A review by serendipitysbooks
Auē by Becky Manawatu

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

 Auē won awards for best debut and best fiction book at this year’s New Zealand book awards. I can see why. It wasn’t an easy read by any means covering topics such as gangs and domestic violence. Much of the story is told from the perspective of eight year old Ari and his friend Beth. Their childlike viewpoint was equal parts delightful in its naïveté and heartbreaking as they had to deal with the impact of adult violence. I also liked the dual timeline (Ari and his brother Taukiri in the present; Jade and Toko in the past) since it highlighted the intergenerational impacts of abuse and trauma. I appreciated the fact that the timelines didn’t come together quite as smoothly as I had thought they would, highlighting both the complexity of life and the important role of whanau. The ending left me in two minds. On the one hand I felt it all came together too quickly and conveniently but I did really like the fact that it ended on a note of hope rather than despair. 
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