Aotearoa New Zealand Review of Books

History Māori Nature Nonfiction Science

Hard by the Cloud House
by Peter Walker

'Like a dagger at a pyjama party': the histories of a giant raptor.

Sally BlundellMay 14, 2024

Children’s Literature Fantasy Fiction Māori

Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie
by Shelley Burne-Field

A debut novel that offers 'a fresh, hawk-like dive into the fictional lives of our native manu'.

Sonya WilsonMay 3, 2024

Art Illustrated Memoir Nonfiction

Dear Colin, Dear Ron: Selected Letters of Colin McCahon and Ron O’Reilly
by Peter Simpson

The 'illuminating' record of a long friendship and forty years at the heart of New Zealand visual art.

Leonard BellApril 29, 2024

Essays History Memoir Nonfiction Society

The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation
by Richard Shaw

A 'courageous book' on Pākehā ‘journeying back into the map of memory'.

Paul DiamondApril 5, 2024

Essays Nonfiction

The Beautiful Afternoon
by Airini Beautrais

Dazzling essays that 'explore not just personal experience but travels in knowledge'.

Anne KennedyApril 5, 2024

Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Māori Novel

The Space Between
by Lauren Keenan

A tale of two outsiders, Māori and Pākehā, in 1860, while Taranaki tumbles into war.

Kelly Ana MoreyApril 3, 2024

Asian Fiction Literary Fiction Novel

Amma
by Saraid de Silva

A debut novel that feels like 'an instant classic'.

Sanjana KhusalApril 3, 2024

LGBTQIA+Poetry

i’m still growing
by Josiah Morgan

A 'full-throttle' collection of 'quiet meditations and violent outcries of desire'.

Sophie van WaardenbergMarch 27, 2024

Crime Fiction Fiction Mystery Noir Novel

The Call
by Gavin Strawhan

A 'smart, complex, nuanced' crime story.

Andrew Paul WoodMarch 20, 2024

Asian Fiction Literary Fiction Novel

When I open the shop
by Romesh Dissanayake

'Acutely observed' comedy and pathos in this debut novel.

Angelique KasmaraMarch 15, 2024

Fiction Novel Thriller

The Night She Fell
by Eileen Merriman

A taut thriller about brittle med students in Dunedin, their drugs and disguises.

Clare TravagliaMarch 6, 2024

Children’s Literature Fantasy Fiction

The Grimmelings
by Rachael King

Contemporary Aotearoa, Scottish mythology and 'a generous dollop of the fantastical' in a gripping and original novel.

Erica StrettonFebruary 28, 2024

Fiction Literary Fiction

Because All Fades
by Freddie Gillies

'Young people travelling' in a 'confident and fresh' debut novel set in Europe.

Rebecca HillFebruary 23, 2024

Memoir Nonfiction

Do You Still Have Time for Chaos?
by Lynn Davidson

A 'discursive exploration of belonging and not belonging, of the pull of home and the play of history'.

Sally BlundellFebruary 21, 2024

Fiction Literary Fiction Māori Short Stories

Bird Child & Other Stories
by Patricia Grace

A long-awaited collection from one of our greatest storytellers.

Paula MorrisFebruary 16, 2024

Poetry

Fleur Adcock: Collected Poems

The 'proof of a life bound to language' over sixty years of poetry.

Sophie van WaardenbergFebruary 16, 2024

Pasifika Poetry

Big Fat Brown Bitch
by Tusiata Avia

Poetry by a 'bold, uncompromising artist' who emerges triumphant from the worst of years.

Paula MorrisDecember 22, 2023

Art Essays Illustrated Literature Memoir Music Nonfiction Pasifika Photography Society

Pacific Arts Aotearoa
ed. Lana Lopesi

A journey through dozens of art forms and artists who 'powerfully assert Pacific identities on their own terms'.

Andrea LowDecember 22, 2023