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WBN advance reviews >

The Girl from Moscow (Julia Levitina, Pantera) 

Tuesday, 9 January 2024
In Julia Levitina’s debut novel, The Girl from Moscow, Ella Ashkenazi, an aspiring actor on the verge of a breakthrough role, discovers she is pregnant. It’s a low-key beginning to...

To and Fro (Anton Clifford-Motopi, A&U Children’s) 

Tuesday, 9 January 2024
To and Fro by debut author Anton Clifford-Motopi is a heartfelt and humorous exploration of the complexities of growing up mixed-race in Australia. This delightful offering for readers aged 8–12...

Like Fire-Hearted Suns (Melanie Joosten, Ultimo) 

Tuesday, 9 January 2024
‘Deeds not words’ was the valiant cry of the suffragettes, but does the average reader know what those deeds entailed? This average reader did not. While a work of fiction,...

What They Told Me (Hayley Lawrence, Scholastic) 

Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Fifteen-year-old Elliott Gillespie has always believed she and her family are the lucky ones. Their home by Crooked River has been in the Gillespie family for generations. Her best friend,...

The Concierge (Abby Corson, Ultimo) 

Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Abby Corson’s debut crime thriller, The Concierge, offers readers a locked-room murder mystery in a lavish English country hotel, where the guests are pointing fingers, and the person who knows...

Beyond Booze (Sarah Rusbatch, Murdoch) 

Tuesday, 12 December 2023
The term ‘sober curiosity’ has been around for a few years now, but Beyond Booze: How to create a life you love, alcohol-free offers something a bit more. Author Sarah...

Greater City Shadows (Laurie Steed, UWAP) 

Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Laurie Steed’s third book and debut short story collection, Greater City Shadows, collates tales of grief, loss, loneliness, unrequited love, fractured relationships and—ultimately—hope. Suburban Perth is the setting for many an...

Go Lightly (Brydie Lee-Kennedy, Bloomsbury) 

Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Brydie Lee-Kennedy’s debut, Go Lightly, is an honest, hilarious and often painful exploration of taking risks in life and love. Full of wry humour, it dives into the complexities of...

Woven (ed by Anne-Marie Te Whiu, Magabala) 

Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Woven, the second collaborative project between Red Room Poetry and Magabala Books, is a profound and unique collection of First Nations poetry that sees some of the world’s finest First...

My Brilliant Sister (Amy Brown, Scribner) 

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
My Brilliant Sister is a layered and involving story about womanhood, motherhood and art. It follows three very different women who all want to create art and are at a...

The Beacon (P A Thomas, Echo) 

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Living in the Byron region, doctor-turned-author P A Thomas is well placed to helm this debut crime novel featuring colourful characters and rollicking action set in this lively location. Jack...

The Intuition Toolkit (Joel Pearson, S&S) 

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Forget the idea of intuition as a sixth sense or any of the other mysterious connotations that many gurus and self-help books have been portraying for decades. Instead, in The...

Countdown to Yesterday (Shirley Marr, Puffin) 

Tuesday, 5 December 2023
Shirley Marr’s latest novel, Countdown to Yesterday, takes young readers on a heartwarming journey through time, memories, and the complexities of family and friendship. This enchanting tale is a delightful...

Andromache Between Worlds (Gabriel Bergmoser, HarperCollins) 

Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Andromache Between Worlds is the middle-grade fiction debut from prolific adult and young adult writer Gabriel Bergmoser. Andromache is the 14-year-old daughter of two celebrity adventurer journalists whose escapades have...

Birdy (Sharon Kernot, Text) 

Tuesday, 28 November 2023
In Birdy, a compelling YA verse novel by CBCA award-winning author Sharon Kernot (The Art of Taxidermy), we meet Maddy, who began experiencing selective mutism and anxiety after an unnamed...

Kintsugi (Marie O’Rourke, Fremantle) 

Tuesday, 28 November 2023
Marie O’Rourke’s book of memoir essays, Kintsugi, shortlisted for the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, takes its title from the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with lacquer mixed...

Gawimarra: Gathering (Jeanine Leane, UQP) 

Tuesday, 28 November 2023
In Gawimarra: Gathering, Wiradjuri poet and educator Jeanine Leane expresses her Country with poetry that overflows with celebrations of culture and acts of Blak resistance. Arranged into three sections, the...

We All Lived in Bondi Then (Georgia Blain, Scribe) 

Tuesday, 28 November 2023
We All Lived in Bondi Then is the last publication of new work by Georgia Blain. This collection comprises nine previously unpublished stories written between 2012 and 2015, before Blain’s...