(6.5) This is not my usual fare although it is a New Zealand author. Bu is the foster child of a New Zealand couple. They are forced to live in isolation in the deep south as Bu is different. As a young man he leaves to explore his world which causes tragedy. He finds himself in hospital and becomes the victim of social media and medical curiosity. He is seven feet tall and covered in fur. Speculation mounts. Is he a yeti or a maero?
This is probably better aimed at a young adult audience as I struggled to be taken in by this tale. Their is some good poetic language and this author's most recent work was shortlisted for the NZ book Awards this year. ( )

I found this book slow in pace and lacking in tension. I felt there was a long time where not much happened. Although, the ending was powerful. Maybe if it was more tension-filled it would become cliched?

Thematically, it's interesting. The people who surround Bu are also interesting characters studies.

I think it would be a good novel for Yr 12/13 high school students because of the themes.

It is worth a read. ( )

Taken from his native land at a very young age Bu came to live in New Zealand with his adoptive parents. But Bu is different from other children and his parents take him to live in the bush.
Years later he is now over seven-feet tall, his skin covered in thick hair; he looks like a Yeti.

Something happens that sends Bu to the city, a new and scary place, where he finds himself in hospital. Bu is beside himself with worry and can not communicate with the doctors who want to run all kinds of tests on him. In hospital he meets Sardine young woman befriends him and he starts to talk, as he lets her in to his life, she realises what a life he has had. After release from hospital Bu is forced into hiding as things spiral out of his control.

Written beautifully with compassion and sensitivity this first time novel had me absorbed in Bu’s world from beginning to end ( )