Book Reviews

The secret sky book review

Fatima belongs to the Hazara ethnic group. She was raised to be obedient, dutiful, and to respect her family's, villages, and religious traditions. Samiullah is a Pashtun young man. He was raised to be a landowner, to increase his family's power, and to defend his tribe's, village's, and religion's traditions. They weren't supposed to fall in love. But they do.

A Pashtun and a Hazara, a Sunni and a Shia what a chaotic story. The novel The Secret Sky will leave you sobbing as you follow the journey of Fatima and Samiullah in a small village of Afghanistan. Childhood friends Fatima and Samiullah have many differences, but nothing stopped them from being the best of friends, that is until Sami had to leave for university. After many years he has finally came back and feels differently of Fatima. Now that there adults he sees her differently and soon finds out that feeling is love, after being apart for many years he loves her. When he insists, they meet in secret they go for a walk, when they hear rustling behind they swiftly hide. Rashid, Samiullah's cousin, sees them and tells on them the first chance he gets, which happens to be in front of Fatima’s father, Kareem, Samiullah's father and their friend. Kareem Angrily storms out the door and rushes home. Fatima is told to leave her friend's house after her friend's father returns home. She rushes home and immediately regrets it when her mother sees her and violently pushes her to the ground, yelling. She looks at her father, who sits in the corner, staring out the window. She can't understand her mother's yelling, but she catches on they know she was with Samiullah. The days that follow are slow and painful, until her father finally speaks to her, he tells her that she is going to marry his friend. Samiullah and Fatima meet in secret and decide to flee to Kabul.

Rashid snitches on them and joins a rebel group that claims to be enforcing Islamic rules but is simply a collection of greedy men who enjoy watching others struggle against them. He first goes to Fatima's house, pushing the door down and pointing his gun at the small family of four. He asks them where Fatima is, but they don't know. He grabs the youngest daughter and goes on to tell them he'll give her back if they give Fatima, which is when her mother reveals that she ran away. They then go to Rashid's house, where they are only threatened.

In the end they both safely make it to Kabul with the help of Rashid after he realizes the group is a bad influence.

“Fatima?” he says. “Fatima, don’t cry. We’ll be okay. I promise.” He walks toward me and brings me in for an embrace. I pull my arms from under the fabric and squeeze as tight as I can. In this moment I want to fly with him toward a secret sky. I want to take a step without feet, with only our hearts to guide us. And I know we will.

Book Review by Zenani Onekon

‘These Twisted Bonds’ by Lexi Ryan

These Twisted Bonds is a novel by Lexi Ryan. It is a sequel to the Young Adult fantasy novel These Hollow Vows. In this sequel, our main character, Abriella, has to live with the consequences of her previous choices.

From the book:

BEYOND THE GATES, THE sun rises and the birds sing, but the Golden Palace is draped in a veil of night. My night. My darkness. My power.

I throw out magic with abandon, trapping those who dare to chase me. Darkness trails behind me like the train on an elaborate wedding gown. But I’m not anyone’s bride. I won’t let them fool me with their pretty lies and manipulation. Sebastian betrayed me. They all betrayed me, but his duplicity cuts the deepest.

Abriella feels lonely and abandoned in the strange and unfamiliar realm of the fae. She finds it difficult to trust any of the fae since was betrayed by people she once called friends. Especially the fae princes Ronan and Finian, princes of the Seelie and Unseelie courts respectively.

In an attempt to rescue a group of Unseelie children from the hands of the golden Queen (Queen of the Seelie court) Brie meets Misha, King of the Wild Fae lands. Misha makes Abriella understand the situation of the faerie realm. The Unseelie court was growing weaker due to there being no leader on their throne.

The Seelie court had gained too much power creating an imbalance between the courts. When the courts were first created, there was a rule that the courts always had to be balanced or else one would slowly wipe out the other.

Abriella decides to put personal issues behind her and seek a solution for the courts with her former friends as she believes her past decisions are partly responsible for the situation of the Unseelie court. Deciding to give the fae one more chance, she and her friends work to find a way to save the Unseelie court before it's too late.

With a sudden twist, it is revealed that Abriella had a role to play in the realm of the fae from the very start. And that fate really had a way of playing with people.

I had fun reading this book, getting to know the characters, and waiting in anticipation for what the solution to the problem would be. I highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers or anyone looking for a book with a good storyline and magical creatures.

Book of the Week by Ryan Barachina 

'Just Roll With It' by Veronica Agarwal & Lee Durfey-Lavoie

“As long as Maggie rolls the right number, nothing can go wrong...right?”

If you know me, you'll know I enjoy anything that involves Dungeon & Dragons (DnD). If you really know me, you'll realise how odd it is to see a book review from me because the truth is...well...I despised reading...

...until I found this book.

At first, I expected it to be just a simple, cute, graphic novel about a DnD campaign, and it was just that for the first bundle of pages.

Then it takes a dark turn.

Not dark as in horrifying, but as if life just hit you with a baseball bat right in your no-no square; it's a reality check.

"Any clubs you want to join? Both of your sisters just "clicked" with their clubs, and I know you will too!"

"Jamie and Eli are prodigies, but that doesn't mean I will be."

'Just Roll With It' is a graphic novel of which the story revolves around a sixth-grader named Maggie who's just starting school. (We've all been there, right?) and some events that you'd expect from a book like this happen, like Maggie finding the one school friend instantly the first day, bigger bullies are picking on those two on the same day too! Then the book reveals a dragon. WHAT?!

But that's not the true twist...

"You aren't a player in someone's game! The dice can't tell you what to do. They're just dice. Do you understand?"

SPOILERS AT THIS POINT ON: The story reveals Maggie to have OCD. That's what the story really revolves around. The illustrator (Veronica Argarwal) also had OCD and worked with the author, her husband, to create this story. Her aim was to help others see how mental disorders and anxiety could have been affecting their lives by highlighting how OCD had been affecting Maggie's.

"It can be like you're trapped in your own head, thinking about the same thing over and over again.

Like if she doesn't flicker the lights on and off exactly ten times, then someone might die...

The compulsion helps in the moment...but it takes control of you. I don't want that to happen to her."

The need to flicker the lights to greet the house, the impulse to roll her dice to decide for her. These go on to cause disruption in her life.

Why I like this book is because it's helped me realise that I think and act in a similar way as Maggie does. I may not have OCD, but as the novel's themes begin to become more apparent (the weight of parental expectations, the thought of potential death if I don't repeat an action, the vision of dark clouds fogging up my head), everything about myself gets closer to making sense.

"We're stuck in this head together! I just thought it might be nice to not be scared all the time!"

This dragon was also well-written, revealing itself to be Maggie's negative conscience at the end of the book, which she eventually makes peace with.

Not to vent too much, but I have talked to some people about this voice I hear. Another entity that 'lives in your head rent-free'. This is the biggest reason I love this book; it's helped me communicate with others and myself. Maggie is the reason I've built up the courage to see a therapist and I don't regret it.

"Well, a diagnosis can be helpful, but it can also be limiting. Some people see their diagnosis as the only thing they can ever be.

I think it's more important for us to identify things that make you anxious, and then come up with coping mechanisms you can use when you're not here.

That will help you much more than a title or a name of a disease."

The ideas of the story are DnD and fantasy imaginations. The themes of the story revolve around mental health. That's what make this book my first favourite book ever. When I return this book back to the library, pick this up for yourself to read. You could also ask me if I have it on me.

Maybe you can find out things you never knew about yourself.

Book Review by Hasty Taee

‘Will you please be quiet, please?’ by Raymond Carver 

This book is a collection of 22 short stories that delve into the lives of people. They are very ordinary stories that may come off as boring to some but as someone who enjoys the ordinary days of life, it’s a very comforting thing to read. 

Two stories that I enjoyed quite a lot were ‘They’re not your husband’ where a man begins to sit in at his wife’s work and asks other customers if they are attracted to her, leading him to start telling her to lose weight. It’s a very sad story about a man who lost his love for his wife and begins to only focus on how others perceive her and him by association. 

Doreen came by and removed the dirty plate and poured the man more coffee.

“What do you think of that?” Earl said to the man, nodding at Doreen as she moved down the counter.

“Don't you think that’s something special?”

The man looked up. He looked at Doreen and then at Earl, and then went back to his newspaper.

“Well, what do you think?” Earl said. “I'm asking. Does it look good or not? Tell me.”

The man rattled the newspaper.

The other story is called ‘Night School’ which follows a man at a bar who meets two women that convince him to go out on a night adventure to see their night school professor. They continue to the man’s house where he tells them to wait so he can get his car keys, but he never comes back! In the last line he says the women weren’t there when he left and they wouldn’t be there when he got back, which begs the question, was he hallucinating? Was he speaking in a metaphorical sense? Or was he just talking nonsense for the sake of it? 

I knew he was going to say no this time too. But I sat down on the other end of the couch 

and said, “I met a couple of women who asked me if I’d give them a ride home.”

“What’d you tell them?” he said.

“They’re waiting for me upstairs,” I said.

“Just let them wait,” he said. “Somebody’ll come along. You don’t want to get mixed up with that.” 

He shook his head. 

“You really didn’t show them where we live, did you? They’re not really upstairs?” 

He moved on the couch and looked again at the television. 

“Anyway , your mother took the keys with her.” He nodded slowly, still looking at the television.

“That’s okay,” I said. “I don’t need the car. I’m not going anywhere.”

The rest of the stories are quite like this, and it can be easy to feel as though it might not be an interesting read but if you need something quick to occupy your time while you wait for the bus, before class, or before bed I think this book would be a fantastic read and the stories don’t have to be read in order! 

Book Review by Hannah Eskandari

‘The Women of Troy’ by Euripides

During the summer break, I read "The Women of Troy." If it weren't for school and for my SACs, I doubt I would have ever read it, so I'm glad we're covering the women of Troy this year. Despite all the criticism I heard about the book is dull and difficult to understand, I genuinely liked the concept. The play ‘The Woman of Troy’, examines the aftermath of the Trojan War, and it was written by Euripides. The focus was on the suffering of the former queen, Hecuba “whose unnumbered tears matched the numberless death she grieved for” as well as the chorus (the Trojan Women).

 Come, you widowed brides of Trojan fighting-men, Weeping mothers, trembling daughters, Come, weep with me while the smoke goes up from Troy!’ (Hecuba)

 ‘Take him! Carry him away, throw him down…I have no power to save my child from       death.’ (Andromache)

 "Some agonies are beyond telling..."

"Look at me... throned in the dust."

 The Golden Apple of Discord was created by Eris, the Goddess of Discord. Zeus had thrown a wedding on Mount Olympus for Thetis the sea nymph and mortal Peleus. After Eris found out that she was not invited, she crashed the wedding and threw the apple inscribed with the word "for the fairest". The goddesses all fought over the apple, but it came down to Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. They asked Zeus to decide who received the apple and he told them that Paris of Troy was to choose the fairest. Each of the goddesses offered him a gift for the apple.

Hera offered him the chance to be the king of Asia and Europe. Athena offered him wisdom and to become the world's greatest warrior. Aphrodite offered him the love of Helen of Sparta, who was married to King Menelaus. Paris of Troy gave the apple to Aphrodite. After Paris kidnaps her, Aphrodite kept her promise and gave him the love of Helen of Sparta. King Menelaus and Helen's former suitors refused to rest until she was found. All due to the Golden Apple of Discord, the Trojan War had begun.

Book Review by Lizl Tregidga

‘If He Had Been with Me’ by Laura Nowlin

Sasha and I each try to hold Jamie’s attention in our own way. Sasha teases him and displays her tomboy cuteness. I am alternately demure and flirtatious. She runs down the steps and participates in boys’ games. I smile at his jokes and look up at him from under my eyelashes. Sasha holds her hand up for a high five. I cheer for him from the steps. It is a battle, but we never cut each other. Sasha and I know that when it is over we must still be friends.

This book is a relatively quick read, as you keep turning page after page in the hope that the love story is fulfilled. The author leaves readers just wanting, never really fulfilling a hopeless romantic's wishes, but instead leaving you with enough sprinkles that you feel like a horse trotting along in the hope of catching up to that elusive carrot dangling in front of your nose but never actually within reach. 

Slowly, yet at the same time suddenly, because it happens in only a matter of days, I pull ahead of Sasha. She makes a valiant effort for a few lunches, but it becomes obvious that Jamie is now courting me. He sits next to me on the steps. He offers me the rest of his French fries. He tickles me. He smiles up at me on the steps while he and the boys are playing shoe-ball, and my stomach flutters.

Jamie. Jamie. James. Jamie.

The hardest pill to swallow, of course, is the ending. In the last few chapters, with the slow burn over, it speeds up and even though you think you know it's coming, it still leaves you feeling like you've been dealt an emotional blow. It is just so sad. I didn't even think it was a 'happy' sad, although some will argue that is exactly what it was meant to be and how the story was meant to go. I will argue that one cannot be 'happy' if you find out that you're getting the thing you want most in the world, but before you even get a chance to savour it, it disappears. That's my definition of sad. 

Would I recommend it? Maybe for those who want to finish a book in a day. Or for those who don't mind feeling short-changed after that day. Or even for those who love a bit of 'happy' sad in one day. But for the true romantics out there. Would I recommend it? All I can say is ‘beware your heart’.

Book Review by Gabrielle Phelan‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding

Some context: each year I set myself a reading goal, last year it was a total of 40 books. I was a week off from the end of the year and still had five books to read. In a desperate scramble, I located five novels on my bookshelf that I had not read, and that were around 200 pages. Lord of the Flies happened to find itself among this pile.Well, by the time I was on page 10, I knew it would be a five-star read for me, and regretted delaying reading it for so long!

Lord of the Flies is an allegorical novel set around 1950 during the war. The story takes place after a plane crashes on an unnamed island, containing a group of school-aged English boys, who survive, while all of the adults on the plane die in the crash. From here, the novel explores survival, humanity, masculinity, mob mentalities, ethics, and society. It focuses on the chaos of lawlessness and the necessity of rules to create order.“The thing is - fear can't hurt you any more than a dream.”

Some argue that Lord of the Flies is a cautionary tale, suggesting that humans are only civil because due to being fearful of the consequences of disobeying the law. That the only difference between a human being and a wild animal, is that humans have external laws and rules which keep us civil. 

“We did everything adults would do. What went wrong?”

The boys try to uphold the existing structures of society off the island, as they attempt to recreate a hierarchy, with a leader who makes ultimate decisions. There is an attempt at democracy, where the survivors use a conch to pass from person to person so everyone can have a say.  They work toward a shared, common goal, of keeping the fire burning. “I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking”. 

Unfortunately, it is not this simple, as other surviving boys - particularly Jack, become frustrated by this attempt at survival, and demand a different approach, one of tyranny. Here, we see a split in the group of boys, where their lives become progressively more violent, scary, and desperate. Not only are they fighting to survive in the wild, but they are also fighting to survive living among each other. You can justify almost anything in the name of survival.Essentially, the question being asked is, are humans inherently bad?…I say no.

Instead, I see the message of this novel to be that yes, some people require external moral frameworks to act in a way that satisfies the shared ethical agreements of a society. That some groups of people are not strong enough to stand up to a tyrant, who wields power and control in the name of protection and promised survival.  However, Lord of the Flies has countless examples of humanity at its most raw, expressions of kindness and friendship. I simply refuse to accept that anyone who is trying to suggest that humanity is inherently bad would have written a character like Piggy, who is perhaps one of the most poignant, thoughtful, and pure characters to ever have been penned.“Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart…”

This novel made me cry, and it manages to capture a foreboding sense of dread, but it is also incredibly thought-provoking and powerful. I think everyone should read this at least once. 

Book Review by Michelle Lau

‘Dragon Keeper’ by Carole Wilkinson

About the book:

Dragon Keeper is a phenomenal fantasy book that is about a young girl, Ping, and her journey with an enchanted dragon, Danzi, whom she meets along the way. The book begins when a slave girl rescues a dragon and learns very quickly the risks that are entailed as she is chased by a hunter who wants to be rewarded for Danzi’s capture. Throughout the book, you will embark on a journey where friendship, fright, and freedom will all be explored. Danzi will showcase his magic and unique abilities that will save him and Ping in a chase around the world. Trust and time will be tested between the two as they avoid being hunted down for money and fame. This will be the book you want to read if you’re looking for a book about dragons, adventure, and excitement! 

A bamboo bowl flew through the air, aimed at the slave girl’s head. She ducked out of the way. She was very experienced at dodging flying objects—from ink stones to chicken bones. Her master slumped back onto his bed, exhausted by the effort of throwing the bowl. 

“Feed the beasts, wretch. ” 

“Yes, Master Lan,” the girl replied. 

Lan scowled at her with the distaste he reserved for rats, spiders and maggoty meat. The only time he smiled was when he was laughing at her stupidity.

Why is this book amazing?

I read this book for the first time in Grade 5 in the library at my Primary School where I also met my best friend then and there. This book not only allowed me to meet my best friend but also inspired me to write imaginative pieces throughout my time at school and was the start of my creativity as an individual. Amazingly, I also had the opportunity to meet the author, Carole Wilkinson, in the city and have her sign a bookmark which I had for a very long time! I have read this book at least five times and have also read the sequels: Garden of the Purple Dragon and Dragon Moon to entertain myself in the past. I would highly recommend anyone who is into fantasy to read this book especially if you’re a fan of dragons!

Book Review by Alison Fiddes

‘The Wizard of Oz’ by L. Frank Baum

The little girl gave a cry of amazement and looked about her, her eyes growing bigger and bigger at the wonderful sights she saw.

The cyclone had set the house down very gently—for a cyclone—in the midst of a country of marvelous beauty. There were lovely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes. A little way off was a small brook, rushing and sparkling along between green banks, and murmuring in a voice very grateful to a little girl who had lived so long on the dry, gray prairies.

Lions and tigers and bears – oh my! To get out of my reading slump over the holidays I decided to try reading something short, sweet, and a bit familiar, which lead me to L. Frank Baum’s ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’. What I was shocked to learn, is that there are many extra details (or complete changes) to the film I grew up on. I’m sure everyone has heard of Dorothy and Toto, the wicked witch, and the ruby red slippers! But what if I told you the slippers were SILVER? I was shocked! 

The book was an easy read. The chapters are short, and the plot moves quickly. Dorothy encounters a scarecrow searching for a brain, a tin man hoping for a heart, and a cowardly lion hoping for some courage. They are promised the wonderful wizard shall grant these wishes if they make it to the Emerald City. The city is fantastical, I loved reading about the green horses, people, buildings, and more. The image painted for you is nothing less than what you would see in the film. 

Oz is wonderful and terrible. His antics add some amusement to the novel as he tries to ‘shapeshift’ into elephants, birds, balls of fire, and woolly beasts. His undoing and downfall due to Toto’s mischief is still as grand a reveal, even if you do already know the tale. With many hiccups (and wicked interventions) along the way, they are finally granted their wishes by the “Great Humbug” who teaches us that courage, love, and wit can be found within anyone. Even without magic, kind words and kindness can help anyone. 

Overall, it is a tale so many of us are familiar with but it still holds up. Whilst I do love Judy Garland’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” in the film, reading this was the perfect way to get back into reading. I would highly recommend this (or another familiar favourite of yours) if you’ve had a break from reading and struggling to pick up a new book. Not having to think too much about the plot (since I already knew most of it) and simply enjoying the story was really refreshing. Enjoy fellow readers! 

Book Review by Stephanie Dimitriou

‘The Wife and the Widow’ by Christian White

As Abby stood poised to turn out the light in the garage, a terrifying question occurred to her: What next? What would she do if the luminol revealed blood on Ray’s clothing? Would she run to the police and turn over the evidence, or carry her husband’s secret with her wherever she went like a tumour? What was a wife supposed to do?

I love a murder mystery – especially a murder mystery set in a small Australian town. There is something about the haunting familiarity of Australia’s vast and cavernous landscape that makes a perfect backdrop for secrets to emerge. Set off the Bellarine Peninsula during winter, The Wife and the Widow presents a murder mystery in a similar vein to Jane Harper’s The Survivors and Hayley Scrivenor’s Dirt Town.

The book is told from the perspectives of two women. Abby, ‘the wife’ of the murderer, is a taxidermist (someone who stuffs and presents dead animals to mount on walls and mantlepieces) who uses the island’s roadkill as her subjects. Her quiet life of working at the local supermarket is disrupted when her police officer best friend informs her of a brutal murder down at the docks. Then we have Kate, ‘the widow’ of the murdered, a stay-at-home mother who discovers her husband has been hiding a secret when he doesn’t come home from a work trip. Along with her very rich and controlling father-in-law, she heads to the island to search for her husband. Each chapter swaps perspectives as the audience and the women attempt to solve why this murder occurred.

The Wife and the Widow is a page-turner that can be easily consumed in a couple of sittings. Beyond discovering the reason behind the murder, the novel has a twist that made me gasp aloud. (If you’ve read this book before, please come find me to discuss it! I want to know if you suspected it at all because I didn’t.) I recommend taking it with you to the beach and letting the sea spray fully immerse you in the book's world.