‘Wandi’ is an Australian Junior novel that is beautifully written, descriptive and heart-warming. It shows pure connection between animals and humans. This new novel is perfect for ages 8 (good reader) and up.
Favel Parrett has broken into the Junior Fiction scene what a statement and her adult, award-winning literary writing really brings Wandi’s experiences to life.
Wandi is an a baby Dingo snatched from his home in the mountain. He is separated from his family and familiar surroundings with no idea of how to get back. A great eagle has clawed his back in the action of snatching him and Wandi is left injured and alone. He is soon discovered by a Human. This is the first Human that Wandi has smelt and seen before. His Mum and Dad always warned him of Humans, saying that they hunt dingos like Wandi for sport. It was cruel and unfair. Wandi was worried about this Human but the Human was kind, gave him warm hugs and made him feel safe and comfortable enough to fall asleep.
This Human lead Wandi on an important journey, one where Wandi was introduced to more dingos in a big dingo reservation. For a long time, Wandi felt different and like he didn’t fit in and that’s because he didn’t. He was special. He had special colours, special grub finding skills and special instincts. He was a rare species of Dingo that needed to be preserved. Wandi soon found another dingo – a female dingo, who was the same as him and had started to feel, as he did, that this new home wasn’t so bad. They got fed, they were comfortable, they had love and they were safe.
This story was SO beautiful – for both children and adults. It is short, snappy and displays such a strong perspective of what it is like, from an animals perspective, to be moved into a new home and environment. I really think that children will resonate with this story and find those special connections between animals and humans as something to learn from. It is also super important to mention and acknowledge that Wandi is actually a real dingo! He is a real Pure Alpine Dingo from the Victoria Highlands in Australia. He now lives a happy life at the Dingo Discovery Sanctuary in Toolern Vale, Victoria.
I want to start by saying that if you choose to pick up this book, you will have it finished in either one sitting (if you’re spending the day reading) or in a matter of days. It was fast-paced, cliff hanger at the end of every chapter and twisted just the right amount to keep you guessing – but then totally shocked by the ending. ‘The Silent Patient’ is the first book, in a long time, that I HAVE NOT seen the ending coming. This impresses me – mainly because I am knocking over a book a week at this point in my life and most consist of pretty predictable story lines. This was predictable in some ways – yes, but it also had me gasping at the final reveal of who, what, when, where and why!
Alicia Berenson has been silent for 6 years. It has been 6 years since she shot her husband, Gabriel in the face five times. What provoked her to to this? Why was he tied to a chair in their home when shot? Who influenced her decision? How has she not uttered a single word for 6 years yet been convicted of first-degree murder, referred to a mental institution and now sits in front of Theo Faber for a criminal psychotherapist session. Did she actually commit the crime?
Theo Faber has his own troubling past with relationships and is drawn to Alicia. Even more so when he discovers that his wife, Kathleen has been cheating on him with a younger, more fun version of himself. Throughout the book he follows and observes their meetings, yet never confronts either of their infidelity. In an unprofessional manner, Theo starts to dive deeper in the psychological and emotional motives behind Alicia’s silence and actions. What his finds creates a gripping, page-turning and suspicious number of suspects who have good reasoning to have thrown Alicia into the firing line.
I’m telling you, I was left reeling by this book. No joke, I sat in my reading chair just thinking, thinking, thinking. How did I miss this plot?! How did I not piece it together?! This was my Crime Fiction Fanatic Book Club pick for September and I am really looking forward to discussing it with my group. I’m making a big statement here and saying that it has been my favourite read of our book club yet!
✅ The beginning of a new series (which I will become addicted too!)
Defy the Night is a brand new novel from Brigid Kemmerer. If you are familiar to my reading tastes and blog, you will already know that I devoured Brigid’s trilogy ‘A Curse so Dark and Lonely’ not that long ago. I am officially a hard-core fan and will be reading any fantasy books she creates. I was lucky enough to read a pre-release of this new book through work.
The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster and life-threatening illness. Tessa and Weston have seen the illness first-hand and have become determined to help those who slip through the cracks and cannot afford medicine. Tessa and Wes live in the Wilds, or supposedly 😉. Tessa is an apothecary and has adapted her late fathers elixir to make it go further and help heal more people. The elixir is made from Moonflower petal and it’s becoming extremely hard to find. Her and her smuggling partner, Weston Lark, make late night ‘runs’ to deliver the elixir but their actions are considered treason in the eyes of Kandala’s royal sector. One night, Tessa is riled with anger and determination to make change. She expresses to Wes that it’s time to lead a rebellion and take action regardless of the life-threatening danger. Wes goes on the run alone that night and he doesn’t return.
Bundled with despair, shock and anger with the loss of Wes, Tessa sneaked into the Royal Palace to seek out the King. She wants a chance to make change and maybe just a piece of revenge. What Tessa finds is not to be expected and from here we are honestly kept on our toes at the end of every chapter. Wes is not who he seems and throws the plot, politics and romantics into a spiral. A good spiral!
As rebellion breaks, Tessa and Wes are caught in a pull and tug of needing to keep up appearances yet doing what they believe is right. We’re introduced to a series of characters that play pivotal parts in keeping Tessa and Wes’ secrets, as well as supporting them through potentially fatal suspicion. We see royal trading politics and struggle for power. We question why the King is struggling to fight the ‘sickness’ and who is behind the planning of rebellious actions.
The romance element was great between Tessa and Wes. Of course it’s cliché but hey, that’s why we read these types of books. They make you warn and fuzzy with imaginary ‘love to hate’ tropes. Give this a try if you want to be absorbed in a book this weekend. It was fun, fast-paced and gripping. Come back and tell me what you think!
Whatever your culture, religion or ethnicity, read this.
If you’re a human activist, domestic violence activist or women’s rights activists, read this.
God damn, if you’re an Australian politician and have legislative power for change – READ THIS BOOK!
We can’t create change unless we listen and learn.” (This is my caption from Instagram)
Amani’s story is so strong and important that it becomes truely challenging to separate yourself from the numerous events she recounts. It is also hard to ‘rate’ a memoir as I really think that every persons story is important – maybe that is the Social Worker in me.
Amani takes us on a journey through her childhood in a Lebanese/Australian household and family unit. Her parents relationship stuck her as upsetting, disordered and controlled at times but never threatening. Amani’s mother also confided in her, being the eldest of 3 daughters, about her father’s behaviours and comments from a young age. This made Amani weary and conscious of the fact that her mother was unhappy. As she grew older, her insight into the controlling nature of her father grew but only when she was 5 months pregnant did the tragedies of domestic abuse really hit hard. Amani’s mother was murdered and her family was now caught in a web of Australian legislations, horrible family delusions and a new form of motherhood, alone.
I don’t want to share too much of Amani’s story as I really feel that I will not do her memoir justice. Needless to say that domestic abuse surrounded and attempted to absorb her life. If I ever met Amani, I would just want to give her a big hug and say ‘My god, you are so strong’. I really recommend every person should read this book in an attempt to understand the devastation domestic abuse causes to ALL people, regardless of nationality, language, socioeconomic status or class.
New release time in the book shop is always a highlight for me. The mountain of books continue to grow and grow. The environment swells and readers eyes light up when seeing their anticipated books hit shelves – I’m one lucky girl to see those anticipated books as soon as they jump out of a box. Here are my 5 highly anticipated September new releases:
“In a kingdom where sickness stalks the streets and only the richest can afford a cure, King Harristan and his brother Prince Corrick are forced to rule with an iron fist. Tessa Cade is a masked outlaw marked for death, but she likes it that way. Together with the mysterious, handsome Weston, she robs from the rich to help the poor, distributing food and medicine to those who need it most. As it becomes clear that the only way to save her people is to assassinate the King, Tessa must face a deadly mission that will take her to the dark heart of the kingdom … and force her to work with the very people she intended to destroy.”
I was incredibly lucky to get my hands on a pre-release edition of this novel. I was thrilled to learn that Brigid Kemmerer had a new series on the way as I adored her trilogy ‘A Curse so Dark and Lonely’. I have made a start on this one and I’m surprised to see that it has some Covidy elements to it. It seems like a lot of YA fantasy and contemporary will be pulling on our recent climate for inspiration in world building and environment.
“Whenever I say I was at university with Eve, people ask me what she was like, sceptical perhaps that she could have always been as whole and self-assured as she now appears. To which I say something like: ‘People are infinitely complex.’ But I say it in such a way–so pregnant with misanthropy–that it’s obvious I hate her. Michaela and Eve are two bright, bold women who befriend each other their first year at a residential college at university, where they live in adjacent rooms. They could not be more different; one assured and popular – the other uncertain and eager-to-please. But something happens one night in O-week – a drunken encounter, a foggy memory that will force them to confront the realities of consent and wrestle with the dynamics of power. Initially bonded by their wit and sharp eye for the colleges’ mix of material wealth and moral poverty, Michaela and Eve soon discover how fragile friendship is, and how capable of betrayal they both are.”
Now this one folks, is pretty exciting! Through my work I was invited to jump on a zoom meeting with the one and only Diana Reid and her publishers, Ultimo Press. What an incredibly talented human being and now debut author Diana is. Said to be the Australian Sally Rooney, I am very much looking forward to seeing how Diana has crafted life at university through the lens of women my age. Seriously pre-order this one book lovers, it’s going to be HUGE!
“Alice, a novelist, meets Felix, who works in a distribution warehouse, and asks him if he’d like to travel to Rome with her. In Dublin, her best friend Eileen is getting over a break-up, and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood. Alice, Felix, Eileen and Simon are still young-but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart. They have sex, they worry about sex, they worry about their friendships and the world they live in. Are they standing in the last lighted room before the darkness, bearing witness to something? Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?”
Now I haven’t actually read any Sally Rooney myself. I have ummd and ahhed about reading her debut novel, ‘Normal People’, (I watched the mini-series #whoops) but for some reason my brain keeps saying, no don’t do it – it is too literature for you. I know her stories are hard hitting but blurry at the same time which I don’t always enjoy in a novel. ‘Beautiful World, Where Are You’ has already been a stand out this year in pre-orders and now it has hit shelves. I am mainly thinking of reading it to see what all the hype is about …
“1986- The teenage daughter of a wealthy Vietnamese family gets lost in an abandoned rubber plantation while fleeing her angry father, and is forever changed by the experience.
2011- Twenty-five years later, a young, unhappy American named Winnie disappears from her new home in Saigon without a trace.
The fates of these two women are inescapably linked, bound together by past generations, by ghosts and ancestors, by the history of possessed bodies and possessed lands. Barrelling through the sweaty nightclubs of Saigon to ramshackle zoos, colonial mansions and haunted forests, Violet Kupersmith’s heart-pounding fever dream of a novel deftly combines Vietnamese history and folklore to create an immersive, playful, utterly unforgettable debut.”
Emma Roberts the awesome actor, actually runs a feminist/intelligent woman/inspiring/culturally diverse book club called Belletrist (you should really check out some of their picks). This is her September read and my gosh, doesn’t it sound gooooddd!!
“Florence Given will explore all progressive corners of the feminist conversation; from insecurity projection and refusing to find comfort in other women’s flaws, to deciding whether to date or dump them, all the way through to unpacking the male gaze and how it shapes our identity.
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty is an accessible leap into feminism, for people at all stages of their journey who are seeking to reshape and transform the way they view themselves. In a world that tells women we’re either not enough or too much, it’s time we stop directing our anger and insecurities onto ourselves, and start fighting back to re-shape the toxic structures of our patriarchal society.”
Now when I saw this land in store, I was so pumped! ‘This Small Edition’ is a brand-new shortened version of Florence’s most important and poignant points throughout her book Woman Don’t Owe You Pretty. For those of us who are short on time (me 👈🏼) and has over 50 book on her TBR (me👈🏼, hehe) finding an awesome short and sweet version of this book was a must-have!! A friend of mine originally recommenced this to me and suggested I follow her social media – I highly recommend you do the same. She’s a real change driver and helps you to start rethinking all we have been taught in a male ruling society.
Reading tastes are like a wave, they come and go, they morph and evolve. And you know what readers, this is okay! In my opinion, it can mean that you are growing as a person 🌱 What you may have enjoyed a month, 6 months or a year ago is now different. It can also mean that your environment or situational experiences at the current time of your book selection just didn’t correlate with your feelings at the time. And again, this is okay! Books draw you in at different times of your life – that’s why I find it hard to let go of them 😉📚
Legendborn by Tracey Deonn
At the moment, this YA Fantasy isn’t for me. Myself and a lovely friend were planning on marathoning this book for the month of September but sadly, it’s not gripping me.
I give a book 100 pages before sinking my teeth in and settling in for the reading ride. I gave this 111 and still wasn’t feeling connected. The magical language, environment and events of the first 100 pages lost me… I will give it another go soon.
Last Night by Mhairi McFarlane
I was looking for a romance book, then it turned sad! REAL QUICK! This isn’t a bad thing and I can see that the book has potential. I’ve laughed and been left thinking about some scenes throughout this book but again, it wasn’t giving me the feels I was looking for.
DNF’ed for now. I purchased this on Kindle when it was on sale, therefore I am not overly upset about setting it aside. It will stay on the Kindle until it jumps out to me again.
Careless by Kirsty Capes
Now, now, now – this book is temporarily on hold but I am determined to finish it! A debut novel with stunning reviews, young adult challenges and first person fictional experience of the foster care system in the UK. These are all topics that interest me, yet at the moment I’m looking for something with quick, fast-paced and immediately immersive writing. This has beautiful lyrical writing that I want to savour. I’m sadly just not wanting that in my reading this month therefore, Careless is staying very close to my bedside and ready to resume next month 📚
Sandie Docker is Australian Contemporary Women’s Author. She is the author of four novels with Penguin Books Australia and has two more on the way. Her latest novel ‘The Wattle Island Book Club’ was released on the 31st of August 2021.
Sandie Docker is Australian Contemporary Women’s Author signed and published with Penguin Books Australia. She grew up in Coffs Harbour and now resides in Sydney with her family. Her debut novel, ‘The Kookaburra Creek Cafe’ was published in 2018 with great success. Her second and third novels closely followed, those being ‘The Cottage at Rosella Cove’ in 2019 and ‘The Banksia Bay Beach Shack’ in 2020. We now celebrate ‘The Wattle Island Book Club’ as it was published and released on the 31st of August 2021.
Hi Sandie! Thank you so much for joining me and taking the time to answer my questions during your busy virtual book touring for ‘The Wattle Island Book Club’.Congratulations and welcome!
Sandie – look at you! A successful Australian Author published four times with Penguin Australia! Tell me, where did your initial love and development for reading, storytelling and writing come from?
Whodda thunk, right? Four books in and more coming. I feel so lucky. I was a bit slow to reading/writing game, unlike most authors who seem to either have written their first book when they were 7, or emerged from the womb reading Tolstoy’s War and Peace. As a child, I hated reading. Yep. It’s true. I couldn’t think of anything more boring to do with my time. But my dad was an avid reader across many genres and when I was in my late teens, he put a fantasy novel in my hands, Pawn of Prophecy, by David Eddings, and said, ‘just give it a go.’ Wanting to please my dad, I did give it a go and I was hooked. Why hadn’t anyone told me before that, that book could transport you to another world and the characters within the pages could feel like friends? From then on I read every fantasy novel I could get my hands on, and then when I was doing the HSC I was introduced to Jane Austen and my love of women’s fiction was born. But it wasn’t until I was at uni that I even thought about becoming a writer. My Mandarin lecturer suggested I had a knack for writing, and I sat with that advice for a long time before I tried to write my first manuscript. That first manuscript, which was an abject disaster, was when I fell in love with writing. And it was twelve years later before my first novel was published
What inspired you to write about all things book clubs, reading lists, art and islands in your latest book, The Wattle Island Book Club?
I was on tour with my first novel, The Kookaburra Creek Café, when I was chatting after an event with the librarian at Port Macquarie library, Leanne, and she mentioned sending over book club sets to Lord Howe Island on the supply boat, and I was like, an island book club – there’s something in that. So that was the spark of the idea. And as I wrote the story – because I don’t plan anything – the story and characters told me where to take them and the bucket lists and art themes came out then.
Your novels always feel like a warm and familiar hug to me. What are your favourite character qualities, experiences or perspectives to write?
Awww, thank you. That means a lot to me. Hmmm, I’m not sure if there are specifics here, more just anything or anyone with heart. I hope my characters aren’t too perfect, because none of us are, so a flawed character is relatable, and you don’t have to look very far to find heart-wrenching experiences to draw on for your characters’ lives. Again, experiences that are relatable – something you or someone you know could have been through. And as for perspective, whether I write female or male POV (point of view), young or old, or even through letters (Ivy in The Cottage At Rosella Cove), it’s the story telling me how it wants to be written that dictates this. Though I’ll always have predominantly female POV, as I write women’s fiction.
I have loved all four of your novels (and dream of more and more to come!). I have happily followed online and instore as each has been released and absorbed by the world of Aussie readers. Have your writing, drafting, publishing and touring experiences been different for all four of your books?
Thank you. You’ll be pleased to know that I have another 2 book contracted! The short answer is yes, vastly different each time! The Kookaburra Creek Café and The Cottage At Rosella Cove were both finished manuscripts before I signed a publishing contract, so they took forever to write (5 and 3 years respectively). Then I was contracted and with that comes deadlines. So The Banksia Bay Beach Shack and The Wattle Island Book Club were written (first draft before the editing process) in about 5 months.
Publishing with Penguin has been a dream, but I have worked with different editors and that brings a different dynamic each time. And as for touring – my first tour was definitely nerve-wracking, my second was bigger, my third got scuttled by COVID and everything moved online, and I’m waiting to see what happens this year with my tour and COVID. Through it all though, the joy of readers finding your work and connecting with you is just the most wonderful experience.
I’ve got a tricky and fun question for you! We are set to see The Wattle Island Book Club hit shelves on the 31st of August this year. If you were a bookseller, how would you recommend, suggest and sell your book to readers?
Is it bad for me to admit that I actually did this once? I was in a store, saw someone pick up my book and read the blurb, and leaned over and said ‘Oh, I can highly recommend that one.’ I did end up telling her I was the author, so it was full disclosure in the end. And she did buy it!
If I was legitimately recommending it in a book store, I would say something like, if you want a read that’s going to rip your heart out and then put it back together, with a wonderful cast of fun , warm characters, all set on an island with a book club theme, then this is the book for you.
Thank you so much for your time Sandie! It’s been an absolute pleasure and such a fangirl moment conversing with you 😍 All four of Sandie’s novels are available and linked to purchase at your convenience from my local bookshop 📚
I gave into the hype, I did it and I’m telling you … I really, really don’t regret it. If you have been hesitant like me about reading the ridiculously loved, discussed and recommended novel ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ by Delia Owen – I am here to vouch that this book is great! Buy it, loan it, read it and let’s talk about it 😍✨
Clever. That is my overarching word, expression and summary for this book. Not only has Delia Owens written in a descriptive yet simplistic way, she has allowed us as the reader to connect with Kya who is our main character. We are also strongly invested in the death, or supposed murder of Chase Andrews.
Kya’s life isn’t easy. Her father has strong symptoms of PTSD, domestic abuse and alcoholism. Due to her family living within the deep marshland of North Carolina, the neglectful family environment goes unseen and unknown. Kya’s mother walks out on her uneducated, poor and scared children. Eventually, Kya is left to fend for herself and her father – constantly in a state of pining, grief and hoping her mother may return to the marsh. Eventually, her father also leaves and so Kya is left to completely fend for herself. We see her develop hands-on environmental intellect, sufficiency and resilience from a very young age and well into her teens – where she meets Chase Andrews, ‘the town golden-boy’.
Shifting back and forward of time is something I really enjoy in period novels. Delia Owens has perfected the technique as it provided the reader with suspicion, curiosity and a number of motives as to why/when/how/who may have been involved in Chase Andrews’ death.
The love expressed throughout this book – oh, how good it is!! Over time, Kya was exposed to and learnt how to feel supported and cared for by multiple people. It wasn’t just the assumed modern ‘love story’ scenario. Slang, twang and small town community culture/gossip held this novel in a different light. As the story takes place in the mid-1900’s, African American culture is hugely ostracised and rejected. Kya finds that her reputation as the ‘Marsh Girl’ pockets her in the same category – largely leading to the accusations and theories that spread about her and Chase.
Poetry, mother nature and the interesting scientific facts of insects, birds and animal relationships, really do complement the story. Clever – as I said at the beginning. Trust me, it will all make sense when you read it (which I throughly encourage you to do)! Reece Witherspoon was also behind the push for movie production/ book adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing. I can’t wait to see this on film in 2022 📽🎞
If you’re looking for a magical, witchy and addictive read, Thread Needle by Cari Thomas definitely needs to go on your TBR 🔮
Thread Needle was recommended to me by a new friend out of my book club. Her and I have similar reading style and have bonded over our mutual love for everything Sarah J Maas. She said that Thread Needle was one of her favourite witchy books she’s read in a long time and … I have to agree with her.
Anna is our main character and has lived a quiet, simple and restricted life with her Aunt. Anna has always been told that her parents died due a tragic scenario of love and murder, where her father was held guilty of killing her mother. Aunt says the feeling of love is a curse and her parents deserved what they got. But why does her Aunt keep doors locked, wants to stop Anna using her magic and refuses to ever give her a straight answers?
Soon to turn sixteen, Anna is aware that the time to ‘bind’ her magic is inching closer. By binding her magic, Anna will be unable to cast spells, explore magical languages or tap into her Hira, a witches personal thread to their own unique magic. Anna can feel her magic resisting, twisting, knotting and itching to come out, but Aunt insists her magic will have deadly consequences. Unsure of her magical fate, Anna hides behind her ‘Nobody’ status at school until she meets Effie and Attis.
Effie and Attis open her eyes up to the magical London within Anna’s grasp if she refuses bind her magic. Anna explores secret shops that sell memories, rumour spells, evil curses, magical libraries and covens. Her confidence grows leaving her quiet non-magical life behind. I think this magical adventure was well-paced, unique and refreshing for the genre of ‘witchy fantasy’. I am always wanting to read a good witch story as I think they make for such interesting and creative plots, language and characters. Thread Needle is expected to be part of a series and I really think I will be quick to pick up the second book. There was a YA feeling to this story but with the addition of some sex scenes and romantic angst, I see why it has been categorised as Fantasy. However, I would recommend this book to mature readers, 16 and up. Overall, a really enjoyable read ✨
What is a Memoir you ask? A Memoir is a historical account of a person or groups personal knowledge, predominantly written in a narrative style.
I resonate with memoirs that are from a female perspective. I enjoy reading about themes of mental health, work place hierarchy challenges, feminist POV’s and outcomes or changed life paths due to a particular experience or conflict. Here are 3 Memoirs that I would like to read by the end of 2021.
“I never thought I would say this, but I broke. I give up. I am done. I am handing back my dream of becoming a surgeon.” In February of 2019, Yumiko blogged about her experiences as a trainee in the health system and she opened with these words. Talking all things Asian heritage and educational expectations she experienced growing up, male domination in particular health fields and being called ’emotional’ or ‘too confident’ about her work, Yumiko couldn’t take it any more. Her mental health deteriorated and so did her goal of practicing as a Plastic Surgeon.
‘Gripping, transcendent, tender and, at times, infuriating. With a daughter’s heart and a lawyer’s mind, Amani Haydar maps the territory that connects the wars we fight abroad to the wars we endure in our homes.’ Jess Hill (Author of See What You Made Me Do)
I initially learned of ‘The Mother Wound’ via social media. I could not take my eyes off the cover for one but then I discovered what it was really about. Domestic violence, as I agree with the words of Jess Hill’s Stella Prize book ‘See What You Made Me Do’, a national emergency. In Amani’s memoir, she reflects on what kind of mother she hopes to be when her life experiences are scarred by the horrific murder of her mother – at the hands of her father. Deep diving into witnessing and living with coercive control growing up, as well as reflecting on her parents emotional relationship, Amani sounds like an incredibly strong human being.
‘Heartbreak does not seem to be a brand of grief we respect. And so we are left in the middle of the ocean, floating in a dinghy with no anchor, while the world waits for us to be okay again.’ (except from Heartsick)
I was recommended this book by a dear friend who had read the short story type memoir herself. Jessie Stephens actually focused in on three seperate stories and allowed the people to tell share their individual experiences in a narrative type retelling. You would not believe that these three people were strangers as their experiences, traumas and whole body reaction to the feeling of heartbreak are all so similar. We all at some point on our lives feel heart sick, it’s a form of grief yet we don’t socially accept or recognise its impact. Here is my GoodReads review:
“I was undecided if this was the type of book that would grip me. We learn about three different stories about being in love, the high, the heartbreak, the grief, the up and down challenges of relationships and that burnt feeling you get after being let down over and over again. The disjointedness of each biographical recount actually reads so well and you can only lend a piece of your heart out to each person in this book. I feel understood, I am resonating with some stories, feelings and experiences. I really think this is a universal read for all human beings” – Mel (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5)
Mel Reviews Her Books 