Audiobook | Lost in a Good Book

Long Lost Review: The 143-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

14 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Junior Fiction, Treehouse Series Tags: andy griffiths, junior fiction, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, stig wemyss, terry denton, Treehouse Series

Long Lost Reviews is a monthly meme created by Ally over at Ally’s Appraisals which is posted on the second Thursday of every month. The aim is to start tackling your review backlog. Whether it’s an in-depth analysis of how it affected your life, one sentence stating that you only remember the ending, or that you have no recollection of reading the book at all.

Published: 1 October 2021 (print)/19 October 2021 (audio)
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia /Macmillan Australia Audio
Pages: 304/ 1 hr and 40 mins
Narrator: Stig Wemyss
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Junior Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Andy and Terry’s treehouse now has 13 new storeys, including a word-o-matic (it knows every word in the whole world!); a recycling depot; a wrecking ball; a deep, dark cave with a real live, fire-breathing dragon; a too-hard basket; a SUPER BIG STUFF storey; a baked-bean geyser (it erupts on the hour, every hour); a Ye Olde Worlde Historical Village; a fish milkshake level (the penguins love them!); a complaining room; a spooky graveyard (where it’s always midnight, even in the middle of the day); a toffee apple orchard guarded by a kind scarecrow; and a camping ground where you can have a nice, relaxing camping holiday – unless you get caught by hobyahs, put in a bag and poked with a stick, that is … Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!

As I was organising my review of the 169 Storey Treehouse I realised I skipped reviewing a few of the Treehouse books. I am here to start rectifying that today, I found the lovely notes I wrote when I read it in 2022 so I can at least remember what it was about.

This is Treehouse book number eleven. It doesn’t feel like there have been eleven, each one is fresh and engaging despite being formulaic. They are fun, wacky, humourous, and have unique antics that always seem to make sense in the story even if they make no sense.

Unlike some previous books, there is an actual storyline this time around instead of the plot consisting of jumping through random rooms and floors in the treehouse. There are references to old books and previous levels which doesn’t always happen, and given there are 143 levels it makes sense you could easily reuse a room.

Wemyss does an amazing job once more with the audiobook. It’s always a delight listening to him not only do the narration but also the side dialogue as he describes the illustrations and quirky remarks you miss out on with the audio format. The chatter of the little creatures running around the place are fun to listen to and it fits in well with the overall tone of the story.

I still enjoy the recap at the end of the book as they write down their adventure for their book. I know in the past I disliked the formula sometimes but I like the reliability of it, especially given the middle bits are always so different. I think when the story in the middle is done well, and there is a structure of sorts and isn’t wacky event after wacky event, it’s a better book.

Griffiths makes each book fresh and new and by now we are well aware of Terry and Andy’s dynamic so you know how each character behaves and how they influence a story. It is still easy enough to jump into this series wherever you first find it because they are easily a standalone despite the references to their past works. Story wise it makes no difference which adds to the timeless charm of the series.

You can purchase The 143-Storey Treehouse via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Dymocks

Angus and Robinson | Blackwell’s

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Holiday Haunts by Imogen Markwell-Tweed and Wendy Dalrymple

05 Mar 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Romance Tags: anthology, Audiobook, biff summers, faith connor, imogen markwell-tweed, jessica craig, lgbt, LGBTQIA, paranormal romance, wendy dalrymple

Published: 21 November 2021 (print)/21 November 2021 (audio)
Publisher: Bryant Street Publishing/Bryant Street Publishing
Pages: 226/4 hrs and 21 mins
Narrator: Jessica Craig, Biff Summers and Faith Connor
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Paranormal Romance
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Christmas is the perfect time of year to fall in love; especially if you’re a specter or a retail employee, that is. At Holiday Falls Mall, love blooms in sweet and spooky ways for four shop employees during the holiday season. This collection features two stories from queer romance writer Imogen Markwell-Tweed, and two stories from sweet romance writer Wendy Dalrymple for a unique, intertwined anthology of paranormal romance novelettes.

This collection of queer paranormal stories was one I picked because I was looking for a quick read and being the holiday season I thought what was more perfect, the queer paranormal element was an added bonus and didn’t disappoint.

The focus of these stories, despite the holiday setting, wasn’t actually Christmas stories per se. They were at Christmas, but not about Christmas. Each one was about love, finding love and discovering love, and both authors balanced the sweetness perfectly so it never became saccharine. The paranormal was balanced perfectly too. As a reader there was mystery to tantalise you, unspoken things, little hints and clues that laid traps or meant nothing. Sometimes you were waiting for the reveal, like the first story, Up to Snow Good where I forgot there was a paranormal element I was so caught up in Gemma’s story. Or Heavenly Reads where Markwell-Tweed drops crumb after crumb so we know Something isn’t right, but not sure what.

The stories are short, simple, some certainly more engaging than others but that was a personal choice. With four stories there isn’t going to be a wide range of opinion, I certainly liked some more than others but all were enjoyable and unique. The paranormal elements different than what I was expecting.

You can purchase Holiday Haunts via the following

Booktopia | Dymocks | Blackwell’s

Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Love, Just In by Natalie Murray

29 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers Tags: aussie books, maddy withington, matthew predny, natalie murray, three stars

Published: 24 March 2015 (print)/3 Jan 2024 (audio)
Publisher: Allen & Unwin/Wavesound from W. F. Howes Ltd
Pages: 464/10 hours, 16 minutes
Narrator: Maddy Withington and Matthew Predny
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Romance
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

In the vein of Emily Henry’s You and Me On Vacation, Love, Just In is a friends-to-lovers romance with just enough spice to heat up the summer.

Sydney TV news reporter Josephine “Josie” Larsen is approaching 30 and coming dangerously close to failing at life. Lost in a vortex of other people’s career milestones, engagement parties, and baby showers, Josie is perennially single, abandoned by her globetrotting family, and invisible to her boss – except for the one time he tuned in while she was mid-panic attack on live TV. As a punishment, Josie is shipped off to cover another reporter’s six-month leave at a regional bureau in Newcastle.

But Josie has more waiting for her in Newcastle than yawn-inducing stories about bicycle lane protests. The city is also the domain of Zac Jameson – her best friend since high school. This should be a happy turn of events, but Zac has barely spoken to Josie for the past two years. Not since his fiancée tragically died in his arms in a car accident and he left Sydney to try and cope with his grief.

Now thrown back into each other’s lives, Josie and Zac have to navigate their neglected friendship and secret attraction to each other while struggling with their careers and mental health.

Hilarious, sexy and heart-warming, this is the perfect romcom to sit on the shelves alongside Emily Henry, Sally Thorne and Ali Hazelwood.

Having loved Murray’s Hearts and Crowns series I was keen to jump into her new book and it was not a disappointment. It is sweet, full of the realities of life, of friendship, and love. Being set in a place that was so familiar to me was a bonus and I loved travelling the streets with Josie as she discovers her new hometown.

There are enough little surprises and twists to keep you engaged. The flashbacks give a nice slow reveal to the relationship between Zac and Josie prior to the present day. It’s a nice mystery element without is being a looming secret, it’s meant to be vague for readers to wonder about without derailing the story unnecessarily.

As it’s already pegged as friends to lovers you know there will be a happily ever after, but it is the journey of the characters and the life around them that is an enjoyable exploration. Zac is a great character and Murray teases him out well as you sense the long time friends turned fractured relationship between Josie and himself.

Josie is an anxious mess, not only about her health, but about her life. Her anxieties about her health as well as her mortification about her career can be debilitating and Murray explores this well through the story. It doesn’t become preachy but there is a fabulous message about trusting yourself, being kind to yourself, and facing your fears.

Withington and Predny do a great job on the audiobook. Withington brings Josie to life with her hopes and her anxieties with great balance. Predny’s role is significantly smaller but it was still nice to see Zac come to life and see his perspective of the story.

While it is a sweet romance story about old friends and new beginnings it is also a story about mental health and looking after yourself, and how easily it can interfere with your life. It’s about not having the dreams you expect and being ok with it, while also having the courage to make new dreams which can be just as good.

You can purchase Love, Just In via the following

QBD | Booktopia

Angus and Robinson | Blackwells

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Husband Material by Alexis Hall

20 Feb 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, Fiction, LGBTQIA Tags: alexis hall, Audiobook, five stars, joe jameson, london calling

Published: 2 August 2022 (print)/2 August 2022 (audio)
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca/Dreamscape Media
Pages: 416/13 hrs and 35 mins
Narrator: Joe Jameson
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Wanted:
One (very real) husband
Nowhere near perfect but desperately trying his best.

In Boyfriend Material, Luc and Oliver met, pretended to fall in love, fell in love for real, dealt with heartbreak and disappointment and family and friends…and somehow figured out a way to make it work. Now it seems like everyone around them is getting married, and Luc’s feeling the social pressure to propose. But it’ll take more than four weddings, a funeral, and a bowl full of special curry to get these two from I don’t know what I’m doing to I do. Good thing Oliver is such perfect Husband Material.

I honestly don’t know why I wait so long to read Hall’s novels because they are all so wonderful that I feel like I could have been revelling in their complexities and intricacies for longer if I had dove in sooner. I instantly fell back in love with these characters and Hall has made their next stage together better than ever. The previous events have been woven is so it never feels like a recap. You get caught up with the relationship between Lucian and Oliver and the comments of the past book never feel clunky or jarring. The natural reminder works in world and is a great way to remind readers what has happened before and why these characters are the way they are.

What makes this series so special is the demonstration that emotional issues are complex and ongoing, nothing is fixed overnight. Through the light humour and the adorableness between these two, Hall manages to cover serious topics without ever changing the tone or becoming preachy. The issues that are important to Oliver and Lucian reflect their character and it’s a wonderful way to highlight the concerns of real life through characters, see how there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, and more importantly, how one issue can be viewed differently by people in the same community.

Hall explores topics like the social queer community as well as society and governmental class with tact and incredible sly comments, all without making it A Thing or feeling like an agenda is being pushed. It’s real through the characters therefore it feels like it belongs in the story. What I adored through this approach is how many issues are addressed and how there are valid criticisms on both sides. Oliver’s points are valid, so are Luc’s so there is balance. Luc is never the only bad guy and Oliver’s own issues pair well with Luc’s so there is never one right side. It is a wonderful point of conflict that also helps readers understand that there are a lot of issues far more complex than they first appear. What also makes it wonderful is Luc has tact and reasonable observations and we can see his growth from being a proper disaster in the previous book which is incredibly heart-warming.

The only real critique of this story is the complete overreaction by a character to seeing a man put his arm around a woman and having a conversation. Given the fact you know what this man’s job is and have no other basis for any other misdeeds, it’s a lot of pages wasted. Truly, if I was with someone who overreacted that much over something so small it would be worrying. But that’s beside the point. Minor critique (that bugged me a lot). And yes, we could say it is in character if we must, but it still annoyed me which I recognise is a me issue. Other than that, phenomenal book.

To be fair, all the characters are a mess in their own way. It is greatly reassuring to see this in people who aren’t teenagers. People in their late twenties and thirties are allowed to be a disaster too and while they can have serious jobs and marriages you are allowed to be imperfect. For all my own overreactions to minor plot points I did love these characters, faults and all. Hall’s writing makes you envious of their friendship and makes you wish you had these kinds of relationships and friendship groups. The ride or die of your teens can still happen as an adult and found family is very much a thing even with real family nearby. Jameson does a fantastic job once again bringing them to life through the audiobook and they are are vivid and alive as if there was a movie playing in front of me. A testament to Jameson’s skill and Hall’s writing.

I didn’t read the blurb before I started reading so when I realised the strong Four Weddings and a Funeral vibes I was impressed with myself until I realised it was openly referenced in the description. Nevertheless, it is a perfect comparison because the four weddings and a funeral aside, the chaos of this friend group is similar and I loved that.

I knew this was going to be a five star book three quarters of the way through. Hall has created another amazing book and chapter in Lucian and Oliver’s story. I am so glad to add this book to my shelf. I might seriously need a reread of book one as well because almost immediately I fell back in love with these two adorable fools and I am too impatient for book three to get my next fix.

You can purchase Husband Material via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Dymocks

Wordery | Angus and Robinson | Blackwells

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Royals by Tegan Bennett Daylight

02 Aug 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers, Young Adult Tags: Audiobook, aussie books, five stars, loveozya, shabana azeez, tegan bennett daylight, young adult

Published: 3 May 2023 (print)/2 May 2023 (audio)
Publisher: Simon Schuster Australia/Simon and Schuster Australia Audio
Pages: 280/6 hrs and 18 mins
Narrator: Shabana Azeez
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

What happens when a group of teenagers is stranded indefinitely in a shopping centre, alone? With all the stuff they could possibly want … and a baby? Is it paradise – or hell?

With no phones and no internet, Shannon and her fellow prisoners are completely disconnected from the outside world… and their online lives. It’s hard to say whether they’ll be driven to delinquency, or – even worse – forced to make friends irl. Will the limitless bubble tea, Maccas, high-end trainers and tech equipment be enough to keep the six teens safe and happy until they can find a way out, or is this all the start of something more sinister?

Acclaimed author Tegan Bennett Daylight’s first novel for young adults reconceives Lord of the Flies for Gen Z, and in a suspenseful, character-driven and enthralling story, reveals that surviving in isolation just might bring us closer together.

I do love books like this where something is happening and the regular world has shifted somehow. The teens trapped alone somewhere is not a new concept, but I absolutely adore the way Bennett Daylight has constructed this. The mystery of the outside, the mystery of what’s happening inside, it’s a fascinating premise and one that has been executed beautifully. Azeez does a wonderful job as narrator for the audiobook. Shannon’s voice comes to live and immerses you deep in the story from the beginning.

Being locked inside a shopping centre unsupervised is probably a lot of people’s dreams and while I think Bennett Daylight would have done a fantastic job with any variation, I love the creativity of this story. I don’t get where the Lord of the Flies reference from the blurb come from aside from kids being alone to fend for themselves. There are better comparisons inside the story itself where the characters discuss their situation and cycle through everything from The Breakfast Club to The Hunger Games to The Truman Show.

The length of time and the activities the group does is filtered through the whole story, and while there is obvious linear progression, there are also moments where time becomes an unknown entity. The way the characters work with and around the shops and the food court, the interactions between each character and the activities they do is engaging and interesting to read. I really loved the unexpected revelations and I loved the snippets of information mentioned early on that leaves the reader wondering while the story or character has moved on.

Information about Shannon is gradually revealed and it never felt forced or out of place. Bennett Daylight is great at using the environment and the events of the story to add information and does so for each character is clever ways. As a narrator Shannon is an engaging voice making this book an easy read. Bennett Daylight has done a brilliant job giving her a voice that feel young and inexperienced while also projecting the wisdom of youth, reminding the reader they aren’t as shallow and selfish many think them to be.

I genuinely loved these characters by the end. I loved their friendship, their lives, and their relationship. I loved the found family and the community they established. I don’t want a sequel because this book is perfect by itself, but I do want to know what happens next. I also now imagine it happening again. No spoilers (despite by absolute burning desire), but I do want to know if it’s happened before or if it will happen again.

This is a fun, easy read that does what it says on the tin; it navigates the experience of teenagers living in an all access, no worries shopping centre. Bennett Daylight beautifully covers some main problems that may arise, but at the same time she offers enough issues that the characters still have to have some responsibility.

As much as I am dying to discuss the ending, I shan’t. I will say however I was very impressed with Bennett Daylight’s approach. For all my theories through the story, the ones that changed and shifted with each new little bit of information, I really loved where it settled. It was a mixture of satisfaction as well as keeping some of the mystery.

You can purchase Royals via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Dymocks

Wordery | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon Aust | Audible