Kids and I loved listening to this! We're going to do all of them.
If you're a highly sensitive person, suffering from low self esteem, or just going through heartbreak, change or grief, this book is for you. Each page, each poem, is a personal love letter. I often preferred the more crafted poems with techniques like chiasmus and imagery to her more Instagram adjacent poetry. I liked the way the whole collection was structured as a journey or narrative.
Josie Shapiro's lyrical prose and authentic portrayal of ordinary life continues in her second novel, Good Things Come and Go. Through a split narrative, she crafts compelling, round characters whose intersecting lives navigate somber themes such as identity and grief. Existential, yet grounded in everyday hope, the novel carries the texture of contemporary New Zealand life, enriched by familiar slang and moments of unexpected wry humour.
I liked the plot, characters and third person limited narrative POV, but the last 15 chapters of the book were hard to get through. Kevin's focalisation became so repetitive it was irritating. I get that it was meant to show his psychological instability, but it lost its effect. It would have been better to reduce his POV or just drive the story forward earlier.
What an incredible story and person. It's so heartbreaking and shocking to read about the abuse he suffered at both a familial and systemic level. The book was a real page turner from beginning to end. I'm keen to hear how he gets on with his Waitangi Tribunal Claim.
Cheesy and cliche, but some surprising depth in moments, exploring topics like mental health and burnout.
Interesting to hear from Four rather than Tris' perspective for a change and learn about his journey from Abnegation to Dauntless.
Loved listening to this with my children. The full cast and sound effects make it so engaging that they've decided Harry Potter is no longer 'boring'.
I really enjoyed the structure and split narrative. It gave the story forward momentum and made it hard to put it down. I read it in a day!