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Greta & Valdin

A Novel

Audiobook
0 of 2 copies available
0 of 2 copies available
A TIME MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR
  • A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE
  • AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
  • A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

    "A heartfelt portrait of a complex family." —People
  • "Laugh-out-loud-funny." —Harper's Bazaar
  • "Quintessential rom-com meets the delicious family sprawl of a Russian classic." —Vanity Fair

    The "brilliant" (Daily Mail, London) bestseller that follows a brother and sister as they navigate queerness, multiracial identity, and family drama, all while flailing their way to love—for fans of Schitt's Creek and Sally Rooney's Normal People.

    It's been a year since his ex-boyfriend dumped him and moved from Auckland to Buenos Aires, and Valdin is doing fine. He has a good flat with his sister Greta, a good career where his colleagues only occasionally remind him that he is the sole Maaori person in the office, and a good friend who he only sleeps with when he's sad. But when work sends him to Argentina and he's thrown back in his former lover's orbit, Valdin is forced to confront the feelings he's been trying to ignore—and the future he wants.

    Greta is not letting her painfully unrequited crush (or her possibly pointless master's thesis, or her pathetic academic salary...) get her down. She would love to focus on the charming fellow grad student she meets at a party and her friendships with a circle of similarly floundering twenty-somethings, but her chaotic family life won't stop intruding: her mother is keeping secrets, her nephew is having a gay crisis, and her brother has suddenly flown to South America without a word.

    Filled with "kernels of humor and truth" (Elle) and with an undeniable emotional momentum that builds to an exuberant conclusion, Greta & Valdin careens us through the siblings' misadventures and the messy dramas of their sprawling, eccentric Maaori-Russian-Catalonian family. An acclaimed bestseller in New Zealand, Greta & Valdin is fresh, joyful, and alive with the possibility of love in its many mystifying forms.
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      • Publisher's Weekly

        November 20, 2023
        New Zealander Reilly debuts with a charming tale of two siblings reckoning with heartache and familial dysfunction. The novel begins as a comedy of errors. Valdin, who goes by V and has obsessive compulsive disorder, opens a package meant for his father, Linsh, mistakenly believing it’s a book returned as an olive branch by his ex-boyfriend, Xabi. Meanwhile, V’s sister, Greta, is ghosted by an internet date while on a trip to Wellington and ends up lost on a dark forest path. The siblings, who share an apartment in Auckland, have no shortage of complicated family dynamics (Linsh is Russian; their mother, Betty, is Mā
        ori; and Xabi is their uncle’s Catalonian husband’s brother). Greta, an English tutor and graduate student at the University of Auckland, pines for one of her colleagues, while V, a former astrophysicist turned TV travel show host, flies to Argentina on assignment, where he seizes a chance to connect with Xabi. Reilly drops in lots of Māori words and phrases, but does so in a manner that readers will find immersive rather than alienating, thanks in part to Greta’s interest in learning what they mean. This offbeat millennial comedy has universal appeal. Agents: Jenny Bent and Martha Perotto-Wills, Bent Agency.

      • AudioFile Magazine
        Narrators Natalie Beran and Jackson Bliss portray queer Russian-Maori siblings Greta and Valdin in this wise, hilarious novel about a loving and chaotic New Zealand family. Beran depicts Greta, a 20-something PhD student who is navigating various relationship messes, in a perky, wry tone that is dripping with millennial angst. Bliss narrates Valdin's sections with a mix of earnestness and detachment. A year after being dumped by his boyfriend, he's just starting to get his life back on track--or, at least, he thinks so. Eilidh Beaton, Nico Evers-Swindell, and Gary Furlong make cameo appearances as various family members and significant others. The narrators' varied New Zealand accents and ease with snappy dialogue make every moment of this joyful audiobook a pleasure. L.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
      • Library Journal

        May 1, 2024

        This funny coming-of-age story, narrated by an ensemble of narrators and starring queer Māori Russian siblings Greta and Valdin, traverses many ways of loving through experience, confusion, strength, and hope. Spotlighting Greta and Valdin's charmingly fraught relationships, Reilly's irreverent prose draws listeners into a warm cocoon of discovery, deep feeling, and self-awareness. Lead narrators Natalie Beran and Jackson Bliss capture the characters' emotions, oscillating among ego, pride, and plenty of anxiety. Many friends, lovers, and family members make their way through the story with complicated, earnest, and occasionally chaotic personalities. At times emotional and self-reflective, the story takes listeners through hookups, breakups, coming out, and coming together, continually emphasizing the importance of making conscious choices to maintain connections with one's loved ones. Though most of the novel takes place in New Zealand, the characters come from around the world. The narrators differentiate each character, skillfully employing dialects and delivering many laugh-out-loud moments. VERDICT Readers of Sally Rooney looking for a queer, self-redeeming, and family-focused narrative are sure to enjoy Reilly's striking debut.--Kailyn Slater

        Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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