Reviews
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Read our independent reviews of the latest books from Aotearoa.
Pānuihia ā mātou arotakenga tūhake o ngā pukapuka hou nō Aotearoa.
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ReviewClare Travaglia can't put down Liam McIlvanney's latest thriller, THE GOOD FATHER.
Reviewed by Clare Travaglia
22 June 2025
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Review'The bilingual presentation creates a unique reading experience. Stories appear numerically from 1-100, side by side in both languages, allowing readers to compare versions and dis...
Reviewed by Savannah Patterson
17 June 2025
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Review'This book reverberates with the bravery and tireless work ethic of extraordinary women in the face of absurd levels of prejudice and misogyny. Recognising that the past is still p...
Reviewed by Himali McInnes
16 June 2025
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ReviewWhat does a leader look like? Angela Walker dives into Jacinda Ardern's philosophy in A Different Kind of Power.
Reviewed by Angela Walker
10 June 2025
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Review'In amongst the main adventure plot, there are fart jokes, whistling challenges, a haunted house, and in a nod to Book 1 of the series, scorched shoelaces...'
Reviewed by Erica Stretton
9 June 2025
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ReviewRochelle Ganderton reviews the 'heart-warming' THE SECRETS OF MAIDEN'S COVE by Erin Palmisano, a world of strong female friendship and mermaids.
Reviewed by Rochelle Ganderton
5 June 2025
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Review'It pays to ask yourself before that 4-hectare block on your watchlist, could I tackle a duck the size of a swan and pull an eel from its nostril with pliers? The author found out....
Reviewed by Anna Scaife
2 June 2025
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Review'What is not a metaphor is our connections, as Māori, to our landmarks as living embodiments of ancestors, inseparable from ourselves...'
Reviewed by Jade Kake
26 May 2025
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Review'Rory’s death propels the collision of these three women, and each must reckon not only with each other, but with their grief and their secrets...'
Reviewed by Clare Travaglia
25 May 2025
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Review'The poetic voice used throughout, the mad diva of the title, is desperate to feel the full intensity of lived experience, while at the same time conscious of immortalising life th...
Reviewed by Melanie Kwang
21 May 2025
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Review'Clarkson says receiving her kauae has been the most empowering experience of her life. “I know that peace comes from the fact there’s no misunderstanding who I am...'
Reviewed by Angela Walker
20 May 2025
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Review'Bennett has built another hurtling plot that's crammed with surprises. The Gods of Fiction forbid me from including any spoilers, but I'll mention an SAS killing revisited, a Kore...
Reviewed by David Hill
18 May 2025
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Review'Mohamed transports readers through time, evoking the untamed beauty of the Pyramids of Giza—a place where Asha’s ghosts linger...'
Reviewed by Tsitsi Mapepa
13 May 2025
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Review'Everything readers have come to expect from Hoey is here. 1985 is acerbic, questioning, political, sometimes sentimental, based on hard won experience, and - a trait little seen...
Reviewed by Greg Fleming
11 May 2025
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Review'All the children at the Sycamore Homes are orphans and they ‘sometimes felt poorly’, suffering from a mystery illness, which they call the Bug. This illness presents itself with m...
Reviewed by Josie Shapiro
7 May 2025
Review'DESCENDING FIRE brims with details every author will recognise: the wonder and apprehension when characters set off in unexpected directions; the pleasure when disparate elements ...
Reviewed by David Hill
6 May 2025
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ReviewAnuja Mitra is impressed by the spiky and fascinating debut collection OVER UNDER FED by Amy Marguerite, in this capsule review plus poem extract.
Reviewed by Anuja Mitra
4 May 2025
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ReviewSEA CHANGE marks veteran historical author Jenny Pattrick's first foray into contemporary fiction. Reviewer Carole Brungar is impressed by her deft handling of a community of indiv...
Reviewed by Carole Brungar
30 April 2025
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Review'There is relatability here, especially in poems such as ‘Ubers’, where the author describes the multiple worst case scenarios they could think of during an Uber car ride. It’s onl...
Reviewed by Katalaina Saute
27 April 2025
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Review'Mau push[es] back against the systematic abuses and sexism women face in newsrooms and the institutions of power that are supposed to protect them... But underpinning the trajecto...
Reviewed by Claire Williamson
21 April 2025
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Review'She was above all a talented, industrious, 'thorough and pertinacious' botanical painter. Her watercolours and oils of NZ flora were admired and exhibited internationally...'
Reviewed by David Hill
15 April 2025