Latest Reviews

History

Queensland Reviewers Collective (QRC) is the new name for an initiative that began eighteen years ago. Up until November 2016 it was known as M/C Reviews. In December 2015, the M/C Reviews website had a major security breach that took it down, and the editor of the book reviews section and some of the reviewers responded by starting a blog as a temporary site for book reviews until the website could be repaired. Unfortunately, it eventually became apparent that the website was not able to be restored, thus ending its long and illustrious presence as a place for the lively engagement with books and film through reviewing.

Once again, the editor and a small group of book reviewers decided they valued M/C Reviews enough to enable its rebirth as the Queensland Reviewers Collective. It no longer has an association with the Queensland University of Technology.

The website that M/C Reviews was initially a part of was M/C – Media and Culture, founded in 1998 as, according to the History section, ‘a place of public intellectualism, analysing and critiquing the meeting of media and culture’. It was meant as a place where the popular and the academic could meet, and ‘debates may have some resonance with wider political and cultural interests’.

The website was initiated and developed at the University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia; since 2004, it has been hosted by the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology in Kelvin Grove. The first publication was the M/C Journal, still thriving today, followed by M/C Reviews, and then M/Cyclopedia of New Media.

Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation Queensland Reviewers Collective acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Other Reviews

Davitt Awards 2025

Davitt Awards 2025 Sisters in Crime has announced the shortlists for the 2025 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Adult novels Highway 13 (Fiona McFarlane, A&U) * The Rewilding (Donna M Cameron, Transit Lounge) * Safe Haven (Shankari Chandran, Ultimo Press) To the River (Vikki Wakefield,

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General Fiction

Our Beautiful Boys by Sameer Pandya

Reviewed by Rod McLary There is sometimes a moment in our lives when unexpectedly the world shifts; when the wind changes, and then suddenly nothing is the same again. Our Beautiful Boys chronicles one such moment in the lives of sixteen-year-olds Vikram, Diego and MJ – all celebrating their team’s victory in a high school

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Crime/Mystery

the wrong daughter by Dandy Smith

Reviewed by Ian Hamilton This novel has the feel of a current day tale, the style and vocabulary are twenty-first century in tone, as is the role of a psychiatric therapist (which proves to be crucial to the plot). It is only revealed at the end of the novel that the second narrative sections are,

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Crime/Mystery

The Palazzo by Kayte Nunn

Reviewed by Ian Lipke When a book is released bearing the name Kayte Nunn I anticipated an interesting read. I had absorbed several of this writer’s works and was prepared to be thoroughly entertained. What a disaster unfolds within the first fifty to sixty pages of this book. If a book, written for entertainment purposes,

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Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2025

Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2025 The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has announced the longlist for the Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, worth $50,000. The 10 longlisted titles, chosen from over 200 entries, are: The Death of Dora Black(Lainie Anderson, Hachette) Dusk(Robbie Arnott, Picador) * Six Summers of Tash and Leopold

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Memoir/Biography

Looking for Elizabeth by Helen Trinca

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Helen Trinca’s powerful novel binds the reader’s attention to the page with arms of steel. While novels of this sort often hold attention readily enough, Trinca’s text never lets go. She holds until readers realize that s/he has no wish to see the book abandoned. Rather she has become fully involved

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General Fiction

The Path Through the Coojong Trees by Léonie Kelsall

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke On reading this latest novel by Léonie Kelsall, I was once again drawn back to the small country town called Settlers Bridge located in South Australia where I found characters I have met before. For those readers who are unfamiliar with this author’s work, all the information needed for this particular

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General Fiction

Ruins by Amy Taylor

Reviewed by Ian Lipke I’m sure that a reviewer somewhere has applied the phrase “a Greek tragedy” to this beautifully written book. It is not so much the story which sweeps us away as it is the writing itself. The feeling of great competence as the writer manipulates her words and images to best tell

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Children

The Emperor’s Egg by Rae Tan

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke As the name of the book and author might suggest the illustrations in this hard covered children’s picture book have an Asian focus. The story it contains is a reimagining of an ancient Chinese folk tale about integrity, courage and patience. To choose his heir the ageing emperor, who has no

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