This complexity is not so much confounding as enticing: each character is bound within a perspective that limits what they can know about the story as a whole, and the plot reveals are masterful ... In so many ways, Auē is quite different from its 1980s literary predecessors, more hopeful and tender ... Novelists must understand all of the above, without doubt, but the form asks us to go beyond. In bringing to the page characters who maim, but also characters who love fiercely, Manawatu has had to enter the aching heart of this story and bring her characters back from dark places. Auē has done well because it is expertly crafted, but also because it has something indefinable: enthralling, puzzling, gripping and familiar, yet otherworldly. I do see us in it, but I also see more.
... highly accomplished ... a very impressive debut that sweeps you along with its characters ... Manawatu's real achievement lies in two aspects of the novel. Firstly, she deftly intertwines several narrative strands, mixing the trajectories of Taukiri, Arama, their mother, Jade, and her husband, Toko. She moves easily between the past and the present, never revealing the cause of the death of Toko and the disappearance of Jade until the final few chapters. The younger brother, Arama, is the lynchpin. His story binds the others together, creating huge sympathy for his innocent plight...Secondly, Manawatu has caught the nuances of the different voices of the tale ... The only jarring note is the inclusion of unnamed, italicised voices in the last-third of the book. These are unclear and need more focus ... Where Manawatu's inexperience shows is in her climax. In a riot of implausibility, she brings all her strands together in one melodramatic rush. Coincidences pile on top of one another to stretch our credibility way beyond breaking point. This is a real pity, as it undoes much of the good, steady work she has done before ... Nevertheless, Auē signals the entrance of an impressive talent. Roll on the next!
Manawatu excels at enriching her characters and story lines with heartbreaking detail ... this layered work weaves a striking tapestry of fierce love and unflinching violence worthy of its poetic title ... These losses can get a bit muddy, and the book’s plotting veers dangerously close to melodrama in its chaotic final act, but Manawatu recovers with a moving finish to this devastating, beautifully written tale imbued with Maori culture and language.
... impressive ... The tension in Auē sometimes flags, and some key details are withheld too long, but overall Manawatu does a nice job of gradually revealing secrets and the intricacies of the characters’ myriad tragedies. Auē exposes the racism some New Zealanders feel toward Māoris, but it’s ultimately a hopeful work with a message worth remembering: Cries from the heart can be painful, but sometimes they get answered.
The prose is as changeable as the ocean: fluid most of the time, choppy and fragmented during intense moments. Each narrator contributes a unique perspective, their voices weaving together to form a coherent, devastating tale. A frightening climax forces all of the characters to reckon with the consequences of their actions—and gives them the chance at redemption that they long for.
