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Lightlark by Alex Aster, #124 review

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐/5 Synopsis: Welcome to the Centennial. Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final […]

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The Punkhawala and the Prostitute by Wesley Leon Aroozoo, #123 review

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Synopsis: Finalist for the 2021 Epigram Books Fiction Prize Beneath the façade of a land golden with opportunities dwell two destitutes shipped to Singapore in the late 1800s. Oseki, an ingenue forced into servitude as a karayuki, grapples with betrayal by her own father and transforms into a monster she can’t recognise. Gobind, […]

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Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom Duology #1) by Sue Lynn Tan, #122 review

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Publication date: 11 January 2022 Synopsis: A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm. Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she […]

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The Last Graduate (the Scholomanc #2) by Naomi Novik, #121 review

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Publication date: 28 September 2021 Synopsis: A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking crossover series. At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are […]

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Get Your Play On: Creative Ways to Have Fun in a Serious World by Coralie Sleap, #118 review

It’s a fact that playful people have more fun. Play can help us to forget our worries for a while. And adopting a more playful attitude means we’re better able to cope with life’s ups and downs. Play has been scientifically proven to make you less stressed. It is hugely beneficial, beyond simply the pleasure […]

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Poetry & Short Stories, A Practice Book by Charissa Ong, #118 review

Publication date: 9 September 2021 ‘How can I become a better writer?’‘What makes a short story and poem good or bad?’‘How can I start writing?’ If you’re asking yourself these questions, this practice book is for you. Authored by Best Selling author Charissa Ong Ty, she breaks down all the technical aspects of writing into […]

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You say it First by Katie Cotungo, #117 review

Publication date: 16 June 2020 Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: her boyfriend Mason is sweet and supportive, she and her best friend Emily plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she even finds time to clock shifts phonebanking at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But […]

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Instructions for Dancing by David Yoon, #116 review

Publication date: 3 June 2021 Evie is disillusioned about love ever since her dad left her mum for another woman – she’s even throwing out her beloved romance novel collection. When she’s given a copy of a book called Instructions for Dancing, and follows a note inside to a dilapidated dance studio, she discovers she […]

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Black Water Sister by Zen Cho, #115 review

Publication date: 11 May 2021 A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy. Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. […]

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Being Amani by Annabelle Steele, #114 review

Publication date: 20 May 2021 It’s been over a year since that night and Amani hopes that starting all over again will help her move on from the past. So, when she moves to a new city, Amani wants to focus on her new life, her best friends and the boy she’s been crushing on […]