The end of summer here in the southern hemisphere, and the end of my month of multiple reading genres. From works by African descendants and local New Zealand writers to a few reads on love and romance, February has provided me with a great selection of genres and themes to keep my busy brain engaged and intriguing. I am finishing the month off with a local recent release, Good Things Come and Go by Josie Shapiro, but I have not started it just yet.

A novel about friendship and betrayal, ambition and grief, Good Things Come and Go is also a study of homecoming and heartbreak and an ode to taking risks no matter the consequences. After the death of their young daughter, Penny Whittaker and Adam Riggs are struggling. Penny’s lifelong dream of becoming a successful artist has stalled, and Riggs, battling an addiction to prescription painkillers, is coming to grips with the end of his glittering professional skateboarding career. When Penny is unexpectedly offered a chance to exhibit her work at an Auckland gallery, she accepts, despite her reservations. At the same time, Jamie Flannery suddenly finds himself out of work and out of options. To recuperate, he moves to his uncle’s abandoned bach on the Coromandel, and when his childhood friend Riggs calls out of the blue, the three friends reunite. At first, being together feels just like old times. But secrets from their shared past threaten their newfound peace, forcing them to reckon with their history and themselves.

I was shocked and blown away by the emotional journey Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts took me through, so seeing Josie had come out with another read was such a wonderful piece of news to hear. I even got talking to a bunch of people today about both books, and I am so thrilled to see interest in what is not a popular genre of fiction for the most part. I am even more excited to see what Good Things Come and Go has to offer, from the characters and interactions to the themes and dialogue. There are so many things that were so well done in Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, and I just know Good Things Come and Go will deliver punch after punch.

I am also really excited to read a piece of New Zealand fiction that feels so homey yet transcends the typical Kiwi themes and stereotypes. This is a novel that has so much to offer, so many themes and topics to navigate and unfurl, and a beautiful backdrop to enshroud it all in. These characters already feel so profound and raw, so real and tangible that I can picture them without a problem. In fact, Good Things Come and Go already feels like it could be a stellar Kiwi film, and I would watch it in a heartbeat.

I think what I am most excited about with Good Things Come and Go is the subtle yet substantial tone and atmosphere Josie brings to her writing. There is a core element to her world-building that feels so perfectly cut out of New Zealand living, so flawlessly encapsulating the grit and emotion of what can be rugged, ordinary, simpleton Kiwi life. She makes something phenomenal out of her stories, and it is something I aspire to touch on in my writing.

I will be reading this over the weekend, giving myself the time to mull passages over and really soak up the language and lyricism of Good Things Come and Go. Overall, I find myself wanting to slow down with my reading and really allow myself the time and space to let the novels, poetry, and short stories sink in. Too often, I speed through stories to get a review written up, and that’s not what reading should be like at all. Good Things Come and Go may mark the start of a much-needed shift in my reading, and I am eager to see what else it sparks.