Jess Gately

Nov 25, 2024 | theaureview.com | Jess Gately

Heartbreakingly sad, beautifully written and filled with edge-of-your-seat tension, A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang is a stunning exploration of war, feminine power, and the ability to endure. Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, the story opens with Xishi washing silk in a river on the border of her small poverty-stricken town in the Kingdom of Yue.

Oct 14, 2024 | theaureview.com | Jess Gately

Keshe Chow's hotly anticipated debut, The Girl with No Reflection, is a dark fantasy inspired by Imperial Chinese history and mythology with a steady injection of romance for good measure. Its vivid imagery, unique world-building and courtly intrigue are no doubt what had US critics praising the book long before its release here in Australia. But despite the glowing reviews and endorsements from authors whose voices I love, this book just didn't quite hit its mark for me.

Oct 3, 2024 | theaureview.com | Tim Winton |Jess Gately

It’s big release season as we get ever closer to the big Christmas haul! As we countdown to the end of the year, the book options in this round up take us all over the world and across time – and beyond! From Greek immigrants in 1940s Western Australia to modern day Argentina, exploring the cutthhroat world of Parisian ballet to the deserts of the American South-West, traversing from fantasy kingdoms to space opera galaxies, and delving into the women behind some of the literary world’s...

Jul 3, 2024 | theaureview.com | Sarah Brooks |Jess Gately

There are books where you feel like you are watching the action unfold and there are books where you feel like you are somehow part of the action. The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wasteland, a historical fantasy by Sarah Brooks, is certainly one of the latter. This is largely due to its intimate setting on the Great Trans-Siberian Express, and partially because of the slow unravelling of each character’s secrets and desires.

Jun 30, 2024 | theaureview.com | Jess Gately

We have already sped on past the halfway point of the year and we’re edging ever closer to the busiest time of the bookselling year. As ever there is another bumper selection of books being published in the coming months to comb through. From fantasy to horror, from historical fiction to mythic retellings, and from TV studios to Japanese coffee houses, these are just some of the books that a few of the AU Books Team can’t wait to read over the next three months.