Aussie YA Blog Hop: Sharing #LoveOzYa

Welcome to the Aussie YA Blog Hop that has been making its rounds across various Australian book bloggers. This blog hop is courtesy of Jeann from Happy Indulgence and I am super excited to share with you guys my thoughts on Aussie YA, what to check out and why I think it's important.

There will be a Twitter Chat at the end of the week, so hashtag #AusYABlogChat and join us at @AusYABloggers for some fun!

1. What You Love About Aussie YA

The fact that it's from Australia, written by Australians makes me super proud to talk about Aussie YA. I find that the YA space is predominately dominated by US releases, with very much the same tropes, characters and messages that it really only gives a singular perspective to the Western world. With Aussie YA, I've found somewhat great representations of Australia and it's exciting to have other readers really understand Australians and our views and values.

2. Favourite Aussie YA Authors 

I would have to say Maureen McCarthy was one my favourite authors growing up - I read almost all her books. Otherwise, Melina Marchetta and Lili Wilkinson are great authors to check out as well!

3. The Aussie YA Book You Grew Up With 

Ahh, this is too hard to answer. I read so many! I think the one that stuck with me the most is Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson. To this day it's still one of my top five reads!

4. Favourite Aussie YA Book Released in 2016

Is it bad of me to say I actually haven't read a 2016 release yet? Uh oh. I'm about to take advantage of a YA sale the local bookstore Dymocks has though, and I'm keen to get onto The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis and The Creeper Man by Dawn Kurtagich

5. Aussie YA Debut You Are Looking Forward To 

Do you guys have any suggestions? I'm terrible at keeping up with any debuting authors. I pretty much assume that anyone who releases a novel is a longstanding author already in the industry. I know, I'm hopeless.

6. Favourite Aussie YA Series

If you're looking for a series to read, I loved Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier as I was growing up as well as This is Shyness by Leanne Hall. I've started the Obernewytn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody, which I really enjoyed. For some reason I haven't read the rest of the series but I definitely recommend it as well.

7. Unexpected Aussie YA Surprise

I think Illuminae was a huge one I didn't expect to fall in love with - I'm not much of a sci-fi reader, but that book is seriously amazing. Finnikin of the Rock was another one that took me by surprise and really made me feel comfortable with fantasy later on. 

8. Aussie YA Book You Always Recommend To Others 

Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson, Uglies series by Scott Westerfield, Somebody's Crying and Chain of Hearts by Maureen McCarthy.

9. An Aussie YA Book On Your TBR

Definitely Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, and These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. Look at me and my sci-fi list, wow.

10. Favourite Aussie YA Bloggers! 

This is such a hard question because I love every single blogger that I read from, but huge shoutout to Jeann from Happy Indulgence for being an amazing blogger and supporting Aussie YA. This blog hop was all due to her. Also the sweetest person ever, Kelly, from DivaBookNerd. Kelly's an amazing person to talk to and her blog motivates me to work harder on mine. Other people to check out are:
Antee at Read At Midnight, Cait at PaperFury (who is hilarious) and Eugenia at Genie In A Book!

There are so many other Aussie bloggers to check out, so take a peek at this list to see who else is taking part in this Blog Hop! 

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[Book Launch] REV Girl - Leigh Hutton

A couple of weeks back I was contacted by the lovely Leigh Hutton asking if I wanted to be part of her Blog Tour for her debut novel REV Girl.

After reading the synopsis and finding out that she is Australian, I said yes! It's baffling how I'm
such a small time blogger yet, I was even considered to do this. Still, I'm excited that I've been given this opportunity.

I can now announce that copies of Rev Girl are now available to purchase. The story follows a female protagonist, Clover, who has moved to a different place but is struggling to fit in. She's trying to balance her new life with her dream of becoming a professional dirt bike racer. Yep, that's right - this girl is actually awesome. What I take is that this is a coming of age novel, where Clover is trying to live up to expectations whilst struggling to be who she is. I'm very intrigued to get started because I've never read a story from a female who's so involved in a predominately male sport/occupation. It's really empowering. Rev Girl is also being pitched as inspired by a true story. For a more thorough synopsis visit Leigh's site --> here

This is the first in a series called The Go Girls Chronicles, where each female protagonist is
involved in an adventurous activity.

If you guys are interested in purchasing Rev Girl it is available in e-book (here) and physical form (here). A portion of the purchase is donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation as well!

Keep an eye out for my review, which should be up on the 29th of May. In the meantime check out the other blogs in the Blog Tour (dates in side picture)!

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