three stars | Lost in a Good Book

Hamlet is Not Ok by R. A. Spratt

01 Apr 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Aussie YA Challenge, Young Adult Tags: #AussieYAChallenge, Audiobook, contemporary young adult, loveozya, r. a. spratt, shakespeare retellings, three stars, young adult

Published: 12 March 2024 (print)/4 July 2023 (audio)
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia/Penguin Random House Australia Audio
Pages: 240/3 hrs and 19 mins
Narrator: R. A. Spratt
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Selby hates homework.

She would rather watch TV – anything to escape the tedium of school, her parents’ bookshop and small-town busybodies.

So Selby didn’t plan to read Hamlet. She certainly never planned to meet him.

This novel transports Selby, and the reader, into the cold and crime-ridden play itself. Here she meets Hamlet: heavy with grief, the young prince is overthinking and over everything. Selby can relate. But unlike Hamlet, Selby isn’t afraid of making decisions. In her world, Selby is used to feeling overlooked. But in the bloody, backstabbing world of Shakespeare, Selby’s good conscience and quiet courage might just save some lives . . . hopefully before Hamlet stabs one of her classmates.

Spratt comes in guns blazing with a lot of yelling and chaos which was great. I liked for once there was a character who wasn’t studious, wasn’t on top of stuff, it’s about time there was a teen who got their own book who skipped out on doing any homework and it’s not entirely their fault. Selby I put up with as she is 15 and her actions are a very 15 year old response. There’s a balance at 15 where you can be a bit more immature than maybe a 16 or 17 year old character can get away with. Though immaturity has no age limit really, but you get more leeway the younger you get.

I didn’t like the note from the author essentially warning readers they will encounter Shakespeare in the book. It was like to let them know not to be scared off and to still give this book a chance. If you are reading a book having a few verbatim Shakespeare quotes in it shouldn’t deter you. I think the kids will survive. Especially given how it’s in a narrative form so it isn’t even the big scary play version they supposedly should detest. What was wonderful about having it put through a narrative lens is it’s a great example of how amazing Shakespeare is to see performed live. How reading a play in a book isn’t the right format. A play is to be performed and experienced. Diving right into the text to see it before you is the next best thing. If you can manage it.

It’s a bit Thursday Next with their ability to enter the world of Shakespeare and see it play out before them. As a lover of Thursday Next and her book jumping world this was super fun. Having a teen Hamlet interact with a modern teen really brings to light his angst and the family drama he has to endure. It’s easy to see how Shakespeare can be modernised because there are a lot of universal things and Selby getting to experience the plot points first hand is a great reminder that people have always been people even if you say it in a poetic form.

Spratt is quite emphatic and enthusiastic in her narration. Not unpleasant but it is funny why there was a need to be so emphatic about everything little thing. Seeing as it’s narrated by author I guess we can’t argue how enthusiastic she wanted to be on the reading. John Marsden’s retelling of Hamlet is one of my favourite retellings, and I love Shakespeare adaptations so while this is a tad enthusiastic (which I think won’t come across as intense in the book versus audio) it is a fun story. I love the mention that the play is four hours and the audiobook took three and a half. A great parallel.

Fast paced and light hearted it’s a quick read and one that might help the Shakespeare wary understand the universality and enduring nature of Shakespeare.

You can purchase Hamlet is Not Ok via the following

QBD | Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

How to Be a Giraffe by Thea Baker

21 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: children's picture book, picture book, thea baker, three stars

Published: 7th September 2021
Publisher: Little Genius Books
Illustrator: Thea Baker
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ – 3 Stars

Joffrey might have horns, a tail and a long neck, but his stripy fur is causing quite the stir. Everyone knows that giraffes have spots! But if Joffrey isn’t a giraffe, what could he be?

First things first, I’m ashamed to say it took me a while to realise what the problem with the giraffe on the cover was until the story pointed it out, it didn’t click that giraffe don’t have brown stripes but honestly it’s a cute look.

Basic giraffe anatomy aside, this is a fun book. Joffrey is born different and while he isn’t exactly cast out from his herd, he is made to feel weird and Not Like The Rest enough that he chooses to leave. Clearly Joffrey doesn’t have a Mrs Jumbo in his life that defends their kid the second their born from the rest of the mean herd.

The story follows Joffrey as he tries to find who he is, if he isn’t a giraffe then what could he possibly be? I love his attempts at being different animals – from bees, to crocodiles, to elephants. All of them not the right fit.

The narrative rhyme is simple and flows well as you read either aloud or to yourself. The illustrations and the text work well together as readers build anticipation with page turns and fun expressions.

The illustrations are sweet, the designs are simple and the colours are gorgeous in full and partial pages. The creative geometric designs used in the background design as well as some of the other animals is clever and add great texture to the page. I also loved the small details like a spotted zebra which goes to show that others might not match their community either but it doesn’t need to mean anything.

I like that when Joffrey goes home, the other giraffe realise they were wrong. His leaving made them understand they’d made a mistake which is a great apology to show. Joffrey didn’t have to be the one to be proud of who he is without the community knowing they’d been wrong as well. There’s no point being proud of who you are while everyone else thinks you’re weird and shouldn’t be there. That’s not fair to Joffrey and he’d be better off staying away.

It is a good message wrapped around a cute and humorous story and one I think a lot of people could learn from.

You can purchase How to be a Giraffe via the following

QBD | Blackwell’s

Wordery | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

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.

Cone Dog by Sarah Howden

24 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, The Picture Book Corner Tags: carmen mok, children's picture book, picture book, sarah howden, three stars

Published: 1 November 2023
Publisher: Owlkid Books
Illustrator: Carmen Mok
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★ ★ ★ –3 Stars

One day, Emma the dog leaves the vet with a giant plastic lampshade on her head. It cuts off her corners, dulls her digging, and makes Garson the greyhound gawk. One thing is clear-the cone is not good, and the only thing left to do is sulk. When Emma’s human tries to cheer her up with a game of fetch, Emma discovers that the cone miraculously catches every ball she fumbles! Emma realizes the cone has other surprising advantages too, from serving as a helmet during her hallway hurtles to helping her dig at triple-speed. This fresh and funny follow-up to Cone Cat is a charming ode to ingenuity and making the best out of a ruff situation.

The story follows Emma the dog, who has gone to the vet for an unspecified reason and left wearing a “plastic lampshade” aka the cone of shame on her head.

I love the insight into Emma’s life as she works out what the cone is, explaining her previous antics getting stuck in various things. Howden does a wonderful job letting us into the mind of a dog and how having the cone of shame on would feel: impacting digging, being judged by other dogs etc. As the story goes on Emma realises the cone has a lot of benefits and uses it to play a trick on a local pest which is delightfully cute.

The illustrations by Mok bring out Emma’s moods and her activities while in the cone, perfectly reflecting the words on the page. The other people and animals around her are a good combination of realistic but there is also room for playfulness as well. The colour scheme is also gorgeous with full page colours managing to be both vibrant and subdued.

I’m not sure how long Emma keeps this cone on for, the seasons change which is interesting, but given the lovely autumnal colours at the start it might be only a few weeks.

As someone with a puppy who has had a cone on before it was delightful to see her experiences reflected in Emma’s actions (especially the sulking). It is a fantastic book at seeing cone life through the eyes of a dog, which also takes away some owner guilt at having put them in it in the first place.

You can purchase Cone Dog via the following

QBD | Blackwell’s

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Time of My Life by Mary Frame

09 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Fiction Tags: Audiobook, mary frame, rachanee lumayno, three stars, time loop

Published: 04 January 2021 (print)/10 August 2021 (audio)
Publisher: Self Published/Self Published
Pages: 270/6 hours, 32 minutes
Narrator: Rachanee Lumayno
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
★ ★ ★ – 3.5 Stars

Today is the worst day of Jane Stewart’s life. And she’s reliving it over and over (and over and over) again.

She’s late to the same make-or-break meeting.

She’s fired from the same soul-crushing job.

And—the cherry on top—she’s dumped by the same lying, selfish dirtbag.

But no matter how many times she relives the same disasters and no matter what she tries to change them, it all ends in the same abysmal mess. Because, apparently, being stuck in a time loop on the worst day of her life hasn’t cured her crippling social anxiety. Go figure.

The one bright spot? Her long-time crush wants to be more than friends…if only she can get them past their first date. And so her happily ever is doomed before it can even begin unless she can find a way to save her job, her heart, and, oh yeah, the space-time continuum.

I love a time loop story, and I like too one that plays with form, though there is something to be said for the classics too. This story dives into a bit of both.

Frame skips over multiple loops almost instantly which was interesting. Part of the fun of time loops is seeing the multiple early loops play out, but after a few the story skips and a lot of it is telling of what Jane has done instead.

There are a lot of deviations from the original day too, Jane changing up her routine almost instantly. Which is fine, but I was hoping for more exploration of the same day for a bit, it’s a core feature of the time loop I think to see characters adapt. This could easily be a time saving thing, and a chance to explore further down the line.

It isn’t all bad, I enjoyed the format in a few place where we see repeats of the same situation play out, but I still think it was an interesting choice to start skipping so soon. Jane comes to terms with it so quickly and it’s curious to see her shift in mindset.

The addition of magical realism – clearly proven early inclusion of magical realism – was also interesting. I like having a cause for these kind of situations. Mysteries are nice, but when something strange happens that has these kind of effects it’s fun.

I enjoyed the resolution to the loop. It was sweet but not over the top and it felt natural which is what you want with a story that has a little bit of magic in it.

Lumayno was a good narrator and it was an easy listening experience that let you fall into the story right away. It’s a relatively short story but one that tells a well-rounded narrative while still being light.

You can purchase Time of My Life via the following

Wordery | Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible