Find Layla by Meg Elison

14 Oct 2025 Leave a comment

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

Published: 01 September 2020 (print)/01 September 2020 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Skyscape/Brilliance Audio
Pages: 188/6 hrs and 32 mins
Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

A neglected girl’s chaotic coming-of-age becomes a trending new hashtag in a novel about growing up and getting away by an award-winning author.

Underprivileged and keenly self-aware, SoCal fourteen-year-old Layla Bailey isn’t used to being noticed. Except by mean girls who tweet about her ragged appearance. All she wants to do is indulge in her love of science, protect her vulnerable younger brother, and steer clear of her unstable mother.

Then a school competition calls for a biome. Layla chooses her own home, a hostile ecosystem of indoor fungi and secret shame. With a borrowed video camera, she captures it all. The mushrooms growing in her brother’s dresser. The black mold blooming up the apartment walls. The unmentionable things living in the dead fridge. All the inevitable exotic toxins that are Layla’s life. Then the video goes viral.

When Child Protective Services comes to call, Layla loses her family and her home. Defiant, she must face her bullies and friends alike, on her own. Unafraid at last of being seen, Layla accepts the mortifying reality of visibility. Now she has to figure out how to stay whole and stand behind the truth she has shown the world.

One thing I adored about this book was how imperfect it was. Being only fourteen is a prime age for Elison to work with. Layla is grown up enough and seen enough that she knows how the system works, knows how to care for herself and her brother, while still having the inability to act too grown up or understand everything completely. She is strong but is lacking a lot of critical thinking, impulse control, and her development has been shaped by her mother’s actions.

I was impressed at the topic being addressed. Neglect is important and having it so boldly portrayed in this story was fantastic. Showing how easily it goes unnoticed, especially how Layla could cover some of it up but not all of it due to her age and maturity, despite her intellect, felt real. It was a great decision not to have Layla be a slightly older competent teen, someone who could navigate their situation better, but also not have her be a self-assured competent twelve or thirteen year old either. Not that there couldn’t be a capable twelve year old who can care for herself and her brother, but I think having Layla struggle but also succeed as best she did is important. This is the balance of not being able to clean the house for fear or wrath and not having the skills to try, especially with events too big like water damage.

I enjoyed and was intrigued by a lot of the book but I really started to love it more towards the end. This was no doubt because of the work put in at the start. The slow build up and establishment of Layla and her brother is ideal given the wrap up and rollercoaster at the end.

Something I find interesting is how misleading the blurb is. It’s not that that doesn’t happen, but it isn’t exactly right in how it plays out in the book and is certainly not the main focus of the book.

I’m not going to say I could write a better one, given it does actually describe events in the novel, but the lead up to these events are important and it implies Layla is passive and a victim in the outcome when her resourcefulness and her determination make things happen. She is a driver of her situation, however misguided, and that strength form someone in her situation was amazing to read about.

Vilinsky was a great narrator and brought Layla to life. Each character felt unique and I felt emotionally connected the Layla, her whole self and emotional journey coming through remarkably well.

The bittersweet ending is amazing and I’m surprised such a choice was made but I love that it doesn’t shy away from realities and that there can sometimes be no perfect endings, just different. It was the best ending for the story we’d experienced and it made the book even better for it.

You can purchase Find Layla via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

 Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Here’s the Thing by Emily O’Beirne

08 Oct 2025 Leave a comment

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

Published: 8th October 2016 (print)/14 March 2023 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Ylva Publishing /Tandor Media Inc
Pages: 200/6 hours, 24 minutes
Narrator: Cat Gould
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary
★   ★   ★ – 3 Stars

It’s only for a year. That’s what sixteen-year-old Zel keeps telling herself after moving to Sydney for her dad’s work. She’ll just wait it out until she gets back to New York and Prim, her epic crush/best friend, and the unfinished subway project. Even if Prim hasn’t spoken to her since that day on Coney Island.

But Zel soon finds life in Sydney won’t let her hide. There’s her art teacher, who keeps forcing her to dig deeper. There’s the band of sweet, strange misfits her cousin has forced her to join for a Drama project. And then there’s the curiosity that is the always-late Stella.

As she waits for Prim to explain her radio silence and she begins to forge new friendships, Zel feels strung between two worlds. Finally, she must figure out how to move on while leaving no one behind.

I feel like I say this every time I find a great Aussie YA, but they really are something special. Even if they aren’t the greatest story, or five star reads, there is such a unique voice that Aussie YA has that is wonderful to read. Even this story, which has a strange meta/fourth wall breaking narration style, still held onto that fantastic voice and tone I love in these stories.

What I liked about this is the story felt different, there is a plot but it’s such a different angle than what you usually see. I liked the divide Zel had about where she felt she fit. It was something relatable about finding your place, but the situation was creative.

Despite the intense experience Zel had in New York, it was interesting how attached she felt to it. Eight months in the city and she referred to it more than her previous home in Canberra. Initially I thought she must have been there for years, but at only eight months it was a weird connection. I understand she had strong connections and great adventures with Prim, so I guess that was a big contributor.

One annoying thing was the phrases and words switched whether Zel was recounting her New York time or her Australia time. When speaking about America US terms were used, but then she would switch back when the story was in Sydney. I get it in a way, but it stood out and is never addressed. Either the explanation is Zel picked up the US terms and kept using them, or she should stick to an Aussie voice consistently. This on top of the fourth wall narration took some getting used to but you get the hang of it all soon enough.

Gould does a good job narrating. I was never taken out of the story and the voices between characters were distinct enough without feeling too much. The characters felt real, maybe not super developed, but from the tone and voice Zel gave it isn’t her style to delve deep into everyone she meets, only the few she gets to know better. Despite that I still managed to understand who these character were, with a few little words you get enough of a sense of their personalities to get by. Plus Zel’s focus points with her narration doesn’t require a lot of background on the other people.

The way O’Beirne has constructed this storyline is clever and I enjoyed how it is about so many things without focusing solely or too heavy handedly on those things.There is a romance element, but it’s not the sole focus of the book. I felt the romance that was there was believable, but I also enjoyed how it isn’t the goal of the book, despite, in it’s own way, being the focus of the whole book.

I also enjoyed how no one changed for anybody. There’s realisations and self reflections, but there is no grand epiphanies and huge moments. I liked the gradual development and struggle Zel has, not only for herself but for her schoolwork and trying to find her place.

Overall, it felt wonderfully real and grounded. This is why Aussie YA is so fantastic. It’s deep and real without being too much.

You can purchase Here’s the Thing via the following

Booktopia | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood

30 Sep 2025 Leave a comment

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

Published: 07 April 2020 (print)/4 Jan 2023 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Flatiron Books/Wavesound from W. F. Howes Ltd
Pages: 272/7 hrs and 19 mins
Narrator: Maddy Withington
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
★   ★   ★ – 3.5 Stars

When her parents announce their impending divorce, Natalie can’t understand why no one is fighting, or at least mildly upset. Then Zach and Lucy, her two best friends, hook up, leaving her feeling slightly miffed and decidedly awkward. She’d always imagined she would end up with Zach one day―in the version of her life that played out like a TV show, with just the right amount of banter, pining, and meaningful looks. Now everything has changed, and nothing is quite making sense. Until an unexpected romance comes along and shakes things up even further.

I always feel a bit bad when I finish a book and my opinion is it was ‘fine’. Perfectly average, decent story and good. Unremarkable but good. Why is that a bad thing? It’s a good book, didn’t need to be amazing or the best thing I’ve ever read. It wasn’t bad. I didn’t hate it. I enjoyed it. Yet I still feel a bit guilty.

There were of course reasons why it’s an average rated book not a highly rated book. In terms of the romance, I felt it comes from nowhere. We aren’t given anything to base it on, Natalie even mentions she’s barely even spoken to Zach’s brother, they hardly acknowledge one another, so the fact he suddenly takes an interest and she reciprocates feelings was a stretch. Also, discovering Alex was only 19 made me feel better, I was thinking he was 20 or 21 so him suddenly having an out of blue interest in Natalie once she’d turned 18 felt weird but we’re all good on that front.

Natalie talks about her body a lot, as well the accompanying anxieties. Because it’s such a key point of the story, I found it hard to believe that someone who has never kissed anyone, has incredible body issues, and spends most of the book talking about her skin insecurities, would let a first kiss go on for as long as it does and be that physically intimate. There are some references down the track about her worries so Kenwood does remember she’s subconscious about it.

There is a good acknowledgment and criticism of societal expectations and people needing a boyfriend (and why not a girlfriend etc) and other out of date ideas which I enjoyed. There are fleeting moments of LGBTQIA+ support but then quickly falls back into the idea that kissing someone is super important and a key experience people need to have around her age. For every step forward there were as many steps back.

One thing that was good was the reminder that even at 18 and 19 these are still teenagers despite being legal adults. There are short tempers, emotional misunderstandings because people are so in their heads, and the nervous and anxious feelings of being around “real adults” and being interrogated can still shrink you down.

Withington is a good narrator. I was never taken out of the story and her expression of the characters was great. Kenwood keeps us in Natalie’s head a lot but we do get to explore the other characters well enough. The unexpected divorce doesn’t come into play as much as you’d think and I did enjoy Natalie’s thought trails as she plans ahead about what she think will happen and is sixteen steps ahead with what she’ll do before anything has even happened. That was fun.

Overall it was…perfectly fine. A good book, decent story. It was different with a main character who had a different set of body issues to contend with, and different anxieties, but Kenwood balances it well so it doesn’t make her intolerable to the reader while still making us understand how debilitating these issues can be.

You can purchase It Sounded Better in My Head via the following

QBD |  Dymocks

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus and Robertson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Love, Creekwood by Becky Albertalli

25 Sep 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Audiobook, LGBTQIA, Novella, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , ,

Published: 30 June 2020 (print)/23 July 2020 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Penguin/Penguin Audio
Pages: 128/2 hrs and 47 mins
Narrator: Michael Crouch, James Fouhey, Kate Rudd, Bahni Turpin
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Romance
★   ★ – 2.5 Stars

A gorgeously romantic new novella set in the world of Becky Albertalli’s bestselling and beloved Simonverse novels- Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on the Offbeat.

It’s been more than a year since Simon and Blue turned their anonymous online flirtation into an IRL relationship, and just a few months since Abby and Leah’s unforgettable night at senior prom.

Now the Creekwood High crew are first years at different colleges, navigating friendship and romance the way their story began – on email.

I know I can’t complain that a book called Love, Creekwood would be filled with so much romance, but I wasn’t expecting the entire book to be these characters going on and on about how in love they are with each other? Is there no plot? The answer to that is no. There is no plot.

This is the universe from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and even that book, the book of romance and pining, didn’t feel this annoyingly love obsessed. Especially given Simon and Bram are two years into their relationship, there is no reason they should be as distraught at being apart as they are.

These people are a few hours way from one another and they act like they will never see each other again. Which is absurd given how many times they do actually see each other. Some of them are lamenting being separate for three days or two weeks and it is exhausting to try and find a fun plot around the mourning and pining. There is a bit in there about a fun roommate and playing soccer which is never really expanded on but it was something.

I liked the email format, I liked getting snippets of their lives and references to things that have happened or will happen. It succeeds in telling you about their lives outside of the emails and you don’t need full context because the characters are talking to each other in places. The emails aren’t the sole point of information and are fun love letters on the side, even if they do branch into slightly different things as well. Which is sweet, and ties into the Simon origins, I’m just saying a bit more plot would have been nice than an entire book about characters talking about missing touching and smelling one another.

There was a moment of self-awareness when I think it was Leah or Abbey who mention that not seeing your girlfriend for six days is cause for people to bring out the world’s smallest violin and is a classic first world problem; so Albertalli knows the dramatics these people are exhibiting.

I did this as an audiobook which was fun because the multiple different narrators were all those who I’ve heard in other books, a bit of a who’s who in narration. It was quite fun because they are so familiar they reminded me of all the other great books I had heard them in and the different characters they voiced.

I appreciated the audiobook experience but I’d forgotten how rough it can be hearing emails through audio, especially and entire book of them. The downside of social media in books is hearing everyone’s email addresses read out in full every single time, which for group emails was a long wait to get to whatever the email was actually about. When I read books with emails it’s easy to skim and see the to and from, and subject if necessary and get straight into the message. Hearing the fun name at whatever dot com over and over was hard but I understand they can’t chose to abridge that for ease because that goes against what an audiobook is.

For those who loved the original Simon story (which I did to be fair), and the companion Leah on the Offbeat, it is nice to see the next stage of their lives, I’m just a bit bummed it was so focused on the being in love to the point of nothing else side. Even a novella, keeping the lamenting and including a bit more plot would have been nice, but again, goes against the fun of the email format.

You can purchase Love, Creekwood via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

I Don’t by Clementine Ford

22 Aug 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, Australian Women Writers, Non Fiction, Top Five List Tags: , , , , , , ,

Published: 31 October 2023 (print)/7 November 2023 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Allen and Unwin/W. F. Howes Ltd.
Pages: 370/9 hrs and 5 mins
Narrator: Clementine Ford
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Non Fiction
★   ★   ★   ★   ★ – 5 Stars

Incendiary feminist and bestselling author Clementine Ford presents the inarguable case against marriage for the modern woman. Provocative, controversial and above all, compellingly and persuasively argued.

“I want this book to end marriages. But more importantly, I want it to prevent marriages. Women are allowed to aspire to more than what we’ve been told we should want in order to be happy. Let yourself have a bigger dream than becoming the supporting role in someone else’s story.

Why, when there is so much evidence of the detrimental, suffocating impact marriage has on women’s lives, does the myth of marital bliss still prevail? If the feminist project has been so successful, why do so many women still believe that our value is intrinsically tied to being chosen by a man?”

In her most incendiary and controversial book to date, Clementine Ford exposes the lies used to sell marriage to women to keep them in service to men and male power. From the roots of marriage as a form of property transaction to the wedding industrial complex, Clementine Ford explains how capitalist patriarchal structures need women to believe in marriage in order to maintain control over women’s agency, ambitions and freedom.

I Don’t presents an inarguable case against marriage for modern women. With the incisive attention to detail and razor-sharp wit that characterises her work, Ford dissects the patriarchal history of marriage; the insidious, centuries-long marketing campaign pop culture has conducted in marriage’s favour; the illusion of feminist ‘choice’ in regard to taking men’s names; and the physical and social cost that comes with motherhood. 

But most importantly, Clementine Ford shows us what a different kind of world could look like for women if we were allowed to be truly free. 

I wasn’t sure I’d be interested in this book despite my love of Ford’s other books, but I adored it. The history of marriage and the role it’s played in society, women’s lives, and how it has changed over the years was fascinating. I loved the quotes that could have been from this decade but were from centuries ago. Women have always had strong opinions and thoughts about their lives and marriage and I loved being able to see that people have always been people.

I have seen the hate Ford gets from certain people both in the public eye and not, and while this blurb makes it sound like it’s a call for every woman to suddenly up and leave their partner in the middle of the night it isn’t that at all.

What Ford’s done is written a fantastic book looking at the history of marriage and how it has been used over the centuries to claim women as property, to control and subdue them, and, despite all the years of growth and change, there are still a lot of negative things that come from marriage even in the twenty first century.

The binding ties of marriage are different to the concept of being in a relationship and Ford has nothing against being with someone, but a lot of her book goes through the history of marriage, its evolution, and how it is still rooted in those misogynistic ways of the early incarnations. Not to mention how it wasn’t that long ago women still didn’t have full financial autonomy, security over their children, or safety in being able to leave abuse.

Even without the captivating chapters about power dynamics, household labour imbalance, and the societal expectations engrained in us from a young age, the insight into the wedding industry is fascinating. Ford delves deep at how they prey on people whose dream day can be exploited with price hikes, unnecessary frivolity, and how so often a huge party is just as acceptable compared to the pomp and circumstance of dresses, flowers, and sermons about obeying.

There isn’t a sole focus on the female perspective of marriage, and the analysis of the marriage equality debate was considerate and well judged. This is as much a look at the system and history of marriage as it is a call for readers to think critically about their choices and why they want to do this. If you go into marriage with your eyes open you can go in knowing what to expect. But Ford asks readers to decide if it’s something they actually want to do, or if it is something that think they have to do, are expected to do, will fill incomplete and unfilled if they don’t do, or if they will be thought of as lesser if they don’t. These issues are what she explores beautifully and with statistics behind her and a wealth of data I loved how accessible and eye opening this book made me, especially when I already thought I knew so much.

You can purchase I Don’t via the following

QBD |  Dymocks | Booktopia

 Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

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