Review: Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar

Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar (review copy) - Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing … and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago at schoolies week.

And then Carly meets Ryan, a local at the break, fresh out of jail. When Ryan learns the truth, Carly has to decide. Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy? From Goodreads

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Review: Losing It by Cora Carmack

Losing It by Cora Carmack - Love. Romance. Sex. There's a first time for everything...

As far as Bliss Edwards can tell, she's the last virgin standing, certainly amongst her friends. And she's determined to deal with the 'problem' as quickly and simply as possible.

But her plan for a no-strings one night stand turns out to be anything but simple. Especially when she arrives for her first class and recognises her hot new British professor.

She'd left him naked in her bed just 8 hours earlier... From Goodreads.

WARNING! For the purposes of reviewing this book as part of Sex in Teen Lit Month II, I will need to give some minor spoilers. Please read no further if you're planning on reading this book and don't want it spoilt for you.

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YA & NA Feminist Stories & Positive Female Role Models

This is not


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is is about favourite past topics for Top Ten Tuesday. Seeing as I haven't been taking part for very long, and don't have enough to talk about, I thought I would combine Top Ten Tuesday with something I want to look at. So it's not Top Ten Tuesday, but it is Tuesday, and I'm listing about ten or so (11) books. Call it what you will!
Anyway, I've recently been thinking about a few YA novels that tell feminist stories, and have been discussing and recommending them on Twitter. I thought it would be great to put together a list of those novels and others, and hopefully get more people picking them up.

Some of these books I read quite a number of years ago, some as far back as when I started blogging. So my reviews for those books won't be as long or as detailed as my current reviews, and are fairly amateurish, so I've also linked to Goodreads.


Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill - A novel that looks at body image, self-worth, and the worth of women in general in a dystopian patriachal society. I cannot stop raving about this book; if you haven't read it yet, you really need to.  My review

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger - This is a recent release, so I've not yet read it. About a dystopian future India where there are five boys to every girl, and girls are used as a commodity, their sole purpose to find suitable husbands and become caged wives.

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Review: Sweet by Tammara Webber

Sweet by Tammara Webber (eARC) - He’s the love of her life, but he doesn’t know it.
She’s his one moment of sacrifice in a lifetime of survival.

He was damaged and wild, but resilient.
She’s always been obedient. Now she’s restless.

Home for the summer between college and med school, Pearl Torres Frank knows two things: Boyce Wynn is the embodiment of everything she should run from, and everything she wants to run to. Rebellious and loud. Unconcerned with society’s opinion of him. Passionate. Strong. Dangerous.

And one more trait he hides from everyone but her:
Sweet. From Goodreads.

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Mental Health May Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I Was Here by Gayle Forman (eProof) - This characteristically powerful novel follows eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend's shocking suicide.

As Cody numbly searches for answers as to why Meg took her own life, she begins a journey of self-discovery which takes her to a terrifying precipice, and forces her to question not only her relationship with the Meg she thought she knew, but her own understanding of life, love, death and forgiveness.

A phenomenally moving story, I Was Here explores the sadly all-too-familiar issue of suicide and self-harm, addressing it in an authentic way with sensitivity and honesty. From Goodreads.

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