Review search
Confetti and the Rainbow Garden (Shane Jenek, illus Dylan Finney, Pantera)
Released November 2025
Confetti and the Rainbow Garden is a heartwarming debut picture book written by drag artist and LGBTQI+ advocate Shane Jenek, also known as Courtney Act, and illustrated by Dylan Finney.... Read more
Eggshell (Olivia De Zilva, Espresso)
Released November 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... Read more
What Have They Done to Liza McLean? (Amy Doak, Penguin)
Released October 2025
Set in an elite private school with dark secrets, What Have They Done to Liza McLean? is a fast-paced murder mystery by Amy Doak (Eleanor Jones Is Not a Murderer).... Read more
Gravity Let Me Go (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins)
Released October 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... Read more
The Rot (Evelyn Araluen, UQP)
Released November 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... Read more
The Long Night (Christian White, Affirm)
Released November 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... Read more
The Australian Wars (ed by Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray & Henry Reynolds, A&U)
Released November 2025
The Australian Wars is a collection of essays edited by Rachel Perkins, Stephen Gapps, Mina Murray and Henry Reynolds that outlines the horrific frontier wars between 1788 and 1930. The... Read more
Between (Anna Walker, Scribble)
Released October 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... Read more
A Smart Girl’s Guide to Second Chances (Steph Vizard, HarperCollins)
Released October 2025
Steph Vizard’s A Smart Girl’s Guide to Second Chances is a fun, perfectly executed romcom that plays cleverly with the idea of missed connections and what-ifs. When Rebecca is offered... Read more
Silence Is My Habitat: Ecobiographical Essays (Jessica White, Upswell)
Released October 2025
Silence Is My Habitat by Jessica White (A Curious Intimacy) is a collection of ecobiographical essays – stories that trace a life not through chronology alone, but also through a... Read more
The Lucky Sisters (Rachael Johns, Penguin)
Released October 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... Read more
Here Come the Cousins (Maggie Hutchings, illus Sarah Zweck, T&H)
Released October 2025
In Here Come the Cousins, a young child eagerly awaits the arrival of their seven cousins at Pop’s seaside home. After hellos and measuring who has grown the most over... Read more
Last Chance Joey (Meredith Resce, Rhiza Edge)
Released October 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... Read more
Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)
Released October 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... Read more
For No Mortal Creature (Keshe Chow, Penguin)
Released October 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... Read more
Left Behind (Martine Kropkowski, Ultimo)
Released October 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.... Read more
Naynay and the Mermaid (Tasma Walton, illus Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, Scholastic)
Released October 2025
Naynay and the Mermaid is a beautifully told and visually striking picture book by accomplished actor and author Tasma Walton, a proud Boonwurrung woman from Melbourne. Naynay is asked to keep... Read more
Riots (Fiona Skyring, UWA Publishing)
Released October 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... Read more
Ningaloo: Australia’s Wild Wonder (Tim Winton, illus Cindy Lane, Fremantle)
Released October 2025
Ningaloo, written by award-winning author Tim Winton and illustrated by Cindy Lane, is a beautifully designed nonfiction picture book about the Ningaloo Reef off the West Coast of Australia. Called... Read more
Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower (Susan Wyndham, NewSouth)
Released October 2025
In Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower, journalist and author Susan Wyndham offers a sympathetic and illuminating exploration of the life and work of one of post-war Australia’s... Read more
