Staff faves...April 2023

Published on 28 March 2023

Donna loved Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde

Blurb - A queer romance set in Brisbane. Henry Hamlet doesn't know what he wants after school ends. It's his last semester of year twelve and all he's sure of is his uncanny ability to make situations awkward. Luckily, he can always hide behind his enigmatic best friend, Len.

This debut novel is beautifully written and makes you care about a happy ending for Henry Hamlet and all of the other characters in the story. It takes the reader back to school romances, first love and the awkwardness of feeling different to everyone else.

Reserve Henry Hamlet’s Heart

Karen recommends Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness

The trilogy, Chaos Walking is set New World, a planet colonised by a small group of religiously devout settlers from Old World (possibly Earth) twenty three years before the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go. New World is inhabited by indigenous people and creatures who can hear the thoughts of everyone – a continual stream of words, images and sounds called Noise. Only the new male settlers from the Old World are affected and this creates problems within the colony and leads to the events that take place in the books.

The novels feature Todd and Viola, two young adults who discover their decisions can have terrible consequences and you must fight to be do what you believe is right. The books ask whether redemption is possible, and whether the lives of the few are worth the lives of many . This trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and The Answer and Monsters of Men has won many awards in both the UK and US.  Monsters of Men was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2011  for best science fiction novel, only the second time that a young adult novel has the shortlist.

Don’t forget to check out the interview Patrick Ness below on why and how he wrote the series.

Reserve The Knife of Never Letting Go

Rhy’s 13 year old daughter recommends Six of crows by Leigh Bardugo

“I am obsessed over this book! Just the plot alone is ingenious. That is without all of its twists and relationships. All the characters and their backstories are structured really well. The relationships all of the characters have with each other has had a lot of thought put in to them. This book follows on from ‘Shadow and bone’ and is part of a trilogy. I highly recommend if you like magic, action and adventure.”

Reserve Six of Crows

Simone recommends The Bookseller’s Apprentice by Amelia Mellor

I’ve just recently finished reading The Bookseller’s Apprentice by Amelia Mellor. It is the prequel to her award winning The Grandest Bookshop in the World, and I enjoyed it just as much as her first.

It is set in Melbourne in the 1870s at Paddy’s Market and is an adventurous, magical, fantasy story with great characters and is a lot of fun to read.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they make movies about these great books.

Reserve The Booksellers Apprentice

Kate and Shana recommend the Heartstopper Graphic novel series by Alice Oseman

Kate really enjoyed the novel. It’s a sweet tale of a pair of teenagers who are navigating school, sexuality and growing up. It’s a lovely story and delves into some serious topics but handles them in a wonderfully sensitive and mature way.

Shana’s review states “It’s a feel good teen romance with all the heartache and humour of teens exploring their sexuality, while dealing with the age old ‘does he, doesn’t he like me’ angst. Did I mention it’s a boy meets boy romance? I didn’t lead with that because it shouldn’t matter, although of course the books deal with some confronting LGBTQI and mental health issues. It’s a great diary style read where the illustrations draw you into the character’s lives.“

Reserve Heartstopper Volume 2