Very character driven, focusing mainly on siblings, Greta & Valdin’s PoV.
Through their eyes get to know them, the extended cast and their eccentric and wonderful family.

Which can get a bit confusing at times, as you’re not always sure who is who (thankfully there is a glossary of everyone at the beginning!)

The story, like its characters only showed its secrets when it was ready to share them with you.

Loved that mostly everyone in this was queer. A good read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher
4/5 ⭐️

An engaging read with a great balance of humour and heart. It would be a great pick-up for anyone who appreciates familial and romantic relationships explored in the landscape of literary fiction, although I would say there are comp titles that do it better.

greta and valdin, a pair of gay siblings in their twenties, live in auckland with their eccentric maori-russian-catalonian family, the vladisavljevics. like all of us, they are contending the highs and lows of growing up in the twenty-first century, juggling work, relationships, and their social media personas — a game reilly clearly knows all too well.

through short, first-person chapters that alternate between greta and valdin's perspectives as they muddle through everyday life, reilly's debut delves into the intricacies of love, familial bonds, and the enduring generational echoes of colonialism. her prose is sharp, witty, and brimming with life, and her narrative is strongest when dissecting the siblings' experiences of queerness, multiracial identity, and the tumultuous journey that is finding yourself amidst the chaos of young love and longing.

the support and love provided to both greta and valdin by their parents while they navigate the turbulent waters of their desires and insecurities was lovely to read; i loved witnessing each of their familial relationships unfold. i also liked how reilly repeatedly subverts readers' assumptions through positing queerness and polyamory as almost the norm in the vladisavljevic clan.

i found myself much more interested in the mundanities of greta and valdin’s lives than in the many threads of family lore that become increasingly tangled in their stories; i found myself tempted to skim-read some parts. overall, though, this was a fun, lighthearted read, and i’m excited to see what reilly does next!

thank you so much for the arc!

It took me a while to get into this and figure out who all the characters were, but I’m so glad I stuck it out because this easily one of my favourite reads of the year. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed out loud that many times while reading a book, it really is very funny. I came to love both Greta and Valdin, and the way in which they care for each other (V buying all of Greta’s favourite things when he came back from a trip was so sweet).

Not my usual genre but once I got into this I enjoyed it immensely, the characters are well fleshed out and it’s an enjoyable book for sure, really liked it thank you

Siblings Greta and Valdin live together and are entirely too reliable on each other. Greta is in love with a colleague who appears to take advantage of her (work wise) and Valdin is still in love with his ex Xabi. A story of family, queerness and finding your worth.

A story with far too many characters with similar names to keep up with (though there is a helpful character list at the start), this was interesting enough to keep me reading and yet bland enough for me not to truly care much about what happened.

This is a slice-of-life style novel, a snapshot of a few months in the Vladisavljevic family. New Zealand place names are dropped constantly, just in case you dare forget where it is set. Lots of branded items are name-dropped, though being British they don’t mean much to me.

I did particularly like how teenage Tang was so comfortable coming out to his family, possibly because half of them are gay themselves. I felt his story, though pretty much sidelined compared to the key players of Greta and Valdin, reflected the journey of those two; Tang found himself and the confidence to go after what - and who- he wanted.

Another case of seeing people rave about it on X/Twitter but not being a style or genre I am interested in. I am sure people will adore this but not ground breaking for me.

Fabulous.

Friendship, love, family dynamics...it's all here.

G and V are beautiful and complicated and funny and flawed and I was so invested in their lives.

This is a vividly written story of the complex and moving dynamics between interconnected people and I loved every second.

Witty, warm and thoroughly entertaining. This book was brilliantly written and made me genuinely giggle out loud at parts. Greta and Valdin’s family was unique and chaotic but filled with so much love that it made this book an absolutely joyous read. I am so excited to read more from this author in the future, what an incredible debut!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This book has such great style. Funny, flippant, arch, and ever so true, it is the perfect modern novel, touching on identity, sibling love, growing up, and everything in between.

I haven’t laughed at every chapter of a book in a long time. I deeply appreciated Reilly’s ability to levy humour and wit amongst complicated family relations in this extended family saga.

We spend a few months with the Vladisavljevic’s - a rambunctious and sprawling Māori - Russian - Catalonian family living in Auckland. Honing in on the experiences of two of the siblings, we watch on as they both navigate early adulthood as queer young people in academica, falling in ill timed love at home and abroad.

Reilly manages to give page time to each minor character in this chorus,so the chaos of keeping track of so many names feel representative of the intertwined lives they are all living as one mildly dysfunctional family filled with so much love and joy.

This book felt like seeing an old friend for the first in a long time, they catch you up on everything you’ve missed, finally you both look around at the cafe you’re sitting in and they are now closing for the day ❤️

Enjoyed eating this one up all weekend, and hope you’ll all do the same 🤠

I know it's only February but this is the best book of the year so far, as far I'm concerned. It genuinely made me giggle and titter out loud. The amount of research that must have gone into it is astonishing. It is highly amusing and the characters are as lovable as they are eccentric. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Usually in a book that starts with a family tree I'm tempted to put it in the " not read" pile, but I persevered with this one, I found it laugh out loud at times and also quite deep thinking which I enjoyed. I was also pleased to learn more about New Zealand's culture and lifestyle.
The sheer number of characters did confuse me at tmes, and on a kindle its more difficult to go back to the beginning, but on the whole I enjoyed the urgency and optimism of the characters despite everything that happened to them
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book with no obligation to review.

This book is the funniest book I have read in a long, long time. I mean laugh aloud funny. Sometimes I laughed so much that I wheezed and I haven't laughed until I wheezed since I read Professor Chandra Follow His Bliss.

The characters are so great and I loved every single one of them. A bit eccentric and maybe even neuro diverse by some standards but really just people living their own lives without worrying too much about conventions. The dialogue is so well observed and authentic - I personally know people like Greta and Valdin and their fabulous Dad and it was so brilliant to see this on the page, people who say what other people are thinking but are not nasty or obnoxious about it.

Some of the situations are amusing but it is really the way the characters express themselves in speech and thought that makes the book so enjoyable. I just wish we could have seen the messages of the "Re:The Leak" email thread - I knew a guy who conducted a similar conversation in an office block on the subject of paper towels in the bathrooms. That was before emails in the days when people put up written notes. I also laughed heartily when one of his junior colleagues said that the egregious crime of switching off the specimen fridge would result in the Prof putting up a sign!.

The book covers serious things like being a refugee; trying to navigate all sorts of relationships with family and friends as well as romantic interests. In fact, the second part of the "Anuncio" chapter is really sad. and surely will resonate with anyone who has loved and lost.

Towards the end we take a more serious turn and some surprising secrets (well, no one was wholly in the dark, different people knew some secrets and not others etc.,) but I was sorry that the matter of their mum's boyfriend before she got married was not explained further.

The ending seems fitting but also a bit sudden and abrupt. I wanted more, more more.

My only grumble is the part near the end where Ell's way of speaking is reproduced. I have never heard any one Scottish person speak in the way Ell is said to speak. I could go into this in more detail but hey, I am sure most readers won't notice.

Apparently the author has faced some criticism of the New Zealand setting but I thought it was great and I enjoyed the snippets about Islander and indigenous culture.

A very enjoyable book indeed.

This is potentially the most charming book I've ever read!

Greta and Valdin are siblings who share an apartment and a very long surname. They have a pretty large, complicated and eccentric Russian-Maori family and the pair of them both feel a little lost. Greta is studying for a masters and fancies her colleague while Valdin is still in love with his ex (who is also his uncle's brother. but not in an incest way in a by-marriage way).

The story is told in alternating Greta and Valdin perspectives and they have such distinct yet similar voices. They are just so wonderfully realised as characters, as is the entire family to be honest. Everyone has a real personality and it was so interesting to see the slight perspective shift as we moved from Greta to Valdin.

This is so funny. Like honestly, truly, you will actually lol funny. But also a little heartbreaking! There is great social and political commentary running through, as well as a very realistic view of anxiety. Extremely gay too. There are queer relationships among every generation of the family and the way this was explored was beautifully done.

I loved this so deeply. Selfishly I want a new Greta and Valdin novel every few years, just to see what the whole gang is up to. I cannot recommend this highly enough, it will be a fave for me this year for certain.

“We’re all strange, romantic, emotional people in this family,”

This was a glorious read. Funny, charming and a little bit heartbreaking, it's a zeitgesty slice-of-life novel that deftly tackles big themes like multiracial identities, queerness and growing up. Greta & Valdin's voices take up most of the book in first-person chapters. Reilly writes with such care and consideration for her characters and also for her craft - it's a simply but beautifully written novel.

The story isn't just about the siblings, despite the title - Reilly casts her sharp eye across the entire family, and the results are wonderful. The novel follows the Vladisavljevic family, who are Maori-Russian-Catalonian. There are a lot of them - Reilly helpfully includes a cast of characters list at the beginning, and I found myself checking this fairly regularly for the first third of the novel.
There are fascinating family dynamics at play throughout the whole clan and these dynamics are the most charming & compelling aspects of the novel.

Greta is twenty-six, struggling through a Master's Degree (the university won't pay her for her tutoring) and trying to get over her colleague, fellow tutor Holly (boo hiss). Greta's story is all about an anxious gal trying to find her place in the world; for me, she was the character I connected with most, and her slow-burn love story is simply lovely to read. Meanwhile, her brother Valdin is agressively pining for Xabi, an older man who, after their breakup, moved away from New Zealand altogether. Messy & chaotic doesn't even begin to cover it but there are tough themes covered here too, mental and physical illnesses included.

It's a dizzying read, crackling with witty observations and political discourse as well as intricate romantic & familial relationships.. It's a lot to keep track of and at times my ability to follow dipped - though I think this was me, not the novel. Blame late-night reading! This line from the NYT review of the novel really struck me when I considered the intricaies and difficulties I had: "Reilly isn’t interested in spoon-feeding her reader. We are encouraged to simply accept what we don’t understand and meet the world where it is, rather than trying to seamlessly decode it." This is absolutely the best way to experience Greta & Valdin; allowing yourself to be immersed in the multifaceted, eccentric and gorgeous world of these vibrant characters.

Greta & Valdin is a humorous, entertaining novel about two siblings: Greta and, you guessed it, Valdin. The novel follows them as they attempt to navigate relationships, family dynamics and their queer identities.

The book centres around their chaotic love lives, and we flick between chapters told from both perspectives (and sometimes other people’s too). We follow Greta trying to get over her colleague, fellow tutor Holly, who she realises does not return her feelings, and Valdin as he attempts to get over his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who now lives abroad. In between we learn more about their family’s history, particularly how their father came to New Zealand, the siblings’ Maori-Russian racial identities, and what it means to feel like you don’t entirely fit into either ‘background’.

I loved the quirky, acerbic wit in this novel. Greta was particularly amusing, coming out with some great lines (or thoughts, as we’re often inside her head) and I really liked Rebecca K Reilly’s writing style.

However, there is a big cast of supporting characters, some of whom have very similar names, and I often found myself confused as to who was being spoken about, which had me having to go back at points and re-read certain pages.

Overall, I found this an entertaining, funny novel which, in some parts, felt very relatable and in other parts felt like satisfying escapism. I’d happily read more about these engaging characters!

I found thie book a little bit hard to concentrate on due to the way it was was written and, despite feeling like it all did kind of come together for me at the end, it was a bit of a slog for me to get there. There were also a lot of characters with pretty complicated names to keep track of.

Loved this! Greta and Valdin are twenty-something siblings negotiating life, love and their bonkers Māori/ Russian / Catalan family. It‘s weird, snarky but warm and a tiny little bit sad in places.

I did get a bit confused about all of the relationships, but that's probably just down to me speed-reading to see what was going to happen!

My favourite book of the year so far....

This is a delightfully offbeat entertaining, witty, and humorous New Zealand debut fiction by Rebecca K. Reilly, a multigenerational Maori-Russian-Catalonian family you cannot help but adore, a captivating drama that revolves around queer siblings who share a Auckland flat, Greta Vladisavljevic, a post-graduate literature student, and her older brother, Valdin, a former astrophysicist. There is a strong sense of location as we become immersed in their lives as they negotiate their way through their challenging personal lives and the glory of the chaotic, messy, strange, romantic, and emotional family members pasts and presents, where being queer is accepted as normal.

Valdin is still in love with his ex, Xabi, who left the country as he was making Valdin too sad, and Greta's self esteem is rock bottom as she becomes all too aware her love is unrequited and that she is being exploited by tutor Holly. OCD afflicted, Valdin with issues when it comes to expressing himself, changes career in response, finding surprising success as a media star, hosting a travel show going to different places, and even when there is an 'incident', it does nothing but bring a bigger international stage that takes him to Argentina. Greta flounders as tries to date men, but could a Scottish research scientist from Edinburgh turn her life around and bring her happiness? There are family dinner theatrics, anguish, joy and more as we encounter the likes of Cosmo, Caspar, Tang, Elizabeth, Linsh, and we become acquainted with the details of family interactions and relationships.

There is a serious core to the storytelling from Reilly, as secrets and glimpses of painful and unknown family history are uncovered, illness, the harshness of life as a refugee, the trauma of colonialism, the impact of racism, and mental health issues. The distinct characters have been lovingly created and developed, snagging my interest immediately. There is oodles of charisma and charm in this well written debut, and the comic humour chimed perfectly for me, I could not get enough of this, as can be noted with my disappointment when the book came to an end! A must read that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Greta and Valdin is a warm and humorous portrait of the lives of siblings G and V as they navigate the treacherous minefield of growing up and falling in love. The character development is beautiful, and I truly felt like this brilliant and attractive pair were ready to waltz off the page any moment. Whilst touching on serious topics of mental health, sexuality, family and responsibility, the novel remains light in tone and enjoyable. We follow ex-physicist V's travels around the globe as he pines over his lost love. Greta remains more home-bound, working her way through heartbreak, finding love and wishing for her brother to come home to her.
Though I kind of wanted a little bit more tension and climax from this novel, it was a really easy and enjoyable read, very upbeat and cosy. A lovely, heart-warming novel.