Up until the dark part tying up, some chunks of this book is about summer days as a young girl, Alix’s life.
She narrates the story through her strong and authentic voice. which is the strongest suit of this book.
The setting is rather new to me, which added to the sense of the mystery, but the nostalgic elements, and the childhood perspectives were familiar.

Overall, a very well written debut.

A nostalgic and familiar sort of book, I really enjoyed the slow pace of this story. While nothing actually happened, there were several hints and clues towards bigger things, including Charlottes fate and the next door neighbour. The entire book had a summer haze over it and made me long for sunburnt days and blistering evenings. It felt alive with sand and grit and sea salt and was a beautiful amalgamation of coming of age and childhood naïveté. A truly mesmerising story with extraordinary writing.

I found this book completely absorbing. Set in New Zealand and written from the perspective of a ten year old girl, this book does a brilliant job of explaining the challenges of being a child trying to process adult events. It is twisty, suspenseful and brilliantly written. Somewhere between Kala and The List of Suspicious Things.

It starts in a rose tinted, lazy days of summer way: a family spending several weeks in a holiday rental by the sea and a lagoon. 10 year old Alix founds friendship with Kahu and it seems we will be following their adventures trying to find what happened to a missing girl.
But as the story develops we learn about family secrets, suspicious neighbours and rebellious teens.
Prose as shimmering as a spectacular sunlit day, with a storm clouds to add variety.

I enjoyed the New Zealand setting for this novel and found the family dynamics interesting. Told from the viewpoint of 10 year old Alix over a few weeks of a summer beach holiday, the mundane becomes unsettling as she and her new friend search for clues about a young girl who has gone missing. I found there were too many unnecessary details about day-to-day family life but, on the whole, this is a good debut.

A Beautiful Family is the excellent debut novel by Jennifer Trevelyan. Set in New Zealand in 1985 this is the story of a memorable, to say the least, family holiday as seen through the eyes of 10 year-old Alix. With her parents behaving oddly and her older sister sneaking out at night to meet with friends,not least new male friends,Alix makes her own new friend,young Maori boy Kahu. When Kahu tells Alix , who just feels she's in the way of the rest of her family, about a young girl who disappeared in the area a few years previously they decide to investigate.

This is a great story that's part coming of age tale,part domestic drama and part mystery as Alix's family begins to disintegrate barely noticing her and the potential dangers around them. Stories told from the perspective of children don't always work but author Trevelyan carries it off beautifully. The only viewpoint we get is that of Alix, which often leads the adult reader to see and understand things that she doesn't know about and other times leaves a degree of ambiguity in the narrative, which I really enjoyed and made the book something different.

An excellent debut and an involving story on many levels.

3.5 stars ⭐

This was nicely nostalgic for summers past, and sibling relationships.
I was lulled into the story all sunshine and beaches, but it took a darker turn by the end.
I think it did a great job of describing family holidays, and family dynamics as a whole, even when there aren't secrets to uncover.
A few tense moment too.
Good debut.

I've read a few books recently where we hear though the eyes of children, its premise I find really insightful and interesting I really enjoy seeing the mystery or secrets come alive though their eyes. This book does that perfectly keeping your interest in the secrets and fall out which are told though the voices of such innocence. I really liked the writers style of writing and look forward to hearing more by them. Thanks for the ARC this one I will be buying upon publication