#I also appreciate how the theme of community and connection and growth extended to conor - | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

aroaessidhe · 3 days ago

Text

2024 reads / storygraph

The Mires

literary, magical realism

follows three women who are neighbours in Kāpiti, in the near future

a Māori single mother, and her daughter - who can sense the thoughts and memories of people and the land

a refugee from climate disaster, struggling to fit in with the unfamiliar culture and relative safety with her husband and young daughter

and an older white woman whose son has recently moved home after being groomed into a right wing extremist group, causing tensions to rise among them all

#the mires #tina makereti #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #eally beautiful novel with shifting perspectives and poetic writing; exploring climate change; community; motherhood; poverty; extremism.#A lot of really interesting characters! I especially enjoyed kiri and sera’s tentatively developing friendship.#I loved the depiction of the magical/spiritual elements of Wairere’s connection to water and life. And of course I love Swamp POV.#I have the tendency to describe books like this as set in a ‘climate ravaged near future’ but it’s ones like that these that emphasise that #while it may be set in a near future; the climate disaster they’ve experienced is exactly what is happening in many places now #I also appreciate how the theme of community and connection and growth extended to conor -#he could easily be an irredeemable racist villain but the narrative has more depth and complexity than that; giving him space to atone #without making him more important than the other characters.#Like not that I care about him specifically but in terms of the other’s ability to connect & understand.#I always love an audiobook that includes the author’s note and acknowledgements!!!!

17 notes · View notes