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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ReviewClaire Williamson investigates homesteading and what it takes to be a little self-sufficient, reviewing Gillian Swinton's THE GOOD LIFE.
Reviewed by Claire Williamson
14 April 2025
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Review'There is a journalistic quality to the writing, a weight to the stories that is satisfying to read. There is artistry, something more playful, irreverent and dreamlike in many of ...
Reviewed by Nat Baker
13 April 2025
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ReviewNORTHBOUND is journalist Naomi Arnold's nine-month journey walking the Te Araroa trail, from one end of Aotearoa to the other. Anna Scaife is captured by the candid, immediate writ...
Reviewed by Anna Scaife
3 April 2025
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Review'An element which runs through all of Frizzell’s multiple activities is self-confidence. He is admirably sure of himself, a characteristic that enables him to take on tasks which m...
Reviewed by Peter Simpson
2 April 2025
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ReviewBecs Tetley muses on the wide-ranging appeal of Ruth Shaw and her latest book, THREE WEE BOOKSHOPS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, a continuation of Shaw's popular memoir.
Reviewed by Becs Tetley
2 April 2025
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ReviewThe Bookshop Detectives return with another bookshop-based mystery, featuring legendary storyteller Dame Fiona Kidman amongst other real-life and fictional Kiwi novelists, as Garth...
Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
1 April 2025
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Review'You are Here feels like a homecoming. Home: both the beginning and the end, te tīmatanga me te whakamutunga, of an endless journey, with each new beginning different in its own wa...
Reviewed by Jade Kake
31 March 2025
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Review'Lightfoot takes the classic coming-of-age story and drags it through a surreal, shadowy landscape where fear takes on a life of its own...'
Reviewed by Imogen Gadd
30 March 2025
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Review'Tiahuia Gray wore many hats, from city councillor to teacher, kaikaranga to nurse; but despite despite her many positions and accomplishments, it was her mahi as a māmā that under...
Reviewed by Isla Huia
27 March 2025
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Review'Forman paints a vivid picture of Fomison's life in the 1960s and 1970s, including his time on the streets in Paris, his stay in a European mental hospital, stints of incarceration...
Reviewed by Andrew Paul Wood
26 March 2025
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ReviewRachel Paris's debut thriller SEE HOW THEY FALL provides plenty of pace and unpredictability, as poisonings among a billionaire Australian family unleash all sorts of skeletons. R...
Reviewed by Craig Sisterson
26 March 2025
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ReviewAnuja Mitra explores the kaleidoscopic collection TE MOANA O REO and its 'melody stitching together a number of voices; old and young, established and new.'
Reviewed by Anuja Mitra
23 March 2025
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ReviewReviewed by Erik Kennedy
19 March 2025
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ReviewReviewed by Sarah Ell
18 March 2025
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Review'Meet Violet Grumble: a twelve-year-old rockstar in the making. Violet’s dream is to compete at BandChamps, the ultimate school music competition. The only problem? Her bandmates d...
Reviewed by Imogen Gadd
17 March 2025
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ReviewSiniva Bennett considers the accessibility of Pasifika scholarship in Damon Salesa's award-winning AN INDIGENOUS OCEAN, published by Bridget Williams Books.
Reviewed by Siniva Bennett
12 March 2025
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ReviewThree reviewers, Rebecca Puni, Elizabeth Hosking, and Tony Fe’ao, tackle three Pasifika Playmarket plays in a series of short reviews coordinated and edited by Shaun Bamber.
Reviewed by Rebecca Puni, Elizabeth Hosking, and Tony Fe’ao
10 March 2025
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Review'This book is a powerful collection of visual and personal responses to the dawn raids, created by leading and emerging Pasifika artists...'
Reviewed by Pauline Smith
6 March 2025
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Review'We all agreed that powerful poetry provides a platform for urgent dialogue. Just as Manuali’i is a collection of moments of loss, love, heartbreak, and everything in between, it a...
Reviewed by Ruby Macomber
5 March 2025
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Review'Kersel’s poems are deeply rooted in Pacific family and culture, and she paints these connections with such warmth and precision that you can almost smell the sapasui simmering on ...
Reviewed by Gina Cole
3 March 2025
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Review'Brief chapters which centre on the alpaca’s point of view balance out the rest of the novel’s hectic pace, and also serve as a reminder that they are the victims in all the schemi...
Reviewed by Angelique Kasmara
24 February 2025