show you’re working out by liz breslin. Dead Bird Books (2025). RRP: $35. PB, 82pp. ISBN: 9780473751500. Reviewed by Sylvan Spring. ‘we were born to deviations / gentle ferocious / unexpected ways.’ This first line of the last poem in liz breslin’s show you’re working out feels central to the story they carry us through…
Pastoral Care by John Prins. OUP (2025). RRP: $35. PB, 246pp. ISBN: 9781991348104. Reviewed by Erica Stretton. John Prins’ debut short story collection Pastoral Care probes at the nature of care, of caring, and of safety: what can be sacrificed to stay safe? Prins is a master of pressing hard on small details to evoke…
No Good by Sophie van Waardenberg. AUP (2025). RRP: $24.99. PB, 80pp. ISBN: 9781776711789. Reviewed by Hebe Kearney. No Good is a striking, clear, and soft collection of poetry. It holds the tension of these disparate adjectives perfectly, and while it is at times a sorrowful work, it is never a disheartening one. Upon reading…
Hoods Landing by Laura Vincent. Āporo Press (2025). RRP: $35. PB, 256pp. ISBN: 9780473745684. Reviewed by Laura Borrowdale. Laura Vincent’s Instagram, @hungryandfrozen, used to be full of bird’s eye images of delectable plates of aspirational food: pasta with harissa and beans curled lovingly on a pea green plate, mint choc chip ice cream with a…
Before the Winter Ends by Khadro Mohamed. Tender Press (2025). RRP: $30.00. PB, 289pp. ISBN: 9780473737405. Reviewed by Neema Singh. Khadro Mohamed’s stunning debut novel Before the Winter Ends could be read as a companion piece to her award-winning 2022 poetry collection We’re All Made of Lightning: the vivid imagery of Aotearoa New Zealand, Somalia,…
The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey. THWUP (2025). RRP: $38. PB, 400pp. ISBN: 9781776922246. Reviewed by Erica Stretton. Catherine Chidgey’s ninth novel, The Book of Guilt, was released in May and has already received strong reviews both in Aotearoa and abroad. Adding to the discourse around one of our most acclaimed authors—twice winner of…
Slowing the Sun by Nadine Hura. Bridget Williams Books (2025). RRP: $40. PB, 240 pp. ISBN: 978199130169. Reviewed by Māia Te Whetū. Nadine Hura’s Slowing the Sun is the kind of book you have to put down for a few days once you realise you’re nearing its end, when the pinch of pages between the…
Overseas Experience by Nicola Andrews. Āporo Press (2025). RRP: $30. PB, 92 pp. ISBN: 9780473745677. Reviewed by Melissa Oliver. It can sometimes be hard, when a work of art holds a light up to your deep insecurities, to look at it objectively. But in Overseas Experience, Nicola Andrews takes your hand and doesn’t let go…
Oceans Between Us: Pacific Peoples and Racism in Aotearoa edited by Sereana Naepi. AUP (2025). RRP: $40. PB, 272pp. ISBN 9781776711253. Reviewed by Tracey Sharp. We know the statistics. Pacific peoples in Aotearoa consistently rank lower than non-Pacific populations across nearly every measure—health, wealth, home ownership, longevity, educational attainment, and wellbeing—and higher in incarceration rates.…
Joss: A History by Grace Yee. Giramondo Publishing (2025). RRP: $33. PB, 96pp. ISBN: 9781923106314. Reviewed by Cybonn Ang. Following the success of her multi award-winning debut, Chinese Fish—a novel-in-verse exploring the struggles of a Chinese immigrant family in Aotearoa New Zealand—author Grace Yee once again dips her pen into the marvelous well of antipodean…