Written by M. Anjelais
Published in Australia June 2014
257 Pages
Thank you to Scholastic Australia and Chicken House
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Published in Australia June 2014
257 Pages
Thank you to Scholastic Australia and Chicken House
Add to Goodreads
The closest he will ever come to happiness is when he's hurting her. Will she let him? A beautiful and twisted story of first love and innocence lost, written when the author was just eighteen.
Sphinxie and Cadence. Promised to each other in childhood. Drawn together again as teens. Sphinxie is sweet, compassionate, and plain. Cadence is brilliant, charismatic. Damaged. And diseased. When they were kids, he scarred her with a knife. Now, as his illness progresses, he becomes increasingly demanding. She wants to be loyal, but fears for her life. Only the ultimate sacrifice will give this love an ending.
Take Me On (Pushing The Limits: Book Four)
Written by Katie McGarry
Published June 1st 2014
464 Pages
Thank you to Harlequin Australia
Champion kickboxer Haley swore she'd never set foot in the ring again after one tragic night. But then the guy she can't stop thinking about accepts a mixed martial arts fight in her honor. Suddenly, Haley has to train West Young. All attitude, West is everything Haley promised herself she'd stay away from. Yet he won't last five seconds in the ring without her help.
West is keeping a big secret from Haley. About who he really is. But helping her, fighting for her, is a shot at redemption. Especially since it's his fault his family is falling apart. He can't change the past, but maybe he can change Haley's future.
Hayley and West have agreed to keep their relationship strictly in the ring. But as an unexpected bond forms between them and attraction mocks their best intentions, they'll face their darkest fears and discover love is worth fighting for.
The Taking
Written by Kimberly Derting
Published April 29th 2014
320 Pages
Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Teen
When sixteen year old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed... Yet she hasn’t aged a day.
Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.
Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken... And returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?
Silver People: A Tale from the Panama Canal
Written by Margarita Engle
Published March 26th 2014
224 Pages
Thank you to University of Queensland Press
How can such a narrow
bridge of land
be so important?
One hundred years ago, the world celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal. It was a miracle. Where a mountain once stood was now a path of water connecting the world’s two largest oceans. But creating a miracle is no easy task.
For only a few coins a day, teenagers Mateo and Henry endure homesickness, backbreaking labour, ferocious heat, landslides, and disease to dig through the mountain with little more than a shovel. Thousands around them lose their lives, while displaced souls like local herb girl Anita, and the endangered rainforest itself, do what they can to survive.
This novel in verse tells the story of one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken.
Looking For JJ (Jennifer Jones: Book One)
Written by Anne Cassidy
10th Anniversary Edition Published March 2014
304 Pages
Thank you to both Scholastic Australia and Scholastic UK
Three children walked away from the cottages on the edge of town toward Berwick Waters. Later that day, only two of them came back. Alice Tully knows exactly what happened that spring day six years ago, though it’s still hard for her to believe it. She’ll never be able to forget, even though she’s trying to lead a normal life, she has a job, friends, and a boyfriend whom she adores. But Alice’s past is dangerous, and violent, and sad... And it’s about to rip her new life apart.
A gripping and emotionally searing novel by accomplished British author Anne Cassidy, Looking for JJ infuses a terrifying subject with humanity and hope.
Heartbeat
Written by Elizabeth Scott
Published in Australia March 1st 2014
223 Pages
Thank you to Harlequin Australia
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Emma would give anything to talk to her mother one last time. Tell her about her slipping grades, her anger with her stepfather, and the boy with the bad reputation who might be the only one Emma can be herself with.
But Emma can't tell her mother anything. Because her mother is brain-dead and being kept alive by machines for the baby growing inside her.
Meeting bad-boy Caleb Harrison wouldn't have interested Old Emma. But New Emma, the one who exists in a fog of grief, who no longer cares about school, whose only social outlet is her best friend Olivia, New Emma is startled by the connection she and Caleb forge.
Feeling her own heart beat again wakes Emma from the grief that has grayed her existence. Is there hope for life after death, and maybe, for love?
Twice Upon a Time
Written by Kate Forster
Published January 27th 2014
377 Pages
Thank you to Hardie Grant Egmont
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★★★★
Ludo invites the two backpackers to party with the elite in Sardinia, leaving Italy behind. Ludo's lifestyle is nothing but parties and wild nights, and Cinda is swept away in his lavish lifestyle... Until she meets his twin Gus. Gus is heir to the throne and lives his life accordingly. He has the expectations of a nation on his shoulders and only five years before his mother hands the throne over to him. His life doesn't allow for the carefree existence that Ludo lives, so why does he find himself frustrated and wanting to live as Ludo does?
Cinda has nothing to return to. In Sydney, her mother has met yet another man and decides to move to New Zealand, renting out their home for the next six months. So when Ludo is desperate to keep Cinda close, he commissions the budding artist for a portrait. Sure to keep her busy for the next few months, Ludo believes Cinda is the one. But Gus sees her as one of a long list of beauties that could potentially destroy his family name and wants her and her freeloading companion gone.
If Gus ever forgets his place, his mother and uptight girlfriend Perrette are there to remind him. But Gus longs for something more, so when Ludo is sent to South Africa to sort his life out, Gus is stuck watching over Cinda and standing in as the portrait model. It isn't long before the two begin to find common ground, a love of art, creativity and seeing beauty in the world. With both in respective relationships, future King Gus would never be allowed to share his life with a commoner, but is he willing to give it all up for the chance to live a life with Cinda, and will she want him?
I loved Jonas. He's the token sassy gay friend and budding fashion designer. He's fabulous and would love to read his story next. If you're looking for a light and heartwarming read that will sweep you into a lavish world of travel, then Twice Upon a Time is a flirty read that will leave you warm and fuzzy.
Written by Kate Forster
Published January 27th 2014
377 Pages
Thank you to Hardie Grant Egmont
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★★★★
Ludo introduces Cinda to the heady world of the super-rich, taking her to parties on yachts and villas all over Europe. Sparks start to fly as Ludo and Cinda spend more and more time together, and even cautious Cinda wonders if there might be something real between them. Then Gus, Ludo's twin brother and heir to the Sardinian throne, arrives to ruin everyone's fun. Gus is obsessed with duty, and having a commoner like Cinda around just isn't part of his plan. But when fate throws Cinda and Gus together, he's astounded to discover that he and Cinda get along well. So well, in fact, that he might be prepared to throw away everything to be with her...Lucinda had always wanted to see Italy, and at nineteen, she and best friend Jonas now find themselves backpacking through Europe. With very little sleep and not much more money, Cinda enjoys the simple life of travelling, armed with her paints and her imagination. It's painting on the edge of a cliff that she meets Ludo, the Prince of Sardinia, although Cinda has no idea who he is apart from the charming and charismatic young man who smudged her painting. Ludo is instantly smitten with the curvacious, free spirited Australian and opens Cinda up to a world only seen by the wealthy and entitled.
Ludo invites the two backpackers to party with the elite in Sardinia, leaving Italy behind. Ludo's lifestyle is nothing but parties and wild nights, and Cinda is swept away in his lavish lifestyle... Until she meets his twin Gus. Gus is heir to the throne and lives his life accordingly. He has the expectations of a nation on his shoulders and only five years before his mother hands the throne over to him. His life doesn't allow for the carefree existence that Ludo lives, so why does he find himself frustrated and wanting to live as Ludo does?
Cinda has nothing to return to. In Sydney, her mother has met yet another man and decides to move to New Zealand, renting out their home for the next six months. So when Ludo is desperate to keep Cinda close, he commissions the budding artist for a portrait. Sure to keep her busy for the next few months, Ludo believes Cinda is the one. But Gus sees her as one of a long list of beauties that could potentially destroy his family name and wants her and her freeloading companion gone.
If Gus ever forgets his place, his mother and uptight girlfriend Perrette are there to remind him. But Gus longs for something more, so when Ludo is sent to South Africa to sort his life out, Gus is stuck watching over Cinda and standing in as the portrait model. It isn't long before the two begin to find common ground, a love of art, creativity and seeing beauty in the world. With both in respective relationships, future King Gus would never be allowed to share his life with a commoner, but is he willing to give it all up for the chance to live a life with Cinda, and will she want him?
It's been far too long since I've read a fun, flirty and romantic contemporary, and Twice Upon a Time was the perfect heartwarming read. It follows the story of Cinda, an Australian backpacking through Europe when she's swept up into a world of royal princes, lavish parties and brooding brothers. Cinda is a fun loving character, she's vivacious and isn't afraid to speak her mind, a quality that both Gus and Ludo both find irresistible. But under the surface, Cinda hides a sadness that even a luxurious lifestyle can't repair. Even though she's technically an adult, her mother has abandoned her for yet another man. This time, her mother plans to marry a man that Cinda has never met, move to New Zealand and entertain a new family that doesn't involve her only child. But Cinda doesn't dwell, and although hurting, she carries on and makes the most of the opportunities life is throwing her way.Kelly's Thoughts
I loved Jonas. He's the token sassy gay friend and budding fashion designer. He's fabulous and would love to read his story next. If you're looking for a light and heartwarming read that will sweep you into a lavish world of travel, then Twice Upon a Time is a flirty read that will leave you warm and fuzzy.
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