July 2025 Featured Reviews
Novel Insight on 28th Jul 2025
July 2025 Featured Reviews
Check out our favourite new releases from our July Newsletter.
Welcome!
Below you will find 10 of our favourite new releases from July 2025.
These short reviews are just a taste of our full review service.
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Featured Reviews
Clara Capybara
| Author: Aleesah Darlison | Publisher: Wombat Books | |
| Illustrator: Ruth-Mary Smith | Release Date: 2 Jul 2025 | |
| ISBN: 9781761111952 | Reading Age: 3 to 6 years |
Novel Insight Short Review: Clara can’t say no to anyone. Saying yes to everything means she can’t do anything of her own, but Clara loves helping others. Her mother has seen her tire of helping everyone, though, and tells Clara that she should do something of her own and learn to say no, teaching Clara a valuable lesson. A reassuring book for those that struggle with saying no.
The Susurrus
| Author: Genevieve Young | Publisher: Walker Books Australia | |
| Illustrator: Cate James | Release Date: 4 Jun 2025 | |
| ISBN: 9781760657611 | Reading Age: 3 to 6 years |
Novel Insight Short Review: Grandma asks if Frankie can see a Susurrus, but Frankie doesn’t know what that is. She asks lots of questions about the Susurrus, like what it looks like. The Susurrus could be crocodile-looking, but also almost completely invisible! What could it possibly be? A whimsical and beautifully illustrated story full of imagination.
My Supercharged ADHD Brain
| Author: Dani Vee and James Layton | Publisher: Larrikin House | |
| Illustrator: Ruth-Mary Smith | Release Date: 4 Jun 2025 | |
| ISBN: 9781923345041 | Reading Age: 4 to 7 years |
Representations: The main character has ADHD and describes what it is like
Novel Insight Short Review: Every single brain is amazing—the bookish brains, the sporty brains, the science brains. Sometimes the main character’s brain feel like fireworks or a cheetah or a popcorn machine. Some things may be a little hard, but there are so many great things about her brain. A colourful and joyful picture book celebrating children with ADHD for ages 4–7.
Ariana Treasure: The Lost Frog
| Author: Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern | Publisher: Wombat Books | |
| Illustrator: Karen Erasmus | Release Date: 2 Jul 2025 | |
| ISBN: 9781761111860 | Reading Age: 5 to 8 years |
Novel Insight Short Review: Christopher delivers some boxes to the Treasure Chest, and a frog hops out of one of them. When they realise that the box it came out of was full of donations from the Walker family, Ariana and her mum wonder if the frog belongs to their son, Hugo. But Hugo denies it, even though when he visits the Treasure Chest, he knows exactly how to care for a frog. This makes Ariana suspicious. Is the frog really his? Do his parents know? An easy-to-read story about honesty, responsibility and taking care of animals that’s ideal for early readers.
Neeka and the Storm
| Author: Tina Strachan | Publisher: HarperCollins AU | |
| Illustrator: Maxine Hamilton | Release Date: 2 Jul 2025 | |
| ISBN: 9781460764565 | Reading Age: 7 to 11 years |
Novel Insight Short Review: Neeka loves helping out at Wilder Zoo, where her mum is head vet—and where her family lives! When an enormous storm heads their way, Neeka bunkers down and tries to finish her book, The Secret Garden, for the school reading challenge but is constantly distracted. When flooding, power outages and rising water threaten the zoo, Neeka rolls up her sleeves and helps out. But will she be able to help and finish her book in time? An exciting story about animals, ingenuity and weathering the storm for animal lovers.
Ming and Maria Explore the Universe
| Author: Jackie French | Publisher: HarperCollins AU | |
| Release Date: 30 Apr 2025 | ||
| ISBN: 9781460764886 | Reading Age: 9 to 13 years |
Content Insight: Contains magic some racism (due to the historical time period represented).
Novel Insight Short Review: 12-year-old Ming Qong has been chosen by Herstory to travel into the past and learn how girls changed the world. Ming meets Herstory in the school library and finds herself suddenly drowning in the sea instead. She is rescued by Mrs Sloe and Miss Reynolds. Ming soon discovers that she has travelled to Nantucket Island in 1836, and Mrs Sloe and Miss Reynolds are Quakers and members of the Society of Friends.
Ming knows that she has sent on this mission to meet her mother, who left when Ming was very young, and becomes sure that Miss Reynolds is her mother. While there, Ming visits the school run by Maria Mitchell, who will become a famous astronomy and forge a place for women to attend university in the future. An inspirational and informative read for girls aged 10 and over. This is the fifth and final book in The Girls Who Changed the World series.
The Wicked Ship
| Author: Amelia Mellor | Publisher: Affirm Kids | |
| Release Date: 29 Jul 2025 | ||
| ISBN: 9781922992390 | Reading Age: 9 to 13 years |
Content Insight: Contains mild violence, pirates, fantasy, supernatural elements and creatures.
Novel Insight Short Review: Eleven-year-old Cori never wanted to be a pirate. After she is orphaned in a cyclone, she becomes a Council Page. There, she learns about the Age of Glory, when champions ruled and the magical Oceanforged Armour was handed down between them. After displeasing the Prime Council, Cori is sent to the outer islands, where she runs away and joins the crew of the Harridan under Captain Scrimshaw. Captain Scrimshaw is searching for the Oceanforged armour, and when he sends Cori to retrieve the gauntlet, she takes it for herself and escapes. Cori meets Tarn and a witch named Zin, who shares her belief that the armour will be reunited, the Prime Council overthrown, and an heir will restore Aquinta. Is Cori the one the gauntlet has chosen to wield it, and will she be able to find the rest of the Oceanforged items? A captivating new fantasy series that will appeal to lovers of Percy Jackson, Dragon Realm and Deltora Quest ideal for middle fiction readers.
The Girl and the Ghost
| Author: Jacqueline Harvey | Publisher: Penguin | |
| Release Date: 29 Apr 2025 | ||
| ISBN: 9781761349409 | Reading Age: 11 to 13 years |
Content Insight: Contains ghosts.
Contains discussions of crushes and puberty.
Novel Insight Short Review: 12-year-old Josephine has moved from Sydney to a French village with her father and stepmother. They move into a chateau which her father plans to film the renovation of. While exploring, she discovers a strange locket. When she opens it, a strange boy wearing old clothes appears, and she realises he’s a ghost. They quickly form a friendship, despite his prickly personality. While visiting the village, Josephine meets the baker’s son, Gabriel, who becomes her first crush, despite Louis’s disapproval. Together they become involved in a mystery of stolen paintings at the neighbouring Chateau Du Lac. A captivating middle grade mystery blending the modern-day with French history. This is the first book in The Girl and the Ghost series.
Anna’s War
| Author: DJ Taylor | Publisher: Riveted Press | |
| Release Date: 2 Jul 2025 | ||
| ISBN: 9781763526075 | Reading Age: 12+ years |
Content Insight: Contains description of wartime and unfair treatment at the hands of soldiers.
Novel Insight Short Review: In 1943, Anna lives with her family in Holland, where the Germans have invaded and sent most families in town into hiding. With new restrictions and curfews in place, Anna and her family face hard times, especially as they are part of the resistance, delivering secret messages. Food becomes limited, and Anna and her brothers are sick of the same food all the time, but they don’t dare complain. When the Nazis come looking for her father, Anna meets a soldier named Karl. It seems like he isn’t a Nazi at heart, but she isn’t sure she can trust him when her priority is to protect her family. A gripping story of a girl’s fight to protect her family amongst adversity.
The Wildest Dreams Bookshop
| Author: Gracie Page | Publisher: HarperCollins GB | |
| Release Date: 29 Jul 2025 | ||
| ISBN: 9780008762797 | Reading Age: 12+ years |
Language Rating: Low
Content Insight: Contains minor sexual references.
Contains alcohol.
Contains references to Satan and seances.
Novel Insight Short Review: 18-year-old Anna has had the worst start to her summer vacation. She is certain that she has failed her exams, her internship at a prestigious London law firm has fallen through, and her boyfriend Max dumped her. So she decides to visit her Aunt Josie in Cornwall to help her run The Wildest Dreams Bookshop. When she arrives in Fox Bay, she meets the handsome Jacob who works with her aunt. When Josie goes to hospital with a broken leg, Anna discovers that the bookshop is in serious financial trouble. She creates “Operation Save Wildest Dreams" and convinces a popular author to hold the book launch for her new romance novel at the bookshop. The Wildest Dreams Bookshop is a sweet YA romance for fans of small-town, slow-burn romance stories.
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We hope you enjoyed these insights into some special new releases from November.
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