Although “Howl’s Moving Castle” is a real favourite of mine (the inspiration for the Studio Ghibli adaptation), I haven’t read much of her other work. At the 2022 Conflux, I was browsing through a little secondhand book stall in the convention market and the author’s name caught my eye. When I was looking for books to add to my Short Stack Reading Challenge, this one looked as good as any.
Photo is of “The Time of the Ghost” by Diana Wynne Jones. The paperback book is resting among a jumbled collection of paintbrushes, sheet music, used dishes, a soft toy and an egg. The cover is of a transparent young girl with dark hair among trees holding a soft toy doll with a chicken and candles in the foreground.
“The Time of the Ghost” by Diana Wynne Jones is a young adult fantasy novel about four sisters whose parents work at a boys’ boarding school in the English countryside. When a ghost arrives one day, it soon becomes clear that it’s the ghost of one of the sisters that has come back from the future; but which one? All the ghost knows is that there has been a terrible accident, and that it has something to do with a game they play worshipping a little doll. However, the sisters must work it out quickly to prevent the accident and save their sister’s life.
Although published in the early 1980s, this is a fresh novel that explores a range of issues from neglectful parents to family violence. Wynne Jones has a real flair for capturing the nuance of sisterly relationships, and these four sisters seemed as real as the sisters in “Howl’s Moving Castle”. There is a messiness to their lives that feels utterly human, and I really enjoyed the dance between the realistic and the fantastic in this book.
However, I didn’t feel like it was Wynne Jones’ most readable work. While the effect of the book was to create a realistic, imperfect family, there was a certain disorderliness to the plot that at times made reading the book a bit of a muddy experience. Maybe the book was trying to achieve a little too much, or maybe the plot was a little convoluted, but it just wasn’t that easy to get through.
A creative, insightful novel that struggled at times with pace.
This book has been on my shelf for a very long time. Way back when I started this blog, I was frantically collecting books with tinted edges and I picked this one up from a Canberra book shop called Book Passion. However my bookshelf was bigger than my eyes and it has taken me a very long time to get to some of these early books. In an effort to try to tackle my backlog of over 200 unread books (send help!), I’ve been trying to prioritise books that have been sitting around for a while so I picked this one to take with me when I went for a trip.
Photo is of “The Sky is Everywhere” by Jandy Nelson. The paperback book is framed by a yellow circle of wrapped cord that looks a bit like a sun, with blue sky in the background. The cover is sky blue with white text surrounded by a white heart.
“The Sky is Everywhere” by Jandy Nelson is a young adult novel about a teenage girl called Lennie who returns to school after her sister Bailey has died suddenly following an unexpected health event. Lennie struggles to process the loss of her sister, or to talk about her grief with her grandmother and uncle, instead leaving snippets of poetry written on unlikely scraps discarded around her home town. However, things begin to grow even more complicated when she starts spending time with Bailey’s boyfriend Toby and meets the handsome, musical new student Joe.
This is an extremely heartfelt book that authentically and messily tackles the different ways people handle grief. Lennie is a very relatable character who grapples with the urgency of living – with ambition, love, family and school – while coming to terms with the understanding that these are all things her sister will miss out on. I really liked the interactivity of Lennie’s poetry throughout the book, with the lines scribbled on different types of paper (and even things like candy wrappers). I felt like it made the book feel more raw. I also really enjoyed Lennie’s relationship with her Gram, the strain and later solace they find in each other, and Lennie’s gradual understanding of her absent mother.
While I completely understand how Lennie’s grief and desire to be close to her sister clouds her judgment, I did find the love triangle of the book one of my least favourite parts. As a reader, there was just something quite uncomfortable about Toby and Lennie seeking comfort in one another. I appreciate that it contributed to the tension of the book, but I think sometimes you can have a budding relationship and explore social issues without tension.
Nevertheless, a gentle book that sensitively explores grief and adolescence. Also if you’re looking for a TV series on a very similar topic, I really recommend “Never Have I Ever” which is far more chaotic and extremely funny.
Fantasy series about a magic school that few students escape alive
Since I started listening to audiobooks about four and a half years ago as motivation to go to the gym and go running, I’ve made it through almost 50 books – over 420 hours of listening! However, shortly before I started listening to this series, I found out that I’m having a baby, and even though I did a few more Parkruns, I got to a point where I wasn’t able to run any more. So instead, I’ve been listening while gardening and commuting to work. I picked this series because I had read this author before, and before I knew it, I ended up listening to all three.
Image is of “A Deadly Education” by Naomi Novik. The audiobook cover is navy blue with a design in gold of an open book with a circle of moons in different phases above and an eye in the middle.
“A Deadly Education” by Naomi Novik and narrated by Anisha Dadia is a young adult fantasy novel about a teenager called Galadriel, known as El, who is a student at a school of magical studies called the Scholomance. When young magical people hit adolescence, their mana attracts deadly monsters called maleficaria or “mals”. To help keep them, and their communities, safe, young people are sent to live in isolation from the outside world at the Scholomance for four years. At the end, they must try to survive graduation by running the gauntlet of a year’s worth of mals. Many students form alliances, however most other students take a disliking to El and actively avoid her, and El becomes determined to survive on her own. In her third year, however, El draws the attention of a popular student called Orion who is renowned for saving other students. As other students begin to warm up to El, she begins to think that perhaps she doesn’t have to be alone after all.
Image is of “The Last Graduate” by Naomi Novik. The audiobook cover is dark green with a design in gold of a keyhole in a circle with arrows and a key hanging down.
In “The Last Graduate”, El is in her final year at the Scholomance and refuses to accept the death rate at graduation. With grim news coming in with the year’s new students, and the arrival of a rare book, El’s ambitions to simply survive graduation and save as many of her classmates as possible grow to improving the magical world for everyone.
Image is of “The Golden Enclaves” by Naomi Novik. The audiobook cover is black with a design in gold of gates, a city and floating eyes.
In “The Golden Enclaves”, graduation is finally over but the global danger to the magical world is only just beginning. To save the world, El must discover the truth that underpins the exclusive communities that so many magical people live in: the enclaves.
This is a fast-paced and easy series to get into with high stakes and considerable character development. Novik subverts the magical school trope with the grim and spartan Scholomance where every day students face mortal danger, hunger and incredibly challenging studies. The reluctant friendship between El and Orion was one of the highlights of the books, and I also enjoyed the slow unravelling of El’s family history and how it influences her past and future decisions. Generally, I enjoyed Dadia’s narration and El’s quite sardonic tone, though I think I would have liked a little more range.
There were quite a few things that didn’t work for me with this book. While the Scholomance felt very fleshed out, I found that this book suffered a bit from what I’ve noticed in other YA speculative fiction series where the more the world expands, the fuzzier the worldbuilding gets. While the third book wraps up the series well, I didn’t find exploring the different enclaves particularly enjoyable or interesting. The relationships El built in books one and two end up being sidelined for different ones in the third book which felt a bit disjointed.
A very readable series and while I wasn’t sold on all of it, it was compelling enough to keep me hooked throughout the entire trilogy.
Graphic novel adaptation of middle grade sci-fi series Animorphs
Somehow after reading this book, I managed to forget to review it, so here it is out of sync. I was so excited when I heard the “Animorphs” series was being adapted as graphic novels. I’m still trying to complete my collection of the original series (though I am getting a bit closer) and I will be making sure I collect all of these, but equally I am enjoying them and I’m keen to space them out and savour them as much as possible.
Image is of “Animorphs The Graphic Novel: The Visitor” based on the novel by K. A. Applegate and Michael Grant, and adapted by Chris Grine. The paperback graphic novel is sitting in front of a pet carrier. The cover is of a blonde girl in a green shirt and sweats carrying a red sports bag. Behind her are alien shadows against a green brick wall, and at the top are four images of her morphing into a cat.
““Animorphs The Graphic Novel: The Visitor” adapted by Chris Grine is based on the science fiction middle grade novel of the same name: the second book in the “Animorphs” series by K. A. Applegate and Michael Grant. The Animorphs are starting to get used to their new morphing powers, and Tobias is beginning to get used to permanently being a red-tailed hawk, but the threat of the Yeerks is ongoing. Although the way to the Yeerk pool is now closed, the Animorphs have discovered that their assistant principal is a controller: a host to a Yeerk. Rachel was friends with his daughter Melissa, and the Animorphs have to work out how to use that connection to get inside the assistant principal’s house.
This was another really fun adaptation with plenty of action and plenty of heart. Rachel was always described as this effortless beauty in the original books with this undercurrent of toughness, and I like her character design because it strikes an excellent balance between a typical Western beauty standard and the steeliness of a warrior. I also really liked this book because it straightaway rounds out Rachel’s character showing some of her hobbies, friendships and her compassion. I also found it quite amusing that early on, everyone looks absolutely gross while morphing except for Cassie and I look forward to seeing more of that.
There are already two more books out so I am very excited to get stuck into them.
Historical fantasy retelling of the fairytale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses“
Content warning: sexual harassment, controlling behaviour
After a very heavy audiobook and a bit of a hard time, I was in the market for a book that I knew would be heartfelt, enjoyable and have a (hopefully) happy ending and Juliet Marillier never disappoints.
Photo is of “Wildwood Dancing” by Juliet Marillier. The paperback book is resting in a bush of purple flowers between two purple and red shoes at night time. The cover is of a young woman in an elaborate satin dress and gloves, in a nightscape of tiny creatures, flowers and woodland.
“Wildwood Dancing” by Juliet Marillier is a historical fantasy novel and a retelling of the fairy tale “The Twelve Dancing Princesses“. The story is about Jena, the second of five sisters who live an idyllic life in Transylvania and secretly visit another realm every full moon and dance all night with members of the magical court there. When their father goes away to recover from an illness, the older sisters are left in charge of the household and the family business under the supervision of their father’s cousin. Initially, things go well and level-headed Jena has things under control, even if people occasionally look at her a little askance with her pet frog Gogu. However, after tragedy hits, Jena finds that things are not going so well and finds it harder and hard to resist her second cousin Cezar’s attempts to take control of the situation. In her efforts to try to get things back on track, things get even worse and soon her eldest sister, the Other Kingdom and even Gogu are at risk.
This was a sweet, enjoyable book that took the famous setting of “Dracula” and reimagined it as a beautiful, magical forest setting. I really enjoyed the visits to the Other Kingdom and the warmth of the characters the sisters meet there. Jena was a very relatable character, eager to take on adult responsibilities but struggling to let go of the naiveté of her childhood. The onslaught of Cezar’s controlling behaviour was done really well, and Marillier captured the nuance of how small transgressions can soon turn into abusive behaviour. The prejudice expressed against the Night People provided an interesting overlay to the story.
Although this book was very enjoyable and was similar in style to many of Marillier’s other lovely stories, I felt that it was coded slightly younger than some of her other books I have read. There were some reveals that didn’t feel as surprising to me as in previous books, and I wasn’t sure if that was because the audience was intended to be a bit younger or not.
A sweet story full of heart that brought a traditional fairytale to life.
Image is of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han and narrated by Lola Tung. The audiobook cover is a picture of a teenage girl and two teenage boys in swimsuits running along a dune at the beach.
“The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han and narrated by Lola Tung is the first novel in a young adult trilogy about a teenager called Belly who is on summer vacation. Every summer, she and her family stay with her mother’s best friend Susannah and her family. The four kids grow up together: Belly, her brother Steven and Susannah’s two sons Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly is the youngest and she has always felt like the little kid running after the boys. Nevertheless, she looks forward However, this summer, Belly is determined that things are going to be different. They are, but different in ways that she never could have expected.
This is standard coming of age novel set in the idyllic fictional beachside town of Cousins Beach. Han uses flashbacks to previous summers to build the groundwork for the dynamics between the two families, and Belly’s long-term crush on the handsome, brooding Conrad. This book is beautifully narrated by Lola Tung who also plays Belly in the TV adaptation, and she has a way of bringing all the sweetness, optimism and drama you could want in a young adult novel.
However, I frequently found this book frustrating. Although I suspect that Han was often trying to make a point, in reality Belly came across as extremely superficial. This summer, Belly’s primary currency is attention and she is constantly observing who is giving her attention, who could be giving her attention and who is getting attention instead of her. Belly is so self-involved, she completely misses what is going on with everyone around her. However somehow, despite multiple instances of incredibly selfish, bad behaviour, things do work out for her.
I have to say, this is one of those rare instances where I prefer the TV adaptation to the book. Through the series, all of the characters are much more filled out, especially Belly’s mother, Jeremiah and Belly’s brother Steven. I also felt that the TV show was a lot more diverse. Unlike the book, Belly is clearly cast as Eurasian with her cultural background mentioned more than once. There are queer characters and the debutante ball, not present in the book, was a great backdrop against which to explore ideas of beauty, tradition and class. I also felt like Belly was much more relatable in the show, and had some keen hobbies and interests outside boys.
A really nicely narrated audiobook, but while I think I’ll stick with the TV series, I don’t think I’ll read any more in the series.
As I have mentioned several times on this blog, I have been a fan of this author for a long time. I adored the “Chocolat” series and have really enjoyed most of her original folklore and fairy tales. I also realy liked her psychological thrillers. However, this book has been on my shelf for years and years and I have not managed to read it. I really enjoy runes, and I really enjoy fantasy, but for some reason every time I have tried to start this book I just haven’t been able to get into it. It probably isn’t helped by this cover design which, despite the embossing and gold foil, remains, tragically, quite ugly. The illustrator has actually designed some pretty iconic book covers so I am not sure what happened here. Anyway, I am trying really hard to get through my to-read pile as part of the Mount TBR Reading Challenge and when I actually made my own set of runestones recently, I figured it was finally time to tackle this book once and for all.
Image is of “Runemarks” by Joanne Harris. The paperback book is placed next to a hessian drawstring bag with runestones spilling out; each a smooth grey pebble with a white symbol painted on.
“Runemarks” by Joanne Harris is a fantasy novel about a teenage girl called Maddy Smith who has always been an outcast in her small village Malbry. Maddy has a strange birthmark on her hand, a dark orange ruinmark in the shape of a rune. With the mark comes something else: an ability to wield magic. While the townsfolk discourage anything that requires any amount of imagination, when Maddy was small she met a travelling man called One-Eye. Every season, near a large hill with a red horse carved into it, One-Eye teaches her more about runes, lore, and cantrips from old times. When he is away, Maddy practises her magic in small ways such as chasing away goblins. However, when One-Eye finally returns, he has a special request: to open a way beneath Red Horse Hill and retrieve something that will change the world.
This book draws heavily on Norse mythology, especially the gods and realms that make up the Nine Worlds. While drawing on similar motifs and themes to many of her other stories, in this one, Harris explores a different style of writing. This book is action-packed with a focus on battles for overt power and the fate of the world rather than the subtler themes often touched on in her other work. I think my favourite parts of the book were actually the Examiners, their distorted morality and struggles for control over themselves and each other. Harris explores how fanaticism can breed intolerance and hate, echoing similar messages in some of her other work. Of all the characters in the book, I think perhaps my favourite was Ethelberta who underwent the most character development and was perhaps the most relatable character in the book.
However, in finally finishing this book I was reminded why I had so much trouble with it the other times I have read it. I’m not sure if I am just not very inspired by Norse mythology or if there just wasn’t the same kind of balance between the wonder of magic and horror or danger that you find in some other fantasy novels. Maddie’s time in the oppressive, stale tunnels of Red Horse Hill just felt relentless, and each setting after the next was more and more grim. I appreciate it is a dark story, but there was no respite; no Rivendell-equivalent where we could catch our breath, get to know the characters and understand what was to come next. I think ultimately Maddie’s world didn’t really seem like one that deserved to be saved. Her town was awful, the tunnels were awful, the Examiners and whatever was in the Outlands was awful, the realms they visited were awful and all the people and gods: also pretty awful. I didn’t come away from this book feeling inspired by humanity, I came away feeling like Maddie left a bad place for several that were arguably worse.
While the use of runes to cast spells was a fun way to conceive magic, so much time was spent explaining how the magic was limited that when it came down to it, it did seem quite implausible that the Good Guys (difficult at any time to ascertain due to constantly shifting alliances and morally grey and ambivalent gods) would even be strong enough to fight the final battle. I get that the gods are meant to be fickle and fallible, but I just wasn’t cheering for any of them.
Ultimately not my style of fantasy and I think perhaps Norse mythology is not for me.
Queer romantic young adult graphic novel set in the UK
Content warning: homophobia, sexual assault, disordered eating, mental illness, bullying
I saw lotsof trailers for the Netflix adaptation of this graphic novel and suddenly copies of it were for sale everywhere. It looked unbelievably cute and I had a book voucher leftover from Christmas, so I picked up a paperback copy of the first volume.
Image is of “Heartstopper: Volume 1” by Alice Oseman. The paperback book is resting against a legal graffiti wall beneath a simple representation of the Ukraine flag, blue and yellow, twisted in the middle, partially covered by a hot pink tag. Above the flag are two stylised leaves, also in blue and yellow, which reflect the colours used in the TV adaptation to represent Nick and Charlie. The cover is of two teenage boys in school uniforms, one with dark hair and one with light hair.
“Heartstopper: Volume 1” by Alice Oseman is a graphic novel about a quiet teenage boy called Charlie who goes to Truham Grammar School for Boys. At the beginning of the year, his school starts a new ‘vertical’ form group to take attendance and Charlie’s seat is next to a boy called Nick, the captain of the school rugby team. Although they are quite different, they become fast friends, and begin spending time together outside school. Charlie is the only openly gay student at Truham and even though he is developing feelings for Nick, all his friends are adamant Nick is straight. But maybe, just maybe he might like Charlie back.
This is an incredibly sweet and readable graphic novel that gently and courageously tackles a number of different social issues but especially coming to terms with your sexuality and identity as a teenager. I just adored how respectful Charlie and Nick are with each other and that only becomes more apparent as the series progresses. Oseman brings to light the loneliness of being the only openly LGBTIQA+ student in the school and how being forced to keep things secret can leave you vulnerable to abuse. I really liked how Oseman struck a balance between the supports Charlie has around him, especially his friends and his sister, and his vulnerability to bullying, negative self-talk and restricted eating.
One of the most unique and striking things about this graphic novel is the use of motifs like leaves, flowers around the panels to emphasise what is going on emotionally in the story. Oseman’s art style overall is quite simple yet expressive. I really liked that they shared earlier drawings of the comic from years before it was published online as a webcomic (which I was inspired to read and which is still being updated). From reading many webcomics, and even trying a couple myself, I know how difficult it is to find a consistent style while your art steadily improves from all the practise. While maybe not my favourite graphic novel from an aesthetic point of view, Oseman’s style is definitely unique more than adequately conveys the story.
Which brings me to the Netflix adaptation. If I liked the graphic novel, I loved the TV series. It was beautifully filmed, immaculately edited and very well-acted. I understand Oseman was one of the writers for the show, and I almost think this story really came to life in film. The show kept some of the embellishments of the comic with certain scenes split into panels like a comic or animated leaves and flowers floating across the screen. The secondary characters felt much more filled out as well, and while the TV series remained very faithful to the comic, almost scene for scene, it seemed like a much richer story. So much thought was put into characterisation, sets and even colour palettes. I watched it while I was sick at home with COVID and am not ashamed to admit that I watched the entire thing three times. The music was exceptionally curated and you can listen to the Heartstopper ‘mixtape‘ as well for the full sensory experience. Sometimes it feels like everything on TV is really depressing or intense or dark or scary, and it was so lovely to watch something that was warm and sweet, yet utterly compelling.
A thoroughly enjoyable and inclusive story that you can check out for yourself in book, webcomic or TV format.
Young adult novel about teenagers who liberate baboons
I’m a bit behind with reviews (how is it already February?!) but this was on my Short Stack Reading Challenge list. This looks like it was another find from the Canberra Lifeline Book Fair (which is on this weekend for its 50th birthday and given the circumstances really needs everyone’s support). Anyway, my friend has been telling me I really need to read this author, so I was ready to give it a try.
“Papio” by Victor Kelleher is a young adult novel about David, a white Australian teenager, and Jem, an African-American teenager, who both live in Central Africa. David develops an affinity for the baboons kept at a nearby experimental research station, especially a large male called Papio and a female called Upi. When it becomes clear that the baboons are not going to leave the facility alive, David convinces Jem to help him break the baboons out and release them to the wild. However, the baboons struggle to survive in the wild and have not yet found a troop to join. When David and Jem stay longer and longer, it becomes clear that there is more at stake than Papio and Upi’s survival in the wild. Soon, all their lives are at stake.
This was an intense and realistic book that explores the limits of what it takes to survive in the wilderness. Kelleher doesn’t shy from the grittier details like hunger and illness, and the gradual acceptance of the group with a troop of baboons was one of the most interesting parts of the book. I really enjoyed the exploration of baboon behaviour. Certainly I had always had this idea that they are quite an aggressive species, but this book really showed me another side to baboons and the different ways they interact with humans and the encroachment on their habitat.
I think the part I had difficulty with was the thought processes of David and Jem. I couldn’t quite understand why Jem so easily went along with David’s plans, especially when it became clear he had concealed a lot from her. I also couldn’t quite understand how they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) see the anger they had brought upon the baboons, and that especially towards the end, their actions were leading everyone to disaster.
Young adult novel about a young boy’s affinity for foxes
I am currently doing my Short Stack Reading Challenge, and I raided all my shelves for some very short books to see out the end of the year. I picked up this book at the Lifeline Book Fair some time ago. I can’t remember if I chose it because someone recommended it to me, or because this author was one I read as a kid because my (admittedly very annoying) year 5 teacher was obsessed with her. Either way, this was the next book in my short stack. It is actually a signed copy, addressed to someone called Katie in the year of publication – 1994. Edit: I was just reminded that I have read this author more recently, I had just forgotten her pseudonym.
Image is of “Foxspell” by Gillian Rubinstein. The paperback book is situated between a red, brown and yellow spray paint cans. The cover has a fox on the bottom half and a young boy’s eyes in the next quarter, and the text against a brown background.
“Foxspell” by Gillian Rubinstein is about a young boy called Tod who, after his father returns overseas, has moved with his mother and two sisters to live with his grandmother on a property in South Australia. Despite being a talented artist, Tod struggles with school and feels the strain of the arguments at home. When he comes across a dead fox and is moved to bury it, he unknowingly creates a connection between himself and a fox spirit. Spending more and more time in the area nearby called the quarries, Tod attracts the attention of Shaun, an older teenager whose gang vandalise property and who is interested in Tod’s sister Charm. As things at home become more and more difficult, and Tod falls further behind in school, the temptation to run with a fox and run with a gang becomes greater and greater.
This was quite a surprising book. Even though it was written nearly 30 years ago, it still felt fresh and relevant. Although not ever said explicitly, it is suggested that Tod has a learning disability like dyslexia and instead of blaming him for his difficulties, the book explores how the people around him are failing him. I also thought that Rubinstein did a good job of weaving earthy magic into the story while acknowledging that white people, like foxes, invaded this country and that Traditional Owners’ beliefs and connection to country persists. There were also lots of other interesting parts to this story. Tod’s mother is an aspiring comedian and uses anecdotes about her family in her sets, and I thought that the dichotomy between her lack of involvement in her kids’ day to day lives, and her disrespect for their boundaries by using their lives as material for her shows was a fascinating subplot. I also really liked the character of Tod’s sister Charm, and the complicated relationship between her, Shaun, Tod and Shaun’s younger brother.
An unexpectedly complex story that I liked a lot more than I remember liking Rubinstein’s other books.
Tinted Edges 