The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rainfish was an interesting story with compelling characters who're dealing with bullying, innocence, and guilt. I liked how the Aboriginal story of the rainfish was included, really setting the story in Australia, but feel like I missed out on some depth since I'm not from there and don't understand the culture very well.

Thank you to #NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital ARC. This middle grade novel will be released in May 2022. All opinions are my own.

Aaron lives with his mom and older brother in a small town on the edge of the rainforest in Australia. He’s keen to grow up and is sick of being ignored by his brother and left out of what the big kids are doing. So, one day, he makes a poor decision and hangs out with an older boy with a bad reputation. He wants to impress the boy, but things go wrong when the boy suggests they break into a church. The other boy ends up stealing several items. Now, Aaron is dealing with the guilt. Things only seem to get worse when he discovers the fish he caught and is keeping in a tub in his backyard is a Rainfish, a local legend.

This book has important messages about loss of innocence, growing up, making decisions, and dealing with guilt. I wanted to enjoy the story, but there was something about it that I can’t quite put my finger on (it could be the narrative voice or that the conflict is primarily internal), but I just couldn’t get into the story. I found that things took longer than they needed to and then the book kind of just felt like it ended abruptly. I feel like I may have also missed some elements of the story as I’m not familiar with Australia slang and colloquialisms.

You can get into trouble when you want to impress your big brother's cool friend, and this is exactly what happens to Aaron. They steal from the church and hide the loot in a field. But Aaron is riddled with guilt and torment. This is particularly problematic when his big brother decides to mount an investigation into who stole the stuff.

Set in a small Australian town where the isn't much to do, Aaron's mum is a battler and is just keeping her head above water. Aaron feels a responsibility to be good and not get into trouble, and now he has gone and done this terrible thing. Mix this up with Mum's increasingly weird boyfriend and a meddlesome big brother who looks like he is getting closer and closer to solving the crime, you've got guilt coming from every pore.

This book is just a little bit slow, I'd have liked it to move more quickly along in the middle. It felt a little bit like the story didn't quite hang together in places. It is an enjoyable read but I'm not sure that it will engage readers immediately. I did enjoy reading about the Aboriginal myth of the rainfish and I wish it and it's storyteller could have played a bigger part in the story.

Thanks to Text publishing and NetGalley for the access to this book

Thank you so much Tex Publishing for allowing me to read this book early!

Kids can be impulsive and influenced by others, especially middle grade ones. It’s a vulnerable age, on the one hand getting more freedom, on the other hand the first teen hormones starting to kick in. This book was sweet and enthralling and I think kids in middle grade will enjoy this book tremendously. I loved Aaron and I really liked the way the author described the scenery.

The pacing was a bit slow and I’m not sure if I like the ending but overall a great read!

This was a bit different than what I was expecting but it kept me reading. The author did a great job catching the essence of a young boy. The setting was interesting to read about as well as the living conditions.
I felt a bit confused about the ending, but it does follow the same flow as the rest of the book.

This was a quick, sweet, compelling read. Aaron lives with his mother and brother in Far North Queensland, in a seaside town surrounded by farms and rainforest. At the beginning of the book, Aaron and an older boy get into some trouble, and the book follows Aaron as he fears the consequences of his actions.

The plot is a little slow-going, but will be appreciated by younger readers as Andrew Paterson takes a bit of time to build the story and introduce the Aaronson family. The titular rainfish first appears a bit too far into the book; as I read, I wondered if it would have benefited from a brief prologue that included the fable on which Aaron bases many of his concerns.

Where this book succeeds is twofold. First, it captures the wonder and rambunctiousness of preteens. Second, Paterson builds a fascinating, beautiful world around his characters. There are times where you can practically smell the scene. He deftly describes the thrum of cicadas and the late-afternoon migration of flying foxes toward banana farms outside the town. Paterson also drops in small bits of actual history about the region, including how sugar mills built large numbers of identical homes for workers.

The ending is somewhat satisfying, although the resolution comes about quite abruptly. As I finished reading, I turned to the next page and the next thinking, “Is that it?” It leaves me wanting more. Perhaps a sequel is in the works? I wouldn’t mind reading more about Aaron and his family.

Enjoyed this one much more than I had expected to. Loved the characters and situations. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.