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OZYA

#LoveOzYA You Need To Check Out

#LoveOzYA You Need To Check Out

Oct 10, 2020

Today I thought I would share some of the #LoveOzYA that I think you need to read. I adore #LoveOzYA and if you haven’t read anything by Australians authors, especially those writing YA. Get on it. Here is the list of #LoveOzYA that I think you need to read. 

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim: This is an empowering novel that explores family, mental health and trying to find your own feet. The characters were fantastic and clever, while the romance was fantastic and what I love. And while there is darkness in this novel and sometimes you feel like there is no hope. There is also warmth. 

This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield: This novel is a powerful read that explores the low socioeconomic communities in Australia and how it impacts daily lives, especially teens trying to make their way through school. This book made me feel so many things from anger to hope. From sadness to being proud. This poignant coming of age story that captures the lives of those that struggle day by day.

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales: I wasn’t expecting to like this one as I did. The romacne has it’s ups and downs, but it’s a great young adult contemporary novel that explores first love. As well as finding and believing in yourself. 

It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood: This is an honest, heartwarming coming of age novel. It truly captures all those feelings of leaving high school and the anxieties of what to do with life as an ‘adult.’ If you haven’t picked this book up, please do. If you are looking for a YA contemporary that isn’t going to tear you apart but still makes the reader feel so many emotions.

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde: I feel like I recommend this more than I already do. It’s a fun but emotional read that is for every pop-cultural fan. It explores the notion of friendship and relationships. It’s about falling in love and letting yourself love. It’s about stepping out of that bubble and letting yourself be free. 

Every series by Ellie Marney: I will never stop recommending this series. It’s honestly only of my favourites of all time. A sherlock esp retelling set in Melbourne. There are many very intense scenes including one in a lion’s den. But if you pick anything up by Ellie Marney you are in good hands. 

The Protected by Claire Zorn: I haven’t’ talked about this book in years. But this is a fantastic read. The Protected is a beautiful, heartbreaking novel that tales a story of a girl who not only has to deal with her sister dying, but memory lost, her family breaking down and the torment of school.

Frankie by Shivaun Plozza: It’s a story of heartbreak, belonging, finding yourself and what it is to be a family. It captures Melbourne as Melbourne from the language to the setting, it brings to light that sometimes when you think that you are alone, you are not alone and all that you need to do is let them in. 

And that is it for today’s post. I hope that you give these #LoveOzYA books a go. They are all fantastic and I think you will love them. 

Have you read any of these? What did you think of them? Are you planning on picking any of these ups? What are some of your favourite #LoveOzYA? Let’s Chat! 

 

Why I Love Reading #LoveOzYA

Why I Love Reading #LoveOzYA

May 26, 2020

This week I’m sharing the reasons why I adored #LoveOzYA. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and Bookish and is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. 

This was supposed to be last weeks post, sadly I ended up with a bad migraine and couldn’t get it done. However, I still wanted to share my love and write this post. If you don’t know what #LoveOzYA is – It’s a movement that happened to support and promote Australian Young Adult literature. You can check out more about it in the #LoveOzYA website.

Supporting, promoting and reading #LoveOzYA is something that I have always loved doing. So today I thought I would share some of the reasons by I love reading Aussie YA. Like always these are in no order. 

Feels Like Home: Reading #LoveOzYA feels so natural. Sometimes I find when I’m reading books set in other countries, I still feel a distance and sometimes I don’t understand everything. But when I read Australian YA everything feels natural, I understand everything so much better. I know places, I understand the school system, the government and everything in between. I can naturally just fall into the novel. 

Unique Voices: One thing that I think that #LoveOzYA does so well is having unique voices. No one else in the world sounds like us. We all have different experiences, but there is something unique about not only characters voices but authors as well. Most of the time I can tell if a book is written by an Australian author even before knowing. 

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

The Community: The #LoveOzYA community is fantastic. I love that it’s this big community with so many different types of people. From readers and bloggers to publishers, librarians and booksellers. It’s this amazing community that just wants to support each other and show everyone else in the world how amazing Australian authors are.  

Unique Stories: I know I’ve already spoken about unique voices but there are always unique stories that I don’t think you would find anywhere else. I think unique voices and stories go hand in hand. But I think there are so many stories that Australians can tell that no one else in the world can. And that just makes me so happy. 

Knowing Places: One of the issues that I have with reading books not set in Australia is not knowing where things are. I have the good gist of where countries are in the world, but when it comes to states, towns and things along those lines. I have no idea. But in regards to Australia, especially books set in Victoria. I know where things are. I know the places that they are talking about. I’ve been to a lot of them. It makes it so much easier to visualise. 

Slang: I love hearing Australia slang in books, and not just the typical things that you hear in shows. But just the natural way that we talk. I love seeing words that no one else uses but I know exactly what it means. It just makes for such a fun reading experience. Because it’s so natural when we talk, that it becomes so natural when reading. 

Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash

Range of genres: This may sound stupid here, but I wanted to talk about it. Sometimes, I feel that people think that #LoveOzYA is just contemporary. And it’s not. And while contemporary Aussie YA is what you do find most of the time. There are so many amazing fantasy and dystopian novels from Aussie authors. And I just love that. 

Amazing Quality: It’s not often that I love up a #LoveOzYA book and not like it. It happens of course. But it’s not often. I just find that I love everything that I read and that just makes me so happy. 

And that is it for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday! Have you read any #LoveOzYA? What has been your favourite? Would you like to see a list of the Aussie YA that I think everyone should read? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Making Friends with Alice Dyson by Poppy Nwosu

Book Review: Making Friends with Alice Dyson by Poppy Nwosu

May 7, 2020

Making Friends with Alice Dyson by Poppy Nwosu

Pages: 276
Publish date: November 5th 2019
Publisher: Wakefield Press
ISBN: 9781743056127
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU 

My hand, which is following a stray pencil rolling across the floor, stops dead right in front of two ratty green sneakers.
My gaze follows the shoes up over long legs to a towering figure.
I stand abruptly.
Tall, black eyes, messy hair, a permanent scowl on a permanently angry face. Our school’s delinquent, a waster, the kind of boy who always sits at the back of class. The kind of boy even popular people like Sophia are afraid of. Teddy Taualai.
 
Alice Dyson knows exactly how she’ll be spending her final year of high school. With her head down, quietly concentrating on her textbooks and homework. She’s focused on the future, and nothing and no one is going to get in her way. Until a bizarre encounter with the school’s most notorious troublemaker derails all her plans, turning Alice into the unwilling centre of attention and her life into one enormous complication.

And even worse? Now Teddy Taualai won’t leave her alone.

A story about rumours, friendship, and discovering who you really are.

Making Friends with Alice Dyson:

Making Friends with Alice Dyson by Poppy Nwosu wasn’t high up on my TBR list when I first heard about it. YA contemporary isn’t something that I read a lot of these days. However, it did still catch my eye, and then I started reading all the reviews and I knew that I had to pick this one up for myself. And I’m so glad that I did. I loved it so much that it made it onto my top books for CBCA’s Clayton night. 

You know those books that you read and they just put a smile on your face, this is one of those. This is a beautiful, adorable, and honest novel that explores the highs and lows of the last year of high school. This novel follows Alice Dyson in her last year of high school. Her plan? Focus on her future! Head down, do her homework, and nothing is going to stop her. Expect maybe a dance-off with troublemaker and delinquent Teddy Taualai. Alice is thrown into the spotlight when rumours start flying around.

Anggun Tan

Alice was an interesting character and protagonist. She wasn’t someone that I could immediately connect with and like, but as the novel went on I really started to enjoy her. I think that her character arc was fantastic and the reader is able to see her grow immensely throughout Making Friends with Alice Dyson. Alice’s growth really pushed the novel and I loved that. Even though Alice thought she hated everything that followed the events with Teddy, but the reader is able to see that she actually enjoys it. Even if she doesn’t think so. One of my favourite things about young adult novels is seeing the growth of characters and I think that Poppy Nwosu does that so well. Especially in regards to everything that comes with the last year of high school. 

I loved Teddy from the start. While I might have disliked this type of guy while at school, I love them in novels. He has this ‘bad boy’ reputation and it plays along with it. He has this fun and playful nature about him that added this other layer to the novel and made him more than an archetype. Poppy Nwosu has a knack for making characters that are real and have faults and this makes for such an enjoyable read. 

The romance in Making Friends with Alice Dyson was beautiful and I loved it with my soul. Teddy is a flirt, and Alice is a shy bean, and while at first, they seem like total opposites. However, as the novel goes on, they are able to connect with one another. What turns from hesitation and avoidance, into a soft friendship and then slowly into something more. It was beautiful and has to be one of my favourite friends to lovers romance. It’s just very sweet, soft and a somewhat innocent romance. I loved that Teddy was able to push Alice in a way that lets her know herself even more. 

Siora Photography

Making Friends with Alice Dyson is very character-driven which I love. But also there is a lot of other things that do drive the novel along. I adored the first interaction between Alice and Teddy; the dance. It’s one of the most innocent things I’ve read and I loved it. All Teddy wants is a friend and Alice becomes that person. Friendship is a massive theme throughout the novel. And the reader not only sees the friendship between Alice and Teddy grow into something more. But it also looks at Alice’s friendship with her best friend. 

I loved that Poppy Nwosu looks into the notion of female friendship and the many ups and downs that come along with it. Especially in those last few years of school. I enjoyed that it explored that girl friendships aren’t always smooth and showed a realistic approach to how girls interact and their relationships. 

Making Friends with Alice Dyson also explores the notion of coming of age and that last year of high school. I think that Australian novels do this exceptionally well and that is clearly evident in Making Friends with Alice Dyson. It showed the trials and tribulations that go along with being in that last year of school. All the ups and downs. The decisions that we need to make. And the pressure that we not only put on ourselves but that others put on us as well. 

Chermiti Mohamed

Making Friends with Alice Dyson is a sweet story that looks at friendships, the most adorable romance, and the strength of opening up. Everything about this book is tender and sweet but also packs a punch. This is a great book to pick up when you are feeling that little bit down because it’s a feel great book for sure. I also think it’s one that a lot of teens can read. This is a fantastic debut that is brilliant and soft, and I finished it with a massive smile. 

Have you read Making Friends with Alice Dyson by Poppy Nwosu? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Let’s Chat!

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book blogger 💻| romance books 💜| bookseller 📖
💌 angel@angelreads.com
📚53/150

April was a very good reading month for me, especi April was a very good reading month for me, especially after last month. I had some really fantastic reads in April. I did do a lot of re-reading this month but I had such blast. I re-read Caught Up and Play Along and the first 4 books in the Ironside Academy series. 📚

I read some books that I’ve been waiting for including the new book from Kels and Denise Stone, as well as the new Tessa Hale. ✨

Overall it was such a good month, lots of binge reading series and starting on some new authors. I’m so excited to see what May brings. 🖤

What was your favourite book that you read in April? 

🏷️ 
#romancebooks #bookstagram  #romancereads #angelreads #bookblogger #spicybooks #romancereader #romance #smut #recentreads #aprilreads #aprilwrapup
IT’S RACE WEEK! 🏎️ If you didn’t know al IT’S RACE WEEK! 🏎️

If you didn’t know already I love F1, have ever since I was younger and decided that this year it would be fun to combined my love for F1 and reading together. 📚

After a week off we are back at it. We are in Miami this week’s and things are only just heating up. This week I’m reading Falling Off the Cliff  Kanitha P.

…

Formula 1 legend in the making and rising star Thiago Valencia is chasing redemption as well as his second World Champion title. With a tarnished reputation and an undetermined future in F1 that hangs by a terribly loose thread, he can’t afford to lose his seat. Thiago is ready to do anything to redeem himself and erase his past mistakes. When a mysterious woman intrudes on his private party in Monte Carlo, he is certain the universe has brought his polar opposite into his life as salvation. He is sunshine, she is moonlight; he is a bright star and she is a moonbeam.

Destiny takes the wheel, steering Kamari into Thiago’s orbit, but her open disdain and closely guarded heart warn her to stay away. Enchanted by her charms, Thiago is intent on melting her freezing barriers and tearing down the walls shielding her heart.

When Kamari agrees to help him save his future by being his fake girlfriend, the unexpected happens, triggered by a game of lies, secrets and desire.

As they plunge towards the finish line, the race veers offtrack and neither of them are ready to fall off the cliff.
… 

How Race Week Reads Will Work 

On Monday of race week I’ll announce the book I’ll be reading for the week, then throughout the week I’ll be posting stories and my thoughts. And then on Sunday, race day my review and final thoughts will go up.

🏷️ 
#romancebooks #bookstagram  #romancereads #angelreads #bookblogger #spicybooks #romancereader #romance #f1 #formula1 #ausgp #raceweekreads #f1romance #sportsromance #fallingoffthecliff #kanithap #fullthrottle
A little late but I am finally getting to share Ra A little late but I am finally getting to share Race 5’s Race Week Reads review. This week I read, Downforce (Pit Lane #1) by Hannah Lily.

🏎️ Review 🏎️

I had so much fun reading this book. I knew I was in for a ride as soon as I started Downforce. It was entertaining, fun, and I just had a good time reading it. And while it does explore some heavy topics, I don’t think it took away from the fun nature of the book.

Right from the start, we can see the tension between F1 Presenter, Olivia Fraser and F1 Driver, Jonah Scott. And while silly at times, it was fun seeing them interact together. Both really didn’t like each other. They both had said things about and to one another that sometimes it caused chaos. And I was here for it.

I did find that at times, just silly things happened. I am not a massive rom-com reader, and there was a lot of falling into one another, and arguments stemmed from nothing. This is honestly just because I don’t like these types of scenes, but it didn’t really make me dislike the book at all.

I loved the whole road trip aspect of the book, it’s different from other F1 books I’ve read so far this year and just made for some interesting banter and lust. I do wish that the road trip was a little longer than it was because I did feel like the romance moved pretty quickly here, but again, it didn’t really affect how much I was enjoying the book.

The romance was this combination of being slow burn and full of angst right at the start, to the road trip happening and then bam. But I loved it, though. The banter between Olivia and Jonah was fantastic. I loved seeing them grow not only with one another but with themselves as well.

Overall, I had a great time reading Downforce and will be continuing the series for sure when the other books come out. The romance was angsty and just felt right. The found family aspect really worked well here, and the F1 aspects were pretty okay. Not the best I’ve seen, but not the worst either. If you are looking for a fun read that has a great romance and a little rom-comy, then pick this one up.
I’ve already had a pretty amazing reading year. I’ve already had a pretty amazing reading year. There have been so many books that I have enjoyed but there are some that I have just loved. 🖤

I didn’t realise before I put this post together that all of these books are from authors I’ve read and loved before. There hasn’t been a Rebecca Yarros book that I haven’t rated under 4 Stars. Elsie Silver is just making me love everything that she writes. Wild and Wrangled may be my favourite in the series. 📖

Three rereads also made it to this list. Binding 13 still makes me gasp and smile all at the same time. And Caught Up and Play Along just hit every time. 📚

I’ve honestly had a great year so far and since making this post a few more books I’ve read I’ve ended up loving. It’s going to be hard to pick my favourites at the end of the year that is for sure. ✨

What books have you loved reading this year? Are any books that made my list on yours? Let me know! 

🏷️ 
#romancebooks #bookstagram  #romancereads #angelreads #bookblogger #spicybooks #romancereader #romance #smut #recentreads #2025favourites #onyxstorm #wildside  #binding13 #caughtup #wildandwrangled
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