Book cover for review. Image shows a boy floating in the top right, and a girl floating in the bottom left, looking at one another against a pastel rainbow background. The title in yellow runs between them, reading 'This Boy I Hardly Know'.
Book Reviews

This Boy I Hardly Know | Book Review

By Lisa Heathfield (Andersen Press, May 2026)

‘I’m so tired of holding up my world, Cooper,’ I say quietly.

‘I get that,’ he says.

He looks at me and I know he does. There are so few people who really do. Who know what it’s like to be alone and drowning in a system that wants to pass you to the next person and the next. How tiring it is to keep starting again.

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Covers for book recommendations April 2026
Book Reviews

Monthly Book Recommendations: April 2026

Welcome to our monthly book recommendations for April 2026! When you’re not sure whether to expect rain or shine, it’s always smart to have a book on hand. Here’s what we’ve been reading over the past month!

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Book cover for review. Image shows a black sky dotted with stars above a grey Greek landscape featuring buildings and a temple on a hill. On a wall in front of the landscape, at the bottom of the image, is a teen girl, standing with her back to us. Her arms are stretched out, her hair is wild, and she wears a golden shawl over her dress. In the sky high above is a silver crescent moon. The title 'The Lost Daughter of Sparta' is laid out in gold above the girl.
Book Reviews

The Lost Daughter of Sparta | Book Review

Written by Felicia Day, illustrated by Rowan MacColl (pub. Simon & Schuster, 2026)

“I’ll show him! I promise, I’ll be the best wife–”
“No, you won’t, child.”
“Huh?”
“You are twice cursed.”
“Twice…?”
“The daughters of the house of Tyndareus are fated to betray their husbands. Timandra was first, Helen second, then Clytemnestra. All my girls, powerless to stop themselves.
And you will be next.”

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Covers for book recommendations February 2026
Book Reviews

Monthly Book Recommendations: February 2026

Gosh it’s been a busy month! For GO ALL IN – the National Year of Reading – Lynda has been in schools and bookshops over February, sharing books with children from reception to year 6. And we’re pleased to be able to share them here with you too!

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Covers for book recommendations January 2026
Book Reviews

Monthly Book Recommendations: January 2026

Welcome to our monthly book recommendations, and it’s our first post for 2026! Depending on where you are in the country, the weather has been pretty grim, so we believe the best thing to do is settle in with some fantastic reads. Here’s the ones that got us through January!

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Book cover for book review. Image shows a young boy in a red t-shirt, sat in a boat on a turbulent sea. It's raining, and the boy is facing away from the viewer, towards the horizon, where the first light of dawn is beginning to show. Towards the bottom of the image, overlaid on the water, the title REFUGEE is written in red in all caps; in white underneath that it says 'The Graphic Novel'.
Book Reviews

Refugee: The Graphic Novel | Review

Written by Alan Gratz, illustrated by Syd Fini (pub. Scholastic Graphix, 2025)

I see it now, Chabela. All of it. The past, the present, the future.

All my life, I kept waiting for things to get better. For the bright promise of mañana.

But a funny thing happened while I waiting for the world to change. It didn’t. Because I didn’t change it.

I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.

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Image shows two girls silhouetted in white and pink against a dark blue background. Each is standing on a locked book, and they are both reaching up towards a butterfly above them. In the background there is a palace in pink, loomed over by a silver mountain. The image is dotted with white and silver snowflakes. At the top, the title 'Snow' is in white all caps. The author's name 'Meera Trehan' is in dark blue against a pink background at the bottom.
Book Reviews

Snow | Book Review

By Meera Trehan (pub. Walker Books, Nov 2025)

Cunning stops in front of her. The Princess exhales as she waits for it to go.

Instead, it takes another step forward. Two arm’s-lengths away.

What is going on? It’s supposed to know her. It’s supposed to leave. Is it confused by the extra tools on her back? Or is it distracted by the Mists?

Her mind flicks back to last night, the foot, the hand. Please don’t come back now.

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Book cover for review: image shows a blue background that turns into a skyline at the top of the picture. In the centre-left is an arched window, through which we can see three children climbing some stairs. The girl at the front is red-haired and holding a torch. Behind her is an Indian boy looking around cautiously, and behind him is a smaller girl with a blond ponytail. Vines are growing through and around the window. The title 'Murder at the Ivy Hotel' is in large across most of the image. The small middle words are on a silver tray being held up by an unseen waiter. In the 'o' of 'Hotel' is a suspicious silhouette of a person.
Book Reviews

Murder at the Ivy Hotel | Book Review

By Emily Hourican (pub. Scholastic, February 2026)

Bob’s words hung in the air. It could be murder.

And suddenly, the giddiness went out of everything they had discovered. A chill descended over them all, and the satisfaction of tracing clues and finding pieces of the puzzle vanished. If it ever had been, this was no longer a game. There was, Meredith realized with shock, a big difference between thinking something was murder, and knowing it truly could be.

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Book for review: image shows a young Black girl dressed in working gear (boots, pouches), with goggles pushed up into her hair, holding a screwdriver and pointing up off to the left. On the right behind her stands a large mechanical dog with pointy ears. On the left behind her is a young boy with blond hair, dressed neater and carrying a square backpack. Behind them is a underground city in a cavern, the lights of the buildings piercing the blue mist that shrouds it. To the left is the title 'Underlings: The Spark Engine', written in caps with a dirty metal colouring.
Book Reviews

Underlings: The Spark Engine | Book Review

By Murray Fisher (pub. Toller Press, September 2025)

This was no way to die.

She closed her eyes, steadying each shallow breath, her heartbeat squelching in her ears.

Think, Evin. Think!

Deep in the city’s bedrock, face down, sandwiched in a collapsed section of tunnel, there was nobody to help her. If she couldn’t save herself right now, she may as well give up.

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Covers for book recommendations September 2025
Book Reviews

Monthly Book Recommendations: September 2025

Welcome to our monthly book recommendations post for September! The days are getting shorter now, and the grey weather gave us the perfect excuse to stay indoors and do some reading (well, except for a jaunt to some bookshops in Norfolk!). Check out below what books we enjoyed over last month.

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