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WBN advance reviews >

Mary Penfold (Grantlee Kieza, HarperCollins) 

Tuesday, 9 September 2025
Grantlee Kieza’s Mary Penfold is an intriguing biography of the Englishwoman who embraced her husband’s vision, made it her own, and turned their vineyard into one of Australia’s most enduring...

Chosen Family (Madeleine Gray, Summit Books) 

Tuesday, 9 September 2025
Warning: Clear your schedule for the all-consuming read that is Madeleine Gray’s second novel, Chosen Family. Set over 18 years, the novel follows Sydney friends Eve and Nell from high...

Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers (Zoe Terakes, Hachette) 

Tuesday, 9 September 2025
Zoe Terakes’ debut, Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers, retells five ancient Greek myths, drawing on the richness of their Cretan heritage to celebrate the long lineage of queer storytelling. Some stories...

Last One Out (Jane Harper, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
When 21-year-old Sam Crowley disappears in Carralon Ridge, his footprints are found scattered around three abandoned houses. Five years later, his mother, Ro, returns to town for the annual memorial...

Eggshell (Olivia De Zilva, Espresso) 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
Tender yet unsparing, Olivia De Zilva’s debut young adult novella, Eggshell, is a piercing meditation on adolescence, grief and belonging. Set in Adelaide’s working-class suburbs, Eggshell centres Kira, a mixed-race...

Gravity Let Me Go (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins) 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
Gravity Let Me Go is Trent Dalton’s fourth work of fiction, and it doesn’t disappoint, once again drawing readers deep into a raw and chaotic world that is both unsettling...

The Rot (Evelyn Araluen, UQP) 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
In The Rot, Evelyn Araluen returns with a blistering follow-up to her Stella Prize–winning debut, Dropbear, proving once again her unmatched ability to splice lyrics, theory, memory and critique. This...

The Long Night (Christian White, Affirm) 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025
Christian White’s The Long Night is a tense psychological thriller driven by a chilling kidnapping premise. Nineteen-year-old Em is abducted in a moment of vulnerability following what should have been...

Between (Anna Walker, Scribble) 

Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Between by Anna Walker, CBCA Award–winning creator of Lottie and Walter and Florette, is a beautiful and meditative picture book that invites readers to pause, observe and imagine. Told with...

The Lucky Sisters (Rachael Johns, Penguin) 

Tuesday, 26 August 2025
Rachael Johns (The Patterson Girls, The Greatest Gift) delivers one of her most heartfelt and emotionally layered novels yet in The Lucky Sisters, a story marking a confident shift beyond...

Last Chance Joey (Meredith Resce, Rhiza Edge) 

Tuesday, 26 August 2025
In Meredith Resce’s debut YA novel, Last Chance Joey, 17-year-old Joey Walton – who is struggling with dyslexia, toxic social circles and a troubled home life – is sent to live in the...

Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan) 

The cover of "Mad Mabel". Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Few people suspect an elderly woman or a little girl of murder, which is what makes Mad Mabel such a deliciously enjoyable read. Sally Hepworth’s latest novel begins with a...

For No Mortal Creature (Keshe Chow, Penguin) 

Tuesday, 19 August 2025
For No Mortal Creature by Keshe Chow (The Girl with No Reflection) is a romantic fantasy inspired by Inception and Wuthering Heights, but the story it tells is unique and...

Left Behind (Martine Kropkowski, Ultimo) 

Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Martine Kropkowski’s Left Behind is a stunning depiction of the remote, wild and isolated beauty of K’gari, paired with a taut and insidious suspense that grabs you from the opening lines....

Riots (Fiona Skyring, UWA Publishing) 

Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Renowned Australian historian Fiona Skyring returns with Riots, a captivating nonfiction book that unearths a chapter of ANZAC history rarely spoken of today. Skyring takes readers back to the turbulent...