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Join the Kete community. Stay up-to-date on the latest in new books from Aotearoa, from reviews and events to giveaways.
Read our independent reviews of the latest books from Aotearoa.
Pānuihia ā mātou arotakenga tūhake o ngā pukapuka hou nō Aotearoa.
ReviewBurst Kisses on the Actual Wind is a tapestry of surprising and shifting verse, focused on connection and displacement, the blurring between internal landscapes and longed for real...
Reviewed by Kiri Piahana-Wong
24 May 2021
ReviewThe third and final volume of C. K. Stead’s memoirs, from leaving the University of Auckland to write full-time until today.
Reviewed by David Herkt
24 May 2021
ReviewIn Fifty Years a Feminist, Kedgley tracks the development of feminism over the last five decades and its intersection with her life, describing how she went from debutante to strop...
Reviewed by Kiran Dass
23 May 2021
ReviewThe 1960s was a period of radical conflict, when the desire for a new, socially defiant freedom affected every aspect of New Zealand culture: theatre, the visual arts, Māori activi...
Reviewed by David Herkt
19 May 2021
ReviewTeenagers around the world embark on a mysterious quest to help confront a major human rights’ abuse – and are themselves transformed in the sci-fi fantasy The Dark Quest of Counte...
Reviewed by Link Pickering
18 May 2021
ReviewA Clear Dawn is a landmark collection of poetry, fiction and essays by emerging writers is the first-ever anthology of Asian New Zealand creative writing. Some of the writers – in...
Reviewed by Helene Wong
17 May 2021
ReviewRebecca Macfie takes readers not only into Helen Kelly’s life but into a defining period in New Zealand’s history, when old values were replaced by the individualism of neo-liberal...
Reviewed by David Hill
17 May 2021
ReviewKyle Mewburn’s brave and revealing story asserts that no life should be constrained by lazy, simplistic binaries. When no one has to fake it - when everyone can be real, complex, a...
Reviewed by Renata Hopkins
12 May 2021
ReviewAuthor: Eileen Merriman. Reviewer: Jessie Neilson. In Eileen Merriman’s first instalment of a futuristic fantasy trilogy for young adults, we encounter a world not too far removed ...
Reviewed by Jessie Neilson
12 May 2021
ReviewChildhood, family, and death; anxiety and release; grief and the hope of new life: these are some of the themes that underpin Michelle Langstone's debut collection.
Reviewed by Ruth Spencer
10 May 2021
ReviewReading Greta & Valdin reminded me of watching Seinfeld in the 1990s. Smart, weird, hilarious, single people navigating living and loving in the big city.
Reviewed by Hannah Tunnicliffe
10 May 2021
ReviewIn equal parts adventure and a warning, and with the wisdom and frustration of half a century behind him, The Alarmist is the exhilarating autobiography of a pioneering Kiwi scien...
Reviewed by Jim Eagles
5 May 2021
ReviewIn the urban and rural wildernesses, there is an abundance of food just waiting to be discovered, if only you know what to look for. Foraged food is healthy, economical and sustain...
Reviewed by André Taber
5 May 2021
ReviewAs Nina Mingya Powles’ Magnolia is short-listed for yet another award, Renee Liang finds it deserves the praise.
Reviewed by Renee Liang
3 May 2021
Review'What Jacqueline Bublitz has created with her debut novel is far richer and entertains as readily as it questions and challenge our cultural obsession with dead girls.'
Reviewed by Greg Fleming
3 May 2021
ReviewDatura, or nightshades, include the devil’s trumpet, a plant with irresistibly gorgeous flowers that are highly toxic. … Beautiful and imperiling: that just about sums up the lives...
Reviewed by Maggie Trapp
28 April 2021
ReviewDavid Eggleton, Poet Laureate of Aotearoa 2019–21, has published nine poetry collections, and now, finally, comes a “Best of.”
Reviewed by Michael Steven
26 April 2021
ReviewEveryday food should be quick and easy, using readily available ingredients and simple techniques. Dotted throughout My Darling Lemon Thyme: Every Day, you will find “anything” rec...
Reviewed by André Taber
26 April 2021
ReviewBuying a rundown motel to start a new life — what could possibly go wrong? In this funny and moving novel, prize-winning author Stephanie Johnson turns her wry eye on us.
Reviewed by Maggie Trapp
22 April 2021
ReviewIn this transformative book, 24 Māori academics share their personal journeys, revealing what being Māori has meant for them in their work. Their perspectives provide insight for a...
Reviewed by Atakohu Middleton
21 April 2021
ReviewDiana Morrow tells the story of this remarkable New Zealand woman’s life and, in the process, provides valuable insights into the role of women social reformers in our history and ...
Reviewed by Atakohu Middleton
19 April 2021