Kathryn's Inbox

Picking up where Binding 13 left off, the second novel in the Boys of Tommen series starts on a dramatic note, with Shannon copping a near fatal beating from her abusive, alcoholic father. From there, the reader witnesses a rollercoaster ride of events, melodrama and even forbidden romance as Shannon's long-lost brother Darren swoops in to care for his injured sister and vows to do everything to keep Shannon and her boyfriend Johnny apart. Johnny has his own problems due to his rugby injuries and fears that his career may be in jeopardy. Meanwhile, no one knows where Shannon's dad is, but, of course, he will be back one last time to cause utter chaos and devastation ... This was a very dramatic read. The author clearly intended it to be a page turner, and to be fair, it really is in place. However, at 800 pages, it often felt overlong and many parts of the story, such as the number of times Shannon snuck off to see Johnny and the pair didn't really get up to all that much,...

May is desperately searching for ... something. Her mother has passed away, her father disappeared years ago. May and her brother were taken in by Aunty, but her brother leaves following a domestic violence incident and May soon finds herself looking for him. And for her dad. However, as she journeys through Australia she soon learns what will give her a much needed sense of belonging. This was a difficult book for me to read, mostly because it left me feeling a deep mix of sadness and anger. Presented as a series of linked short stories, we meet May Gibson. The daughter of a Wiradjuri mother and an absent white father, something about May's life feels doomed yet filled with strange little moments of hope. Most of the supporting characters feel underdeveloped, as did May at times. However, where the novel truely stands out is through its look at what it means to belong, and a connection to people and country. Recommended.

Adelaide author Allayne L Webster's latest novel is a moving coming-of-age tale about a teenage girl who is living in poverty. Things are not going well for Maisy Hayes, who turns fourteen in the early chapters of the novel. Her family, which includes her mum, older sister and younger half brother are doing it tough. Money is tight, their Housing Trust home is in a state of disrepair and older sister Luka has a serious heart problem and needs an operation. Then comes some surprising news. Maisy's dad, a wealthy lawyer who has all but abandoned his daughters, wants Maisy and Luka to stay with him in Melbourne during the school holidays. Luka is quick to realise that something is wrong with the whole set up, while the younger and more optimistic Maisy is about to learn some huge life lessons ... There were times when this novel absolutely broke my heart. The novel focuses on a number of issues,  including the daily realties of living in poverty in Australia, including a scene whe...

It is no secret that the Off Campus series is well, kind of a big deal. Not only are all five novels bestsellers, but the series has recently been developed into a series for Amazon Prime. But how does it stack up? Not too bad.  In a world where the market is absolutely saturated with contemporary romance novels featuring every theme, or trope, imaginable, the concept of a college romance featuring two opposites who dislike one another at first but soon fall for one another hardly feels original. But, somehow, the author manages to turn this into something that feels like the romance novel equivalent of a warm hug. Hannah is a talented musician just trying to make her way through college. Her past makes her wary of men and dating. Especially ones like Garrett, who are popular, a little arrogant and part of an elite sporting team. Meanwhile, for Garrett, ice hockey is everything. And he needs to keep his grades up if he wants to remain part of the team. And so, he swallows his pride...

The question of who shapes the narrative of the stories that are told in the media and in wider Australia is at the heart of Discipline the latest novel (and first adult novel) by former lawyer Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah. Set in Sydney in May 2021, it tells the story of two very different people who find themselves changed by the same incident. A year twelve student from a local Islamic college has been arrested for protesting a university's links to an Israeli weapons factory. Hannah, a young journalist of Palestinian heritage, who was raised in Australia and now married to a Palestinian man, is keen to cover the story, but soon finds herself fighting all kinds of battles in the newsroom. Meanwhile, Ashraf, an academic whose personal life has come undone, finds in it an opportunity to revive his professional career ... but at what cost? This was an interesting read. It forced me to take a very different look at the Australia that I thought I knew, one where people feel silenced for ha...

Forty years after Kristy's Great Idea first hit the shelves, The Baby-Sitters Club is back! The first fully original BSC book to be released in a number of years, Baby-Sitter Summer is a collaborative effort between beloved BSC author Ann M Martin and six other authors--Becky Albertalli, Coe Booth, Sarah Kuhn, Peter Lerangis, Jahnna N Malcolm and Emma Staub. And the result is a delight from start to finish. Told in a similar format to the original super specials, with chapters alternating between the seven club members, the novel opens with what else, but summer vacation. As is typical with a BSC novel, things are a little non linear (after all, how many summer vacations did they have, only to mysterious be back in the same grade at school again,) but for anyone looking closely for details, the timeline in this one mostly fits anywhere between books 32 and 59. Stacey is back from New York, Mary Anne's dad and Dawn's mom have married, but some of the changes that occurred ...

Bestselling author Sarah A Parker offers readers an eerie and beautifully illustrated retelling of Rapunzel with To Bleed A Crystal Bloom. Nineteen years ago, Orlaith survived an attack by strange creatures, wild beasts who were not quite feline, nor canine but who knew how to attack humans. (If, indeed that is what Orlaith is.) The same attack killed her family, her mother still in the process of dying when her lover from some years before arrives too late to rescue the family. A deathbed promise is made that Rhordyn, who is not Orlaith's father, will raise the child as his ward. But some promises are easier made than kept, and the years ahead are not easy for Orlaith, who grows up to be a recluse, or Rhordyn, a cool and morally grey character who requires a drop of Orlaith's blood each day for a mysterious ritual. It soon becomes clear there are many strange and mysterious things going on in the castle. But what will happen when Orlaith uncovers the truth about herself ... If...