How do you pick up the pieces after life has served you enough trauma for a lifetime?

Charlotte, aged 17, is trying to recover in a world that owes her nothing, but has taken so much. In our season 3 finale, we dive into Girl in Pieces' representations of self-harm, hospitalisation, and unhealthy relationships, and ask the big question: does this book risk doing more harm than good?

Spoiler review starts at 31:34.

Find Novel Feelings via:

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Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

Note: We will going on hiatus in the first half of 2024, but hope to launch Season 4 later in the year!

Life is pretty good for sixteen-year-old Abby.  When new girl Chloe arrives, Abby is pleased to be the one to show her around, to welcome her to the group. But Abby doesn’t imagine Chloe fitting in so well or quite so quickly. And before long Abby is feeling just a little left out, a little unsure of Ella’s friendship. In a moment of anger and confusion she wishes something bad would happen. When it does—with tragic consequences—everything shifts again.

In this episode, we speak with the author of Let's Never Speak of this Again, Megan Williams, about the book, her characters, her writing process, and winning the 2023 Text Prize.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
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• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

Is it possible to hibernate your problems away?

Our main character - privileged, vain, and traumatised - chooses to sleep for a year to take a break from her life. In our spiciest review yet, we discuss self-medication, unlikable characters, and one of the worst mental heath professionals we’ve ever encountered in fiction.

Spoiler review starts at 41:36

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
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• Twitter
• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

When Dale stumbles into a bedroom at a party and sees a drunk girl being undressed by a group of guys, he backs away and runs. He’s pretty drunk himself, but he knows what he saw. Why didn’t he stop them? Why did he run?

We speak in-depth with author Robyn Dennison about how she approaches writing a character who struggles with passivity, representations of disordered eating, and her research.

NOTE: Apologies for the audio issues in this episode. We were contending with new equipment and not everything went according to plan!

Find Robyn via her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

How do you come back from the depths of your own mind? Neal Shusterman is one of our favourite authors, so it was a no brainer for us to dive into a book he's written about an often stigmatised mental health disorder.

Joined by Leah from YA Book Chat, we discuss the experiences of delusions and hallucinations; hospital-based treatments of mental health disorders; and the role of families in recovery.

Spoiler review starts at 33:23.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
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• Twitter
• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

Three sisters. Three sisters. Three vastly different lives. A maelstrom of family secrets.

The Neapolitan Sisters is riotous, provocative tale of family and sisterhood. Maritza is a princess bridezilla, Claudia is the family “fixer,” and Dulcina “Dooley” is finally sober. As the three are reunited for a wedding, their secrets are unravelled.

We speak in-depth with author Margo Candela about the evolution of her writing, challenging stereotypes, control, and writing complex characters.

Find Margo via her website, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
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• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

When our whole lives are online, how can we keep things private... and safe? 

Dark Mode delves into the terrifying reality of the dark web, and the price we pay for surrendering our privacy one click at a time.

Join us as we speak with author Ashley Kalagian Blunt about online misogyny, radicalisation, narcissism and psychopathy. And the power of true crime.

Find Ashley via her website, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
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• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

There are plenty of dates in this story, but Queenie is not about romance.

Queenie Jenkins navigates life after a long-term relationship break-up. The premise sounds like a rom-com, but the story visits some dark places along the way.

In this episode, we discuss themes such as trauma, racism, anxiety, relationship red flags, and consent. Listen to find out why we think Queenie is well worth a read.

Spoiler review starts at 35:14.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
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• Twitter
• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

If we don't talk about complex mental health conditions, how can we expect things to change? Journalist, presenter, and producer Elfy Scott joins us to talk about her book The One Thing We've Never Spoken About. This powerful piece of non-fiction draws from Elfy's family's experience with schizophrenia to ask big questions about vulnerability, justice and duty of care.

We chat about Elfy about her personal connection to this topic, her experiences researching and writing the book, and sharing lived experience authentically.

Find Elfy via her website, Instagram or Twitter.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
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• Twitter
• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.

In our latest author interview, we talk with Anne Buist, author and psychiatrist. Anne recently published the fourth novel in the Natalie King Series, Locked Ward.  The novel follows forensic psychiatrist Natalie, as she stays in the mother-baby unit of a private psychiatric unit - only to find herself in the centre of a murder case.

We chat about Anne's previous and upcoming work, refugee mental health, the stigma of mental illness (particularly within the mental health profession), and more. The first half of the episode is spoiler-free!

You can find Anne via her website.

Find Novel Feelings via:

• Our website
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Goodreads.

Join our 2023 Reading Challenge on The Storygraph.

Detailed show notes available on our website.