We’re excited to launch a new series of online reviews, edited by Cher Tan. You’ll find the first offerings for April and May below—watch this space for more excellent content soon.
Reviewed: Root and Branch, Eda Gunaydin
by May Ngo
“The first thing that strikes me about Root and Branch, Eda Gunaydin’s debut collection of essays, is her eye: what she sees and how she sees, and the way this is conveyed through exuberant writing that is at turns funny, sarcastic and dark. It’s the details here that matter. . .”
Reviewed: The Burnished Sun, Mirandi Riwoe
by Maks Sipowicz
“Mirandi Riwoe’s latest book, The Burnished Sun, is a forceful collection of stories about alienation, missing home, sacrifice, and striving for acceptance. It consists of twelve stories, including ‘The Fish Girl’, which won the Seizure Viva La Novella prize in 2017. Throughout this book Riwoe takes the reader into the emotional lives of her protagonists…”
Reviewed: Here Goes Nothing, Steve Toltz
by Scott Limbrick
“Angus Mooney is dead. This isn’t a spoiler: this is page one of Steve Toltz’s latest novel, Here Goes Nothing. Angus, a wedding videographer with a checkered history, has been murdered, and is immediately thrust into a strange afterlife that isn’t heaven, hell, or even purgatory, while the man who killed him attempts to seduce his wife. . .”
Reviewed: How to Be Between, Bastian Fox Phelan
by Zowie Douglas-Kinghorn
“Bastian Fox Phelan’s debut, How to Be Between, is a striking millennial odyssey. Documenting their experience growing up in Wollongong, Newcastle, and Sydney, couch-surfing in Europe and backpacking in the US, Phelan weaves their personal narrative into an exploration of facial hair and its implications for a young genderfluid person. . .”
