Twenty-something siblings Greta and Valdin navigate love, life and the chaos of their Māori-Russian-Catalan family.

This. Book. Is. Fire. That is all.

Just kidding, that is not all. I loved this book - it’s witty, pacy, clever and fabulous and my joint favourite book of the year (so far). Greta and Valdin are utterly neurotic in their own ways, and I just wanted to be friends with them. Their family is sometimes chaotic but always loving, cosmopolitan and intellectual. Beneath the deadpan humour lie sharp observations on NZ’s brand of racism, figuring out your twenties and identity, especially how to navigate an identity when you feel disconnected from that culture. I am always interested in stories about the complexities of multicultural identity and this does not disappoint. The main characters celebrate the diversity of Māori - they may not fit an expected “typical” profile, and that makes them all the more realistic. It’s also refreshing that not only is there more than one gay character, but being gay is a facet of their identity, not their whole personality. This is millennial fiction at its absolute best - a sharp, funny and observant exploration of identity, with a heavy dose of existential crisis and neuroticism and about a million NZ references.