#AussieYAChallenge 2025 Wrap Up

31 Dec 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in Aussie YA Challenge, Young Adult Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Over the course of the two years I have done challenge I have read 24 Aussie YA books. Which is a pretty good bump considering my #LoveOzYA reading had dropped off in recent years. I am still blaming the minimal amount of Aussie YA in audio, but I also have two bookcases choccas with Aussie titles I could pick up at any time so it’s not entirely the fault of the publishing industry.

I was worried I had maybe fallen by the wayside after my September update, but given the new titles on my final list I am pretty pleased with how I’ve ended up. Despite planning on reading 12 books a year I never actually planned the twelve. I was happy if it went over, I was picking stuff up willy nilly, not keeping track of numbers. It’s quite serendipitous that I landed on 12. I get to meet my Nix level reading goal without rushing to make up numbers at the eleventh hour which is a bonus.

Some of my absolute favourites were Impossible Music by Sean Williams and Because of You by Pip Harry. Both these stories took me into a world I knew about but not intimately and seeing the experiences of these characters was beautiful and heartbreaking, not to mention powerful. This is why I love Aussie YA, with such short stories we can really pack an emotional punch and make incredibly memorable stories.

Other choices were some I had been eying off at the library for months before finally picking them up. Tobias Madden knocking it out of the park with fun and interesting stories, and unexpected surprises with new author Clayton Zane Comber, not to mention Shivaun Plozza killing it once again.

Another reason I started this challenge wasn’t only to tick off a list, but to finally pick up the authors I’ve been wanting to read for years. It’s all well and good to say I want to read that, or it’s on my TBR list (700+ strong so what hope do I really have), but now I can actually follow through and share our great authors with everyone and maybe spread a bit of that #LoveOzYA love.

I am keen to see what new books I read next year, some old hopefully, some new definitely. The Aussie YA book world is filled with so many different stories and experiences it is a joy to pick up and fall into that unique Australian voice that makes our books so beloved.

If you participated alongside me I hope your challenge went as successful as you wanted and I hope you join me again with the challenge next year!

 

The final list:

All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

 Tin Heart by Shivaun Plozza

 Because of You by Pip Harry

Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

 100 Remarkable Feats of Xander Maze by Clayton Zane Comber

Take A Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden

Surface Tension by Meg McKinlay

Impossible Music by Sean Williams

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales

Flip by Rebecca Fraser

The Day the Bridge Fell by Coral Vass

Here’s the Thing by Emily O’Beirne

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

Points of Departure by Emily O’Beirne

03 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

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

Published: 15 June 2016 (print)/28 June 2022 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Ylva Publishing/Tantor Media, Inc
Pages: 274/8 hrs and 43 mins
Narrator: Angela Dawe
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
★   ★   ★ – 3 Stars

In this young adult novel, best friends Kit and Liza have been looking forward to this trip forever.
Five girls, five tickets overseas. It’s exactly what they all need after the final slog of high school. But when Kit’s suddenly forced to drop out, Liza’s left with three girls she barely knows. 

There’s Mai, committed only to partying. There’s Tam, who already has her doubts about leaving her sick father behind. And there’s Olivia, so miserable about screwing up exams she’s not even sure she wants to get out of bed, let alone on a plane. Meanwhile Kit’s stuck working double shifts to pay off a debt, wondering if she’ll ever get it together.

All Liza wants from this trip is to discover a new version of herself. She just hadn’t planned on doing it without Kit by her side.
And they’re all learning that travel isn’t just about the places you go, but who you’re with at the time.

I am no stranger to having a subpar narrator for audiobooks, it’s rare but not unheard of. There have only been maybe two books I couldn’t listen to at all because of the narrator, other times there are narrators who aren’t great at the start but I can get used to by the end of the book. This one, however, annoyed me right until the final minutes. The nasal imitation Australian accent was bad enough when there was dialogue, but the fact the rest of the book was spoken in an American accent was annoying. The main things I kept thinking were why was an American narrating this Australian book and why would you switch between accents?

When I had a small whinge online I did see one response that said audiobooks should be narrated by people who are the nationality of the characters, which would be ideal, support local talent and all that, but if we can’t have that at least can they be vetted that they can do a decent Australian accent that doesn’t make you cringe every time a character spoke? I have to be careful here and not spend the entire time ragging on the narrator, it’s probably not her fault, but it goes to show that the narrator can influence a book’s enjoyment.

I enjoyed that the characters were older teens; they’d finished their schooling and were looking at their open ended future trying to decide what to do with the rest of their lives. It was a great dynamic having the five of them plan this trip with really one person being a key connector between them all. When you remove that connecting point it was interesting to see the interactions these near strangers have as a result.

The story follows multiple points of view but the problem is some characters are a lot more interesting than others. I liked Kit’s story best, and I enjoyed Olivia and Liza, but overall it was a little bit boring. Maybe not boring exactly, but definitely slow. And considering I never got used to the narrator I was very conscious of not letting it impact my enjoyment. Even with an Australian narrator I feel it would still have been slow, under developed, and slightly repetitive.

With multiple points of view you got a little bit of their lives, but their narrative voices mixed together. Kit’s story was the only one that felt separate and her voice unique, and not only because of her isolation at home made her easy to identify. Keeping track of who was who was easier by remember their one defining narrative feature – Liza was a former runner, Olivia worried about her uni scores, and Tam had a sick father. There wasn’t any other way to distinguish them and their voices were non-descript, I don’t think I even got a picture of any of them in my head. The similarities in written voice especially between Liza and Olivia weren’t helped by ?? barely altering her voice either as she switched between the two, and there was definitely an imbalance between perspectives. Olivia and Liza dominated, Kit did as well, Tam barely gets a look in so much I kept forgetting about her, and poor Mai didn’t get a voice at all.

The exploration of European countries, hostels, different approaches and appreciations to each country was a nice insight into how to travel around the world (and how easy it is to jump from country to country when you aren’t girt by sea). Seeing each girl grow and develop friendships through the book and overcome their insecurities, find themselves, and work out who they want to be was nice too.

Overall a nice read, probably one that could have been expanded further in terms of character and balanced better in terms of pace, but it was enjoyable and an interesting look at the older side of young adult and teen lives: not quite complete adults but not bound by schoolyard antics.

You can purchase Points of Departure via the following

Blackwell’s | Wordery | Angus & Robertson

 Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible