BOOK REVIEWS
See what our booksellers have been reading each month.
MARCH 2025
JACK
As Young As This by Roxy Dunn
Margot has always believed that each of her romantic partners will eventually whittle down to a husband, and yet, here she is: single again in her mid-thirties. Each chapter recounts a new relationship; from a teenager at a party, to her first real heartbreak, and the gradual complications of love that come with age and maturity.
The time-jumps between chapters feel like dropping in on an old friend, with a bittersweet undertone that Margot may be much older when we next see her.
Certain things will forever remind her of lost loves, bearing each like a scar. The ups, downs, beginnings, and breakups are something we all experience; as such, it’s impossible to not see a bit of yourself in Margot. Roxy Dunn has created a beautifully intimate experience. I wanted to read this book forever.
SARAH
Probably Nothing by Lauren Bravo
Packed with laugh-out-loud moments, all-too-relatable scenarios, and a great deal of warmth and charm, Probably Nothing reads as a black comedy, drawing you in with rich and complex characters, and a very entertaining plot!
Lauren Bravo explores the modern conditions of anxiety, people-pleasing, parenthood, etc, with both humour and sensitivity, while also presenting the eternal dilemma of whether one should settle or not because “life is short.”
I couldn’t put it down!
STEPHANIE
The Dandelion Riots by Kim Smejkal
This punch of a book, short and powerful, dives straight into a brutal world. Cursed at birth for a crime they haven’t yet committed, girls have to fight against a society that despises and controls them. Their only chance is to stand together, touching upon sisterhood and feminism.
Throw in a dose of romance, at times almost eye-rolling but eventually beautiful, and Flower Power has never been so dangerous.
FIONA
The Green Kingdom by Cornelia Funke
Set in Brooklyn, The Green Kingdom encourages finding green spaces in urban areas and asking advice from experts and other generations. As Caspia meets various merchants and enthusiasts in her search through the botanical past, she endears herself to the community she has just joined and makes new friends, young and old. A beautiful story that incorporates interesting facts about plants and their uses through time, making it a lovely springtime gift.
OLIVIA
My Favourite Mistake by Mirian Keyes
Brilliant, funny and honest! Returning to the Walsh family antics, this new novel follows Rachel’s sister, Anna, as she navigates menopause, breakups, new relationships, a new job, moving back to Ireland from the Big Apple, and turning fifty.
Laugh-out-loud, but with Keyes’ trademark poignancy, this is a perfect uplifting read.
JOE
Why Don't You Love Me? by Paul B. Rainey
Claire and Mark seem like the worst couple in the world: she won’t leave the house, drinks all the time, he can’t remember the names of their children and has no idea how to do is job, and clearly they don’t like each other.
But as the story slowly unfolds, against a backdrop of international and domestic tension, they start to remember former lives, and in a very slow-burn manner, the real truth of why they are as they are starts to become clear.
A fascinating read which starts as one thing but then slowly leads you down a very different path. Highly recommended.