5 stars!!

When COVID hit in 2020, right as the library I work at went into lockdown, I brought home a copy of "Boy Swallows Universe," Trent Dalton's debut novel, and... L O V E D I T !!! In fact, it became one of my favorite books of that year, in my top three. When I learned of his new book, I was super excited, and then more excited still when I scored a reading copy via NetGalley. I was afraid that the new book might let me down, but, I can happily share, "All Our Shimmering Skies" did not disappoint! I might like "Boy Swallows Universe" a bit better, but I highly recommend this book. The main character is truly captivating, and her story very engaging, and I look forward to many more years reading Trent Dalton.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The writing couldn’t capture my attention and felt disjointed. Very dark beginning and from other reviews it doesn’t seem like something I’ll end up enjoying if I stick it out So DNF at 10%

I had a difficult time with this book, it’s very slow moving and extremely dense. It’s beautiful, but difficult to read.

Stark, brutal beginning intertwined with moments of magic, robustness and determination.

The composition of the chapters read like a songline across the Northern Territory landscape, pulling in the sights, sounds and aspects of country. The bull ant climbing across the gravestone, the endless sky, the black rock frog roc, all forming a rich background that waits—for stories to unfold as time hangs suspended.
A curse and family secrets. The young grave digger girl Molly Hook, the dying mother, the despicable men of the family—all is lost and harsh.
1942, the bombing of Darwin and falling into another scene complete with a Japanese pilot and the old fire-forged shortsword his father had handed him.
Throughout all the night sky is watching.
Absorbingly weird, poetically charged, with snatches of magic realism etched across the pages that carry one on a wild journey at the top end Australia.
A read that keeps you on your toes, grasping for the next piece of the puzzle.

A Harper ARC via NetGalley

In a war stricken Darwin, Molly Hook, a gravedigger girl has only one friend - her shovel, Bert. After the death of her Mother, she lives with her Father and her belligerent Uncle. Molly is brave, kind, compassionate with a fascination towards literature passed on to her from her Mother. She believes in the Sky and talks to it, because her Mother said the Sky will always look after her, because the Sky is where her Mother is. With each passing day, unable to bear the hostility of her Uncle and the silence of her Father, Molly decides to right the fate of her family.

And so begins a magical, heartwarming journey for Molly and her companions - Greta, an actress, and a Japanese soldier who fell from the Sky. It's a voyage full of wonders, epiphanies, and fatal events. Among the beguiling wetlands of Northern Australia, under the watchful Sky, brews a hope for future, a hope for freedom. Our three fascinating characters, each adrift in their hopelessness, come face to face with their vulnerabilities. As a reader, I was enthralled as the mist of innocence cleared and Molly understood the realms of life and dug for the answers she didn't know she was seeking. Moreover, I loved the metaphoric reference to the sky.

Dalton's eloquent articulation of sensitivities of human character is admirable. From his careful account of bombing and the aftermath of war to the addressing of vulnerabilities which lead to submitting to rusty masculinity and to embellishing feelings with verses of poetry, this book is as enchanting as startling. His storytelling is food for your imagination, a push to follow your beliefs.

Overall, it's an amazing book and definitely one of the best I have read this year.

Thank you Harper Perennial and Netgalley for my copy!

TW: Abuse, Death

Aptly described as “The Wizard of Oz” by way of Baz Luhrmann Trent Daltons second outing after the compelling #BoySwallowsUniverse
is a gorgeous epic story of young Australian girl, Molly Hook, living in Darwin before the Japanese invasion in World War II.
Motherless before the war, and orphaned after, she sets out with Greta, the battered girlfriend and wannabe actress of her troubled uncle Aubrey, to find Longcoat Bob. -A man surrounded by great wealth, and the person she believes needs to lift a curse that’s been placed on her family. The duo is soon joined by a Japanese fighter who has abandoned the war and literally falls into their path, a near angel from the heavens.

Darwin Dalton writes in glorious technicolor, like Disney animation in high def, aided by the backdrop of the Australian bush. It’s stunning florid writing that perhaps some would say is in excess but I was here for one hundred percent, getting as lost in his descriptive prose as these characters were in his colorful setting. Dalton gives his characters time to grow after being established, about twenty five percent in moving to what I’d refer to as the quest part of the book, constituting the meat of the story. At over 450 pages it’s a gradual unspooling which I personally appreciated, and if you can be initially patient, you’re in for a beautiful epic story of dreamers, loves lost and found, and the power of believing in the voice inside of you.

I don't get it. I really looked forward to reading this book because of all the rave reviews for the author's first book, and I started reading with an eagerness commeasurate with that anticipation.

While I initially enjoyed the author's descriptive abilities, I soon found them to be overdone and overblown, the dialogue stilted, and the characters a bit flat.

Given the other reviews for this book, I can only assume that I am totally missing something that others are enjoying. This was an almost painful read for me, and I was very glad when I was done with it!

My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for allowing me to read a review copy of this book. All opinions stated in this review are strictly my own.

Is definitely a slow reading but a wonderful book, For me it was like diving in a story full of pain and also full of happiness, deep down within the characters. Being with then while looking and finding their destiny was amazing. We have a very problematic family, girl full of hopes an also dreams. A very frustrated journey but heartbreaking and gorgeous too. Loved reading it.

It has all the elements of a Trent Dalton novel. Characters beautifully etched and a story that is retained in your mind for long. It is the story of Molly Hook. She is a gravedigger and works with her father and uncle in Darwin’s only graveyard. Where the men engage in grave robbing, hardships exist still in their lives. There has long been a curse on Molly’s family which actually makes each of their hearts as hard as stone.

At this time the WW2 Japanese fighter pilots bomb Darwin. Its a life shattering time for Molly. Amidst the chaos of life, she decides to track down the person responsible for the curse on the family. Along with a charming Greta and a fallen Japanese fighter pilot, the trio set off into the wilderness. A wilderness it is for each one of them have demons of their own to tackle and fight with through the way.

The writing is charming and subtle. The ending sure did come as predictable.