Category Archives: Book Review

Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka – 2021

Posted on November 25, 2021 by alysonebaker

Kurangaituku graces us with the story of Hatupatu and the bird-woman from the female perspective. It tells of the coming into being, and fading from existence, of the universe, the natural world, and the individual. It asks why we learn … Continue reading →

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She’s a Killer by Kirsten McDougall – 2021

Posted on November 14, 2021 by alysonebaker

Our protagonist is a woman in her late thirties, whose name we know only from the sleeve notes – Alice. We learn through the novel that Alice has had a not-too-unusual upbringing, that she is a very bad judge of … Continue reading →

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Loop Tracks by Sue Orr – 2021

Posted on November 3, 2021 by alysonebaker

Charlie Lowry was fifteen-years-old in the late seventies – full of dreams and fantasies, and concerns about her peeling toenail varnish. She wanted boys to notice her, and they sometimes did, but for her fascination with words – she was … Continue reading →

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Two Truths by Dana C. Carver – 2020

Posted on October 31, 2021 by alysonebaker

If you love books about secret societies,  The holy blood and the holy grail–type conspiracies, ancient treasure hunts, von Däniken–adjacent human origin stories, New Age science and history, and grand unified theories of, well, everything … Two truths is the book for you. … Continue reading →

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Crazy Love by Rosetta Allan – 2021

Posted on October 13, 2021 by alysonebaker

Crazy love is about addiction, art, love with no boundaries, and the burden of mental illness. It is sad, beautiful, frustrating, and tantalising. It is about survival and despair and mundanity. It is about Vicky Miller and the destructive love … Continue reading →

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The Last Guests by J.P. Pomare – 2021

Posted on October 9, 2021 by alysonebaker

“Someone else is out there, watching, waiting. Terrorising us.” Lina is an ambulance driver, dealing with emergencies for a living. She is also dealing with Cain, her husband of seven years, who is still having nightmares after returning injured from … Continue reading →

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Crocodile Tears by Alan Carter – 2021

Posted on October 7, 2021 by alysonebaker

Philip ‘Cato’ Kwong, now part of the Major Crime Unit in Perth, is dealing with two, apparently unrelated, mutilated bodies – one an ex-cop one an ex-schoolteacher. Sharon Wang, his wife, is a federal agent, working nights at the international … Continue reading →

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The Animals In That Country by Laura Jean McKay – 2020

Posted on October 2, 2021 by alysonebaker

I think anthropomorphism is useful when it enables people, and researchers, to see non-human animals as thinking feeling beings with a sense of their place in the world. I think anthropomorphism is a bad thing when it entails the animals … Continue reading →

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Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz – 2021

Posted on September 8, 2021 by alysonebaker

Jennifer Beard, Monica Cantwell, Heidi Paakkonen, Mellory Manning, Grace Millane … just some of the women’s names we in Aotearoa know because they died brutally at the hands of men. Their names are all most of us do know about these … Continue reading →

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Double Helix by Eileen Merriman – 2021

Posted on September 3, 2021 by alysonebaker

Jake and Emily were childhood friends and neighbours. Now in his early twenties, Jake returns to Dunedin from Auckland, where he has been studying after failing to get into medical school. Jake will finally start his medical training, which Emily … Continue reading →

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