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esshgee's review against another edition
2.0
I really enjoyed the first part of this book, about Te Arepa's life in Whareiti and his encounter with the eel, even his starting out at boarding school and trying to fit in, was all interesting and well-written. Then it seemed to take another path entirely and didn't really return to the themes at the beginning of the story. I was disappointed with probably the last 1/3 of the book, and the ending just seemed to come from nowhere and wrap up very quickly. I can understand why it is considered controversial, and I think it's directed at an older teen audience
stinamirabilis's review against another edition
3.0
Started off really strong but lost its way and fizzled out. Well-written, though, I fail to see why it was banned, have read quite a few YA novels with much more "objectionable content".
dermbrau's review against another edition
2.0
Not worth the hype.
Getting banned was the best thing that ever happened to this book. I doubt a modern teen could get much from this book. It also doesn't seem to acknowledge the two boys were victims in the final chapters.
Getting banned was the best thing that ever happened to this book. I doubt a modern teen could get much from this book. It also doesn't seem to acknowledge the two boys were victims in the final chapters.
wannabekingpin's review against another edition
5.0
The rest of this long-winded review is at: [Night Mode Reading]
Te Arepa, a maori boy from a this world full of myths, legends, stories, chants, spirits, monsters, curses and so on, lands in an all-boys school in the city. It takes a lot to fit in. And to some, like him, it takes everything to even adjust. I'd say it's beautiful to see him change, but what I liked even more is how he got changed instead. By his friends, the no-backbone farmer, the bad-boy rebel, and mr seen-it-all. Te Arepa's skin soon becomes too tight for him.
Te Arepa, a maori boy from a this world full of myths, legends, stories, chants, spirits, monsters, curses and so on, lands in an all-boys school in the city. It takes a lot to fit in. And to some, like him, it takes everything to even adjust. I'd say it's beautiful to see him change, but what I liked even more is how he got changed instead. By his friends, the no-backbone farmer, the bad-boy rebel, and mr seen-it-all. Te Arepa's skin soon becomes too tight for him.
delsim's review against another edition
4.0
A coming of age story, but so much more interesting than the typical ones. Great book about a boy struggling to fit into two worlds and staying true to himself.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This book was very briefly banned in New Zealand a few years back - God only knows why, unless it's the depiction of teenagers acting like teenagers - but the whole affair was so ridiculous that I promised myself I'd read it one day to see what the fuss was about. Sanity prevailed, and book was quickly back in public libraries, which is where I borrowed this copy from. I liked it. I did think it was rather disjointed and could have been a more coherent whole, and I felt the ending was depressingly predictable. That school... talk about slapping down students who were different.
But yeah. Not worth banning. I was a little bit disappointed, to be honest, that it wasn't deservedly scandalous! I was all prepared to clutch my pearls and everything.
But yeah. Not worth banning. I was a little bit disappointed, to be honest, that it wasn't deservedly scandalous! I was all prepared to clutch my pearls and everything.
maplessence's review against another edition
4.0
Nothing like a banning to make one want to read a book!
Edit; looks like Amazon have now removed this book - for NZ anyway. Yesterday the print version was still available.
Edit 2 14/10/15 & sanity returns. http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/73017920/into-the-river-ban-lifted-by-film-and-literature-board
Edit 18/12/15 The controversy has helped Ted Dawe! My local library is now going to stock this book. Tee hee!
Banned Book Week seemed the right time to read this book.
As I stated above, my local library now stocks this book,complete with a sticker warning of explicit content. But, even allowing for the young age of the main characters and the target audience and the casual use of a word many New Zealanders find very offensive, the book wasn't that racy. During the nadir of my working life I cleaned the metalwork and woodwork block of our local high school. I was allowed to start work just before the students finished school and listening to the kids' language made me feel like I was swimming through a sewer. So the delicate and tender young that the Chief Censor of the time (he now no longer has this job) was trying to protect - they don't exist. Dawe wrote this book to try to create a New Zealand book with a New Zealand subject that reluctant Kiwi teenage boy readers would read. My now 23 year old son was a reluctant reader and teens are when most of us are at our most boringly conformist. My boy simply would have refused to read a book with such strong homosexual themes. He would have been worried about What Would My Mates Say.
My Goodreads friend Emma Sea mentions the uncertain veering between times. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/719697086?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
I would add mention of the Warehouse chain means after 1982 (probably later than that- late 1980s was when they became ubiquitous) DVDs became common around mid 2000s, telephone cards for cellphones in use around 2000. It is sloppy and it is jarring.
But I liked it! I found this novel a fast paced easy read with recognisably Kiwi characters. Would I have read it if it hadn't have been for the censorship controversy? Almost certainly not.
Would have been my loss.
Edit; looks like Amazon have now removed this book - for NZ anyway. Yesterday the print version was still available.
Edit 2 14/10/15 & sanity returns. http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/73017920/into-the-river-ban-lifted-by-film-and-literature-board
Edit 18/12/15 The controversy has helped Ted Dawe! My local library is now going to stock this book. Tee hee!
●▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●
Banned Book Week seemed the right time to read this book.
As I stated above, my local library now stocks this book,complete with a sticker warning of explicit content. But, even allowing for the young age of the main characters and the target audience and the casual use of a word many New Zealanders find very offensive, the book wasn't that racy. During the nadir of my working life I cleaned the metalwork and woodwork block of our local high school. I was allowed to start work just before the students finished school and listening to the kids' language made me feel like I was swimming through a sewer. So the delicate and tender young that the Chief Censor of the time (he now no longer has this job) was trying to protect - they don't exist. Dawe wrote this book to try to create a New Zealand book with a New Zealand subject that reluctant Kiwi teenage boy readers would read. My now 23 year old son was a reluctant reader and teens are when most of us are at our most boringly conformist. My boy simply would have refused to read a book with such strong homosexual themes. He would have been worried about What Would My Mates Say.
My Goodreads friend Emma Sea mentions the uncertain veering between times. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/719697086?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
I would add mention of the Warehouse chain means after 1982 (probably later than that- late 1980s was when they became ubiquitous) DVDs became common around mid 2000s, telephone cards for cellphones in use around 2000. It is sloppy and it is jarring.
But I liked it! I found this novel a fast paced easy read with recognisably Kiwi characters. Would I have read it if it hadn't have been for the censorship controversy? Almost certainly not.
Would have been my loss.
goodcook07's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't know that this book had been banned until I looked at the other reviews here. I read nothing in it that would make me gasp. Certainly there is as much or more sex in many other young adult books. I would, however, say it's more appropriate for the 14+ crowd. With that being said, I didn't really find anything redeeming enough in it to recommend it to my daughter or her friends to read. There are plenty of other books with better characters and better messages. I mean, we only have just so much time to read in our lifetime, right? I would not waste precious reading minutes on this book. For one thing, there's the inconsistency with the time frame and the setting. It is distracting to constantly wonder when the story is taking place. But the most disappointing thing I found was the lack of character in Te Arepe/Devon. When he encountered the eel and found his "destiny", I thought that he was going to be a strong character/role model/something!!! Instead, he is weak and spineless. He does not stand up for himself or his culture. The very fact that he changed his name at school disturbed me. He started out being a smart country boy and he ended up being a spineless nothing. That alone is the reason I would not waste my time reading it.
sammythearm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book glamorises child sex abuse. That’s not acceptable.
This book really let itself down. I am a bit angry about it.
After developing out complicated themes of family, identity, history, indigeneity, duty, it just gave it all up.
It had the kind of ending that Phillip K Dick would write where nothing is resolved in a satisfying way and all of the development feels wasted. In what would have been a masterpiece, similar to a Aotearoa version of The Secret History but it had none of Tartt’s genius.
And a big part of the ending going so wrong is the choice to make grooming and child sex abuse main plot points but never really addressing either of those things as being actually seriously wrong.
This book really let itself down. I am a bit angry about it.
After developing out complicated themes of family, identity, history, indigeneity, duty, it just gave it all up.
It had the kind of ending that Phillip K Dick would write where nothing is resolved in a satisfying way and all of the development feels wasted. In what would have been a masterpiece, similar to a Aotearoa version of The Secret History but it had none of Tartt’s genius.
And a big part of the ending going so wrong is the choice to make grooming and child sex abuse main plot points but never really addressing either of those things as being actually seriously wrong.
superleeni's review against another edition
5.0
This book should not just be not banned, but it should be read in schools. It explores themes of bullying, drugs, racism, sex, and all sorts of difficult topics, but it does it extremely well. There are great lessons to be learned from it, even as an adult. I couldn't be more different from the main character - I'm a middle class Pakeha woman, compared to a Maori teenager from a poor rural community, but I absolutely loved it. The things that happen in this book can be shocking at times, but they are things that happen commonly for NZ teenagers. I love this book and I hope more people can read it soon.