Author: Schizanthus Nerd

The Kamogawa Food Detectives – Hisashi Kashiwai

Translator – Jesse Kirkwood

Kamogawa Diner – Kamogawa Detective Agency – We Find Your Food

The Kamogawa Detective Agency is run by Nagare Kamogawa and his daughter, Koishi. Their advertisement is cryptic so you’ll need to be determined to find their door. Your perseverance will be worth it, though, because Nagare and Koishi can recreate that dish you’ve been craving.

This father and daughter team track down the exact flavours the diners in this book are seeking, but it’s not just a meal to them. What they’re really searching for is a taste of nostalgia.

Whether that’s someone who is about to embark on the next chapter of their life, wondering about the road not taken or remembering the warmth of kindness in their early life, Nagare and Koishi will track down the correct ingredients.

This was a quick, light read. It quickly became obvious why this book is being compared to Before the Coffee Gets Cold. In both books, you meet a new character, learn enough about their backstory to know why they have sought out the cafe/diner and witness the resolution.

Due to the format, you don’t get to spend a lot of time with each person seeking a connection. This resulted in me staying more on the surface of the chapters. I didn’t become emotionally invested with anyone, although I remained interested throughout each of their stories.

While the food connected the people to their loved ones, I would have preferred getting to meet them and eavesdrop on their conversations.

I’m not sure if you can read a book like this without thinking about the dish that you would hire the Detective Agency to track down for you.

The first thing that came to mind for me was my Nan’s lasagne but my experience doesn’t really fit the criteria. After she died, I searched her cookbooks for the recipe that I knew wouldn’t be there because she was a make it up as you go along cook.

Then I realised that I watched Nan make lasagne so many times throughout my childhood that I knew the measurements, the brands she used and the steps. I was able to make it from memory the first time I tried and every time I make it I feel connected to her.

What I’d be looking for is an experience the Kamogawa Diner can’t provide, the opportunity to watch my Nan cook one last time, not because of the food but to have one more conversation with her.

Regardless of my own impossible wish not fitting the scope of the magic Nagare and Koishi create in the lives of their customers, I enjoyed seeing how the right combination of ingredients can have the power to transform a life.

‘So, hoping we can track down a dish from your past, by any chance?’

Thank you so much to Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read this book.

Title: The Kamogawa Food Detectives

Author: Hisashi Kashiwai

Translator: Jesse Kirkwood

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

Imprint: Mantle

Published: 10 October 2023

RRP: AUD $19.99 (paperback)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant called the Kamogawa Diner run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare. Customers who can find the hidden diner are treated to an extravagant meal, but it’s not the main reason for visiting…

The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as ‘food detectives’, capable of recreating a dish from their customers’ pasts that may well hold the key to forgotten memories and ongoing happiness.

From the widower looking for a specific noodle dish that his wife used to cook to a first love’s beef stew, the restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to the past and a way to a more contented future.

A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.

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Secrets of Camp Whatever Volume 3: The Witching Hour – Chris Grine

It’s winter in Nowhere and it’s time for the big showdown. Willow (now with pink hair) and her friends are up against a prophecy, a Big Bad, a Bigger Bad and a storyline that’s darker overall than the first two Volumes.

There’s a siren, gnomes with snowballs and a glorious, evil manticore named Todd who loves cookies. I really like Todd.

Molly gets the extra page time in this Volume that I was hoping for and some characters I thought we’d left in previous Volumes have guest appearances.

We visit a ghostly graveyard. There are ghouls and spirit reapers, which are cuter than their name suggests.

There’s rock throwing, falling and things that go boom.

I love Willow. She’s determined and resilient. Over the course of the series, she’s proven she’s a loyal friend and can pull off whatever hair colour she chooses.

Willow is amazing but my favourite character of the series is Mim. No matter how much time I spend with her it’s never enough.

The artwork drew me to the first Volume and has helped keep me engaged throughout the series. The human characters are expressive, the magical creatures are imaginative and I love the colour palette.

I’m definitely tempted to start calling out random words to garden gnomes to see if I can reanimate them.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

After former camp leader Clarence P’sketty Tooter is freed from a hypnosis spell, he remembers everything, including that pesky pre-teen Willow and her scrappy friends. But most importantly, he remembers the ancient mystery surrounding Nowhere’s sleep-away camp. Now, Tooter seeks revenge against Willow and her friends, and inadvertently awakens a long-dormant evil which seeks to destroy the world in the epic conclusion to the Secrets of Camp Whatever trilogy.

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Secrets of Camp Whatever Volume 2: The Doors to Nowhere – Chris Grine

It’s been two months since Willow attended Camp … Whatever, where she participated in the usual summer camp activities. Like sneaking out of her cabin with her friends to solve mysteries and spending time with a vampire, gnomes and other magical folk.

Now her friends are helping her celebrate her thirteenth birthday. There’s Violet. One of her roles in this Volume is reminding us why we all need to be reading more books. There’s Emma, who has a secret. And there’s Rand, a werewolf.

Elric gifts Willow her great-great grandmother Rose’s spell book before he mysteriously disappears. Willow has Rose’s book in her possession for a good few hours before it’s stolen and taken through the swirly pink portal in her lounge room, which I promise wasn’t there a minute ago. Naturally, Willow follows the thief. I would have too.

It’s a good thing her friends are there to help her investigate and be on the lookout for anything weird.

Willow learns that sometimes wishes do come true, whether you really mean them to or not. There’s a secret meeting, a troll, a wishing well and a forest frog. Toast is there as well. Oh, and an invisible pixie-corn.

We learn more about the prophecy that we first heard about in Volume 1. I’m expecting an action packed conclusion.

We didn’t get to spend anywhere near as much time with Molly as I would have liked but hopefully she’ll get more page time in Volume 3.

I enjoyed my second read of this graphic novel much more than the first. The first time I read it, it had been so long since I’d read Volume 1 that I’d forgotten too much about who was who and what Willow and her friends had experienced at Camp … Whatever. This time I read them back to back, which helped immensely.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When twelve-year-old Willow went to her weird new town’s even weirder summer camp, she didn’t expect to get caught up in an ancient mystery involving forest-dwelling vampires, living garden gnomes, and other completely bonkers creatures most people would never believe exist. Now she’s not only involved, she’s marked — too close to the heart of an ages-old quest for power and control than she should be, and too concerned about her new friends and the dangers they face to let them go it alone. With the help of a spell book and her scrappy crew of camp friends, Willow is about to step through a doorway to magic and discovery that will change her world forever. 

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Unfamiliar Volume 2 – Haley Newsome

In the first Volume, we met our four witchy friends and their familiars: Planchette and Winston the rabbit, Pinyon and Ari the pigeon, Babs and Marlow the cat, and Sun and Petra the lizard.

In this Volume, Planchette’s home is still very much haunted. One of our witches attracts the attention of the Faerie King and becomes possessed (temporarily). There’s also a wedding to plan. For a ghost.

There’s friend protection frittata, a floating lake and a visit to a profoundly evil forest.

We meet a doctor who would do anything for love and Death, who is a lot cuter than I expected.

The story didn’t always flow quite as well for me as the first Volume did but I absolutely loved the time spent focusing on Sun, who has an opportunity for her curse to be removed.

I really like the artwork and the colour palette. My favourite illustrations tend to be those that announce new chapters. Chapter Seven was the standout for me in this Volume.

I’d recommend reading the first Volume before diving into this one. I’m keen to continue reading this series.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Based on the hit webcomic, Unfamiliar Volume 2 continues the exciting witchy adventures of Planchette and her new friends, Pinyon, Sun, and Babs.

More magical mayhem ensues as Planchette and her new witch friends try to help a ghost bride rest in peace. Join them as they work together to handle a blackmailing Faerie King, a possible new romance, and an overnight camping trip in a profoundly evil forest. 

Unfamiliar is bursting with offbeat charm, a vibrant cast of teen witches, and hilarious familiar sidekicks. Set in an intriguing magical world, this series is a hit with fantasy readers of all ages.

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The Sisters Grimm #3: Child of Earth and Sky – Menna van Praag

It’s never too late to live a new life.

We last caught up with the Sisters Grimm when they were 21. While the first two books in the trilogy were everyone’s story, this one was mostly Goldie’s. And Luna’s. Goldie has an almost ten year old daughter now and she’s more powerful than any other sister.

I realise now that I’m not just a Grimm; not just a sister but a soldier too.

Goldie runs a women’s shelter with Teddy, her brother. I was surprised that Teddy worked there and was involved in the intake process. I also wasn’t always the hugest fan of the way the women at the shelter were spoken of.

Still, she can’t help but think of the women at the shelter and how much better their lives would’ve been if only they’d been taught to stand up for themselves earlier.

This reads to me like we’re blaming the victim and making them responsible for the behaviour of the perpetrator, and ignoring the ways they have resisted the violence perpetrated against them.

I’m realising more and more that while I’m all for justice and fairness, I’m not into vengeance so one element of the story didn’t sit well with me.

It is a story of love and loss and something strange and terrible to come – but exactly what isn’t clear.

This series is about sisterhood. It’s taking back your power, elemental magic and there’s an underground library! Why have I not known there’s a place where 900 years of magical literature live before now? I need to spend the next year or decade exploring it.

Alastair Meikle has illustrated the entire series and I always look forward to choosing a favourite. In this book it was the one that accompanies Luna’s story, The Good Girl.

In a pinch, you could read this book as a standalone. To get the most out of it, though, and to understand the characters’ individual backgrounds and their shared bond, I’d recommend reading them in order.

‘Soon you’ll be braver and stronger than you’ve ever believed possible.’

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Born of bright-white wishing and black-edged desire, the Grimm girls each command a single element and wield it with great power. But a child born of a Grimm and a fallen star will have command over every element … and wield infinite power.

At twenty-one, Goldie gave birth to a daughter by her dead lover. Now Goldie is nearly thirty and Luna almost ten. Conceived in the realm between life and death, Luna is part star-soldier, part Grimm and now those opposing forces are waging war within her.

Terrified of losing her increasingly volatile child, Goldie goes on the run. Then an act of violence forces her to return and Luna is taken into care. Mother and child can still meet – in the haunted otherworld that is Everwhere.

Desperate to reclaim her daughter, Goldie must also confront whatever is corrupting Everwhere. For fresh leaves are falling, and Grimm girls are dying. Fearing the return of her father, Goldie knows she cannot succeed alone and summons her sisters.

But can the bonds of sisterhood bear the terrible price that will be paid …

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Edenville – Sam Rebelein

🎵 What’s New Pussycat? 🎵 Spider people! Do you need to know more than that? I didn’t. For the sake of argument, though, let’s assume that you do. 🎵 It’s Not Unusual 🎵

University staff actively seek Cam out to be their next writer in residence. They travel to him to offer him the position and there’s not even an interview. Which, you know, has red flag written all over it.

Cam and Quinn (🎵 She’s a Lady 🎵) know horror movies so they should know better. They do know better.

“Look, I’m just sayin. If it smells creepy, it is creepy.”

They go to Edenville anyway. 🎵 I’m Coming Home 🎵

On the way, they pass a burnt garage, which you don’t need to know. I just wanted an excuse to say 🎵 Burning Down the House. 🎵

Do they get what they deserve? Does anyone deserve what they get? That’s for you to decide.

I only know that there’s no way I would get out of Edenville alive because I would’ve been sucked in by the nice old lady offering me free ice cream samples. In my defence, there’s chocolate marshmallow, caramel coffee and birthday cake on offer, which all sound to die for.

We’re all rotting ribbons in the end.

I cherish having the opportunity to read advanced copies, especially when they’re debut novels. It’s like I’m in on this wonderful secret that’s about to be shared with the world. I’m so excited to have been able to love and laugh and be grossed out by this book early and I can’t wait to watch others discover this amazing new author. I need both a reread and Sam Rebelein’s next book ASAP. 🎵 Do What You Gotta Do 🎵

“How was it?”

“Strange. You?”

“Fucking bizarre.”

This read was so much more fun than I expected, and I expected a lot. It’s culty, it’s body horror, it’s people messing with stuff they have no business messing with and expecting different outcomes. There are sunflowers, berries and a character that loves 🎵 Tom Jones 🎵. And did I mention the spider people?!

“Don’t say nobody warned you.”

Ichabod!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

When young horror writer Cam Marion is offered a teaching opportunity at a prestigious liberal arts college upstate, his long-time girlfriend Quinn is skeptical. She knows the college is located in Edenville, in infamous Renfield County. The county where people seem to go missing. The county where Quinn’s high school best friend was mysteriously killed. Quinn figures the job opportunity is a trap somehow, so she follows Cam upstate to investigate some of the county’s mysteries (including her own). 

She quickly discovers that there’s an entire society dedicated to solving Renfield’s many riddles. A society that puts on plays about Renfield’s macabre, blood-soaked history. A society that meets in the library basement once a week. A society made up of people who might not be people at all… Meanwhile, Cam discovers that his newest story idea isn’t an idea so much as it is a vision of another world. A world that the faculty at Edenville College need his help to access before it accesses them.

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Welcome to Consent – Yumi Stynes & Dr. Melissa Kang

Illustrations – Jenny Latham

They didn’t make books like this when I was a kid. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that this is no longer the case, that kids now have easy access to information that empowers them and teaches them about boundaries.

I love that this book doesn’t even get into consent specifically related to dating and sexual activity until about halfway through. The focus before that is teaching about how consent relates to all aspects of our lives, beginning with using the example of whether you are willing to loan a t-shirt to someone.

There’s information about how other people need to seek your consent but it also talks about your responsibility in making sure you obtain consent as well. Consent is clearly explained as a two way street.

Learning how to ask, being ready to hear the answer (whatever it is), and saying yes or no yourself are all big skills.

Through multiple examples, you learn what is and isn’t consent, and how a pressured yes isn’t a yes at all. It’s about enthusiastic consent.

Enthusiastic consent looks beyond words and takes into account how someone really feels about a situation, even if they’re not comfortable expressing it.

Consent education in Australian schools only became mandatory in 2023 and there are entire generations who grew up with no one telling them that even thinking about what was and wasn’t okay with them was an option.

Sex education at my school consisted of a single awkward class where an embarrassed teacher put a bunch of slides on the projector in front of students who were also embarrassed but busy pretending they knew everything there was to know already. Outside of that, I had Dolly Doctor, which was great when they answered questions I had but not so great when they didn’t. I needed more than one avenue for finding this information.

I would have absolutely benefited from reading this book as a kid and then again as a teenager.

Given the authors are Australian (and one is Dolly Doctor herself!), I was surprised when I was presented with American helplines at the end of the book. While I’m thrilled that my library purchased this book, it would be been even better if they’d purchased the edition that was published in Australia.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

An inclusive, frank and funny guide to navigating consent for tweens and teens of all genders, from the award-winning authors of Welcome To Your Period.

Adolescent health experts Dr Melissa Kang and Yumi Stynes have written the only guide you need to figuring out the rules of consent. Whether you’re a curious 11 to 14-year-old, or the parent of someone with a bunch of questions, this book is reassuring, interesting, and full of the info you need!

I’m ready for this book if: 

  • I’m curious about how consent works. 
  • I will get a haircut or visit the doctor on my own one day. 
  • I think I might kiss someone or have a relationship in the future (even if I’m not ready to yet). 
  • I don’t know how to actually TALK about consent. 
  • It’s hard to say no. 
  • I don’t know when to say yes. 
  • I find consent confusing!
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After the Forest – Kell Woods

‘Something happened to Hans and me when we were children.’

Indeed. When they were children, Greta and Hans were led into the forest and abandoned by their father. There they encountered gingerbread, an oven and a cage. You might think you know their story but you don’t know what happened next.

Fast forward fifteen years, Greta Rosenthal is a 22 year old with no dowry, so obviously no man will ever want her. It’s not exactly helping her cause that people think she’s a witch.

It’s a good thing that Greta knows how to bake because Hans is doing his best to gamble away any money her gingerbread sales generate.

Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour.

It was clear what must be done. What Greta had always done to solve a problem.

Bake.

We catch up with the siblings in 1650, a time of superstition and suspicion. The people of the Black Forest have been impacted greatly by the war. They’re not averse to accusing their neighbours of witchcraft.

This could be a problem for Greta because remember the gingerbread everyone loves so much? Her recipe may sorta kinda involve a dash or two of witchiness.

I really felt for Greta. Here she was doing her best to survive the trauma of abandonment and captivity with a brother who’s not helping her cause at all and a town full of people just itching for another witch trial.

Alone in the forest there is real fear. Once felt, it is never forgotten.

My favourite character was the book, because of course it was. But when you meet them you’ll understand why.

I shall take care of you and you shall take care of me.

I really enjoyed learning how magic works in Greta’s world and seeing how the different types were used throughout the book.

I used to actively avoid retellings. I wrongly assumed that I knew the stories well enough already and that nothing could (or maybe even should) be added to them. Then I fell in love with a few books that I didn’t realise were retellings when I started reading them and I finally got it. Retellings don’t diminish the original stories. They add to them: new perspectives, character depth, what happened after The End.

Greta’s story didn’t end when she and Hans survived the gingerbread house in the forest. It was only just beginning.

You learn to be careful when you have been lost.

Magic gingerbread to the rescue!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperVoyager, an imprint of HarperCollins Australia, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Ginger. Honey. Cinnamon. Flour.

A drop of blood to bind its power. 

1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg. Fifteen years after the witch in the gingerbread house, Greta and Hans are struggling to get by. Their father and stepmother are long dead, Hans is deeply in debt from gambling, and the countryside lies in ruin, its people recovering in the aftermath of a brutal war.

Greta has a secret, though: the witch’s grimoire, secreted away and whispering in her ear, and the recipe inside that makes the most sinfully delicious – and addictive – gingerbread. As long as she can bake, Greta can keep her small family afloat.

But in a village full of superstition, Greta and her intoxicating gingerbread is a source of ever-growing suspicion and vicious gossip.

And now, dark magic is returning to the woods and Greta’s own power – magic she is still trying to understand – may be the only thing that can save her …

If it doesn’t kill her first.

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Vlad, the Fabulous Vampire – Flavia Z. Drago

Vlad wears black to fit in with his friends, but there’s another reason as well. Vlad has a secret, something he is ashamed of.

Vlad had rosy pink cheeks! They made him look different from everyone else – so horribly alive!

He decides to use his love of fashion to design clothes to hide his pink cheeks. His clothes may be fabulous but hiding who he truly is makes Vlad feel alone.

Then Vlad learns he’s not the only one with a secret. With the help of Shelley, his best friend, Vlad discovers a world of colour and the confidence to be himself.

I love this series. They’re books I’d happily read over and over again. The characters are relatable and they have positive messages.

There’s so much to see in the illustrations.

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The characters are expressive and there are plenty of background details to enjoy. I particularly enjoyed finding Gustavo and Leila from the previous books and the ghost in a teacup.

Vlad can make clothes for me whenever he wants.

Thank you so much to Walker Books for the opportunity to read this picture book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Vlad’s passion is fashion. And just like every other vampire, Vlad dresses head to toe in the colour black. But unlike other vampires, Vlad has bright pink cheeks: cheeks that make him look, and feel, so different. Vlad tries to hide behind his clothes and his cape but, as it turns out, being yourself – truly yourself – is the most fabulous way to be.

An uplifting and charming celebration of our differences set in the same monster universe as the New York Times #1 bestseller, Gustavo, the Shy Ghost and Leila, the Perfect Witch.

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The Horror at Pleasant Brook – Kevin Lucia

Halloween is almost here. The pumpkins have been carved. The corn maze is ready to go. You may have noticed the streets of Pleasant Brook are quieter than usual, though.

Maybe it’s because people are working and studying remotely at the moment. Or maybe it’s because people have been masking recently, and not just because of COVID.

“It was because of the weirdos in masks.”

This is all Lisa Owen’s fault.

If you’re unfortunate enough to be written into this book, it’s more than likely you’ll wind up splattered across its pages.

I absolutely intended to remember the names and backstories of everyone I met but then abandoned this lofty idea when I realised that the average time between meeting a person and seeing their insides was about a chapter.

After getting to know a bunch of the nearly departed, I settled in and waited for the book to tell me who the main characters were going to be. Not that being a main character gives you immunity from the virus spreading through this increasingly sleepy town.

There’s blood, there’s gore and why yes, that person is spineless. It’s carnage in Pleasant Brook this October and thankfully it’s the descriptive kind.

The thing’s head exploded. Not only exploded but damn near disintegrated into an expanding geyser of gristle which splattered all over its shoulders and ruined neck, leaving nothing behind.

Maybe you shouldn’t choose a favourite character.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Crystal Lake Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

This Halloween, a malevolent, creeping horror invades a small, isolated town nestled deep in the Adirondacks. It cares nothing for this town’s secrets, prejudices, or flaws. Its only desires are to consume everything in its path and spread, until nothing else remains.

A small group of people stand in its way. They are the leftovers, the ignored, the excluded, and the dismissed. However, as the evil grows, they prove to be the only ones strong enough to stand and fight.

But how can they prevail against this power? It is ancient, pitiless, and unstoppable.

It is The Horror at Pleasant Brook.

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