I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it. The 2 adult children went on about their relationships, and their heartbreak. They did have a good family support system, and ultimately, things worked out, but it was painful for me to read.
I even started over and re-read the first 100 pages, but just couldn't get into it either time. ( )

This is a New Zealand book that I bout at a fun bookstore in Wellington (Good Books) at the recommendation of a very enthusiastic bookseller. It's about a brother and sister of mixed Maori/Russion heritage, struggling with love, identity, carrier and mental illness. It's and easy, funny read on one had, with deeper issues about cultural and queer identity.

At times it was a bit too cute. (Example, a quote from Valdin: "At the moment, for personal reasons, I don't like reading things about people being in love with each other.). But over-all, I liked it, the New Zealand references are fun, the sibling's and their family are warmhearted and entertaining.

Recommended. ( )

Ahh I love this book so much. At about 60% I started panicking a little that these lovely bizarre enrapturing people were going to leave my life in about 100 pages and I wouldn't be able to call them to catch up on the latest news. I don't know. I love the voice, the tone, the language, the characters, the story. Man I thought I was done with coming-of-age-in-college stories, but I guess I was just done with some of them. This story, just about people trying to figure things out at all ages, really gives its characters room to be themselves, and this allows them to feel real, complex, fully developed. Plus it's funny, so funny, without cutting into the emotions of any part of the story. I looked at my highlights and they are all small moments that made me laugh because they rang true. I quite enjoyed this reminder of, and different viewpoint of, NZ. ( )

An actually funny New Zealand novel – we can do it! And also touchingly sweet at times. Twentysomethings with families and loves and sexualities even more complicated than twentysomethings are notorious for having. Snapshots of Wellington and Auckland, of non-Anglo New Zealand, of the anguish and blunders of love. I did notice every character, from teen to grandfather, seemed to talk like a witty twentysomething, but it was so amusing it was forgivable. ( )

(8.5) This came recommended by my daughter and it really was a pleasurable read.
The Vladisavljevic family are of Maori - Russian - Catalonian stock and reside in Auckland. They are well-educated and a loving bunch. Vaidin and Greta are siblings flatting together, both are gay. Valdin is heartbroken as his boyfriend, Xabi (who happen's to be his uncle's husband's brother), of several years has moved back to his homeland, Buenos Aires. Valdin had had a breakdown and Xabi blamed himself. Greta, too, is lonely and her latest love interest has a new partner.
This is a character driven novel in a modern Auckland setting. The narrative voices alternate each chapter between the two siblings.The dialogue is cleverly and credibly written. This engaging family draws the reader in to the tangled web of their lives. The book finishes on a positive note with Greta and Valdin discovering family dynamics that they had been unaware of.
This is a great first novel, a writer to be watched. ( )