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 2026

Davitt Awards 2026 Sisters in Crime has announced the winners of the 2026 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The winning titles in two of the categories, chosen from shortlists announced in July, are: Adult fiction The Bluff (Joanna Jenkins, Allen & Unwin) Kerry Greenwood Readers’ Choice Award Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth,

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Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2026

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2026 The winners of the 2026 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced. The winner in the Fiction category, chosen from the shortlists announced in August, is: A Piece of Red Cloth (Leonie Norrington, Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga & Djawundil Maymuru, Allen & Unwin). QRC has reviewed this book.  Click here to read our

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General Fiction

The World Beneath Her Feet by Holly Ringland

Reviewed by Ian Lipke Maggie Byrd lives a life that many thirty-year-olds might envy. She works with fossils and gems at the Natural History Museum in London. The story is made up of several clearly defined sections. Most noteworthy among these is called Replacement, which is linked to a stage of opalization where “what was

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Children

Star of Deltora by Emily Rodda

Reviewed by Wendy Lipke Having her first book accepted in 1984, Australian author, Jennifer Rowe, is an accomplished writer. Her crime fiction for adults is presented under her own name, while her children’s fiction is published under the pseudonyms Emily Rodda and Mary-Anne Dickinson. She has gone on to write over 100 books for children.

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General Fiction

The Newer World by Sebastian Barry

Reviewed by Rod McLary In a recent interview [The Australian Weekend Magazine 29-30 August 2026], Sebastian Barry spoke about ‘the extreme whiteness of his country [Ireland] and his sadness at how racist it has become’.  His sadness about Ireland’s racism goes directly to his latest novel The Newer World which is written in the first

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Literary Fiction

The Boy Who Loved Dolls by John A. Scott

Reviewed by Rod McLary John A Scott is one of Australia’s leading writers having won the Victorian Premier’s Prizes for both fiction and poetry; and been shortlisted twice for the Miles Franklin Award.  Writing skills at such a high level are well and truly evident in this contemporary gothic horror story.  As a genre, contemporary

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SA Literary Awards 2026

The 2026 South Australian Literary Awards shortlists have been announced. Two of the shortlists are: Fiction Award ($15,000) Discipline (Randa Abdel-Fattah, University of Queensland Press) Arborescence (Rhett Davis, Hachette Australia) Theory & Practice (Michelle de Kretser, Text Publishing) Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghy, Penguin) King of Dirt (Holden Sheppard, Pantera Press) Nonfiction Award ($15,000) The Pulling (Adele Dumont, Scribe Publications) Sweet

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New Australian Fiction Prize 2026

Readings has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Readings New Australian Fiction Prize. This year’s six shortlisted titles are: Desolation (Hossein Asgari, Ultimo Press) Mantle (Romy Ash, Ultimo Press) Arborescence (Rhett Davis, Hachette) Plastic Budgie (Olivia De Zilva, Pink Shorts Press) Learned Behaviours (Zeynab Gamieldien, Ultimo Press) Henry Goes Bush (Wayne Marshall, Picador). Established in 2014, the prize celebrates “outstanding new

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Young Adult

Five Voices by Tamara Moss

Reviewed by Rod McLary William Drax-Du Pont was murdered on Sunday 13 October.  That much we know for certain as the chapter heading on page one of this captivating novel tells us so.  What we are yet to find out is – by whom and why? William is one of five friends who work together

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