Saturday, 6 December 2025
It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That Hannah Marshall
It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That
Author: Hannah Marshall
Allen & Unwin (2025), 310 pages, paperback
ISBN 978 1 99100 694 3
’
‘Why the hell is Zelle Bachmann coming back to our town?'
Callum (17) has a ‘nervous stomach’ so he tends to throw up when he’s stressed. ‘Combine that with an aching shyness and a dose of social anxiety and cue the montage of embarrassing moments.’ Callum, who is the narrator of alternate chapters in this novel, has many embarrassing moments ahead of him, after he receives a text from Zelle.
Zelle (17) who shares his narration, has a double problem. Her drunken spree in Wellington has convinced Zelle’s long-suffering mother to move them both back to their former home in the small Central Otago town of Stakesville. Callum and Zelle are horrified at the prospect of Zelle’s return. Once best friends, they haven’t communicated for three years. Clearly, both have serious unresolved issues. What happened to their friend, Eli? Why did Zelle leave so abruptly? Why is Callum feeling so guilty? What will happen when they finally meet again?
The answer to these and many other questions can be found in the title. It's a bit more complicated than that is a witty, readable YA novel which creates a bunch of lively teenagers and places them in a convincing setting.
In a small town like Stakesville (population 723) memorably described as ‘a toilet stop on the way to Queenstown,’ everyone knows what’s going on. And the folk have long memories. Thus, it makes amusing reading when Zelle defies her mother and tries to avoid going back to school by taking a job at Nicky’s Knick Knacks, a second-hand store. At lunchtime she finds her mother drinking tea with Nicky. The pair are planning how to get Zelle back to school. Zelle is outflanked and astonished, ‘Mum is laughing. Nicky is making my mother laugh.’ (All the adults in this novel are neatly developed characters as well.)
Meanwhile, Callum, nervously anticipating Zelle’s return to school, finds himself reluctantly forming a friendship with Finn, a confident new arrival with a pride badge on his backpack. Callum, who describes himself as ‘an over-eager media nerd’ has a talent for writing which has earned him an after-school position writing for the local biweekly newspaper. This means readers soon learn a great deal about the people of Stakesville and their attitudes. We also gradually piece together what happened three years ago. Above all, this novel depicts several teens coming to terms with life’s challenges and heartaches. Questions are skilfully answered and situations resolved as the story develops, although not without some wittily-described mis-steps and misunderstandings.
Hannah Marshall is a skilful writer and her double narrative keeps readers aware of things that the main characters don’t know yet, which creates some really amusing situations. The suspense is skilfully maintained, while Zelle and Callum drop tantalising hints, so that each chapter gives new insights into their volatile friendship.
This is a bright and captivating YA novel, full of interesting situations and engaging people.
Trevor Agnew 29 July 2025. First published in The Source (3785)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment