Review: Dice - Claire Baylis - January 2023 As someone from New Zealand, I have to admit when it comes to New Zealand fiction - I either end up DNF'ing it or the ones that I do finish, I end up loving and enjoying. There tends to be no in-between for me. Like UK Fiction, NZ fiction can be quite slow-paced and this book was no different as it does take a long time to read and that's coming from someone who is normally quite a fast reader though it was good, I felt in parts that it did drag on and since it was set in a courtroom trial - there was a lot of repetition from the witnesses and the people on trial, etc. The book is set in Rotorua which I loved as since my partner is from there and I have been there quite a few times, I was able to visualize and imagine the location of where the story was set and some of the places mentioned in the book - I too had been there a few times like The Fat Dog Cafe. Dice tells the story of a teenage sex game that has been created between f...

Review: What Happened to Rachel Riley? - Claire Swinarski - January 2023 This book was an amazing read and I found myself enjoying it more than I thought for a few reasons. What Happened to Rachel Riley? is a tween read and set in 7th Grade/8th Grade. Anna has just started a new school and at the school, on everyone's birthday - it is read over the intercom and people cheer. One day, she hears a girl's birthday read and nobody cheers at all. This strikes her as odd as the girl isn't ugly by beauty standards and even the freaks and geeks get cheers. This girl got utter silence. The book then jumps to Anna's new social sciences class and the class has been asked to do an un-essay topic on something that they are passionate about or a topic that interests them. Anna wants to know What Happened to Rachel Riley and uncover the reason she was ostracised and no one cheered. The school isn't happy about her project and forces her to change it. Anna does but continues in ...