carleesi's reviews
736 reviews

Homeland Calling: Words from a New Generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voices by Ellen van Neerven

5.0

I watched the videos on YouTube as I went through the book and I highly recommend.

All the Ways to be Smart by Davina Bell

5.0

Once I Was a Cardboard Box...But Now I'm a Book about Polar Bears by Anton Poitier

4.0

Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis

5.0

I loooove this book. The language use is so cool and the story is delightfully playful.

Orphia and Eurydicius by Elyse John
Did not finish book. Stopped at 61%.

I’m surprised I just could not get into this book. I tried and tried but the “feminism” felt clumsy and simplistic and the love story was way too fluffy. 

The Reckoning: How #MeToo is Changing Australia by Jess Hill

4.0

Interesting snippet of insight into the political and cultural context of #MeToo landing in Australia.

Would have loved a bit more nuance in the men and masculinity chapter - the importance of challenging men who need to be the protagonist in every story - but probably not possible in this word length.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

She Gets the Girl by Alyson Derrick, Rachael Lippincott

4.25

Everything I could want from a YA romance. I really enjoyed the blossoming friendship and the way the characters dealt with very serious things respectfully and carefully. 

If everyone cared enough: her voice reclaimed by Margaret Tucker

5.0

Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi Andreades

4.5

I’ve never read anything like this book. It was so interesting to read this story about so many people and no singular person. To be taken through collective experiences while never feeling like their lives were the same. Really beautifully crafted.

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist by Sophie Gonzales

3.0

I enjoyed the overlapping of so many tropes to create a cheeky story.

I found it hard to accept the “magic” in this world - it felt like magical realism to me which I don’t vibe with. It just wasn’t explained well enough.

The tone completely shifts in the last few chapters, it went from silly rompy teen fun to thriller and it kinda lost me.