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WBN advance reviews >

The Albatross (Nina Wan, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 21 March 2023
It’s widely known that an albatross is a very rare bird. In golf, it’s a move that’s even rarer—one that’s considered lucky, executed with the utmost finesse. And golf is...

Echo Lake (Joan Sauers, A&U) 

Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Set in the brooding wilderness of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Echo Lake is the compelling debut thriller by author and screenwriter Joan Sauers. Sitting on the cosier...

Eta Draconis (Brendan Ritchie, UWAP) 

Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Eta Draconis is Brendan Ritchie’s impressive third novel and the winner of the 2022 Dorothy Hewett Award. This road trip story centres around two sisters, Elora and Vivienne, who are...

The Heart is a Star (Megan Rogers, HarperCollins) 

Wednesday, 15 March 2023
The Heart is a Star is the captivating debut novel by talented writer Megan Rogers. We are introduced to anaesthetist Layla Byrnes, a middle-aged woman struggling to reconcile her career,...

Glimpse (Jane Higgins, Text) 

Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Jane Higgins’s dystopian YA debut The Bridge was the winner of the 2010 Text Prize, and her latest, Glimpse, has the same qualities that won Higgins the prize. Inspired by...

She and Her Pretty Friend (Danielle Scrimshaw, Ultimo) 

Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Danielle Scrimshaw’s debut, She and Her Pretty Friend, is a history of queer Australian women. In a light and intriguing tone, Scrimshaw pieces together what little evidence there is—letters, diary entries,...

The Fall Between (Darcy Tindale, Bantam) 

Tuesday, 14 March 2023
The first body is waiting for Detective Rebecca Giles on a property in Muswellbrook, floating in a water trough. Giles is fresh out of a missing-persons case wrapped up in...

Royals (Tegan Bennett Daylight, S&S) 

Tuesday, 7 March 2023
This compelling, character-driven novel is Tegan Bennett Daylight’s first foray writing for teens. Through 16-year-old Shannon’s perspective, we follow the day-to-day minutiae of six teens (and one baby) who have...

After the Rain (Aisling Smith, Hachette) 

Tuesday, 7 March 2023
Aisling Smith’s debut novel, After the Rain, is the melancholic and moving winner of the 2020 Richell Prize. The story begins with Malti, a woman who moved from Fiji to...

Obsession (Nicole Madigan, Pantera) 

Tuesday, 7 March 2023
When journalist Nicole Madigan starts dating single dad Adam, it seems like the beginning of an exciting new chapter for her and her children. But as the relationship progresses, something...

The Rush (Michelle Prak, S&S) 

Tuesday, 7 March 2023
The Rush by Michelle Prak gives new meaning to the words gripping and horrifying. Take Jane Harper’s The Lost Man, add some sinister Wolf Creek, and you’re on the right...

Between Worlds (B D Lovell, UWAP) 

Tuesday, 28 February 2023
While often overlooked, science fiction poetry, or speculative verse as it’s sometimes called, has a distinguished pedigree, with contributions from such luminaries as Ursula K LeGuin and Brian Aldiss, as...

Naked Ambition (Robert Gott, Scribe) 

Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Gregory Buchanan is an up-and-coming state politician with a healthy dose of self-regard. A blithe spirit, he commissions career artist Sophie White to capture his portrait. The sitting takes an unusual...

Non-Essential Work (Omar Sakr, UQP) 

Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Omar Sakr’s work is polished to a razor-sharp point in his third poetry collection. As expected, Non-Essential Work contends with notions around identities outside the white and heteronormative. But rather...