Reviews

The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey

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sarah_dietrich's review

medium-paced

2.0

Tama the magpie was an interesting character, but the humans were all one-dimensional caricatures. The writing felt lazy. I couldn't help rolling my eyes at the way Instagram is used as a major plot point.

Content Warnings

poppycakes97's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

newtread's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sphaera13's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jof68's review

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dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

thelibraryofklee's review

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5.0

"A long long time ago, when I was little chick, not even a chick but a pink and naked thing, a scar a scrap a scrape fallen on roots, and wriggling, when I was catching my death and all I knew of sky was the feel of feathers above me, the belly of black as warm as a cloud above me, when I was blind, my eyes unsprouted seeds, my eyes dots of gravel stuck under skin, when I was a beak opening for nothing nothing nothing she lifted me into her pillowed palm."

Set in Central Otago, we meet Rob and Marnie, struggling sheep farmers. Tama(gotchi), a fledgling magpie, is saved my Marnie, and choses to stay with his new mum. Part trickster, part surrogate child, part witness, Tama the magpie is the star of this story, as he learns to speak the language of the "colonisers" he opens doors for Marnie and Rob on social media. Tama, with the naïve eye of a child, relays how he views the world around him. There is a lot of frivolity and hilarity, but at the heart of this, is the story of domestic violence. I have seen a number of reviewers say this was fun. Honestly, I think I cried for the first 100 pages, and I had to put the book down for a week. There is certainly fun to be had and there is a slapstick bird napping that has me rolling me eyes, but overall, I found this narrative mostly heart wrenching, and all I could think about was whether Tama would see it to the end of the book.

A cleverly written book by a New Zealand author, this is one to support, but be aware of the DV trigger.

tasmanian_bibliophile's review

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4.0

‘People tell bad stories about magpies.’

Central Otago, New Zealand. Marnie and her husband Rob run a struggling sheep farm. Rob is trying to make the farm profitable, while also training for his 10th consecutive Golden Axe at the forthcoming annual Axeman’s Carnival. Marnie has tried to decorate the decaying house with her handmade cushions, but they are both aware that other family members are doing much better.

A magpie chick is rescued by Marnie. She names the chick Tamagotchi, which is soon shortened to Tama. Rob says he will ring Tama’s neck if he keeps him awake, but Tama provides Marnie with both companionship and a sense of purpose.

Tama is the narrator of this book, and the story unfolds through his eyes. He learns to speak, and while he misses his magpie family (and does return to them briefly for a while), Marnie becomes the centre of his world. Marnie confides in Tama, and he sees for himself the violence in her marriage.

‘And I did not trust him and I was right not to trust him.’

Tama hides various items belonging to Rob under the bath where no one can find them. When Marnie catches him one day, she laughs and videos him. Yes, social media becomes a big part of this story. Tama has many followers: Marnie dresses him in different costumes, he mimics human speech, and his catchcry becomes ‘Don’t you dare’. Meanwhile, Rob continues to train for the Axeman’s Carnival. His personal best times are not as good as he wants, and he takes his frustration out on Marnie. And while Marnie’s despair leads her to call a talkback radio program, she stays with Rob. Of course, not everyone is enamoured of Tama’s role as a feathered influencer and danger lurks.

This is such a brilliant story. Tama is the perfect narrator: able to provide a bird’s eye view (sorry) of domestic violence, reporting what he sees without necessarily understanding the context. And he doesn’t need to: Marnie becomes the centre of his universe.

How does it end? You’ll need to read it for yourself.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith