“I am in love. I am in love with smoke. With fire. With thunder.”


I have Quote File where I write down sentences/paragraphs that for whatever reason at the time I was reading them jumped out of the page at me. It might’ve been because I was having a bad day and something the character said encapsulated my emotions perfectly or I just loved the poetic way a sequence read or the imagery it inspired etc.
You can’t tell me that isn’t one of the most beautiful sentences you’ve ever read. It’s whimsical and magical and all sorts of wonderful.
I read and reviewed Strange the dreamer via an e-ARC back in April 2017. I enjoyed it/was haunted by it so much that I bought my mum a paperback once it was released to force her into reading it. As soon as she finished it she rang me up to find out when the sequel was coming (Muse of Nightmares is to be released this October).
Laini Taylor’s writing is immaculate and beautiful. Strange the Dreamer is an enthralling story. And the cliffhanger ending is EPIC!
Oh, Lazlo. I Weep for you.
My Review of Strange the Dreamer | Strange the Dreamer on Goodreads
Links to my other Quote Babbles: Part Three | Part Two | Part One

Lily Luchesi is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of the Paranormal Detectives Series, published by Vamptasy Publishing. She also has short stories included in multiple bestselling anthologies, and a successful dark erotica retelling of Dracula. She is also the editor, curator and contributing author of Vamptasy Publishing’s Damsels of Distress anthology, which celebrates strong female characters in horror and paranormal fiction. 
#LoveOzYABloggers is hosted by #LoveOzYA, a community led organisation dedicated to promoting Australian young adult literature.
This Month theme is ‘Indigenous’.
Keep up to date with all new Aussie YA releases with their monthly newsletter, or find out what’s happening with News and Events, or submit your own!
Three books! I could have just used all three books in The Tribe Series because they are brilliant. But I’m just going to use the first. The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf will have you racing to get your hands on the second and third books. Ambelin Kwaymullina has managed to bring something extra to the dystopian genre and breathe new life into it.
I Could have just used only Jared Thomas books, I’ve got three of them on my TBR shelf. But I’m just going to use Songs That Sound Like Blood. How could I not. It is a coming-of-age story exploring cultural identity and sexuality with interracial F/F romance, dah enough said.
And for number three, a coming-of-age tale of personal and cultural discovery with the backdrop of 80’s Melbourne, bring on Becoming Kirrali Lewis.
The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (The Tribe #1) by Ambelin Kwaymullina
“There will come a day when a thousand Illegals descend on your detention centres. Boomers will breach the walls. Skychangers will send lightning to strike you all down from above, and Rumblers will open the earth to swallow you up from below. . . . And when that day comes, Justin Connor, think of me.”
Ashala Wolf has been captured by Chief Administrator Neville Rose. A man who is intent on destroying Ashala’s Tribe — the runaway Illegals hiding in the Firstwood. Injured and vulnerable and with her Sleepwalker ability blocked, Ashala is forced to succumb to the machine that will pull secrets from her mind.
And right beside her is Justin Connor, her betrayer, watching her every move.
Will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?
Songs That Sound Like Blood by Jared Thomas
Roxy May Redding’s got music in her soul and songs in her blood. She lives in a hot dusty town and is dreaming big. She survives run-ins with the mean girls at high school, sings in her dad’s band and babysits for her wayward aunt. But Roxy wants a new start. When she gets the chance to study music in the big city, she takes it. Roxy’s new life, her new friends and her music collide in a way she could never have imagined. Being a poor student sucks… navigating her way through the pressure of a national music competition has knobs on it… singing for her dinner is soul destroying… but nothing prepares Roxy for her biggest challenge. Her crush on Ana, the local music journo, forces her to steer her way through a complex maze of emotions alien to this small town girl. Family and friends watch closely as Roxy takes a confronting journey to find out who the hell she is.
Becoming Kirrali Lewis by Jane Harrison
For Kirrali, life in 1985 was pretty chill. Sure, she was an Aboriginal girl adopted into a white family, but she was cool with that. She knew where she was headed – to a law degree – even if she didn’t know ‘who she was’. But when Kirrali moves to the city to start university, a whole lot of life-changing events spark an awakening that no one sees coming, least of all herself.
Story flashbacks to the 1960s, where her birth mother is desperately trying to escape conservative parents, give meaning to Kirrali’s own search for identity nearly twenty years later. And then she meets her father…
The Cruelty by Scott Bergstrom – Chapter 7, Gwendolyn contemplating:
“…if no one else is going to act for me, then I have a choice: remain a child and do nothing, or become an adult and do it myself. That, it seems to me, is the difference between the child and the adult, the difference between the girl hunted by wolves and the woman who hunts them.”
The Cruelty by Scott Bergstrom – Chapter 23, Bohdan to Sofia (Gwendolyn):
“A woman who seeks to rise in this world must be crueller than even men.”
I read the YA action spy thriller The Cruelty back in March 2017. I enjoyed reading it and was feeling the killer girl vibe at the time. I was drawn to these strings of words so much that I wrote them down in my Quote File and now i’m sharing them with you. These quotes still resonate with me. I believe that; unfortunately in the world we live in, most girls have to grow up way too soon and women need to be ten times stronger than the men to succeed.
My Review of The Cruelty | The Cruelty on Goodreads
It’s Back Baby! The challenge is based on four prompts each month, including one prompt that will be specifically for a #LoveOzYA title.
YA Graphic Novels can be counted, as can YA Novellas and MG novels, but only one can be used each month and a book may only be used once per prompt. There are three YA book price packs up for grabs and it’s not too late to join.
Disclaimer: to be eligible for the prices you must be either an Aussie or Kiwi, be a member of the #AusYaBloggers and signed up for the challenge.
> > Find out more here < <

My Pick #1: Shadows of the Realm, is a self-published #LoveOzYA fantasy novel that is the first in a trilogy. I’ve had this book on my shelf and TBR list since I met Dionne at a Hunter Writers Centre event in 2013. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to crack it open.
My Pick #2: The YA romance Every Day, is another one that has been on my TBR list for a while now and as above, this seemed like the perfect opportunity read it.
My Pick #3: The 2017 highly anticipated #LoveOzYA Contemporary Take Three Girls went on my TBR before it was even published and I got my hands on a copy as fast as I could. Bring it on Cath, Simmone and Fiona.
My Pick #4: And last but not least, Gemina. Ah Gemina, I pre-ordered you back in 2016 because I loved Illuminae so much, but *sigh* I haven’t had a chance to read you yet – this is the perfect excuse to push you forward on my TBR!
I sat down to do a Fave Reads of 2017 post, but have realised it is going to be way too hard to narrow a few down. I gave 31 five-star reviews on Goodreads this year (94 read all up).
I will say that The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Marsh and Me by Martine Murray, No Stars to Wish on by Zana Fraillon, No Limits by Ellie Marney, Never Again by Lily Luchesi, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor and Fence #1 & #2 by C.S. Pacat (Author) & Johanna the Mad (Illustrator) were highlights,

but there were also many more.

I am Super excited for continuation of Fence in 2018.
And have already pre-ordered Lynette Noni’s February and May new releases.
Bring on 2018.
Happy Reading Everybody.
I read The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout back in March 2017. The following quote is from Chapter 9 where Mallory is describing Rider’s smile.
Ah, nothing like being punched in the chest by a man’s beauty – ummm what! For whatever reason, back in March, I was drawn to this string of words so much that I wrote them down in my Quote File.
The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout ia a story about abusive foster homes, social labels and second chances.
Mallory and Rider, the two main characters live in the same foster home as youngsters and are each others worlds. Separated by a horrific turn of events, they are then reunited in their late teens.
While the romance/plot of was rather predictable and the pace was a little slow at times, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and it did touch on some deep issues.
And in March I was obviously loving the idea that a person could be so beautiful it causes physical harm. Or something like that.
#LoveOzYABloggers is hosted by #LoveOzYA, a community led organisation dedicated to promoting Australian young adult literature.
The theme for this fortnight is ‘Gift Recs’.
Keep up to date with all new Aussie YA releases with their monthly newsletter, or find out what’s happening with News and Events, or submit your own!
I’m a little slow, but I still made it to the party! Here are my picks for this fortnights (although it’s closer to the next fortnight’s) prompt.
Gift recommendations, hmmm. What’s the best thing you can do for a loved one – get them addicted to something! Just stick with me here.

Get them addicted to an awesome YA fantasy a series with the first book in The Medoran Chronicles.
Akarnae (The Medoran Chronicles #1 by Lynette Noni
With just one step, sixteen-year-old Alexandra Jennings’s world changes—literally.
Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her… but he’s missing.
While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora’s boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can’t ignore her fear that something unexpected… something sinister… is looming.
An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex’s shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race’s survival. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home?
Will Alex risk her entire world—and maybe even her life—to save Medora?

Get them addicted to a brand spanking new aussie authored YA comic series.
Fence (Fence #1) by C.S. Pacat (Author) & Johanna the Mad
Sixteen-year-old Nicholas Cox is an outsider to the competitive fencing world. Filled with raw talent but lacking proper training, he signs up for a competition that puts him head-to-head with fencing prodigy Seiji Katayama…and on the road to the elite all-boys school Kings Row. A chance at a real team and a place to belong awaits him—if he can make the cut!
Get them anything by Ellie Marney, Melissa Keil or Amie Kaufman – because once you’ve read one of their books you’ll wanna read more!! More I tell you!