I'd heard a lot of conflicting information about Boy Swallows Universe before I eventually got to reading it. I saw it described as a thriller, romance, crime, coming of age story, and it's not really any of those things on the whole. There's elements of all of those and more, but I hesitate to put any single label on it.

Some parts are a real slow burn and others are incredibly fast-paced. The first three-quarters seemed to be all preamble and a set-up for the last quarter; I wish it was a little more consistent throughout. Truthfully I was completely lost at times, not debilitatingly so, but in a way that had me counting pages remaining in the chapter. Additionally there's both fantastical and touchingly beautiful portions fragmented throughout. I'd press anyone who's read it to say they weren't moved during the reflections on trauma and the failure of adults responding to it in children.

It's not difficult to discern what's taken directly from Trent Dalton's life and what's fiction. The author is similar to Eli Bell in this way: he's a "'colour writer'...'You like all the little details...You paint pretty pictures.'" I felt like Dalton was constantly adjusting our view from trees to forest, back and forth again and again. The book is about tiny details shaping a boy's life. The book is about the entirety of the universe doing so. The book is about people. The book is about grand ideas. I have no idea what this book was about.

I found a lot of scenes playing out in August and Eli's lives familiar to the world we're currently in, but also in stark contrast that feels like it's from a far-off era. There's something surreal about reading material set in the recent past. People live in the suburbs, but women can't open their own bank accounts. Everyone watches tv and drives cars, but you can be openly discriminated against for being a minority. This isn't a land of corsets or flappers in speakeasies, it's the period my parents grew up in, the 60s, 70s & 80s. Some of the typical experiences of people during those decades seem obscene to hear about now.

This is the type of novel I think I would revisit at some point in the future. Things I've missed out on the first time around may appear pronounced later on. If HBO is on the look-out for something else to adapt after Big Little Lies & Sharp Objects, I think it would be an excellent candidate.

I had heard wonderful things about this book and was very excited to read it. Unfortunately, I just could not get into it and am going to DNF for the time being. While I usually enjoy the literary technique of dropping the reader into the middle of the story without context and revealing clues as time goes on, I found this, coupled with the hard to follow dialogue, difficult to wade through. Perhaps this story is just suited for me to read at a different time. Because of the great reviews and the praise it has gotten, I will attempt this at another time, and write a Goodreadas/Amazon review at that time, as this one does not do enough to help potential readers.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

I really wanted to like this book, but the writing confused me and I had issues with either massive page-long sentences with 15 commas or very short jumbled up sentences. The sudden jumping between scenes also didn't make things easier to follow. There's a lot of "Slim says this" and "Slim says that". There's more telling than showing.
I couldn't get into it and gave up at 25%. It is probably me and not the book.

Thank you Harper and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

This is a difficult book to review as giving away any of the storyline detracts from its power. And it is most certainly a powerful novel, extraordinary, profound, rich and heart-breaking. The story of Eli Bell coming-of-age in 1980s Brisbane is moving and shocking in equal measure. It’s a dark book, with much pain, violence, drugs and anger but at the same time it’s an uplifting story of love and family and finally redemption. I’m not even going to try to give a synopsis. A wonderful, magical novel that kept me enthralled throughout.

Eli’s goals in life are simple. Survive growing up in a drug-infested neighborhood in Brisbane, and move himself, his brother and his mum to a “good neighborhood,” and grow up to be a “good man.” These goals are somewhat compromised by his current situation. Eli’s dad is an alcoholic recluse, subject to debilitating panic attacks. Eli’s babysitter is an ex-con who may or may not have murdered a man. Eli’s mom and stepfather are drug dealers.
When Eli lists his job prospects, his outstanding qualification is that he knows the business of drug dealing.

But as everyone who encounters Eli and his brother August can tell you, August and Eli are special. So I read this book with a bone-deep hope that Eli would accomplish his goals and that Eli is right when he says, “This is the hardest bit, right here. It doesn’t get any worse.”

This is a powerful 5 star read. Thank you to Trent Dalton, HarperCollins Publishers, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this wonderful book.

2.5 stars

This book did not work for me.
I know that some facts are drawn from the author’s personal life and I deeply feel for him and for what he had to go through during his childhood. But I’m going to review this title for what it is, which is a work of fiction.
Some things were just a little bit too unrealistic, like for example Eli getting into the prison where his mom is held and almost making a perfect escape. It didn’t make a lot of sense.
Another thing I was bothered by is the “magical realism”, if that’s how we want to call it. The red telephone was never truly explained and also all the things that Gus said and then became true were accepted without further explanation. It felt like an important loose end that needed to be tied up.
The writing style had its moments but I did not appreciate the fragmentation that was often used and how we jumped from one scene to another.
This book wasn’t my cup of tea but I think a lot of people might enjoy it. So if the plot interests you, go give it a try!

My wish came true! Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting my wish to read and review "Boy Swallows Universe." Wonderful.

This is a book about love. The love may come in strange packages from flawed people, but it's there. Eli and August Bell live with their mom and her long time boyfriend, Lyle. Although Eli always says that Lyle is not his dad he loves him deeply and his feelings are returned. They live in the house built by Lyle's parents Lena and Aureli, Polish war refugees who immigrated to Brisbane, Australia when no other country will take them. Their connections in the community and among other Polish families are important to the story and what has become the family business after their deaths--drug dealing. Because of their reputations as decent, upright people, Lyle has juice with the Vietnamese as well, who are a big deal when the book begins. Lyle and Frankie try keep Eli and his non-speaking brother August out of the business and in school.

When the parents' business required them to be away, they call in Slim the babysitter, a career criminal who gets Eli to practice his expressive writing by penning letters to some of his pals in prison. Slim is a wonderful character whose insight into others is remarkable. This simple act of finding a way to keep the kid busy and sending a little joy to old mates in the jug pays off in surprising ways that you can't help but feel Slim knew in advance.

How nice to find a book that more than lives up to the hype. It's such a delightful read, and even though the finale feels like it's too much, it IS deeply satisfying, and isn't satisfaction one of the reasons we read?

DNF @ 40%. The writing was good, but the subject matter is just too depressing for me to invest any more of my valuable time. I will leave this unrated as the book was just not my cup of tea.

I'll admit that a few pages into "Boy Swallows Universe" I was ready to give up. It seemed a little to self-consciously quirky, verging onto magical realism (a genre I'm not fond of). I'm quite glad I persevered. This book is a delight. That may seem an odd word to use regarding a novel narrated by the son of a former junkie and a mostly absent alcoholic father, who is the de facto stepson of a drug dealer and whose babysitter is an accused murderer notorious for having several times escaped prison. The book doesn't shy away from violence and ugliness and sorrow, but the narrator is so winning, so determined, and so real, you never feel mired in it, even when the characters are. The reasons I'm giving it four stars rather than five? A few self-indulgent passages that seem more about the author's love of words than anything else, and a fourth-act deus ex machina without which there could have been no fifth act. Don't let that stop you reading this, though!

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton was a complex and thought provoking story. The storyline was a hard to read at times with the complex topics of abuse, drugs and loss on so many levels) but it was written so beautifully.

I tried really hard to get into this book, but I just couldn't. I ended up not finishing it because of that. It started out really slow and kind of confusing for me and I lost interest. I'm not saying this was a terrible book, it just wasn't for me. Thank you for the opportunity anyways.

This is a fantastically weird book. I enjoyed reading it very much. “He said so many things, and I reckon all those things put together wouldn’t say as much as when he’d wrap his arm around my shoulder.”
I don’t even know how to describe the story. At its core, I think it is a story about two brothers and the love they have for each other, and their amazing bond forged out of need from a young age. Eli is an old soul in a boy’s body growing up in a hardscrabble neighborhood in Brisbane, Australia in the 1980’s. This is one of those stories where you get bits and pieces along the way, but the bits and pieces come together so nicely at the end that you say “ohhh,ok!”
To read this book, I think you need to just be willing to go along for the ride. It’s a memorable cast of characters and Eli’s voice is fantastic.

Challenging ~ Emotional ~ Poignant

tl;dr: Family isn't a choice, but sometimes your family situation requires you make tough choices.

If you pick up this book, make sure to read the author's note. The story about a young boy dealing with drug dealing guardians/ parents is taken in part from the author's life. I am not sure that I would have guessed that. The book has some echos of magic realism, such as the consistent symbol of the bird/ wren. In many ways, the literary quality of the text made reading this long, challenging book doable. Reading the note, made my heart hurt for Dalton. Of course, also having read this story of survival, the note made me happy for Dalton. In many ways, I saw this as a story of reliance, and also of how much children in our society might have to endure. The main character Eli is one heck of a kid; Dalton's writing makes you feel like you know Eli. I loved this book, but want to tell people there are many triggers (abuse, drugs, loss, estrangement, abandonment.) This is a hard but good read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.