Book Reviews

Book Review by Loren Sumner

‘Station Eleven’ by Emily St. John Mandel

“What was lost in the collapse: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty.” – Kirsten Raymonde.

Station Eleven is a remarkable non-linear novel that follows a series of characters before, during, and after the brutal Georgia Flu epidemic that causes the collapse of modern-day civilisation. Unlike many other dystopian novels and media, which infer that the world after a large-scale disaster is nothing but a hellscape, Mandel’s “post-collapse” environment focuses on the importance of memory and survival in ever-changing and unpredictable environments. It addresses themes of existentialism, fate, and interconnection through a range of characters and individual experiences. 

Arthur Leander is essentially the tether connecting all characters to one another. These connections are slowly revealed over the course of the book through Mandel’s non-linear storytelling. The paced release of specific information allows the reader to interpret the linear story based on their own understanding of events. Personally, I loved this aspect of the book, as it not only helped with my engagement but also caused some revelations to be quite shocking. Further, it was satisfying to see all the puzzle pieces fit together so perfectly upon finishing the novel. 

Though it is written in the third person, the perspective focus jumps to and from a series of protagonists, including: 

• Arthur Leander, a famous actor
• Miranda Carroll, his ex-wife
• The Prophet, a cult leader in the post-collapse world
• Jeevan Chaudhary an ex-paparazzo and training EMT
• Clark Thompson, Arthurs’s old best friend
• Kirsten Raymond, a child actor that joins the Traveling Symphony post-collapse.

The constant alteration of perspectives allows for a range of interpretations of not only the lives of these characters, but life itself, before and after the Georgia Flu. Throughout the novel, Mandel explores how different individuals cope with trauma and post-apocalyptic settings. This ranges from the need to conserve knowledge and past belongings – Clark and the Museum of Civilisation. The desire to do more than survive; to create art, 

All three caravans of the Traveling Symphony are labeled as such, THE TRAVELING SYMPHONY lettered in white on both sides, but the lead caravan carries an additional line of text: Because survival is insufficient.

The need to find a reason behind suffering,

"The flu," the prophet said, "the great cleansing that we suffered twenty years ago, that flu was our flood. The light we carry within us is the ark that carried Noah and his people over the face of the terrible waters, and I submit that we were saved"—his voice was rising—"not only to bring the light, to spread the light, but to be the light. We were saved because we are the light. We are the pure."

And so on. Overall, Station Eleven is beautifully elegiac, touching on the importance of appreciation, legacy, and love. I am beyond excited to study this novel in depth in my Year 12 English class, but whether you are studying it or not, it’s definitely a book I recommend you read! It has instantly become one of my favourite novels of all time, as it truly leaves an impression on you.

With that, I’ll leave you with my favourite quote from the book, 

“Hell is the absence of the people you long for.” – Kirsten Raymonde. 

Book Review by Sanchika Jeyanthan

‘They Both Die at the End’ by Adam Silvera

The first time I heard about this book was around a year ago. The story sounded enticing, and I couldn’t wait to read it, so when I saw it in a store I did not hesitate in buying it. I am glad to say, I do not regret it because this story is amazing. 

The book revolves around two teenagers, Mateo, and Rufus, who are about to die in 24 hours, and they know it. This is because, an organisation called the Death-cast happen to have the information on whose is going to die when, however they don’t how they will die. Unfortunately both Mateo and Rufus get the call from Death-cast alerting them that they will die in the next 24 hours. There is however a number of options available on how they can spend their last day. One of them is the Last Friend app, which was made for anyone who is about to die (who are referred to as deckers) to spend time with other deckers or non-deckers. In this way they are not completely alone in their final hours. It’s through this app that Mateo and Rufus happen to meet. 

I really liked Rufus’s character because he brought out the shy, introvert within Mateo and made him experience all the things in the world that he was too afraid to. In a way, I think he brought a sense of life to him and made an imprint on him and the world when he left.

As I kept reading, I was both thrilled by their journey but also fearful of its destination knowing full well how it ends. Regardless, you lose yourself in the story and don’t expect their deaths even though you knew it was coming. I was devastated when I read those pages and couldn’t help but weep over it. 

I highly recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys the thrills of adventure and romance. I personally thought I would never be into romance novels until I started reading them and I got to say, this one of my favourites. It will make you cry, but also enjoy the bond that the two protagonists share. Give it a read if you’re interested. 

Here’s a quote from the novel that was meaningful to me: 

“I cannot tell you how you will survive without me. I cannot tell you how to mourn me. I cannot convince you to not feel guilty if you forget the anniversary of my death, or if you realise days or weeks or months have gone by without thinking about me. I just want you to live.” – Rufus 

Book Review by Geoff Shinkfield

‘Tom Wills’ by Greg de Moore

When I picked this book up at an op shop and saw it was subtitled ‘First wild man of Australian sport’ I just knew I had to read it! I had vaguely heard of Tom Wills, and I knew he had something to do with creating the rules for Australian Football but there was so much more to learn about this interesting figure of colonial Australian history.

This book was Greg de Moore’s Ph.D. thesis and took ten years to research and write. What inspired him to write about this unique character was the revelation that this celebrated sporting hero had taken his own life – he had stabbed himself in the heart at the age of 45. As a psychiatrist, Greg de Moore has a special interest in male suicide, so his decision to write about Tom Wills was all about trying to understand the man and what drove him to that extraordinary decision. 

De Moore’s forensic research uncovered some amazing facts about Tom Wills, unknown to modern historians. We learn that his father Horatio moved his young family to Mount William, near the Grampians mountain range, 140 miles west of Melbourne in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. This is the land belonging to the Djab wurrung tribe, a community of forty clans, all speaking the same language. The Wills family – Horatio, his wife Elizabeth, and young Tom, were only the second group of Europeans to enter the area. Luckily, the local indigenous people generally accepted the Wills family and Horatio’s labourers, despite having to live in tents in atrocious conditions as they endeavoured to build a sheep station from scratch. As a squatter, Wills took the land without permission from the local people or indeed, the NSW government in Sydney.

What caught my attention is that both Horatio and young Tom learned to speak the Djab wurrung language which certainly helped create civil relations between the two groups. After being educated to the age of 14 in Melbourne, Tom Wills was sent by his father to England in 1850 to attend the prestigious Rugby School. 

It is here that he learns to play the school’s peculiar 100-a-side football game, a violent game played on a vast field that had few rules and could last for several days before one side scored two goals to win the match. Tom quickly became the star player on the football field but also in the more established game of cricket, which at least had an agreed set of rules across England.

Shortly after returning to Victoria from England, Tom sat down with three other Cricketers and drew up the first set of codified rules for football. De Moore reveals that many of the rules were adapted from the primitive Rugby School football matches that Tom had dominated but, more importantly, he says:

The Djab wurrung word for football was Min’gorm. Therefore, it is likely that a type of Aboriginal football was played near where Tom lived as a boy or, at the very least, that the local Aboriginal people knew of such a game.

De Moore reveals that despite popular belief there is not much evidence to suggest that Tom Wills based Australian Rules football on Min’gorm (or Marn Grook in the Woiwurrung language) but aspects of that game surely were blended with those he adapted from the Rugby School football game. There is much more to Tom Wills’ life and this book is a fascinating read!

Book Review by Jenna Wood

‘Truly Devious’ by Maureen Johnson

Truly Devious is the first in a fantastic murder mystery series that keeps you guessing right until the very end and does not disappoint with great twists and cliff-hangers that force you to pick up the next book.

Ellingham Academy is a boarding school for gifted students nestled within the glorious mountains of Vermont. The school’s wealthy founder Albert Ellingham loved games and riddles and believed that all children should be allowed to pursue their interests without limits, to be allowed to have fun while learning. Only a limited number of students get accepted each year and are blessed with the opportunity to study their true passions.Stevie, our main protagonist, is a massive true crime fan and fancies herself to be a bit of a Sherlock Holmes. Her purpose for attending Ellingham Academy is very clear; to solve the mystery that occurred there in 1936. Shortly after the school opened, Ellingham’s wife and daughter were kidnapped, and he died in mysterious circumstances. The only piece of evidence was a note, a mocking clue signed ‘Truly, Devious’. It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history and Stevie was going to rectify that. But soon after her own arrival at the school, a student is murdered, and it appears as if the Truly Devious may have returned. The book shifts between the present, where Stevie’s story takes place, and the past, where we witness firsthand, sometimes in agonizing detail, Albert Ellingham’s life unravelling from the moment he receives the terrifying phone call that his wife and daughter have been taken. Maureen Johnson intertwines the two timelines brilliantly. Both Stevie’s sleuthing, which is the real thing and not amateurish at all, and the backstory behind her whole reason for applying to Ellingham Academy in the first place are equally compelling. If the entire book had been set during Albert Ellingham’s time, I still would have read it.

As much as Stevie is driven to solve the Ellingham case, she also finds herself dealing with adjusting to a new school that her parents don’t exactly approve of as well as managing her anxiety. The latter was something that I could absolutely relate to, and I thought it was portrayed very realistically. But it isn’t just the plot that makes this novel an absolute pleasure to read; the characters are one of the defining features of this story. Stevie, herself, is complex and like most of us, is terrified at the prospect of having to interact with people and just wants to curl up in the corner and read. Johnson doesn’t neglect her supporting characters either, with each of Stevie’s newfound friends having a unique set of quirks to make you instantly fall in love with them. The casual wealth of diversity shown within this novel is incredible and more authors should take note.An absorbing mystery/thriller with just the right amount of suspense. You can really feel the ominous shadow of Truly Devious that hangs over Ellingham Academy. 

Highly recommended! Just be prepared that the first book in this series will leave you with more questions than answers!