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Tel

@onceuponatel

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📍Melbourne, Australia
👋🏻I’m Tel!
📕Book Reviews
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This year @abcradionational have given us the unimaginable task of choosing between our favourite children… well… books, but same-same 🤷🏼‍♀️🤭 …
All in the name of listing the Top 100 Australian Books! This was SO HARD to choose but I got there 😂

I can’t wait to see how the rest of the country voted 👏🏻👏🏻

❓Who’s your favourite Aussie author?? taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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8 hours ago

★彡 ℬ𝑜𝑜𝓀 ℛ𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌 彡★
📚 The Gardens
✏️ Emma Babbington
⭐️ My Rating: 3.75/5

SYNOPSIS(From book) ~ See in comments 👇🏻

Introducing the September pick for the HQ Thriller BOTM.

At the first whiff of a potential cult backdrop in the prologue, I was sold. Whilst the story is predominantly told from Jess’ perspective in the present day, I did enjoy the dual narrative with the alternate ‘before’ chapters setting the scene in the lead up to Nina’s disappearance. The story was reasonably paced with enough little twists along the way to keep me wanting to turn the pages. I did start to piece together the majority of the ending, bar a couple of little surprises that were thrown in. I was a little confused about having 2 deceased characters with the same name as I was unsure if this was an intended red herring to try and throw the reader off(even though the timelines didn’t align), or whether it was just an oversight. One thing that did irk me was Jess’ seemingly extra ‘soft’ parenting style (parents - don’t come for me🤣). Her kid had been in some serious trouble, was allowed to run around a large foreign city on his own and get into more serious trouble, and it’s just a little “oh dear, that was a little silly wasn’t it.” Maybe I was just in a bad mood but faaaaaar out 😂🤦🏼‍♀️ ANYWAY… Overall I really liked this one and if you like a psychological mystery that will really get your brain ticking then this is definitely one to pick up!

❓What’s the best twist you’ve ever read in a thriller??

A big thank you to @hqbooks for my #gifted copy of this one. taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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6 days ago

🌟 N E W B O O K S 🌟

Don’t you just love new book day?! Even better when they’re free!! (Thank you gift vouchers and rewards points 🥳)

Last week I was on a dopamine and serotonin hunt, and came home with these beauties to aid in the mission:

- Teeth Kicker by @g_orgias
- The Reckoning by @vikkipetraitis
- The World Beneath Her Feet by @hollygoeslightly
- The Butcher Legacy Alaina Urquhart

❓What’s your favourite mood boosting activity?? taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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20 days ago

★彡 ℬ𝑜𝑜𝓀 ℛ𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌 彡★
📚 Stay Buried
✏️ Jane R. Miles
⭐️ My Rating: 3.5/5

SYNOPSIS(From book) ~ See in comments 👇🏻

Introducing the August pick for the HQ Thriller BOTM!
When a book has the ability to make you feel stiflingly claustrophobic, then you know the writer has some great skills. This story really tested me psychologically in terms of the bunker setting, as well as questioning the reliability of the narrators and the characters within each of their perspectives. I didn’t actually like any of the characters in either timeline, and found I couldn’t connect with any of them. I did enjoy the slight supernatural element which added another layer to an already mind bending storyline. The end reveal felt a little rushed given the extensive lead up, however I still really liked this one.

Thank you so much to @hqbooks for my #gifted copy of this book

❓Do you believe in ghosts?

Me? Well… all I can say is I’ve seen and experienced too many unexplainable things that I’ve failed to find a logical or scientific explanation for… 👀 taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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24 days ago

★彡 ℬ𝑜𝑜𝓀 ℛ𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌 彡★
📚 Eleanor Jones Is Not Drowning
✏️ Amy Doak
⭐️ My Rating: 4.5/5

SYNOPSIS(From book) ~ See in comments 👇🏻

This was such a great catch up with my ol’ gal pal, Eleanor Jones. I loved seeing what mischief Eleanor and her crew found themselves in this time around, and with the setting of the flood and lead up to the Deb ball, it was a reminder that life is still business as usual when you’re a teenager trying to ‘unofficially’ solve the town’s crimes. Once again there’s mystery, crime, witty banter and the multitude of teenage problems that most of us have encountered in our youth. In Eleanor, Amy has created this brilliant character who is intelligent, kind, and unapologetically herself, and she is the 17 year old that girls should aspire to be. I’m 104 years old and even I still want to be Eleanor Jones when I grow up! Congratulations, Amy, on yet another EXCELLENT Eleanor adventure! I adore this YA series so much I can’t wait to see where it goes next!

A huge thank you to @amywritingbooks & @penguinbooksaus @penguinteenaus for my #gifted copy of this one. taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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a month ago

★彡 ℬ𝑜𝑜𝓀 ℛ𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌 彡★
📚 Yesteryear
✏️ Caro Claire Burke
⭐️ My Rating: 5/5

SYNOPSIS(From book) ~ See in comments 👇🏻

Wow. What the fuckin’ fuck. What can I say about this book that hasn’t already been said!? I hated Natalie from page 2. Caleb was an infuriating dumb shit. Caleb’s family were gross. Everything within these pages contained basically everything I hate about this current world: the internet (ok yes, the irony I know), influencers who live completely fake lives all for show, those who exploit their children, the manosphere and the halfwits within it, American politics, oh the list goes on. In saying ALL that… I was completely hooked on this book from the start like a bag of crispy M&Ms, and I couldn’t stop guttsing it down until I was done. Within the first couple of chapters I’d pieced a theory together in my head about how Natalie found herself in the 1800’s. It turned out to be not too far off the mark, so I wasn’t completely shocked or blind sided by the twist reveal at the end. Not to say that didn’t infuriate me for a number of reasons either. The only characters I had any empathy for were the kids for being subjected to the parents & life they had. I can’t even completely say that I was hate-reading this book because there was such a high level of enjoyment, and also when the author sets out with the intention of making you feel that way, I don’t think it counts. Anyway, this was really hard to review. I loved it. I think…
Na, I did love it. Do I say believe the hype? Maybe, given the unusual concept of the book and the execution, however I don’t know that it’ll be to everyone’s tastes. But there is certainly a reason why everyone is talking about it - good and bad. All I can say is make sure you buddy read it or pick it for book club(some GREAT discussion topics in there), because you’re going to need to debrief with someone along the way. Thanks to those booksta pals who let me slip into their DMs with my WTF messages during my Yesteryear journey.

👉🏻Swipe across to see a compilation of my facial expressions throughout my reading of the book. taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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a month ago

The past week or so I’ve been in Tassie having some quiet time and of course looking after my furry sister Bella Loueez Epponneee Raaaeeee 🐶.

The first 2 things I ALWAYS do as soon as I get to Launceston is hit up my local dealers for my fix - @petrarchs 📚 & @gourlayssweets 🍫🤭

Here are my goodies I picked up the other day(yes, there was more chocolate but… I am who I am🐷🤣)

I’m obsessed with these new modern classics from @penguinbooksaus so had to start my collection with a childhood fave!

❓What was your last book purchase? taken in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia by @onceuponatel

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a month ago

彡 ℬ𝑜𝑜𝓀 ℛ𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌 彡★
📚 For All the Dead Girls
✏️ Sherryl Clark
⭐️ My Rating: 5/5

SYNOPSIS(From book) ~ See in comments 👇🏻

This was the July pick for the HQ Thriller BOTM and it certainly wasn’t for the faint hearted. Gripping, confronting, and terrifying given the extreme relevance of the storyline around domestic violence and the ‘manosphere’, this story packed a gut punch and a half, and provided what I imagine is only a tiny glimpse of what it’s like trying to flee these situations. I unintentionally read this book during a particularly horrific week of news headlines in Australia involving DV, which meant this book left a heavier imprint on my heart. Lou was a great character and I was intrigued by her career transition from police officer to private detective so early in her career. Admittedly I haven’t read the first book in this series, but I look forward to doing so given how much I enjoyed this one. The Melbourne setting amidst a sweltering summer and raging bushfires made this story feel all the more real, and I honestly couldn’t lap this story up quick enough. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and can’t wait to see if we encounter Lou Alcott again in the future. Whilst I do recommend this one, it deals with some heavy topics so please check your triggers warnings before diving in.

Thank you so much to @sherrylwriter and @hqbooks for my #gifted copy of this one.

❓Who is your favourite fictional detective?
One of my favourites is still a cop, but Lexi Winter from Sarah Barrie’s series will always be one of the best!

AD-PR PRODUCT taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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a month ago

🤫Some of you may or may not know I’ve been harbouring a secret these past few months…
Due to living in the world’s smallest apartment with overflowing bookshelves, this staunch paperback reader joined the E-Reader brigade 👀

PROS:
📖Practical
📖Compact
📖Kobo functionalities are great
📖So many cute @strapsicle accessories

CONS:
📖Can’t sniff the pages
📖Hurts more when I drop it on my face when I nod off
📖Can’t display all my purchases on my shelves
📖SO many cute Strapsicle accessories (somebody stop me)

Am I fully converted? Hell no. Have I still purchased a stupid amount of paperbacks? Guilty.

❓What’s your favourite format to read in??📖📱🎧 by @onceuponatel

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2 months ago

B O O K ~ S P O T L I G H T
📕 Boring Asian Female
✏️ Canwen Xu

Presenting the June pick for the HQ Thriller BOTM. This book gave me Yellowface and Julie Chan vibes, so if you love your main characters unhinged and on a path of self destruction, then this is the book for you!

And to answer the question in my second slide 👉🏻… No, I absolutely did not sympathise with Elizabeth, WHATSOEVER 😂🫣

SYNOPSIS (From Book)

Elizabeth Zhang knows her place in the world. She knows she’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics.
With a hard-working ethic instilled in her by immigrant parents, armed with impeccable grades, Elizabeth thinks she is set for Harvard Law School. Until she is rejected for being too ordinary, which she translates to mean she’s just another boring Asian female. But when her classmate Laura Kim gets in, everything falls apart. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?
At first, she follows her because she’s just curious. What Laura eats for lunch. Where Laura shops. The answer for Elizabeth’s failure must lie somewhere in Laura’s life. But still, Elizabeth just can’t see it. The only thing she sees is that Laura has taken her spot at Harvard.
A spot she knows she deserves. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.

A huge thank you to the fab team at @hqbooks for their gifted copy of this one. taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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2 months ago

★彡 ℬ𝑜𝑜𝓀 ℛ𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌 彡★
📚 Cold River
✏️ Margaret Hickey
⭐️ My Rating: 4.5/5

SYNOPSIS(From book) ~ See in comments 👇🏻

Another mountainside mystery with Senior Constable Sally White at the helm, this small town thriller will have you trusting no one. It only took a few pages for me to be fully invested in this story, and once again Margaret Hickey proved that she can well and truly deliver the goods. The storyline felt relevant, especially with the illegal tobacco and firebombing element given that’s all we’ve seen on the news in Victoria for the past few years. As with this book’s predecessor The Creeper, Margaret’s immersive writing presents me with a huge conundrum - on one hand it makes me want to visit Victoria’s High Country and explore its beauty that her writing conveys. But on the other hand I never want to step foot within a 100km radius for fear of being kidnapped or murdered by crazy criminals. This was a great Aussie thriller and whilst you could certainly read it as a stand alone, I encourage you to read the first as it’s equally as great.

Thank you so much @margaret.hickey.35 and the always awesome crew at @penguinbooksaus for my #gifted copy of this one.

AD-PR PRODUCT taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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2 months ago

It’s August - WTF 😳
It’s Sunday Night - WTF 🫠😭

If you blink too long it’ll be December before we know it! Today I headed to my favourite local park to get some winter sun and smashed out a few chapters of my current read, For All the Dead Girls by Sherryl Clark❄️☀️📖

❓What’s a book you’re hoping to read in August or what are you currently reading? taken in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia by @onceuponatel

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53

2 months ago