Boy Swallows Universe is a coming of age story like no other. Dalton's beautiful prose, compelling characters and emotionally tragic story was tinged with mystical elements that gave the book an almost otherworldly feel.Eli and August are brothers being raised amongst drugs, violence and poverty. Yet amidst all these dangers these boys have such a special bond and connection, helping each other through heartache and tragedy. Eli is the story's central character and his life is anything but easy....

The cover of my copy is adorned with 10 award-winning badges. And deservedly so. An amazing achievement in writing. As with a couple of other books, I’ve arrived at this one late, after the hype and accolades, so I had to expect my expectations were high. This is not always a good thing and maybe contributed to my 4 vs. 5-star rating. That’s not to say a rating of 4 is to be scoffed at.The story spins around a fascinating ensemble of family, friends and foes – with the young protagonist working

Boy Swallows Universe is the big buzz in Australian books right now. It’s going to sell itself, as all of the pull quotes and window displays tell us. First it’s about one thing, then it’s about another, then you turn the page and years have passed, but one thing is certain: Boy Swallows Universe is an Australian novel that is at least in part about children who have to fend for themselves in the face of their parental figures’ involvement in drugs. We certainly haven’t published one of those be...

5★+“Lyle says he approaches a drug deal in the same way he approaches Mum when she’s in a bad mood. Stay on your toes. Stay alert. Don’t let them stand too close to the kitchen knives. Be flexible, patient, adaptable. The buyer/angry Mum is always right.”Oliver Twist meets The Godfather. Those were the first books that came to mind. Films and TV that came to mind were Breaking Bad, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Sopranos, and possibly a bit of Stephen King. But it’s 100% Trent Dalton, and what...

I don't usually like mystery novels. I'm not usually interested in crime. Usually, I switch off as soon as I read about drug gangs and baddies and deadbeats and psychos. I hate those stories, usually. Usually, they suck.But this book?Good God. This book was awesome.

Eli is growing up in a small Australian suburb in the 1980s. His mother is a junkie and in jail, his father is nowhere to be found, his stepfather is a drug dealer, and his older brother, August, is a mute genius. The only adult in his life is Slim, a former prisoner who holds the record for the most escapes."I truly love Slim because he truly loves August and me. Slim was hard and cold in his youth. He's softened with age. Slim always cares for August and me and how we're going and how we're go...

OKAY.You got me.I was really excited to read this hyped book, but when I read the first few pages I was devastated. I was convinced it wasn't going to be my kind of book at all - it was such a drain to follow what was being said. The disappointment was real.I put it down after seven pages and it's taken me another three months or so to get back to it. Now, here I am to confess: I was wrong. I smashed through it in two days.Straight up? The writing style is absolutely not my thing at all. It's cr...

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 ABIA LITERARY FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR4.5 Stars.The highest praise I can give this novel is that at times I thought it was written by one of my very favourite authors, Tim Winton. Three Quarters of the way through this book I was ready to declare this my favourite read of the year. It has this great Winton feel to it. It has that great Aussie style of language and slang. It has characters to die for. Slim, feels like a Winton creation. The only gripe I have with the novel...

To say I was excited to discover a novel by Trent Dalton is a massive understatement.   Boy Swallows Universe is his debut novel but I've adored the authors writing for years.  He's an award winning journalist and I cannot get enough of the way he tells a story, the compassion in his words and the way I feel I know the people he writes about.     And so it was with the characters he brought to life in this novel.      Eli Bell our protagonist is a young boy in Brisbane in the early 80's.  His ol...

What an amazing debut novel! Boy Swallows Universe has jumped straight to the top of my outstanding novels for this year. Trent Dalton has somehow managed to spin a yarn about a Brisbane boy growing up amidst poverty, violence and crime while infusing it with love, joy and humour. His words and characters leap off the page with freshness and originality and yet you feel you know these people and the streets they live on. Although not autobiographical, the novel is based on Dalton’s own childhood...

Why I wrote ‘Boy Swallows Universe’About three summers ago on a blazing hot Boxing Day in South-east Queensland I was standing at the back of a small blue Holden Barina with my mum. The boot hatchback door was up and I was helping my mum load a bunch of Christmas gifts and cooking equipment into her car. We’d all just enjoyed a good family catch-up in a shared Bribie Island holiday unit, one of those nice peaceful Christmases where nobody argues about who was supposed to make the coleslaw, an

Well, what can I say, but Trent Dalton, you have left me speechless! I've had Boy Swallows Universe on my shelf for several months now, not wanting to pick it up, afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype. It lives up to it, and more!It's the coming of age tale of Eli, growing up in Brisbane's western suburbs, raised by drug dealers. We follow Eli and his brother August, through all the bad things life could throw at them, yet there are a lot of positives in their lives too. Living in Brisbane I'm

So many good things about this book!!!* The totally perfect cover. Not only the gorgeous colours but also its appropriateness to the story.* The writing. Trent Dalton is a master of beautiful prose.* The characters. I loved Eli and Gus and their solid and completely understanding relationship.* The story itself which was horrific and mystical by turns and always totally absorbing.* The ending which although a little far fetched was also satisfying.For me it was slightly spoilt by too much inform...

Pleased to announce that this is the #scaredsuspensebookclub choice for April! Below is the discussion schedule via instagram; follow along and join in with the conversation @scaredsuspensebookclub.Check-In #1: April 12thCheck-In #2: April 19th*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.

Kylie Minogue, Joseph Conrad, the fascist state that was Queensland and how I came to realise that the star rating system may not be appropriate for this book. Part three.A great Brisbane Novel? Maybe but again the rating of stars seems a bit pointless as this being a book about my home town, and the third Brisbane novel I have read in recent times, I have now given all three the maximum rating. The reality is that that is my rating because I related to them for obvious reasons. Many may not. Th...

“The key characters all draw on the people I love most in the world. The most beautiful and complex people I’ve ever known, and I never even had to walk out the door of my house to find them. I just wanted to give the world a story. To turn all these crazy and sad and tragic and beautiful things I’ve seen into a crazy, sad, tragic and beautiful story.” (Trent Dalton from an article by Dalton on why her wrote this book: https://www.harpercollins.com.au/blog... ). I read the above article after I...

Twelve year old Eli Bell has had a rough life, his mother is a drug addict and in jail, his father can’t be found and his stepfather is a drug dealer and he has a mute brother. Eli’s home life isn’t great to say the least, but he is doing the best he can to grow into a respectable young man, but it seems the odds are against him. Being surrounded by violence, drugs and crime on a daily basis, Eli’s future is looking somewhat bleak. Can Eli make a safer life for himself and turn his life around a...

I had to push myself to finish this novel. This much-lauded, hyped novel. I even went to see the author speak to a packed room at the Perth Writers' Festival, so I was somewhat invested.I won't go into too many details about the plot.Boy Swallows Universe is a coming of age novel, about Eli Bell, who is brought up in a rough part of Brisbane, by his drug peddling and occasional user mum, and her boyfriend, Lyle. This novel has a very distinct Australian feel to it, it almost feels put on, althou...

For a book with so much violence, drug dealing, prison life, and sadness, it was also magical. The story concerns the life of Eli and Gus, brothers who are deemed special by their mother and others that know them. Gus is mute but can communicate with Eli by writing words in the air or by not saying anything at all. Gus's talents lie in art, in his paintings. Eli's talents lie in words, written and spoken, colorful and detailed stories that go past mere facts and tell everything about everybody.

Extraordinary coming of age story that stole my heart! ❤Eli is 12 years old when we meet him for the first time. He has an older brother August who doesn't speak and communicates by drawing words in the air. Eli and Gus live with their mum and her partner who both deal drugs. Eli and Gus spent most of their time with their babysitter Slim Halliday, a convicted murderer who escaped from prison. Sounds pretty crazy, right? What makes it even more crazy is the fact that the story is inspired by the...