Funny, unconventional often incoherent, full of events and languages I don't understand and yet a joy to read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

I've held out for this one since it was published in Au/NZ a couple of years ago, and it was worth the wait!

I really enjoyed this book, the writing style was very easy to read and I loved the storyline. Will definitely be keeping my eye out for more from this author.
3.5

The book follows the lives and loves of Greta and Valdin Vladisavljevic,alternating chapters between each sibling. They are both great characters whose lives are complicated, messy and tangled. There are plenty of laugh out load moments and then there are times when you’ll cringe too. It’s more than I imagined it would be, with a cast of unconventional characters that you’ll become wholly invested in.

Thank you for approving me this title.
This sounded like my kind of book. LGBTQ, mental health, Family dynamics and my highlight; set in New Zealand!
Unfortunately this found my during my reading slump and while I used to love characters wandering around musing about life, this one couldn't hold my attention. I read till 50% and had to admit defeat.
With no plot to keep me interested even the well fleshed out characters couldn't save this for me.
I'm sure I'll love it at a later time.

Greta and Valdin is one of my favourite books I’ve read this year.

I didn’t get much of a sense of the plot from the blurb but I believed the hype and I’m glad I did.

I loved every single character in this. It made me laugh, it nearly made me cry, I was bereft when it was over.

I hope this book is huge.

Funny, endearing and wonderfully queer – this book is totally charming and I couldn’t put it down. Greta lights up the page but for
me Valdin is the quietly beating heart of this novel. Rebecca K Reilly’s novel deserves to be huge, and I’m so glad it’s being published here.

I LOVED Greta and Valdin. The funniest book I have ever read! Fab characters, maybe a little too slow plot but a very lovely ending. Will be recommending far and wide, a true milliennial tale.

This began slowly for me (which is no bad thing at all) but once I really got into the characters I could not stop. Greta and Valdin’s search for identity and love, and their BRILLIANT eccentric, complicated family is both funny and moving. An easy five starts.

For some reason when I requested this book I got the impression it was going to be wildly pretentious. It wasn't at all - it was really easy to become quickly invested in the characters. It was incredibly witty and there were so many different cultures and identities referenced. I loved all the queer relationships described throughout. It felt very wholesome and lovely to read.

I really loved this, so funny and tender, universally recognisable on family dynamics but also super specific and tonally unique at the same time. Side effect: I’d really love to visit New Zealand now.

I loved Greta and Valdin so much. Funny, moving, brilliantly written. I can't wait to keep an eye out for more from this author.

Greta and Valdin is a literary novel about two queer siblings in New Zealand who attempt to navigate their complicated family and chaotic love lives. Greta and Valdin live together, with Valdin pining over his ex-boyfriend Xabi who left for Argentina once they broke up and Greta trying to deal with being an underemployed grad student with failed dating exploits and a girl who just seems to use her for help with work. Their Russian father and Maori mother—and their whole extended family—are eccentric in their own ways, but maybe Greta and Valdin can finally work out how to exist for themselves and still involve their family.

I'd heard this book hyped about, but wasn't sure what to expect. From the opening pages, it was hilarious, and that really set the tone for me: I'm not used to literary fiction being this funny (there was one line in the book I had to stop and repeat to my partner because it was so good). At the same time, it is a book with complex interwoven messages about identity and queerness and family, particularly in the flexibility of what things mean to different people and how everyone forges their own sense of self and what their labels mean to them. The characters are endearing and messy, the kind where you are half-gripped to see what terrible decisions they make and half wanting to swoop in and save them from themselves.

The narrative is mostly around interpersonal relationships and character development, as you'd expect from literary fiction, and I liked the ending and the fact that it offered hope in a range of ways. The split perspective of the narration worked well to give you a sense of the similarities and differences between the siblings, and leave you fully entangled in their lives. I love the sort of literary fiction that feels fun, where there's plenty of serious stuff in there and some interesting things to navigate and explore, but also you get ridiculous banter along the way. The sense of place was also a big selling point, as there's a lot of culturally specific elements that feel very embedded into the book, and though I'm sure I didn't get a lot of them first time around as I've never been to New Zealand, I appreciated it and the way the novel uses place for a family that might seem dislocated.

I didn't know I needed literary fiction about messy queer siblings, but Greta and Valdin proved that I did. There's a lot packed into a book that is both hilarious and quite touching, and it felt worth the hype to me.

perfect book, five stars: chaotic and funny and heartbreaking and true. i laughed and cried and paused to text my friends about my favourite bits and loved it so very very very much, and so will you!