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 …
Book reviews
Code Name Bananas by David Walliams
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 …
Wolf Girl 4: The Traitor by Anh Doh
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 …
How To Make A Pet Monster: Hodgepodge by Lili Wilkinson, illustrated by Dustin Spence
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 …
Future Girl by Asphyxia
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 …
The ScoMo Diaries by Tosh Greenslade and Andrew Weldon
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 …
Betrayals by Bridget Collins
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 …
School Rules Are Optional by Alison Hart
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. …
The Dawnhounds: Against the Quiet by Sascha Stronach
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 …
Dead Man In A Ditch By Luke Arnold
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 …
A Wizard in My Shed by Simon Farnaby, illustrated by Claire Powell
A review by Nalini Haynes A warlock in the 6th century is wild – or, in this case, Wyld – and unkempt. He’s also committed …
House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess
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 …
Left-handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
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 …
Deadly Education: Lesson One of the Scholomance by Naomi Novik
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 …
The Boy, the Wolf and the Stars by Shivaun Plozza
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 …