Book Review: "All That's Left Unsaid" by Tracey Lien

This debut novel is a well-written family drama, as a young woman fights to find the truth about a family tragedy.

Ky was more than eager to leave her home of Cabramatta, a suburb of Sydney, to pursue a career as a journalist in Melbourne. Each time she returned home to visit her family, she became more depressed over the decline of Cabramatta, home to countless refugees from Vietnam and other countries, riddled by crime, drugs, and poverty.

Her parents summon her home with sad news: her studious brother Denny was apparently murdered at a restaurant after celebrating his high school graduation. The police don’t know what happened and don’t seem to care much about the fate of another refugee; amazingly, there were dozens of witnesses in the restaurant but no one apparently saw anything.

Wracked with guilt because she convinced her parents to let Denny go that night, and frustrated by their reticence to push for answers regarding his death, Ky is determined to uncover the truth. She sets out to track down the witnesses to Denny’s murder and find out what they know and why they won’t speak up.

In doing so, Ky uncovers a picture of a town under the vise of violence and anti-immigrant sentiment, where the police are ones to fear, not look to for protection. And at the same time, she learns more about her brother, and her family, than she ever knew.

This was sad and very insightful. It is told by Ky and a number of the witnesses, so the voice of the book changed often, and that kept taking me out of the story. But there was a lot to marvel over here for a debut novel.

Book Review: "Dirt Creek" by Hayley Scrivenor

When a young girl disappears from a small Australian town, the investigation uncovers many secrets.

I don’t know what’s in the water in Australia, but they really have some great mystery writers! I’ve seen a lot of great crime novels reviewed by my Australian Bookstafriends that don’t even get published here in the U.S., so I was excited to get my hands on this.

“We understood, even then, that bad things happened. And we understood that sometimes people made them happen. Sometimes those people were people close to us, or even ourselves.”

When 12-year-old Esther goes missing after school, her disappearance rocks the small town of Durton. Everyone seems to see everything, so did no one really see what happened to her? As the detectives dig into the events of that day and suspicions shift, they step into a web of secrets and lies that have remained hidden just below the surface.

The story is narrated by multiple people, including Esther’s best friend, who starts an investigation of her own; Sarah, the lead detective, who is trying to hold her life together following a breakup with her girlfriend; and a Greek chorus of sorts made up by the voices of local children.

This is a slow-burn mystery with a Jane Harper-esque feel to it, but it is so rich in character development. There were so many nuances I really enjoyed.

Book Review: "Ready When You Are" by Gary Lonesborough

Gary Lonesborough's debut novel is a powerful story about having the courage to be your true self.

Jackson lives in in aboriginal community in Australia called the Mish. He has good, loyal friends, a loving family, a girlfriend, but he feels at odds with himself, feelings he tries to drown with alcohol and mischief. Dealing with the whites in the community who treat Jackson and his friends with racist disdain is hard enough, but he has to keep himself in check or he’ll wind up in juvie.

Jackson’s aunt comes to visit, bringing his cousins as well as Tomas, a troubled boy who’s been staying with her. Tomas shares Jackson’s room, which starts out as an annoyance because of his personal space, but becomes even more of a distraction when Jackson realizes what his feelings for Tomas really are.

When the two boys realize their feelings are identical, Jackson has to decide what to do. Will living his truth mean having to leave the Mish and lose his family and friends? What should he do, hide his feelings and the truth of who he is? Can he be happy that way?

Ready When You Are was a beautifully told book. While the story is familiar in some respects, I’ve never read a story that takes place in an Aboriginal community before, especially with these themes. I worried the plot might get too tragic or melodramatic and I was so happy it didn’t; this was a story with characters I rooted for.

Thanks so much to Pride Book Tours, Gary Lonesborough, and Scholastic Inc./PUSH for inviting me on the tour for this book and providing me a complimentary copy in exchange for an unbiased review!

Book Review: "The Survivors" by Jane Harper

The Survivors is a slow-burn mystery filled with unresolved guilt and old secrets and lies.

Twelve years ago, Kieran’s error in judgment led to a tragedy which rocked his small Australian coastal town. He still lives with the guilt of what occurred that fateful day, which had ramifications for several families, including his own.

When Kieran returns for a rare visit to his parents, along with his girlfriend and their young daughter, he is struck by how bad his father’s dementia has gotten and how much his mother is overcompensating. And when a crime occurs, it sets off a cascade of events, revealing secrets long hidden and uncovering questions that had been ignored for years, while forcing people to relive the events of 12 years before.

I’m a big fan of Jane Harper. I love her use of imagery, which definitely makes you feel you’re right there in the middle of the story along with the characters. Her books are real slow-burns but I love the way the tension builds as the story reaches its conclusion.

This was a Book of the Month selection back in January 2021, and I’ve been trying to read all of those BOTM picks I never got to. I enjoyed this once it got going, and while I figured some of the plot out, there was still a surprise or two to be found.

Book Review: "The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone" by Felicity McLean

If you're looking for a mysterious, quirky book that may leave you with more questions than answers, Felicity McLean's The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone may be just the ticket for you!

"We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of dome half-remembered song, and when one came back, she wasn't the one we were trying to recall to begin with."

In the summer of 1992, Tikka Malloy and her older sister, Laura, were living in a suburban Australian town. Tikka was 11-1/6 years old, and she and Laura spent most of their time with their best friends, Ruth, Hannah, and Cordelia Van Apfel. At the time, the country was obsessed with the Lindy Chamberlain case (she of the "dingo took my baby"), but that summer, something major happened to Tikka and Laura: one night during a school concert, all three Van Apfel sisters disappeared.

Despite an exhaustive search, no sign of the girls was ever found. Did their odd, strict, evangelical parents have something to do with their disappearance? Did they run away? Was a stranger responsible? The town, and the Malloy sisters, are left with no answers, a fact that haunts them all these years later.

When 20 years later Tikka returns to Australia to see her sister, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer, of course their memories turn to the Van Apfel girls' disappearance. And it is only with years of perspective on the mystery that Tikka and Laura begin to make sense of some events which occurred before the girls went missing, and they can finally start to process clues they might not have understood when they were younger.

This is a fascinating, well-told book which switches back and forth between 1992 as the girls' disappearance unfolds, and 2012, as Tikka tries to come to terms with the events of that summer. McLean creates some truly memorable characters to inhabit this story, and she certainly raises more than a healthy share of questions about what happened to the Van Apfel girls. (Ultimately the reader is left with two potential scenarios.)

What's interesting about this book is the fact that so much is seen through the eyes of 11-year-old Tikka, so you're not quite sure if what is being presented is accurate or simply her perceptions of what occurred. That adds to the mystery and poignancy of the story, as does the feeling of guilt that Tikka and Laura share, for perhaps not divulging all of the things they knew back then.

McLean does such a terrific job with evocative imagery; Australia is, of course, such a fascinating and beautiful place, and McLean certainly helps you to see everything in your mind's eye. She also has created such a unique story, full of answers and questions, and it's one that will stick in my mind for some time to come.

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone will make you think and it will fill you with nostalgia for the simpler days of your youth and childhood friendships. But it will also haunt you a bit and make you wonder how you might react if you were faced with the same situation that Tikka and Laura were.

Algonquin Books provided me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Boy Swallows Universe" by Trent Dalton

Eli is growing up in a small Australian suburb in the 1980s. His mother is a junkie and in jail, his father is nowhere to be found, his stepfather is a drug dealer, and his older brother, August, is a mute genius. The only adult in his life is Slim, a former prisoner who holds the record for the most escapes.

"I truly love Slim because he truly loves August and me. Slim was hard and cold in his youth. He's softened with age. Slim always cares for August and me and how we're going and how we're going to grow up. I love him so much for trying to convince us that when Mum and Lyle are out for so long like this they are at the movies and not, in fact, dealing heroin purchased from Vietnamese restaurateurs."

For a 12-year-old, Eli has the mind and heart of an adult. Even though his life is completely chaotic, he craves normalcy—as much as he can get given the situation he's in. He wants to be a journalist, he wants to fall in love, and he wants to be a good man, better than those he's had in his life.

Life keeps getting in Eli's way. It's up to him to care for his brother and to battle a truly dangerous drug dealer, and then work to save his mum. Through it all, Eli sees that there are two paths to follow—the right and the wrong—and although the wrong may be the easier one to follow, he knows he'll never recover if he takes that path.

What's fascinating and eye-opening about Boy Swallows Universe is that Trent Dalton based it on his own childhood and his relationship with his mother. Even though I know people find themselves in really dangerous, sad situations, it's still a bit of a gut punch to realize how closely this crazy story mirrors real life. I didn't know that going into reading this book, so it gave it a dash of added poignancy upon reflection.

I found the characters and their relationships really endearing, but the narrative style of this book put me off. Part of it was the Australian dialect the characters used, and part was the truncated way some of the dialogue flowed. There were times I had to re-read some paragraphs just to be sure I knew what was happening, so that kept me feeling not quite connected.

There is a tremendous amount of heart and charm in Boy Swallows Universe, and some very memorable characters. I know that many people enjoyed this book more than I did, so if it sounds intriguing, definitely give it a shot. It's a thought-provoking, heart-warming, and disturbing story.

NetGalley and HarperCollins provided me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!