Hamlet is Not Ok by R. A. Spratt

01 Apr 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Aussie YA Challenge, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , , ,

Published: 12 March 2024 (print)/4 July 2023 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia/Penguin Random House Australia Audio
Pages: 240/3 hrs and 19 mins
Narrator: R. A. Spratt
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
★   ★   ★ – 3 Stars

Selby hates homework.
She would rather watch TV – anything to escape the tedium of school, her parents’ bookshop and small-town busybodies.
So Selby didn’t plan to read Hamlet. She certainly never planned to meet him.
This novel transports Selby, and the reader, into the cold and crime-ridden play itself. Here she meets Hamlet: heavy with grief, the young prince is overthinking and over everything. Selby can relate. But unlike Hamlet, Selby isn’t afraid of making decisions. In her world, Selby is used to feeling overlooked. But in the bloody, backstabbing world of Shakespeare, Selby’s good conscience and quiet courage might just save some lives . . . hopefully before Hamlet stabs one of her classmates.

Spratt comes in guns blazing with a lot of yelling and chaos which was great. I liked for once there was a character who wasn’t studious, wasn’t on top of stuff, it’s about time there was a teen who got their own book who skipped out on doing any homework and it’s not entirely their fault. Selby I put up with as she is 15 and her actions are a very 15 year old response. There’s a balance at 15 where you can be a bit more immature than maybe a 16 or 17 year old character can get away with. Though immaturity has no age limit really, but you get more leeway the younger you get.

I didn’t like the note from the author essentially warning readers they will encounter Shakespeare in the book. It was like to let them know not to be scared off and to still give this book a chance. If you are reading a book having a few verbatim Shakespeare quotes in it shouldn’t deter you. I think the kids will survive. Especially given how it’s in a narrative form so it isn’t even the big scary play version they supposedly should detest. What was wonderful about having it put through a narrative lens is it’s a great example of how amazing Shakespeare is to see performed live. How reading a play in a book isn’t the right format. A play is to be performed and experienced. Diving right into the text to see it before you is the next best thing. If you can manage it.

It’s a bit Thursday Next with their ability to enter the world of Shakespeare and see it play out before them. As a lover of Thursday Next and her book jumping world this was super fun. Having a teen Hamlet interact with a modern teen really brings to light his angst and the family drama he has to endure. It’s easy to see how Shakespeare can be modernised because there are a lot of universal things and Selby getting to experience the plot points first hand is a great reminder that people have always been people even if you say it in a poetic form.

Spratt is quite emphatic and enthusiastic in her narration. Not unpleasant but it is funny why there was a need to be so emphatic about everything little thing. Seeing as it’s narrated by author I guess we can’t argue how enthusiastic she wanted to be on the reading. John Marsden’s retelling of Hamlet is one of my favourite retellings, and I love Shakespeare adaptations so while this is a tad enthusiastic (which I think won’t come across as intense in the book versus audio) it is a fun story. I love the mention that the play is four hours and the audiobook took three and a half. A great parallel.

Fast paced and light hearted it’s a quick read and one that might help the Shakespeare wary understand the universality and enduring nature of Shakespeare.

You can purchase Hamlet is Not Ok via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Happy Trans Day of Visibility

31 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in General Tags: , , , ,

Instead of posting a review, I thought I’d provide a list of books and authors you can read to help celebrate Trans Day of Visibility. There are a lot of trans authors, a lot of books about being trans and the trans experience, but also great fiction works that are written by trans authors in a range of genres. There are also a tonne of websites and lists curated by bookshops and queer sites and organisations to help promote some great books by trans authors or that tell of the trans experience and provide information. I have compiled a list of starting places to find books as well as essays and short stories.

Transgender Short Stories

Trans Stories by Trans Writers

Best Transgender Fiction

Trans Reads

There are other specific LGBTQIA focused websites that have a list of trans authors or categories to filter through too. LGBTQ Reads is one of my favourites.

If you’re looking for certain age groups of book types here’s a quick selection of book lists for a range of audiences to see a few titles that might pique your interest.

Kids

20 Children’s Books about Transgender and Non Binary Issues

14 Children’s Books Starring Trans or Gender-Nonconforming Kids

 

Young Adult

Booklist for Trans Teens

Trans and Non Binary Reads for Teens

 

Adult

Trans Reads for Adults

Transgender Reading List for Adults

Books by Trans and Genderqueer Authors

 

All Ages and Genres

Trans and Nonbinary Fiction for 2025

20 Trans and Nonbinary Reads in 2025

Queer and Trans Books in 2025

All in all there are so many available books and websites and information portals out there to find and celebrate trans stories. Whether it’s through buying books, going to the library, or talking with friends there are so many amazing stories out there you’re sure to find one that suits your reading mood.

 

 

Fairest (#3.5) by Marissa Meyer

27 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 27 January 2015 (print)/8 May 2017 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends/Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Pages: 272/5 hrs and 33 mins
Narrator: Rebecca Soler
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told…until now.

This is a bridge book between Cress and Winter, books three and four in the Lunar Chronicles, and the story explores Levana’s childhood and how she became the ruler we know.

It was amazing to see her use of her powers and read about the normal Lunar life as natural and as every day. Given our only perspective before has been through Cinder and other character’s perspectives, it was great to be able to see the regular lives of Lunars and how their gift is used among the community. It also shows us how the events in her past affected who she’s become and all those references and secrets in the previous three books are answered and it was absolutely fabulous.

There is a hard line being balanced where you feel sorry for Levana and her life growing up, but at the same time you know that there are different paths she could have taken and different decisions being made. Narrative bias is also a key factor and it was intriguing to see Levana justify things to herself and how, while she is leaving out certain things, she does show the reader a darker side to herself, one that gives a glimpse at what she is truly capable and how the young girl in this story becomes the queen we see later on.

In showing us a younger Levana we also see a glimpse of the younger counterparts of other characters as well, those who lived in the palace with her. I enjoyed seeing the younger versions of the key characters, from babies to children and beyond. It wasn’t their story but through Levana’s perspective you can see how they circled her world and were in her life in different ways. This is also true for characters only mentioned such as Queen Channary or Winter’s father. It’s a great connection to the main books and connects the series together really well.

Levana is both a victim and a villain and having these conflicting emotions when we see such a one sided view of her previously was a bizarre feeling. Not to justify bad childhoods for being a terrible adult, but Meyer makes us see that there is a lot more to Levana’s story than it first appears and the trauma and pain she’s suffered were bound to have an effect on her one way or another.

The story is third person but Meyer gets us inside Levana’s head and we see everything she thinks and feels, a clever move on Meyer’s behalf. We’re able to see that she is shameless in her actions but she also shows a lot of passion and pride, even hopelessness and loss which are interesting choices. Ironically it humanises her and you see the malice within but also the girl starved of attention and love. I loved this story a lot, it was great to see the rise to power and the changes Levana makes, something we can see even as she edits herself and we can’t entirely trust her thoughts.

This definitely works to be read between books three and four, but it is something I came to after finishing the series and it gave me a reflective enjoyment about the events in Winter and the relationship Levana has with the characters I had fallen in love with.

You can purchase Fairest via the following

 Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

 

How to Be a Giraffe by Thea Baker

21 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: , , ,

Published: 7th September 2021Goodreads badge
Publisher: Little Genius Books
Illustrator: Thea Baker
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★  – 3 Stars

Joffrey might have horns, a tail and a long neck, but his stripy fur is causing quite the stir. Everyone knows that giraffes have spots! But if Joffrey isn’t a giraffe, what could he be?

First things first, I’m ashamed to say it took me a while to realise what the problem with the giraffe on the cover was until the story pointed it out, it didn’t click that giraffe don’t have brown stripes but honestly it’s a cute look.

Basic giraffe anatomy aside, this is a fun book. Joffrey is born different and while he isn’t exactly cast out from his herd, he is made to feel weird and Not Like The Rest enough that he chooses to leave. Clearly Joffrey doesn’t have a Mrs Jumbo in his life that defends their kid the second their born from the rest of the mean herd.

The story follows Joffrey as he tries to find who he is, if he isn’t a giraffe then what could he possibly be? I love his attempts at being different animals – from bees, to crocodiles, to elephants. All of them not the right fit.

The narrative rhyme is simple and flows well as you read either aloud or to yourself. The illustrations and the text work well together as readers build anticipation with page turns and fun expressions.

The illustrations are sweet, the designs are simple and the colours are gorgeous in full and partial pages. The creative geometric designs used in the background design as well as some of the other animals is clever and add great texture to the page. I also loved the small details like a spotted zebra which goes to show that others might not match their community either but it doesn’t need to mean anything.

I like that when Joffrey goes home, the other giraffe realise they were wrong. His leaving made them understand they’d made a mistake which is a great apology to show. Joffrey didn’t have to be the one to be proud of who he is without the community knowing they’d been wrong as well. There’s no point being proud of who you are while everyone else thinks you’re weird and shouldn’t be there. That’s not fair to Joffrey and he’d be better off staying away.

It is a good message wrapped around a cute and humorous story and one I think a lot of people could learn from.

You can purchase How to be a Giraffe via the following

QBD | Blackwell’s

 Wordery | Angus & Robertson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

18 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Fiction Tags: , , , ,

Published: 9 September 2005 (print)/11 October 2005 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)/Listening Library
Pages: 275/7 hrs and 3 mins
Narrator: Cassandra Morris
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvellous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.

Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward?

Despite being well before The Good Place, this is a beautiful story that captures what I adored about that show: an afterlife that is still a life where you can grow and think and love before starting the cycle again.

There is a wonderful structure to the Elsewhere world while also being mystical. There’s rules and guidelines, there are things still bound by reality in terms of what is possible, but there is also a touch of the unknown, the magical, and the unexplained. The Benjamin Button aspect of the universe was really well conceived and I loved how Zevin ties that into relationships, living situations, and jobs.

We get to see Liz’s perspective mainly but around halfway through Zevin branches out and we see aspects of other characters like Betty and other key characters. I liked this balance because Liz’s story is what we want most, but the small additions of the other voices gives unique insights and great additions to the story without overshadowing Liz.

Stuck at 15 is a hard age, and I understand Liz’s fear at never growing up. She has a strong obsession with her breasts which was interesting, as well as never getting to take her driving test. I liked that despite being in an afterlife situation, she still felt bound by the fact she couldn’t accomplish life goals like getting her driver’s license. The exploration of the stages of grief and the yearning to return to the living, to live vicariously through them, to keep the connection alive is explored in subtle but powerful ways. I loved the gentle way Betty interacts with Liz, as well as Thandie and other characters who are often far more accepting of their fate than she is.

One interesting thing is, and isn’t a spoiler, but I doubt the reality of Marilyn Monroe being there given my understanding of the aging and rebirth system. Even with a vague setting of when this book takes place I think it is still unlikely Marilyn is still in Elsewhere and hasn’t been reborn. Just a curious observation. Other than that I do love the concept of Elsewhere. I love how jobs are viewed and how family reconnects, even the respect and ceremony of rebirth and the regulations around contact with the living is cleverly done. Zevin has created a beautiful story that is light-hearted but still explores the weight of grief, death, and what it means to be alive.

You can purchase Elsewhere via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

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