Australian Ficton | Jennifer's Best Bookish Blog

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Summary

“Bighearted, gritty, magical and moving, Lola in the Mirror is the irresistible new novel from international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe and All Our Shimmering Skies , Trent Dalton.

‘Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what’s my future? What’s my past?

A girl and her mother are on the lam. They’ve been running for sixteen years, from police and the monster they left in the kitchen with the knife in his throat. They’ve found themselves a home inside an orange 1987 Toyota HiAce van with four flat tyres parked in a scrapyard by the edge of the Brisbane River – just two of the 100,000 Australians sleeping rough every night.

The girl has no name because names are dangerous when you’re on the run. But the girl has a dream. Visions in black ink and living colour. A vision of a life as a groundbreaking artist of international acclaim. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld drug queen ‘Lady’ Flora Box. A life of love with the boy in the brown suit who’s waiting for her in the middle of the bridge that stretches across a flooding and deadly river. A life far beyond the bullet that has her name on it.

And now that the storm clouds are rising, there’s only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person’s name is Lola and she carries all the answers. But to find Lola, the girl with no name must first do one of the hardest things we can sometimes ever do. She must look in the mirror.

A big, moving, blackly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love, fate, life and death and all the things we see when we look in the mirror. All of the past, all of the present, and all of our possible futures. ‘Mirror, mirror, please don’t lie. Tell me who you are. Tell me who am I.” – Goodreads

Audiobook released by Bolinda/Harper Collins audio in 2023
Duration 13 hours 39 minutes
Narrator: Victoria Graves

My Thoughts

This story about a young girl with no name really touched my heart. It was tough and gritty, sad but also had it’s soft side, and at times it was very funny. Lola in the Mirror is at it’s heart, a love story, though at times it is brutal and hard to read. The author has approached the issue of homelessness in a very clever way, and at the same time, created an amazing story.

Once I started reading Lola, I couldn’t stop. I absolutely loved reading this book with it’s beautiful words and very strong, but vulnerable characters. There is so much heartbreak, but hope, love and friendship survive despite the sadness and heartbreak.

Lola in the Mirror is a roller coaster of emotions, with moments of violence, that are extremely disturbing, but there are also many very soft and gentle moments. There is so much that I would love to say about this book, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

I read this book without reading the back cover, so I had no idea what it was about. The reason I chose to read it, was my love for this popular Australian author’s previous books. There was no disappointment at all. From the first page Lola in the Mirror took my breath away.

“My mum never warns me about boys in cars. My mum only warns me about child protection officers in cars.”

“Mirror, mirror, on the grass, what’s my future? What’s my past? … Mirror, mirror, please don’t lie. Tell me who you are. Tell me, who am I?”

Each chapter begins with a sketch that is absolutely perfect to the story, and a great addition. I loved the way the author inserted himself into the story. That made me smile. There is every chance that this book, my second of 2024 could be my favourite book of 2024. As I listened to the audio book, I now have Lola in the Mirror on my list to re-read as a paper book or kindle.

In my opinion, Lola in the Mirror is brilliant and a ‘must read’. Also a warning, you will need tissues.

Star Rating

Please note that my star rating system isn’t at all based on literary merit, but is based on my enjoyment for the book.
For me a book that gets five stars, is a book that I really enjoyed, and found difficult to put down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Unputdownable. Would read it again.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fantastic read. Not to be missed

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Enjoyable. Would recommend it.

⭐️⭐️ Wouldn’t read it again.

⭐️ Don’t recommend this book at all.

The book mentioned in this post is my own choice and has not been sent to me to review. My opinions are my own and I receive no renumeration at all for them.

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This post is linked to Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share

Find me here: Facebook and Instagram and Goodreads

The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is for bloggers who wish to participate, by publishing a blog post every day in April, except for Sundays. Each blog post will focus on a letter of the alphabet. For example April 1 will be A, April 2 will be B, and on it goes. By the end of April, a blog post for every letter of the alphabet will have been posted. My theme for 2023 is Book Reviews.

You can read my reviews without worrying about spoilers. My reviews are quite brief and I give away nothing more than you would read on the back cover or on Goodreads

ANATOMY A LOVE STORY
BY
DANA SCHWARZ

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A gothic tale full of mystery and romance about a willful female surgeon, a resurrection man who sells bodies for a living, and the buried secrets they must uncover together.” Goodreads

SUMMARY

Hazel is an upper class seventeen year old girl with a fascination for science and medicine. She has a strong desire to be a doctor and no interest at all in marriage, as is expected by her parents. Anatomy is set in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1817, a time when the idea of a female surgeon was inconceivable. Hazel needs to pass the medical exam but is thrown out of medical lectures for being a woman. As she now isn’t able to have official lessons, she needs a supply of corpses to study. At the time, grave robbing isn’t at all unusual, and she has recently made friends with Jack, a grave robber who helps her obtain the bodies for her research and study.

Published in 2022
Kindle edition

MY THOUGHTS

This is the beginnings of the story, and it develops into much more with macabre and unusual twists. I wouldn’t class this book as gothic, but it is definitely macabre. It’s not a scary read, but I did wish my stomach was stronger at times. Some passages for me, were quite difficult to read. After I finished reading the book, I discovered that it was YA, and did wonder how younger readers coped with those parts. Perhaps, being younger, they have a stronger tolerance than me, for gore and a bit of yukkiness.

This didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book. I absolutely loved it, and read it very quickly, as I couldn’t put it down. I read this book when it first came out in early 2022, and have just read it for the second time. My reason for reading it again, other than that I adored the story line, is because the sequel was about to be published. I felt the need for a refresher before diving into what happened next to Hazel. I’m so pleased that I read it the second time. With the knowledge of what happens in the end, I was able to pick up on certain things during the book, that went over my head on the first reading.

Anatomy: A Love Story – audiobook – short sample

All books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library, unless otherwise stated.

Star Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Unputdownable. Would definitely read again
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Fantastic read. Not to be missed.
⭐️⭐️⭐️Enjoyable read. Would recommend.
⭐️⭐️Wouldn’t read again
⭐️Don’t recommend this book again

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Images and author information: Goodreads

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Next Phase In Fitness & Life and Tracking Down The Family