A review by katyboo52
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton

5.0

I got this as a review copy from Net Galley. It is, in effect a kind of magical realist take on The Sopranos. Set in Australia in the Eighties, it centres on the massively dysfunctional lives of Eli and Augustus, two boys whose parents have made some spectacularly bad choices in life, which have, as the story opens, come back to haunt them. Told through Eli's eyes, what is in effect a bleak and troubling story becomes funny, dark, sad, and redemptive, but not in a hopeless, cliched sort of way. The writing is fresh and compelling and the story is magnificent. A contender for book of the year for me.