June 4, 2025 – SparklyPrettyBriiiight

(courtesy Hardie Grant Publishing) There’s something utterly beguiling about protagonists who don’t march to the beat of a conventional drum. In a world addicted to the idea that conventionality and a certain level of self-censoring propriety are the only way to go, lead characters who break the mould, even to Continue Reading

Get her home: Thoughts on Doctor Who S2 (S15) E2-8

(courtesy IMDb (c) BBC/Disney+) When you approach a series that’s been around as long as Doctor Who, which launched in 1963 making it now a grand old dame of TV and streaming programming, you have two options. If you are a devoted fan of longstanding who knows their Daleks from Continue Reading

Book review: Painting Portraits of Everyone I’ve Dated by Joseph Earp

Surrealist something out of nothing: Thoughts on Government Cheese

(courtesy IMP Awards) Dreams are powerful things. No, we’re not talking about strange nocturnal interludes where you’re naked in front of a hall of rabid lemmings who are demanding you sit your senior year French exam in five minutes time; instead, we’re referencing that mostly hope-springs eternal vibe inside all Continue Reading

Book review: The Phoenix Ballroom by Ruth Hogan

(courtesy Allen & Unwin Book Publishers) Depending on your perspective, old age is a time where you either throw in the towel and admit life is what it is and there’s no changing it, and by extension, you, or you give things a long, hard look and carpe diem the Continue Reading

Cover reveal party: The Way of the Walker by Salinee Goldenberg

(courtesy Angry Robot Books) SNAPSHOTReturn to the Thai-inspired world of Suyoram in this sharp follow up to 2024’s The Last Phi Hunter, exploring mythology, colonialism, and feminine rage. Ree is born with her eyes open to the Everpresent — a heightened awareness where Phi Hunters pull their magic and can Continue Reading

Movie review: Fountain of Youth

(courtesy IMP Awards) We are a people consumed by endless wonder and curiosity. Evidence of it is everywhere if you care to look for it, but if you’re a pop culture tragic like this reviewer, you see it most often in movies and books and streaming shows where stories lean Continue Reading

Book review: The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

(courtesy Harper Collins Publishers Australia) Good lord but swashbuckling space operatic fun is good for the too tightly tied down soul. When all the stresses and obligations of life have you feel suffocatingly pinned into a very small and ever-diminishing space, picking up a superlatively good piece of wide-ranging sci-fi Continue Reading

Can you rebuild love? That’s the question at the heart of quirky sci-fi film, Daniela Forever

(courtesy First Showing) SNAPSHOTGrieving the loss of his girlfriend Daniela, Nicolás (Henry Golding) is consumed by sorrow. But he sees a glimmer of hope when he’s offered a chance to participate in groundbreaking sleep therapy simulating reality. But as dream and memory blur, he must confront what healing really means—and Continue Reading

Book review: The Lonely Hearts Quiz League by Lauren Farnsworth

(courtesy Hachette Australia) It has long intrigued this reviewer why it is that we love “found family” stories so much. It’s not that they don’t present a comforting and warmly lovely scenario; after all, who doesn’t love the idea of sadness, loss and crushing social isolation being countered by slowly Continue Reading

“It’s not about surviving. It’s about taking our home back.” Thoughts on The Eternaut (El Eternauta)

(courtesy IMP Awards) If you’ve much streaming content over the last ten years, you will be well and truly acquainted with the fact that the world is coming to a messy and inglorious end. Well, maybe not today, or tomorrow even, but imminently in some way, shape or form, and Continue Reading