Solve for i by A.E. Dooland

12 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Audiobook, Fiction, LGBTQIA Tags: , , , , ,

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: 23 February 2017 (print)/20 July 2017 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: E Dooland/Tantor Audio
Pages: 358/12 hours, 32 min
Narrator: Cat Gould
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction Romance
★   ★ – 2.5 Stars

Maths wiz Gemma Rowe has found the one problem her maths can’t solve: she’s fallen for her female & very heterosexual best friend. 

Gemma Rowe is a shy maths nerd from Sydney who, despite having an affinity for probability and logic, only just worked out at 28 that she’s not actually straight. Not only is she not straight, but she’s developed feelings for her best friend Sarah. 

Sarah and Gemma go way back—since they met at university, they’ve been completely inseparable. They’ve travelled together, got jobs at the same company, and shared each other’s triumphs and sorrows. There was even that one memorable time when Sarah, completely drunk, told Gemma she couldn’t live without her. A relationship seems like the perfect solution. 

There’s just one teensy little problem with this whole equation: Sarah is straight. 

Gemma knows the logical thing to do is to get over Sarah. She wants to be in her own happy relationship and not caught up on her straight best friend. But how is she supposed to get over Sarah when, despite all those advanced problem-solving skills, she can’t even work out who she’s attracted to anymore? 

This has been sitting in my unfinished drafts for a couple years and I keep thinking I should write a review before I open it and realise I have three lines of notes and no other recollection about the book. Which makes it perfect for a Long Lost Review.

I haven’t read a lot of adult LGBTQIA books and I found this one by chance and didn’t realise it was adult fiction. It contains a character who is trans and non-binary which I definitely have never read in an adult fiction so I loved that. I feel the adult queer books are not as promoted as well as the young adult, which is strange. Either that are there isn’t a push to highlight them, people will find them by chance if they do. Maybe I am just looking at the wrong lists (highly probable).

There were a few poor pronoun choices when talking about Min, the trans non-binary character, which always caught my attention, either character choice by Gemma or author choice to not try super hard about that we may never know. There was a line I recall where Gemma says Min doesn’t really mind which pronouns Gemma uses, but there were also the ones they did use, and Gemma choosing to ignore that, even given the pass felt a tad rude.

I’ve given this 2.5 stars so clearly I wasn’t the biggest fan of the book. I remember the feelings Gemma develops for Sarah, and a few scenes with Min, but I can’t say I remember much else about it I’m afraid.

You can purchase Solve for i via the following

Wordery |  Blackwell’s

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Going BiCoastal by Dahlia Adler

10 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, LGBTQIA, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Published: 13 June 2023 (print)/13 June 2023 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Wednesday Books / Spotify Audiobooks
Pages: 336/8 hrs and 57 mins
Narrator: Mara Wilson
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult Romance
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4.5 Stars

A queer Sliding Doors YA rom-com in which a girl must choose between summer in NYC with her dad (and the girl she’s always wanted) or LA with her estranged mum (and the guy she never saw coming). In Dahlia Adler’s Going Bicoastal, there’s more than one path to happily ever after. Natalya Fox has twenty-four hours to make the biggest choice of her stay home in NYC for the summer with her dad (and finally screw up the courage to talk to the girl she’s been crushing on), or spend it with her basically estranged mum in LA (knowing this is the best chance she has to fix their relationship, if she even wants to.) (Does she want to?)

How’s a girl supposed to choose? She can’t, and so both summers play out in alternating timelines – one in which Natalya explores the city, tries to repair things with her mum, works on figuring out her future, and goes for the girl she’s always wanted. And one in which Natalya explores the city, tries to repair things with her mum, works on figuring out her future, and goes for the guy she never saw coming.

I have wanted to read this since mid 2023 when it came out and now I finally have access to it and I loved it. I love Sliding Doors and I love seeing two different versions play out based on one single decision. The issue here is both options were good. I loved the natural way each relationship developed and how both had potential and benefits for Natalya.

With her east coast choice, the connection and relationship with Elly felt organic and real. You believed that they may have seen one another visiting the same places over and over again without their meeting and connection be a perfect stars aligning situation. Even though it was classed as a safe choice, it still gave Nat a chance to take chances.

For the west coast, Adam was a great new discovery and a good lesson on her taking risks and changing up her routine. His family and his story was unique and engaging and I loved the ease in which they suited one another.

All characters in both versions were really well developed. I kept forgetting most of them were teenagers, seventeen or eighteen, they felt and sometimes acted a lot older, I often found myself thinking they were in their twenties. But that isn’t a disservice to Adler, I think it’s great to show that people that age can be mature and confident, and can have engaging lives that don’t constantly remind you of being at school. And when the younger kids were hanging out with people older, they never felt like they were missing out, or immature. It was an easy mix and great to read.

I was glad there were more conversations happening that weren’t entirely school related. I enjoyed seeing characters have their attention and plot on something other than school, or having their deep and meaningful summer of change (not that those don’t have a place). This story balances the big decisions of leaving school and having a summer themed book all without making it “the summer that changes their life” profoundness. The casualness was what made it so enjoyable to read.

I loved Nat’s parents and the different relationships and seeing the two storylines overlap was creative and a great way to show off how some things would always have happened, even if you made a different choice. There is also great representation of the Jewish faith and seeing it play a large part in Nat’s life was something I hadn’t seen before in a book. I’ve read stories where being Jewish is mentioned, but not shown to be as intertwines in day to day life as this.

As I said, I loved the Sliding Doors element, I thought there was going to be a way to have it merge together, but Adler makes it a choose your own adventure which puts great power in the readers hands and lets you pick your own ending. I must say I had trouble picking, but based on my enjoyment of each side of the story I did enjoy one a lot more, or I felt was more rewarding I should say. One would have happened anyway, while the other one felt like she was missing out if that hadn’t happened. Cryptic enough? No spoilers? Good-o.

 

You can purchase Going BiCoastal via the following

Booktopia

 Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox

05 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

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

Published: 28 March 2023 (print)/28 March 2023 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Dial Books/Macmillan Australia Audio
Pages: 384/10 hrs and 35 mins
Narrator: Kaiya Jones
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
★   ★   ★ – 3 Stars

George’s life is loud. On the water, though, with everything hushed above and below, she is steady, silent. Then her estranged dad says he needs to talk, and George’s past begins to wake up, looping around her ankles, trying to drag her under.

But there’s no time to sink. George’s best friend, Tess, is about to become, officially, a teen mom, her friend Laz is in despair about the climate crisis, her gramps would literally misplace his teeth if not for her, and her moms fill the house with fuss and chatter. Before long, heat and smoke join the noise as dis­tant wildfires begin to burn.

George tries to stay steady. When her father tells her his news and the memo­ries roar back to life, George turns to Calliope, the girl who has just cartwheeled into her world and shot it through with colors. And it’s here George would stay—quiet and safe—if she could. But then Tess has her baby, and the earth burns hotter, and the past just will not stay put.

A novel about the contours of friendship, family, forgiveness, trauma, and love, and about our hopeless, hopeful world.

Having read an amazing award winner recently, it was clearly an exception to my usual experience of award winners being long and boring because this one fell right back into the long and bit boring track. This book is clearly an award winner, there’s big ideas, poetic words, long drawn out emotional explorations. Which is fine. That’s why these books win awards. But it’s something you have to remember going in. I haven’t done a literary award winner in a while and I had to get used to it again.

The plot was interesting but the slowness takes away from your full enjoyment. Needing to move the plot along faster became my main wish and while I enjoyed the characters and their lives, it was drawn out. I had my audiobook on 1.75x speed and it still seemed to take forever. I thought it was almost over and I still had four hours left.

I enjoyed the environment Georgia explores. Living on the water, going out in the kayak and feeling peace in solitude. Those are wonderful moments of peace and reflection, which Fox does well. The emotional release of art as well as being on the water was a great new approach than what usually happens in books. I love Australian YA because we have these amazing stories that are outside of school settings that are about people’s fascinating and complicated lives outside of school drama.

There are a lot of characters in play which breaks up the long emotional and introspective thoughts and contemplations. Her mum and stepmother Mel are the parents, there’s grandad and his eccentricities, as well as the friendships between Tess, Lars, and Georgia. Not to mention a potential new friend in Calliope.

There are emotional moments and a lot of big issues that come into play. Alcoholism, abandonment, pregnancy and complications, as well as a variety of mental illnesses. It’s a complicated and messy life with complicated and messy characters. Lars is annoying, Tess is annoying, but I kind of enjoyed that in it showed imperfect people and how you can still be friends with them. Not to mention the bonds of childhood friendships and the obligations that entails. It’s also a good example of how as people grow up they change and as their lives go in different directions it’s a big thing for friendship groups.

There is actually a lot of things happening but the focus remains on Georgia so we only get bits and pieces as she interacts with it and the action around it is few and far between. The snippets we learn about of her father, the mystery of her flashbacks and various memories, as well as the drama of Tess’ intentional teen pregnancy added some flare.

The mention of the Black Summer fires hits a bit too close to home, as did the Covid mention. The reminder is always so depressing about that fire season and the anxiety rises to the surface as you relive it. It’s good that it isn’t being forgotten though and it plays into the story well. On the flipside, things are still long and overdone and they counteract good plot by distracting from it and making it feel weighed down.

It’s a good coming of age story that deals with changing relationships, discovering who you are, and how trauma shapes your life whether you realise it or not. I’m glad I read it but I also think it could have worked if it was less literary. But that isn’t how profound internal discovery and life changes happens. It was probably the best format to explore these ideas, it certainly makes them more impactful despite the pacing issue.

You can purchase The Quiet and the Loud via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer by Amy Doak

27 May 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Aussie YA Challenge, Australian Women Writers, Mystery, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Published: 04 September 2023 (print)/28 November 2023 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Penguin Books/Penguin Random House Australia Audio
Pages: 282/5 hrs and 29 mins
Narrator: Lola Bond
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Mystery
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4.25 Stars

Eleanor Jones is Not a Murderer by Amy DoakEleanor Jones has just started at her ninth high school. She likes to stay invisible, on the outer. So it’s bad luck that the first person she talks to at school, Angus Marshall, is stabbed and left for dead. And the last message on his phone is from Eleanor.

Eleanor realises the police don’t have all the facts. In trying to understand what happened to Angus, she inadvertently becomes involved with an eclectic group of fellow students – who all have their own reasons to want this mystery solved.

As they slowly unravel Angus’ secrets, Eleanor discovers the true meaning of friendship – and uncovers a danger lurking at the heart of the town…

I will excuse that maybe it’s a QLD thing, but this feels very American. I’m not sure whether Doak wrote it in a way to be broadly appealing outside of Australia, or whether QLD is just like that, but it didn’t completely have that great Aussie feel I love from our YA.

My experience with our schools is we don’t have the hierarchy of popular kids and the losers. I cannot fathom how just because a group of “cool” kids went to a public fish and chip shop other teenagers could never ever walk in there any other time of their life because it was the cool kids hang out. Like, what? And why must we think being studious means you don’t have friends? Ok that’s a character choice this time, but I knew plenty of studious people who had lots of friends. Is this trying to be a US stereotype knock off to appeal? Or is QLD just like this? There is even the overdone cool kid party which is close enough to being the US teen trope too.

What was interesting about Eleanor is she bucks the trends I was expecting. Nine schools in five years I’m surprised she is even open to trying to make friends. I’d’ve figured she’d realise there was no point and know she was moving in a few months so she wasn’t going to get attached to people. I mean, good for her for not doing this, but it’s interesting. Especially in the digital age where it is easier to keep in touch, but being in a place for a few months doesn’t let you make close friends that are work keeping touch with.

To her credit, I was very surprised when the Big Reveal happens, Eleanor was quite sensible. Not entirely, but she knows when to bail and not be a hero. I loved that. It’s stupid, but I shouldn’t be so proud that these kids, while doing their own investigation as is the style, still go to adults, and police, and don’t try and save the day entirely themselves. I shouldn’t be amazed and impressed when they leave it to the adults and pass on messages when someone is on trouble. I love that and I need more of it. I got so cranky in a book because it was too stupid how the teen detective acted, and I just need these detectives, as fun as they are, to also not go so far that things would be stupid and unbelievable and ‘if they’d just told someone’. They even mention the cops may have more info than they let on and surprise surprise and might be able to do something.

I loved the characters and I loved their dynamics. There isn’t a lot of emotional turmoil and drama which keeps it light but there are still deep moments. If A Good Girl’s Guide was a bit too intense this is a great substitute. A good Aussie feel despite the few American vibes and the mystery is still captivating. A great example of small towns and needing outlets and enrichment.

With great pacing and a constant intrigue in the mystery it’s definitely a page turner. It’s a lighter version of these kinds of teen detectives which is perfect for those who want the style without the emotional intensity.

You can purchase Elanor Jones is Not a Murderer via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon Aust | Audible

In an Absent Dream (#4) by Seanan McGuire

22 May 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, Novella, Wayward Children Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 8 January 2019 (print)/8 January 2019 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Tordotcom/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 204/4 hrs and 57 mins
Narrator: Cynthia Hopkins
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuireThis fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should. 

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

I love the pattern of a group book, a solo origin story, another group book, and then another solo origin. It breaks up the main story, and gives the characters a chance at their own history without needing it threaded into the main plot, either successfully or unsuccessfully. Giving them space to have a book to themselves is amazing and I love McGuire’s respect to these characters. That isn’t to say some characters have their history interwoven, but these feel like extra special origins we need to give special attention to.

Lundy is a character we have of course met before, but now we get to see her story. How she found her door, how she ended up at the Wayward School with Eleanor West.

From the dark world of Jaq, to Nancy’s world, and the sugary nonsense of Confection, Lundy comes from a world of logic and reason, but also debts and bargains. I loved the Goblin Market and I loved the variation on everything having a price in the form of fair value. While Lundy gets it to work for her, there is also a reason she is no longer in her perfect world and seeing her adventure was fascinating. It is mystical but somehow also more suited into the real world in a way, especially compared to the other worlds we’ve seen.

There is a tragic past in Lundy’s story and I loved how intricate McGuire’s imagination is to create something so logical to the point of absurdity. It’s fascinating and I loved Lundy’s navigation of this world.

Like the other origin stories you can read it as a standalone, and could also skip it, but it is a great insight into a character we’ve met and tells their story and role in the Wayward world.

 

You can purchase In an Absent Dream via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

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