A very layered read that blends the interpersonal with a larger and topical scenario. There is a strain in interpersonal relationships and between people and nature here. The writing maintains an element of suspense and is beautiful, striking at most places, pretty unsettling too. That said, some sections could have been edited tightly to yield a better impact. Through three women and their lives, there is a lot to unearth here. Interesting read!

The Mires is a haunting, atmospheric story about community, climate change, and the unseen forces—both human and natural—that shape our lives. Tina Makereti weaves together the lives of three women who become neighbours in a small coastal town in Aotearoa New Zealand, each with their own histories, struggles and fears.

Single parent Keri is raising four-year-old Walty and her teenage daughter Wairere, a gifted child with an uncanny awareness of things she should not have to carry. Next door lives Janet, a woman with strong opinions and a sharp tongue, and newcomer Sera, whose family has fled environmental collapse in Europe. Their uneasy coexistence begins to shift when Janet’s son Conor unexpectedly returns home. His altered appearance and behaviour suggest something darker at play, a danger that only Wairere seems to sense. Beneath the street, the swamp waits, watching.

Makereti’s writing is both lyrical and unsettling, filled with imagery that captures the beauty and violence of nature. The story explores prejudice, displacement, environmental destruction, and the fragile bonds of community. The tension builds slowly, anchored by deeply human characters whose interactions feel raw and real, before the creeping unease spills into something much more urgent.

This is a powerful and timely read that blends domestic drama with an undercurrent of ecological and psychological suspense. Makereti’s ability to make the land itself a living presence gives The Mires an added layer of depth that stays with you long after the final page.

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Set in Aotorea New Zealand, this layered and beautiful story follows the experiences of three women from very different backgrounds in a speculative fiction novel that is both thought-provoking and moving.

Addressing difficult themes such as culture conflict, racism and the climate crisis, these big issues are brought down to the micro level and made more relatable through the experiences of women like Keri, a single mother of Maori origin, with a gifted and decidedly unusual 14 year old daughter whom she struggles to understand.

Memorable characters and nuanced story telling make this one worth checking out. It gets 3.5 stars.

There was a lot to like in this but also large sections that didn’t work for me. I felt it was trying to do too much.

There is a scene in the kitchen between Keri and Sera that was beautiful about the how fragile bonds can be when you’re getting to know people. Also the scene where Keri and Conor meet was really well done exploring similar themes but in a very different way.

But after that I thought Sera’s character was wasted and didn’t appear as much as I would have liked and Conor’s story seemed to go off in a direction that seemed to belong in a different book to everything else.