Australian Women Writers | Lost in a Good Book

Long Lost Review: Night Swimming by Steph Bowe

13 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Australian Women Writers, LGBTQIA, Long Lost Reviews, Young Adult Tags: #llr, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, loveozya, steph bowe, three stars, young adult

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: 03 April 2017
Publisher: Text Publishing
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
★ ★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Imagine being the only two seventeen-year-olds in a small town. That’s life for Kirby Arrow—named after the most dissenting judge in Australia’s history—and her best friend Clancy Lee, would-be musical star.

Clancy wants nothing more than to leave town and head for the big smoke, but Kirby is worried: her family has a history of leaving. She hasn’t heard from her father since he left when she was a baby. Shouldn’t she stay to help her mother with the goat’s-milk soap-making business, look after her grandfather who suffers from dementia, be an apprentice carpenter to old Mr Pool? And how could she leave her pet goat, Stanley, her dog Maude, and her cat Marianne?

But two things happen that change everything for Kirby. She finds an article in the newspaper about her father, and Iris arrives in town. Iris is beautiful, wears crazy clothes, plays the mandolin, and seems perfect, really, thinks Kirby. Clancy has his heart set on winning over Iris. Trouble is Kirby is also falling in love with Iris…

I read this book in 2017 and unfortunately I recall absolutely nothing of it. So much so that every time I see my draft review for it (which literally only contains the blurb, not even a single note or thought) I think I need to reread it because I can’t even summon up any recollection at all. This has obviously not improved as the years went on and I still recall nothing and the hope of suddenly remembering pieces of plot diminished further. I should reread it, but for now I am making it a Long Lost Review because if these are for anything it is for those book we read in 2017 and remember nothing of it whatsoever.

I also feel given the passing of Steph Bowe that I should reread. And I may. But for now I will say I read it, gave it 3 stars, and nothing in the blurb sounds even remotely familiar. At a stretch I could say it was one of the earliest F/F books I’d ever read. Maybe the first? Seems like a hard thing to pin point but I do recall that being a stand out reading the blurb.

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

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

Here for the Right Reasons (#1) by Jodi McAlister

24 May 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers Tags: Audiobook, fiction, fiction romance, jaimee taylor-nielsen, jodi mcalister, marry me juliet, three stars

Published: 6 July 2022 (print)/5 July 2022 (audio)
Publisher: Simon Schuster Australia/Simon Schuster Australia
Pages: 352/9 hrs and 45 mins
Narrator: Jaimee Taylor-Nielsen
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

When Cece James agrees to be cast as a ‘Juliet’ on the next season of the hit television show Marry Me, Juliet, it’s certainly not for the right reasons. She’s knee deep in debt and desperate for the associated paycheck. The last thing on her mind is the hunky ‘Romeo’ waiting for her at the end of the gravel driveway.

But Dylan Jayasinghe Mellor isn’t your usual fame-hungry TV star. An Olympic gold medallist with calloused hands, kind eyes and a propensity for panic attacks, it turns out he’s not here for the right reasons either. As spokesperson for a men’s mental health foundation, and the franchise’s first non-white male lead, Dylan’s got a charity to plug and something to prove.

When Cece gets eliminated on the first night, it seems like her and Dylan’s awkward first meeting will be their last conversation. But when the TV set is shut down unexpectedly, Cece and Dylan suddenly get a little more time together than they’d expected.

Will love bloom when the cameras stop rolling?

Reading these out of order was accidental so I knew what to expect but at the same time I was interested to see a whole new storyline because there is definitely two separate love stories happening despite being set during the same experience.

I loved that for the first part on the show we see the same conversations playing out because of course they’re all in the same group. It makes me wonder if I’d done it in another order I’d have the same surprises. The ending of book two was a nice reveal that you had an inkling about, whereas this doesn’t have the same feeling of mystery to it.

Without comparing the two books, I found I wasn’t invested in the Dylan/Cece relationship like I was before with the other story. I don’t know why, Dylan is perfectly nice, a little one dimensional at times, maybe too I couldn’t warm up to Cece as narrator. I found myself tuning out unintentionally which I felt bad about, but I couldn’t stay in the story. The conversations between Dylan and Cece didn’t grab me and it felt flat. It wasn’t that I need drama or anything, but I never became invested in their characters.

You definitely see the two falling in love as they become better friends, a great contrast against the backdrop of reality TV and fabricated relationships for personal gain and fame. You also see Cece’s growth as she builds in confidence and finds out what’s she’s looking for, but she never felt complete. With the knowledge of book two I actually enjoyed their relationship from an outsider’s perspective more fulfilling.

I felt I got more out of the story having read book two. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I did it the other way but there was something interesting about having extra knowledge that wasn’t being revealed in the story. Knowing the ending doesn’t ruin anything. You know where it’s going to go anyway, this is enjoying the journey and discovering the trials and tribulations on the way to the destination.

McAlister did a great job having two separate locations and so dual storylines could happen. We only see Cece’s side, and this focuses it more on a story with her inner turmoil than being about the dating show aspect alone. Often the television dating part is something happening in the background, something that we pop in and out of and connects to a wider story. That’s not to say we don’t see the drama of reality TV. There are extra characters to clash with but the situation McAlister has put Cece in means a lot of time is spent in her head which often felt repetitive.

I did like that both books give an unconventional conclusion; a romance that comes from unexpected places but still a place of sincerity and honesty. I can definitely sense there is a third book coming. If not there needs to be another story about Lilly, her social media brand and whatever is going on with that producer. I need answers because it’s mentioned often enough, and cryptically enough, in both books that it’s a failing if McAlister doesn’t offer any answers at all.

You can purchase Here for the Right Reasons via the following

QBD | Booktopia

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon Aust | Audible

Can I Steal You for a Second (#2) by Jodi McAlister

16 May 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers, LGBTQIA Tags: anthea greco, Audiobook, bisexual, contemporary romance, fiction, four stars, jodi mcalister, lgbt, LGBTQIA, marry me juliet

Published: 5 April 2023 (print)/4 April 2023 (audio)
Publisher: Simon Schuster Australia/Simon Schuster Australia
Pages: 352/9 hrs and 45 mins
Narrator: Anthea Greco
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Mandie Mitchell will do anything to get over her toxic ex. Even sign up to the polarising reality dating show, Marry Me Juliet. But with her self-esteem in tatters, she’s not sure she’s brave enough to actually go on the show until she forms a friendship with Dylan Gilchrist at the auditions that gives her the push she needs.

Dylan is everything Mandie is not – tough, strong, and totally unafraid to speak her mind. Unfortunately, she also looks set to win, as she soon becomes the clear favourite of the Romeo, who also happens to share the same name. It’s annoying, really, just how perfect the Dylans seem for each other…

Mandie’s jealous. But it’s not because she wants to win the show. It’s because in her effort to get over her ex, she’s gone and fallen right back in love… with the wrong Dylan.

This is a sequel in the Marry Me, Juliet series but it reads perfectly fine as a standalone or a first read if you’re going out of order. I didn’t realise when I picked it up and when I learnt there was a second book I assumed it was a companion book from a new perspective. That one is next on my list but if you’re starting here like I was there is nothing wrong with this being your introduction to these characters.

Being set during the pandemic was creative for the story, kept everyone together and added tension and stress to all of the characters. But on the other hand it did bring back some horror memories I wasn’t expecting but thankfully being in lockdown and raging deadly viruses are a minimal inclusion.

This is the second behind the scenes dating show book I’ve read and I enjoy seeing the manufacturing of shots and dialogue, but at the same time trying to maintain a true love element. Mandie’s love of the show allowed some creative imagined scenarios that sounded plausible and it added a fun element as she imagined how conversations would play out on TV.

McAlister has written characters that felt real, that had their own flaws and made mistakes. I loved that a lot of conflict was internal and character driven – Mandie’s own self-doubt being a key factor as well, but at the same time the external situation of being on a literal dating show added problems too.

There were great surprises and revelations which adds nice drama. There were big reveals and twists but they never felt like they came from nowhere. McAlister uses the characters incredibly well in driving the plot and with each character comes their own wants and needs, not to mention their flaws and misgivings which interact and clash with other people. You really get a sense of being on reality TV, locked up with strangers, vying for the same goal while still trying to appear happy and supportive.

Seeing Mandie’s emotional development through the book was great, she wasn’t a wallflower by any means before, but her blindness to her ex and their behaviour was clear, and I loved the slow reveal that made us realise it too. The positive influence of Dylan was real and never felt sanctimonious or sappy. It always felt like it came from genuine friendship and support. I loved the relationship between Mandie and Dylan and it was nice to see support between two people who were essentially in competition with one another.

I’m still not sure what the deal with Lily was, I had theories but I’m not sure if I was right so I’m going to keep my theories as fact until told otherwise. It felt like a small loose end to never clear that up, but as there is another book it might have more to say.

I’m definitely going to dive into the first book now and get more goss on the other contestants and the different side of the competition. McAlister has so many players to work with it will be great to see another perspective on the reality show and the different possibilities it can bring.

You can purchase Can I Steal You for a Second? via the following

QBD | Booktopia

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

Fishpond | Amazon Aust | Audible