Dunic is a lovely writer and the overall reader experience of this book was fine, but I’m not sure I got much out of it in the greater sense.

It’s essentially a character study and the characters are well-rendered, but they’re not especially engaging or unique, which leaves the lingering question of what, if anything, this book is trying to say.

This is a dual POV book and both protagonists feel relatively worthy of our attention, but the book never really gets anywhere or says anything much beyond what we’ve heard dozens of times before from similar stories. I suppose I picked up some interesting tidbits about playing the trumpet, but other than that it’s the same New Adult inner monologue New Yorker novel that shows up over and over again.

The Clarion by Nina Tunic
The story of two siblings with a complicated childhood, one that leaves them unsure of how to move through adulthood. One finds solace in bars and conversation with strangers, while the other takes an extramarital lover and a therapist to ease her woes. Do either, or both, ever navigate to a contented place in their lives?

I was so excited to read The Clarion by Nina Dunic since it was longlisted for the 2023 Giller Prize and I quite enjoyed this novel that focused on an interesting sibling dynamic. I listened to the audiobook and the two narrators David Reale and Kate Ziegler were both great. There’s two POVs of brother and sister Peter and Stasi. I liked the dual timelines that differentiated each POV and the contrast between each character. I would be interested to read this author’s sophomore book!

I have mixed feelings about how to rate this book. The chapters alternate between siblings, Peter and Stasi, who are both portrayed as highly sensitive. I loved Peter and all the chapters from his point of view. He's a sensitive loner who self medicates with drugs and alcohol. His anxiety holds him back, but I really enjoyed his perspective and cared about what happened to him. Stasi, on the other hand, annoyed the crap out of me. Unlike her brother, she's high functioning and is busy climbing the corporate ladder, cheating on her husband, and resenting her young daughter because she has the same name as someone who got the promotion Stasi felt she deserved. Even Stasi's name irritated me. Her full name is Anastasia and instead of going by Stacy like every other AnasTAYsia I've ever heard of, she goes by StAHsi, short for AnsaTAHsia. It's been a while since I so disliked a fictional character!

Stasi is a 40 year old trying to deal with the fact that she did not get the promotion she wanted at work. Meanwhile her brother Peter lives life a bit aimlessly. I could write more if this book actually had a plot, but it is basically a reflection on two different ways of growing up. There's no conflict, no resolution. It's just a lot of thinking about being a 40 year old woman with a daughter and being a 30ish something man with no career plan or anything in his life. The book is told from two different view points and I think the only point where they intersect -at lunch - is the most interesting one since we can see that the things that they took from the lunch are totally different.

There are certain moments in this book that are inspired in terms of writing - hence, the 3 stars - but some other parts are just pointless (e.g., she describes showering her lover. Why?).
I would recommend this book for people who like to think about what's the point of life.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy is exchange for my honest review.

A slice-of life litfic with lovely prose and not much plot.

Premise - a pair of siblings, struggling musicians, bumble through their lives in a fog of apathy.

A minimalist plot can be a feature rather than a flaw if the characters and their lives are compelling enough that I want to inhabit their world for a bit. I didn’t connect to either character, unfortunately, and just felt kind of down and bored reading this. That said, the quality of the prose is strong and I’m sure others will enjoy it.

Thanks, NetGalley and Invisible Publishing, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.