Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Cornerstone)
My shortlist reading continued with this quirky book from New Zealand and it was one that I'd been aware of for a while but kept putting off reading - due to my misconception of the book.
Siblings Greta and Valdin have, perhaps, too much in common. They're flatmates, beholden to the same near-unpronounceable surname, and both make questionable choices when it comes to love.
Valdin is in love with his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who left the country because he thought he was making Valdin sad. Greta is in love with fellow English tutor Holly, who appears to be using her for admin support. But perhaps all is not lost. Valdin is coming to realize that he might not be so unlovable, and Greta, that she might be worth more than the papers she can mark.
Helping the siblings navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and the tendency of their love interests to flee, is the Vladisavljevic family: Maori-Russian-Catalonian, and as passionate as they are eccentric.
Rebecca K. Reilly's exploration of love, family, karaoke, and the generational reverberations of colonialism will make you laugh, cry, and fall for the whole Vladisavljevic bunch.
For some reason I'd become stuck on the first paragraph of this blurb and thought the book was going to be another book in the style of Eleanor Oliphant - a tragic(ish) story with a neurodivergent main character.
The book did have elements of that, but it was more about finding your place in the world when you have mixed heritage, are queer and there are family secrets bubbling under the surface ready to trip you up.
Despite the more unusual New Zealand setting I didn't get a huge sense of place while I was reading the novel, and it didn't grip me - I was interested enough to finish the book, but I wasn't rushing back to find out what happened next, and at times towards the end I got very muddled as to what was going on.
All in all I'm glad I decided to read all of the Waterstones Prize as otherwise this book would have languished on my shelf for years but overall not a favourite.
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