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Gravity Let Me Go
The astonishing new novel from the bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe and Lola in the Mirror
Trent Dalton, Australia's #1 bestselling author, returns with the astonishing Gravity Let Me Go—a story you won't ever forget.
There are one thousand stories up and down your street. There are nine thousand stories in your neighbourhood. This is the one about true crime journo Noah Cork, and the most important story he almost missed in pursuit of his dreams.
Dark, gritty, hilarious and unexpected, Gravity Let Me Go is a novel about marriage and ambition; truth-telling and truth-omitting; self-deception and self-preservation. It's a novel about the stories we want to tell the world and those we shouldn't, and how the stories we keep locked away are so often the stories that come to define us.
It's the story of a murder.
It's the story of a marriage.
It's the story of a lifetime.
Trent Dalton, Australia's #1 bestselling author, returns with the astonishing Gravity Let Me Go—a story you won't ever forget.
There are one thousand stories up and down your street. There are nine thousand stories in your neighbourhood. This is the one about true crime journo Noah Cork, and the most important story he almost missed in pursuit of his dreams.
Dark, gritty, hilarious and unexpected, Gravity Let Me Go is a novel about marriage and ambition; truth-telling and truth-omitting; self-deception and self-preservation. It's a novel about the stories we want to tell the world and those we shouldn't, and how the stories we keep locked away are so often the stories that come to define us.
It's the story of a murder.
It's the story of a marriage.
It's the story of a lifetime.
Audible Audio
Published September 30, 2025
1993 people are currently reading
6375 people want to read
About the author
Trent Dalton
14 books3,168 followersTrent Dalton writes for the award-winning The Weekend Australian Magazine. A former assistant editor of The Courier-Mail, he has won a Walkley, been a four-time winner of the national News Awards Feature Journalist of the Year Award, and was named Queensland Journalist of the Year at the 2011 Clarion Awards for excellence in Queensland media. His writing includes several short and feature-length film screenplays. His latest feature film screenplay, Home, is a love story inspired by his non-fiction collection Detours: Stories from the Street (2011), the culmination of three months immersed in Brisbane's homeless community, the proceeds of which went back to the 20 people featured within its pages. His journalism has twice been nominated for a United Nations of Australia Media Peace Award, and his debut novel Boy Swallows Universe was published in 2018.
He was nominated for a 2010 AFI Best Short Fiction screenplay award for his latest film, Glenn Owen Dodds, starring David Wenham. The film won the prestigious International Prix Canal award at the world's largest short film festival, The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. Dalton's debut feature film screenplay, In the Silence, is currently in production.
Trent also hosted the ABC Conversations show while Richard Fidler was on a Churchill Fellowship.
He was nominated for a 2010 AFI Best Short Fiction screenplay award for his latest film, Glenn Owen Dodds, starring David Wenham. The film won the prestigious International Prix Canal award at the world's largest short film festival, The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. Dalton's debut feature film screenplay, In the Silence, is currently in production.
Trent also hosted the ABC Conversations show while Richard Fidler was on a Churchill Fellowship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 640 reviews
October 12, 2025
Gravity Let Me Go — ★★★★¼ (4.25 Stars)
There’s a fevered brilliance pulsing through Gravity Let Me Go — a novel so alive it often feels like it’s trying to outrun its own heartbeat. I’ll admit, I found it frustratingly maniacal at times — a book that refuses to sit still, that darts from thought to thought with such velocity you half expect it to self-destruct mid-sentence. And yet, as the final page lands and the noise recedes, what lingers isn’t exhaustion but awe. Because somehow, miraculously, this chaos coheres into something transcendent.
This is Dalton through and through: the bruised lyricism, the tenderness beneath the rough edges, the unfiltered emotional voltage. Few authors write with this much pulse — it’s as if every line is wired directly to a live nerve. The novel hums with working-class ache and human wreckage; guilt, grief, love, and the gravitational pull of memory form the true architecture beneath its wild surface. There are moments so raw they feel overheard, and others that veer toward indulgence — but all of it feels lived, not merely written.
Dalton’s prose, as always, is a contradiction in motion — lush yet jagged, spiritual yet grimy. His characters orbit despair and yearning in equal measure. One paragraph will read like a prayer; the next, like a punch in the throat. But that’s the thrill of it: the constant oscillation between poetry and panic, between falling and flying.
Yes, I wanted him to slow down sometimes — to breathe, to let the reader catch up. But then he’ll deliver a line so diamond-cut it stops everything cold. That’s the alchemy here: even through the mania, the novel stays human. There’s no artifice in its mess, only feeling — heavy, ungovernable, and deeply Dalton.
By the time it ends, you realise Gravity Let Me Go isn’t trying to be tidy or polished. It’s trying to feel — to reach into the static of life and pull out a signal. And it succeeds. It’s flawed, yes, but gloriously so — a novel that vibrates with life and loss in equal measure. The tension felt in my wrists as I read, weren’t frustration after all, perhaps they were more akin to foreshadowing, foreshadowing that I was reading one of Australia’s premier authors.
Dalton’s gift remains what it always was: finding grace in the bruises.
There’s a fevered brilliance pulsing through Gravity Let Me Go — a novel so alive it often feels like it’s trying to outrun its own heartbeat. I’ll admit, I found it frustratingly maniacal at times — a book that refuses to sit still, that darts from thought to thought with such velocity you half expect it to self-destruct mid-sentence. And yet, as the final page lands and the noise recedes, what lingers isn’t exhaustion but awe. Because somehow, miraculously, this chaos coheres into something transcendent.
This is Dalton through and through: the bruised lyricism, the tenderness beneath the rough edges, the unfiltered emotional voltage. Few authors write with this much pulse — it’s as if every line is wired directly to a live nerve. The novel hums with working-class ache and human wreckage; guilt, grief, love, and the gravitational pull of memory form the true architecture beneath its wild surface. There are moments so raw they feel overheard, and others that veer toward indulgence — but all of it feels lived, not merely written.
Dalton’s prose, as always, is a contradiction in motion — lush yet jagged, spiritual yet grimy. His characters orbit despair and yearning in equal measure. One paragraph will read like a prayer; the next, like a punch in the throat. But that’s the thrill of it: the constant oscillation between poetry and panic, between falling and flying.
Yes, I wanted him to slow down sometimes — to breathe, to let the reader catch up. But then he’ll deliver a line so diamond-cut it stops everything cold. That’s the alchemy here: even through the mania, the novel stays human. There’s no artifice in its mess, only feeling — heavy, ungovernable, and deeply Dalton.
By the time it ends, you realise Gravity Let Me Go isn’t trying to be tidy or polished. It’s trying to feel — to reach into the static of life and pull out a signal. And it succeeds. It’s flawed, yes, but gloriously so — a novel that vibrates with life and loss in equal measure. The tension felt in my wrists as I read, weren’t frustration after all, perhaps they were more akin to foreshadowing, foreshadowing that I was reading one of Australia’s premier authors.
Dalton’s gift remains what it always was: finding grace in the bruises.
November 14, 2025
What to say. Over the top? Gripping? Creative to the max? Frustrating? Full on?
Not sure just how to review this one, as always very well written by Mr Dalton. Lola was my favourite, as well as this one is written, it's not quite up to that for me, but a full on trip nonethess. No one writes quite like Trent Dalton, he certainly brings Brisbane and his characters to life.
So, I'll take a few breaths and pick a number. I guess 4 will work as I could not stop reading for the last quarter or so. Hardly believable, but who cares in the end. Library ebook.
‘Why’d they leave everything?’
‘Beats me. Maybe they realised that most of the shit we all cart from house to house throughout our lives is ultimately about as valuable as a fart.’ pg 95
You are a voice for the voiceless. You are not a megaphone for the moronic.
– Rutledge, Journalism Practices and Principles pg 102
Do you see anything that happens around our house whatsoever? Honestly, do you ever take the time to come out of your precious little man bubble? No wonder Mum stopped talking to you. Talking to you most days is about as meaningful as talking to a cauliflower.’ pg 106
I can tell Clem is thinking deeply about something. Her quiet tells me this. Usually, Clementine Cork’s thoughts shift straight from her brain to her mouth in the same instant. But all her deeper thoughts take a longer route to her lips, the route that detours to her heart. pg 151
‘Cork,’ Jim says. ‘Tell me why they’re doing this to you.’
‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘Some kind of lesson, maybe.’
‘What lesson, Cork? What do you need to learn?’
‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘I haven’t learned it yet.’ pg. 254
Not sure just how to review this one, as always very well written by Mr Dalton. Lola was my favourite, as well as this one is written, it's not quite up to that for me, but a full on trip nonethess. No one writes quite like Trent Dalton, he certainly brings Brisbane and his characters to life.
So, I'll take a few breaths and pick a number. I guess 4 will work as I could not stop reading for the last quarter or so. Hardly believable, but who cares in the end. Library ebook.
‘Why’d they leave everything?’
‘Beats me. Maybe they realised that most of the shit we all cart from house to house throughout our lives is ultimately about as valuable as a fart.’ pg 95
You are a voice for the voiceless. You are not a megaphone for the moronic.
– Rutledge, Journalism Practices and Principles pg 102
Do you see anything that happens around our house whatsoever? Honestly, do you ever take the time to come out of your precious little man bubble? No wonder Mum stopped talking to you. Talking to you most days is about as meaningful as talking to a cauliflower.’ pg 106
I can tell Clem is thinking deeply about something. Her quiet tells me this. Usually, Clementine Cork’s thoughts shift straight from her brain to her mouth in the same instant. But all her deeper thoughts take a longer route to her lips, the route that detours to her heart. pg 151
‘Cork,’ Jim says. ‘Tell me why they’re doing this to you.’
‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘Some kind of lesson, maybe.’
‘What lesson, Cork? What do you need to learn?’
‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘I haven’t learned it yet.’ pg. 254
September 25, 2025
This book won't be anything like Lola. If you are expecting that, you won't like it.
Go in with an open mind.
I don't think I understand what Trent is trying to do with this book - but I don't think it deserves a bad review because I am stupid.
Very well written.
Just ... weird.
(Would have only given 3 stars, but I can't because it's Trent Dalton. My fingers won't allow me)
Go in with an open mind.
I don't think I understand what Trent is trying to do with this book - but I don't think it deserves a bad review because I am stupid.
Very well written.
Just ... weird.
(Would have only given 3 stars, but I can't because it's Trent Dalton. My fingers won't allow me)
October 8, 2025
Bro talked about his balls so much the first 200 pages I stared to think the anonymous source was his balls 🤔
July 31, 2025
I was burnt by Cloud Street by Tim Winton decades ago, having to study it for English Literature, and mostly stayed away from Australian "slice of life" books. So I went and got a job in a bookstore, selling books for 17 years and not purposefully avoiding Australian writers, but not overly seeking them out either. I did branch out and read Holly Ringland, Anita Heiss, Shelley Burr and Bryce Courtaney but not really venturing out much more than that.
GLMG came along and I thought I would give it a go.....and devoured it 2 days. I was 5 pages from finishing it, my bus stop was coming up and I was considering missing it just to finish this book.
It has been the highlight of my reading journey this year and so I just wanted to thank you so much for sending it through to me.
I am not saying that I will now go back and read the rest of Tim Winton's work, but I might have to broaden my reading horizon just a little more now.
If there is anyway you can let Trent Dalton know that some random bookseller was absolutely floored by Gravity Let Me Go, I would be forever in your debt.
GLMG came along and I thought I would give it a go.....and devoured it 2 days. I was 5 pages from finishing it, my bus stop was coming up and I was considering missing it just to finish this book.
It has been the highlight of my reading journey this year and so I just wanted to thank you so much for sending it through to me.
I am not saying that I will now go back and read the rest of Tim Winton's work, but I might have to broaden my reading horizon just a little more now.
If there is anyway you can let Trent Dalton know that some random bookseller was absolutely floored by Gravity Let Me Go, I would be forever in your debt.
November 4, 2025
Gravity Let Me Go is the much hyped and media saturated latest release of Queensland’s own home-grown boy wonder, Trent Dalton. We love him here. We love him so much he’s stitched into the very identity of Queensland, a state that has now been immortalised by the stroke of his pen and a television series adaptation of his phenomenally successful first novel, Boy Swallows Universe. Queensland, specifically Brisbane, is a location he returns to over and over. Lola in the Mirror was set in the heart of Brisbane, and he’s done it again, with Gravity Let Me Go set in a fictionalised Brisbane suburb that could be any number of Brisbane suburbs – I’m quite sure the ‘which suburb is it’ game will be played at many a book club discussion about this book. In fact, it’s already kicked off in my own book club chat group. But do we love Trent Dalton so much that we can forgive him a bad book? For me, Lola in the Mirror was fairly average, and I still remained true. But this, Gravity Let Me Go, well, this might be one of the stupidest books I’ve ever read.
Initially, when we meet Noah Cork, he has just released a true crime book inside six months, in fact, the book has been released while the police investigation is still ongoing. His life is somewhat chaotic: he’s been working non-stop on this book that was born out of a clue left in his letterbox, barely scraping by financially as a freelance journalist whose leads have all dried up on account of a story he wrote which well and truly burnt all of his bridges, he’s arguing with his wife every night, his daughters are teenagers (that’s enough in itself), and he’s seeing things, hearing things, kind of losing it, and something is really wrong with one of his testicles. Are you tired yet? The writing is at once very snappy and busy, chaotic like Noah himself. Introspection intermingled with dialogue make this a book you have to pay close attention to.
For a good part of the story, Dalton seems to circle around the morality of true crime reporting. True crime is big business, entertainment wise. Just go to the main menu of any streaming service and you can take your pick of documentaries and podcasts. True crime is a steady presence in the non-fiction lists, worldwide. I found this an interesting angle and was intrigued on where Dalton was going to go with this. There are sections in the narrative where he digs deep and highlights how dehumanising true crime reporting can be. “I used to see her looking down on me before she kissed me goodnight. Now all I see are her bones.” This, flung at him by the daughter of the victim whose murder he has based his book upon. And even with this though, our sympathies are tugged away from us by the portrayal of the victim’s family: the husband is a cheating alcoholic, the son a satanic meth head, the daughter is mentally unstable. It’s like, how sad, this woman has been murdered, but it’s okay to muckrake her life and spread it out for all to see because her family are a bunch of weirdos anyway. It felt like the moral objections that Dalton was raising were only being done so his character could form a rebuttal. Journalism is full of ethical landmines, I know this, it was my first career, and I was initially thrilled at seeing it poked at in this way. I had listened to an interview prior to the release of the book where Dalton spoke about these themes, but this was not to be the main topic of the book.
In amongst the chaos of how we meet Noah, his wife Rita stops speaking after accompanying their youngest daughter on a school excursion. No explanation, nothing happened, she just stops talking. Doctors diagnose selective mutism and joke that she’s giving Noah a silent f*ck you. Except it persists. Rita speaks to no one, not her daughters, her parents, neighbours, no one. She supposedly has a job three days a week, so I suppose she just turned up to work and said nothing as well, although Dalton doesn’t go into that. This storyline bothered me. A lot. We hear so much about what an amazing, special person Rita is. She’s the best mother, she’s there for all the neighbours, she’s a brilliant wife. But we learn all this about her from the other characters. All we get, in the present time with Rita, is a woman who is refusing to speak, which in turn is causing emotional damage to her daughters, the youngest of which develops a separation anxiety and refuses to go to school. Refusing to speak to someone you are married to because you’ve had enough of his obsession with chasing the story is not a building block for empathy. It’s a form of abuse, a toxic power play within a relationship, and to extend that to children was a plotline I couldn’t get behind. This may have affected my overall reading experience in the end, because this is something I have strong feelings about and a zero tolerance for.
Ultimately, Gravity Let Me Go was not the book for me. I still wouldn’t be able to tell you what it was really about, plot wise. I didn’t like Noah, particularly once he divulged what he had done to his parents’ marriage as a thirteen-year-old budding journalist. If anything, that served the purpose of showing him as a true hack, beyond redemption. Is this a crime story with a dash of Twin Peaks? A fantasy about storms and a superwoman? Or is it a good old fashioned love story? Dalton keeps reiterating that it is a story about marriage. I don’t know. It’s a bit of everything but not enough of one true thing to hold it together. This book just made me tired, to be honest, and I was glad to finally reach the end of it.
Initially, when we meet Noah Cork, he has just released a true crime book inside six months, in fact, the book has been released while the police investigation is still ongoing. His life is somewhat chaotic: he’s been working non-stop on this book that was born out of a clue left in his letterbox, barely scraping by financially as a freelance journalist whose leads have all dried up on account of a story he wrote which well and truly burnt all of his bridges, he’s arguing with his wife every night, his daughters are teenagers (that’s enough in itself), and he’s seeing things, hearing things, kind of losing it, and something is really wrong with one of his testicles. Are you tired yet? The writing is at once very snappy and busy, chaotic like Noah himself. Introspection intermingled with dialogue make this a book you have to pay close attention to.
For a good part of the story, Dalton seems to circle around the morality of true crime reporting. True crime is big business, entertainment wise. Just go to the main menu of any streaming service and you can take your pick of documentaries and podcasts. True crime is a steady presence in the non-fiction lists, worldwide. I found this an interesting angle and was intrigued on where Dalton was going to go with this. There are sections in the narrative where he digs deep and highlights how dehumanising true crime reporting can be. “I used to see her looking down on me before she kissed me goodnight. Now all I see are her bones.” This, flung at him by the daughter of the victim whose murder he has based his book upon. And even with this though, our sympathies are tugged away from us by the portrayal of the victim’s family: the husband is a cheating alcoholic, the son a satanic meth head, the daughter is mentally unstable. It’s like, how sad, this woman has been murdered, but it’s okay to muckrake her life and spread it out for all to see because her family are a bunch of weirdos anyway. It felt like the moral objections that Dalton was raising were only being done so his character could form a rebuttal. Journalism is full of ethical landmines, I know this, it was my first career, and I was initially thrilled at seeing it poked at in this way. I had listened to an interview prior to the release of the book where Dalton spoke about these themes, but this was not to be the main topic of the book.
In amongst the chaos of how we meet Noah, his wife Rita stops speaking after accompanying their youngest daughter on a school excursion. No explanation, nothing happened, she just stops talking. Doctors diagnose selective mutism and joke that she’s giving Noah a silent f*ck you. Except it persists. Rita speaks to no one, not her daughters, her parents, neighbours, no one. She supposedly has a job three days a week, so I suppose she just turned up to work and said nothing as well, although Dalton doesn’t go into that. This storyline bothered me. A lot. We hear so much about what an amazing, special person Rita is. She’s the best mother, she’s there for all the neighbours, she’s a brilliant wife. But we learn all this about her from the other characters. All we get, in the present time with Rita, is a woman who is refusing to speak, which in turn is causing emotional damage to her daughters, the youngest of which develops a separation anxiety and refuses to go to school. Refusing to speak to someone you are married to because you’ve had enough of his obsession with chasing the story is not a building block for empathy. It’s a form of abuse, a toxic power play within a relationship, and to extend that to children was a plotline I couldn’t get behind. This may have affected my overall reading experience in the end, because this is something I have strong feelings about and a zero tolerance for.
Ultimately, Gravity Let Me Go was not the book for me. I still wouldn’t be able to tell you what it was really about, plot wise. I didn’t like Noah, particularly once he divulged what he had done to his parents’ marriage as a thirteen-year-old budding journalist. If anything, that served the purpose of showing him as a true hack, beyond redemption. Is this a crime story with a dash of Twin Peaks? A fantasy about storms and a superwoman? Or is it a good old fashioned love story? Dalton keeps reiterating that it is a story about marriage. I don’t know. It’s a bit of everything but not enough of one true thing to hold it together. This book just made me tired, to be honest, and I was glad to finally reach the end of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2025
Gawd I hated it. I love Trent’s books but this one feels so egotistical and cringey. I’m so sorry. I tried so hard but this one is just, so over done. Devastated.
October 6, 2025
Trent Dalton can do no wrong and I won’t hear any negative reviews about any of his work.
Another beautifully written story set in Australian suburbia, with descriptions so vivid that I feel like I’m actually living in Jubilee and have grown up alongside the residents of Gecko Street.
Clementine Cork has to be one of my favourite characters ever written. I am obsessed with her and wish I was as whip smart as she is.
How does this man have me laughing my arse off in one chapter, weeping in the next, and then sitting on the edge of my seat for the remainder of the book? His storytelling is unparalleled.
Boy Swallows Universe will always have my heart as it was the first Dalton book I’d ever read and I was absolutely flawed by his writing. He did it to me again in Lola in the Mirror, and he’s done it now in Gravity Let Me Go.
I’ve been counting down the months for this book to be released only to absolutely devour it in days. I wish I could savour his stories, but I am physically unable to put the book down.
Another very long wait ahead for the next one 😅
Another beautifully written story set in Australian suburbia, with descriptions so vivid that I feel like I’m actually living in Jubilee and have grown up alongside the residents of Gecko Street.
Clementine Cork has to be one of my favourite characters ever written. I am obsessed with her and wish I was as whip smart as she is.
How does this man have me laughing my arse off in one chapter, weeping in the next, and then sitting on the edge of my seat for the remainder of the book? His storytelling is unparalleled.
Boy Swallows Universe will always have my heart as it was the first Dalton book I’d ever read and I was absolutely flawed by his writing. He did it to me again in Lola in the Mirror, and he’s done it now in Gravity Let Me Go.
I’ve been counting down the months for this book to be released only to absolutely devour it in days. I wish I could savour his stories, but I am physically unable to put the book down.
Another very long wait ahead for the next one 😅
August 30, 2025
Hm, tricky. I know TD is a great writer and a great guy, but I did not care for this main character for most of the book, nor did I overly care for the story line. I kept at it and the last quarter went super crimey in a similar way to how Boy Swallows Universe did. That got me more interested and I stayed up way too late reading because of that, which is a good thing. So it ended up being alright but I really didn’t love it, sorry!
All the Brisbane stuff was fun though 😎
All the Brisbane stuff was fun though 😎
December 1, 2025
I’m honestly not sure I have enough words or time to accurately explain what an utter dog shit this book is – quite frankly it’s an affront to trees everywhere that they died so that whatever this is could be published.
The story, for the lack of a better word, is positively schizophrenic. It’s trying to be so many things at once, but it fails to accurately explore any one of them to any degree.
This book follows Noah, a small-time true crime jorno who lost all his columnist work after he wrote an expose piece uncovering police corruption. Noah receives a creepy letter (IN HIS HOME MAILBOX) from an unknown source that ultimately results in him finding the body of a missing women – Tamara - who disappeared years earlier. Noah does what all failing journalists do in his situation and writes a book about Tamara, her murder and his involvement in finding her body. It is in the aftermath of these events that our book begins.
His book (which included a direct and violent chastisement of the killer) was released to middling reviews, and he’s both obsessed with and sort of being haunted by Tamara’s skeleton. He’s a useless man, useless husband and a useless father. Weird messages are appearing on his bathroom mirror, he’s getting more creepy notes (again to his personal mailbox, at his house, the one he lives in with his wife and minor children) and no one really cared about his mediocre book.
Except probably the killer, yanno the one who obviously knows where Noah and his family live and who Noah decided to call out… in his published book… because who really cares about the safety of your wife and kids anyway! After all, writing this book means he had an excuse to not get an actual job to help support his family who are drowning financially and emotionally!
The exploration of the ethicality of true crime media is a deeply compelling one and one that I really enjoy personally, however, Dalton doesn’t do anything close to this. There’s no discussion of the ethics of using police sources, of the dangers to crime journalists’ physical safety, of the ethics of writing a book against the wishes of the victims grieving family (but the sons a druggo and the dad probably did it so who cares about them right Noah?).
We don’t even see any real examination of the way the cops turned on him for exposing a corrupt cop. It’s clear Dalton had neither the ability nor care to bother doing anything interesting with this plotline. But don’t worry guys, it’s honestly for very good reason, he had a MUCH better plotline to explore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The real plot of this book is not the creepy letter, Noah’s failing career, his suddenly mute wife maybe being an alien (more on this later) or poor Tamara’s murder but Dalton’s -ahem- ahem- sorry I mean Noah’s ball sack. Noah’s testicles are the most prominent character in this story. So much so that the only thing helping me get through this mess of a book was keeping track of this pair of prominent protagonists.
For those wondering, Dalton uses eighteen different euphemisms for Noah’s balls which get a combined 50 mentions within the first 200 pages. Some of the most notable euphemisms used include Acorns, Taters, Goolies, Stuffed Olives, Soft Marinated Olives, Twisted Olives, Coin Purse, Dad Sack and Ball Bag and at various points in time they are described as embattled, exploding, bloated and toxic like a puffer fish.
Their most significant appearance being while Noah speaks at a true crime convention and when asked the first question of the interview he gets sudden exploding pain in the man glands (HA Trent, didn’t think of that one did you!) and stands up, falls to the ground, writhes around in a way that is described as ‘break dancing’ (watch out RayGun) before getting back up, saying “sorry my bad, cramp” and continues his interview. Yanno the one about the poor women whose brutal murder he’s trying to capitalize on. Though we get a fun call back a chapter later when at the end of the talk an audience member (a nurse) uses the Q&A to ask Noah if his balls hurt and tells him he might have an STD.
This plot point resolves around midway through the book when the cause of the ball ache (a testicular torsion) is surgically mended, then he gets kicked once in the balls after this and then the obsessive plot line is dropped immediately – never having contributed anything to the story except making readers everywhere confused as to why they deserved more page time then all the female main characters combined.
Now back to Noah’s mute alien wife. For basically the entire duration of this book Trent’s Mary Sue of a wife Rita is mute. This was an almost overnight change after she gets attacked by birds while on a school field trip with her daughter. This mass Alfred Hitchcock bird attack is never explained. She remains mute for the entirety of the book because I guess Dalton thinks that you can’t fail the Bechdel test if your female characters can’t speak, or something?
Also, Rita maybe, probably, definitely thinks Noah had an affair? While they were all at some conference Rita went back to their hotel room while Noah kept networking. He went back to a female colleague’s room where they chatted, he sat in a chair, her on the bed WITH HER SHOES OFF! The shoes off part is very important and is the reason why this situation is so bad – idk why but that’s just what Noah said. Anyway the vibes were vibing but alas the balls-sorry- I mean bells came ringing and Noah realized he was in a sus situation with this toes out shoeless broad so he fled back to his not yet mute wife.
Rita being mute IS sort of annoying to Noah tho, but he’s not really gonna do anything to help the situation because he’s too busy doing….umm…he’s just busy alright!! However, after Noah’s yarn gets surgically untwisted, the doctor shows some concern over Rita’s mental health – because it’s actually sort of weird for your wife to just stop talking to everyone Noah.
It's concluded that she’s voluntarily mute because Noah is an asshole – which honestly girl, fair enough. Years of financial stress, raising her kids alone while her husband plays cat and mouse with a murderer who knows where they live have traumatized her and she needs a break.
However, the doctor – that hack (this is exactly why we don’t usually let the female characters talk isn’t it, Trent!?!) was wrong. Rita is actually mute because the second main genre of this book is for some god forsaken reason, magical realism.
We are told, repeatedly and with no actual real explanation of how special Rita is. She’s NOT like other girls, she’s different, she’s special, she pulled some kids out of a burning fire and then BRING ONE OF THEM BACK TO LIFE WITH JUST HER FORCE OF WILL, once which was pretty cool. You see Rita was adopted as a child, a foundling and so one of the daughters comes to the conclusion that Rita is special. Rita. Is. An. Alien. Or perhaps a god? Either way her daughter is convinced she came from space.
I really wish I was fucking with you guys.
Rita’s selective mutism is wreaking havoc on her family. Her daughter start losing it (not because they think she’s an alien from space because that was actually sort of true?) but one of them develops crippling separation anxiety and has to stop going to school and has to sleep in bed with her mother. She becomes obsessed with her mother to an concerning degree that Noah of course does nothing about. There Is also never explanation or examination is why Rita was willing to destroy her kid’s mental health for the sake of this mutism – because as mentioned, it is always labelled as selective mutism not as a ptsd etc response.
The main climax of this book is Noah’s weird neighbour being the killer. So, turns out Noah’s sort of weird and annoying neighbour who has a miniature version of the whole town in his basement has actually been responsible for all the town’s disappearances. Oh that’s right, did I forget to mention Tamara was the most recent of a few missing people in this town. Something everyone appears to have gotten over pretty easily every time it happened lmao. He was killing them because…idk reasons, I guess? He’s weird, he's a weirdo, have you ever seen him without his stupid hat on? That’s weird!!! Sorry where was I?
The weirdo neighbour kidnaps Noah’s friend, a dude who was having an affair with Tamara because?? Idk reasons? Then he kidnaps Noah’s anxiety riddled daughter, Noah and Rita realise their kid is missing, get lured into the basement of creepy neighbour, Rita gets bonked on head, Noah and weird murder neighbour have their tête ta te. They get out of basement and that’s about it!
Oh wait sorry, I forgot – after they escape the basement the sky tries to suck Rita up (back to the mothership one must assume) and it takes Noah and half the street to try and pull her down and free from the skies hold. Yank yank yank on her leg until down she comes like Santa down the chimney. Rita – unsurprisingly – has nothing to say on this matter.
Like genuinely, what the fuck even is the plot of this book?
Perhaps this is just an outlier, many authors serve up a flaming ballsack of crap every now and again but boy is it odd to know that this man is one of Australia’s most beloved writers. Time to pack It up and reopen the schools so that we don’t allow Dalton’s kink fanfic about his bean bags to sell millions of copies.
The story, for the lack of a better word, is positively schizophrenic. It’s trying to be so many things at once, but it fails to accurately explore any one of them to any degree.
This book follows Noah, a small-time true crime jorno who lost all his columnist work after he wrote an expose piece uncovering police corruption. Noah receives a creepy letter (IN HIS HOME MAILBOX) from an unknown source that ultimately results in him finding the body of a missing women – Tamara - who disappeared years earlier. Noah does what all failing journalists do in his situation and writes a book about Tamara, her murder and his involvement in finding her body. It is in the aftermath of these events that our book begins.
His book (which included a direct and violent chastisement of the killer) was released to middling reviews, and he’s both obsessed with and sort of being haunted by Tamara’s skeleton. He’s a useless man, useless husband and a useless father. Weird messages are appearing on his bathroom mirror, he’s getting more creepy notes (again to his personal mailbox, at his house, the one he lives in with his wife and minor children) and no one really cared about his mediocre book.
Except probably the killer, yanno the one who obviously knows where Noah and his family live and who Noah decided to call out… in his published book… because who really cares about the safety of your wife and kids anyway! After all, writing this book means he had an excuse to not get an actual job to help support his family who are drowning financially and emotionally!
The exploration of the ethicality of true crime media is a deeply compelling one and one that I really enjoy personally, however, Dalton doesn’t do anything close to this. There’s no discussion of the ethics of using police sources, of the dangers to crime journalists’ physical safety, of the ethics of writing a book against the wishes of the victims grieving family (but the sons a druggo and the dad probably did it so who cares about them right Noah?).
We don’t even see any real examination of the way the cops turned on him for exposing a corrupt cop. It’s clear Dalton had neither the ability nor care to bother doing anything interesting with this plotline. But don’t worry guys, it’s honestly for very good reason, he had a MUCH better plotline to explore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The real plot of this book is not the creepy letter, Noah’s failing career, his suddenly mute wife maybe being an alien (more on this later) or poor Tamara’s murder but Dalton’s -ahem- ahem- sorry I mean Noah’s ball sack. Noah’s testicles are the most prominent character in this story. So much so that the only thing helping me get through this mess of a book was keeping track of this pair of prominent protagonists.
For those wondering, Dalton uses eighteen different euphemisms for Noah’s balls which get a combined 50 mentions within the first 200 pages. Some of the most notable euphemisms used include Acorns, Taters, Goolies, Stuffed Olives, Soft Marinated Olives, Twisted Olives, Coin Purse, Dad Sack and Ball Bag and at various points in time they are described as embattled, exploding, bloated and toxic like a puffer fish.
Their most significant appearance being while Noah speaks at a true crime convention and when asked the first question of the interview he gets sudden exploding pain in the man glands (HA Trent, didn’t think of that one did you!) and stands up, falls to the ground, writhes around in a way that is described as ‘break dancing’ (watch out RayGun) before getting back up, saying “sorry my bad, cramp” and continues his interview. Yanno the one about the poor women whose brutal murder he’s trying to capitalize on. Though we get a fun call back a chapter later when at the end of the talk an audience member (a nurse) uses the Q&A to ask Noah if his balls hurt and tells him he might have an STD.
This plot point resolves around midway through the book when the cause of the ball ache (a testicular torsion) is surgically mended, then he gets kicked once in the balls after this and then the obsessive plot line is dropped immediately – never having contributed anything to the story except making readers everywhere confused as to why they deserved more page time then all the female main characters combined.
Now back to Noah’s mute alien wife. For basically the entire duration of this book Trent’s Mary Sue of a wife Rita is mute. This was an almost overnight change after she gets attacked by birds while on a school field trip with her daughter. This mass Alfred Hitchcock bird attack is never explained. She remains mute for the entirety of the book because I guess Dalton thinks that you can’t fail the Bechdel test if your female characters can’t speak, or something?
Also, Rita maybe, probably, definitely thinks Noah had an affair? While they were all at some conference Rita went back to their hotel room while Noah kept networking. He went back to a female colleague’s room where they chatted, he sat in a chair, her on the bed WITH HER SHOES OFF! The shoes off part is very important and is the reason why this situation is so bad – idk why but that’s just what Noah said. Anyway the vibes were vibing but alas the balls-sorry- I mean bells came ringing and Noah realized he was in a sus situation with this toes out shoeless broad so he fled back to his not yet mute wife.
Rita being mute IS sort of annoying to Noah tho, but he’s not really gonna do anything to help the situation because he’s too busy doing….umm…he’s just busy alright!! However, after Noah’s yarn gets surgically untwisted, the doctor shows some concern over Rita’s mental health – because it’s actually sort of weird for your wife to just stop talking to everyone Noah.
It's concluded that she’s voluntarily mute because Noah is an asshole – which honestly girl, fair enough. Years of financial stress, raising her kids alone while her husband plays cat and mouse with a murderer who knows where they live have traumatized her and she needs a break.
However, the doctor – that hack (this is exactly why we don’t usually let the female characters talk isn’t it, Trent!?!) was wrong. Rita is actually mute because the second main genre of this book is for some god forsaken reason, magical realism.
We are told, repeatedly and with no actual real explanation of how special Rita is. She’s NOT like other girls, she’s different, she’s special, she pulled some kids out of a burning fire and then BRING ONE OF THEM BACK TO LIFE WITH JUST HER FORCE OF WILL, once which was pretty cool. You see Rita was adopted as a child, a foundling and so one of the daughters comes to the conclusion that Rita is special. Rita. Is. An. Alien. Or perhaps a god? Either way her daughter is convinced she came from space.
I really wish I was fucking with you guys.
Rita’s selective mutism is wreaking havoc on her family. Her daughter start losing it (not because they think she’s an alien from space because that was actually sort of true?) but one of them develops crippling separation anxiety and has to stop going to school and has to sleep in bed with her mother. She becomes obsessed with her mother to an concerning degree that Noah of course does nothing about. There Is also never explanation or examination is why Rita was willing to destroy her kid’s mental health for the sake of this mutism – because as mentioned, it is always labelled as selective mutism not as a ptsd etc response.
The main climax of this book is Noah’s weird neighbour being the killer. So, turns out Noah’s sort of weird and annoying neighbour who has a miniature version of the whole town in his basement has actually been responsible for all the town’s disappearances. Oh that’s right, did I forget to mention Tamara was the most recent of a few missing people in this town. Something everyone appears to have gotten over pretty easily every time it happened lmao. He was killing them because…idk reasons, I guess? He’s weird, he's a weirdo, have you ever seen him without his stupid hat on? That’s weird!!! Sorry where was I?
The weirdo neighbour kidnaps Noah’s friend, a dude who was having an affair with Tamara because?? Idk reasons? Then he kidnaps Noah’s anxiety riddled daughter, Noah and Rita realise their kid is missing, get lured into the basement of creepy neighbour, Rita gets bonked on head, Noah and weird murder neighbour have their tête ta te. They get out of basement and that’s about it!
Oh wait sorry, I forgot – after they escape the basement the sky tries to suck Rita up (back to the mothership one must assume) and it takes Noah and half the street to try and pull her down and free from the skies hold. Yank yank yank on her leg until down she comes like Santa down the chimney. Rita – unsurprisingly – has nothing to say on this matter.
Like genuinely, what the fuck even is the plot of this book?
Perhaps this is just an outlier, many authors serve up a flaming ballsack of crap every now and again but boy is it odd to know that this man is one of Australia’s most beloved writers. Time to pack It up and reopen the schools so that we don’t allow Dalton’s kink fanfic about his bean bags to sell millions of copies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2025
I was so excited to read Trent Dalton’s new book — I absolutely loved Lola in the Mirror, so I had high hopes for this one.
This story is dark, gritty, and unexpected — classic Trent in some ways, but also a deeper dive into the complexities of love, marriage, family and personal reckoning. At times, it’s sharp and funny, and his signature expressive, flowing style is still very much there.
But I’m still sitting with how I feel about it. It’s a bold book — emotionally intense and not always easy to read. The characters are raw and real, but I didn’t connect with them the way I hoped to.
If you’re a fan of Trent's poetic voice and don’t mind a challenging read, you will appreciate what he’s doing here. But it might not be for everyone.
This story is dark, gritty, and unexpected — classic Trent in some ways, but also a deeper dive into the complexities of love, marriage, family and personal reckoning. At times, it’s sharp and funny, and his signature expressive, flowing style is still very much there.
But I’m still sitting with how I feel about it. It’s a bold book — emotionally intense and not always easy to read. The characters are raw and real, but I didn’t connect with them the way I hoped to.
If you’re a fan of Trent's poetic voice and don’t mind a challenging read, you will appreciate what he’s doing here. But it might not be for everyone.
October 3, 2025
SO special! Full of crowbars, love, vulnerability and story! It is the story of Noah; suburban father, husband, journalist and now best selling author as he comes to terms with the success of his book..it does feel like we’ve been allowed to visit oz and glimpse the life of Trent Dalton (maybe) which definitely adds to the magic. Couldn’t have loved it more
October 11, 2025
Trent Dalton’s best. Which is no mean feat given the quality of his previous work. He absolutely bared his soul into this one. It was a privilege to attend the launch at the Powerhouse in New Farm Brisbane
October 22, 2025
Updated review 20/10/2025:
Gravity Let Me Go by Trent Dalton has been my most anticipated release of the year for sure.
As it’s been well established, I’d pretty much read a menu if Trent wrote it 😂🫶
Noah Cork was struggling as a journalist before the scoop of a lifetime landed in his letterbox. The police have shut him out, but nothing is going to stop Noah from telling the truth about Tamsin Fellows gruesome murder, or the trail of clues left for Noah to follow.
Noah is so enraptured by his new book that he’s neglecting the biggest story of all - what is happening in his own home, and why his wife Rita has suddenly stopped speaking.
As Noah attempts to unravel the complexities of his wife, understand his kids and deal with his own potentially slipping sanity, he has to come face to face with the darkest aspects of himself and brace for the coming storm (literally and figuratively).
Yet again, this is another brilliant book by Trent Dalton.
Reading Gravity Let Me Go feels like you’re caught in a storm.
It builds and builds, picking up pace and whizzing around you, before suddenly picking up speed. But then there’s a moment where it’s calm and you think maybe it’s done, but no, you’re in the eye of the storm and it comes back with full force.
At times I didn’t know where it was going to go and if Noah was going realise what he was missing. It really explores how easy it is to get caught up in something and neglect everything else.
As always the magical realism is brilliant and keeps you sitting on the edge of what is real or not.
Clem and Noah’s relationship and interactions are one of the standout parts, I adored every time they were on the page together.
There are times where you want to grab Noah and shake him and explain what is happening, but he needs to work through it and come to the understanding himself.
The story is full of heart and soul, feels raw and deeply personal.
Definitely one I want to reread to uncover even more!
Gravity Let Me Go ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
________________________________________________
Original review 19/10/2025:
IT IS SO GOOD. So good. SO GOOD.
I need a few days to collect my thoughts after that ending.
Gravity Let Me Go by Trent Dalton has been my most anticipated release of the year for sure.
As it’s been well established, I’d pretty much read a menu if Trent wrote it 😂🫶
Noah Cork was struggling as a journalist before the scoop of a lifetime landed in his letterbox. The police have shut him out, but nothing is going to stop Noah from telling the truth about Tamsin Fellows gruesome murder, or the trail of clues left for Noah to follow.
Noah is so enraptured by his new book that he’s neglecting the biggest story of all - what is happening in his own home, and why his wife Rita has suddenly stopped speaking.
As Noah attempts to unravel the complexities of his wife, understand his kids and deal with his own potentially slipping sanity, he has to come face to face with the darkest aspects of himself and brace for the coming storm (literally and figuratively).
Yet again, this is another brilliant book by Trent Dalton.
Reading Gravity Let Me Go feels like you’re caught in a storm.
It builds and builds, picking up pace and whizzing around you, before suddenly picking up speed. But then there’s a moment where it’s calm and you think maybe it’s done, but no, you’re in the eye of the storm and it comes back with full force.
At times I didn’t know where it was going to go and if Noah was going realise what he was missing. It really explores how easy it is to get caught up in something and neglect everything else.
As always the magical realism is brilliant and keeps you sitting on the edge of what is real or not.
Clem and Noah’s relationship and interactions are one of the standout parts, I adored every time they were on the page together.
There are times where you want to grab Noah and shake him and explain what is happening, but he needs to work through it and come to the understanding himself.
The story is full of heart and soul, feels raw and deeply personal.
Definitely one I want to reread to uncover even more!
Gravity Let Me Go ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
________________________________________________
Original review 19/10/2025:
IT IS SO GOOD. So good. SO GOOD.
I need a few days to collect my thoughts after that ending.
January 13, 2026
My first review for the year and it took me a little bit to get here. I was looking forward to another Trent Dalton Novel as loved Boy Swallows Universe and Lola. This just didn’t hit in the same way. I’m not sure what I just read. I found Noah hard to like as a character, chaotic and unorganised. Lots of talk of his balls early on. I did enjoy the last quarter of the book which had that faced paced ending where you wanted to know what happened. A bit like Boy Swallows Universe.
January 11, 2026
Jerry always says life is too short to finish books we’re not enjoying, but I enjoyed parts of this silly street. I think I love the Australiana scenes Trent Dalton paints more than THIS particular story. Noah Cork is the most unlikeable person but you can’t help feeling sorry for him. The museums within were quite sweet too. Okay that’s all thank you for reading about my reading.
October 6, 2025
Trent Daltons books are like a bougainvilliea, the type that is taking over your carport. The one you need to prune. At first it seems rambling, with tendrils sprouting every which way, and you wonder if it is worth it, should you even continue? But, by the end, it’s become something shining, a welcome patch of sunlight and colour. Its something you will tell your mates about, and something you can pass on to others and take a small piece with you wherever you go. TLDR, well worth it all in the end.
November 9, 2025
I wish I could give it zero stars. Pile of pretentious poop.
November 29, 2025
Book 💯 woohoo
January 6, 2026
Weird and wonderful
November 24, 2025
Weird but good. Quite different from his other stuff. Felt a little lost at times
October 17, 2025
A departure from his teen protagonists that mostly sticks the landing. There’s some reliance on his tropes—Brisbane and its crime scene, the fervent storms in the final act, a magical realism motif representative of the protagonist’s journey—but it’s always incredibly readable and engaging. I just think that in juxtaposition to his bildungsromans that he crafts so well, this was somewhat more loosely constructed than his prior works.
December 10, 2025
I no longer care what anyone else thinks of Trent Dalton's stories. I can't get enough. No one else can make reality and mystique blend so beautifully, and I ALWAYS appreciate being able to read settings so close to home.
December 28, 2025
gripping and I cried multiple times but there were times near the end where I felt the plot kinda slipped
October 18, 2025
Finished this in a day as I could not put it down. In typical Trent Dalton fashion, it's a little dark, humorous and gritty. Absolutely on par with BSU, in my opinion.
Noah Cork is a journalist. When a true crime scoop lands in his letterbox, he pictures success (and a second bathroom!) but he is then haunted by the subject of his new hit book.
My favourite part of Trent's books are always the musings, almost poetically weaved throughout - on family & marriage in particular for this one.
Noah Cork is a journalist. When a true crime scoop lands in his letterbox, he pictures success (and a second bathroom!) but he is then haunted by the subject of his new hit book.
My favourite part of Trent's books are always the musings, almost poetically weaved throughout - on family & marriage in particular for this one.
January 5, 2026
A literary, character-driven, atmospheric murder mystery, unlike anything I have read.
‘It is the story of a murder.
It is the story of a marriage.
It is the story of a lifetime.’
I loved this as a tandem read, with a physical copy from my library as well as listening to the audiobook (from BorrowBox). This was an incredible audiobook, made even better as it was narrated by Trent Dalton!
4.5 stars (rounded up)
‘It is the story of a murder.
It is the story of a marriage.
It is the story of a lifetime.’
I loved this as a tandem read, with a physical copy from my library as well as listening to the audiobook (from BorrowBox). This was an incredible audiobook, made even better as it was narrated by Trent Dalton!
4.5 stars (rounded up)
January 16, 2026
Crime journalist Noah Cork receives an anonymous, career-saving tip that leads him to the bones of missing Jubilee mother Tamsin Fellows. As he’s haunted by visions of Tamsin’s skeleton and engulfed by the investigation into her murder, guilt over neglecting his wife and daughters begins to consume him too. Gravity Let Me Go (GLMG) is an another Trent Dalton masterpiece, a quirky, heart wrenching and mystical story set in suburban Australia about disintegrating family life and a journalist’s obsession to find the truth. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on my copy of GLMG and it did not disappoint!
This was one of my Dalton favourites. Not only is he a wordsmith, but Dalton has mastered the interchange between dialogue, internal monologue and reflection within this writing. I found GLMG less complicated than his other works yet still so lyrical and beautiful. The narration shines with Noah’s conversational yet meaningful storytelling. Every sentence is intentional and engaging. His characters are all so strong and gripping. I personally loved so much of the book - but stellar highlights include protagonist Noah’s dry, witty and insightful narration, the crime and mystery elements, the wholesome relationship Noah has with his daughters especially Clem, Noah’s ode to his adolescence and family dynamics, and the connections to The Wizard of Oz which is superbly linked to the storms and fantastical story elements of GLMG.
Despite my adoration for GLMG, I did note some small negatives with the book. I felt like the ending moved too fast. It wrapped up very swiftly. There could have been more to uncover and expose with the conclusion of the story, especially concerning Noah’s family life and Tamsin’s murderers’ outcome. After reading Lola in the Mirror, I felt that the author strongly relies on the same character archetype, tropes and literally devices in his novels - novels set in Brisbane, magical realism, portraying himself in the protagonist, fervent and animated storms, ocker humour… GLMG again features the Dalton formula, but works (just like Boy Swallows Universe). I personally found parts of Dalton’s magical realism in GLMG a little manic and unbelievable, especially for such a gritty and authentic story, but it was definitely all passable for me. 5 Stars from me and well worth the wait from Trent Dalton.
This was one of my Dalton favourites. Not only is he a wordsmith, but Dalton has mastered the interchange between dialogue, internal monologue and reflection within this writing. I found GLMG less complicated than his other works yet still so lyrical and beautiful. The narration shines with Noah’s conversational yet meaningful storytelling. Every sentence is intentional and engaging. His characters are all so strong and gripping. I personally loved so much of the book - but stellar highlights include protagonist Noah’s dry, witty and insightful narration, the crime and mystery elements, the wholesome relationship Noah has with his daughters especially Clem, Noah’s ode to his adolescence and family dynamics, and the connections to The Wizard of Oz which is superbly linked to the storms and fantastical story elements of GLMG.
Despite my adoration for GLMG, I did note some small negatives with the book. I felt like the ending moved too fast. It wrapped up very swiftly. There could have been more to uncover and expose with the conclusion of the story, especially concerning Noah’s family life and Tamsin’s murderers’ outcome. After reading Lola in the Mirror, I felt that the author strongly relies on the same character archetype, tropes and literally devices in his novels - novels set in Brisbane, magical realism, portraying himself in the protagonist, fervent and animated storms, ocker humour… GLMG again features the Dalton formula, but works (just like Boy Swallows Universe). I personally found parts of Dalton’s magical realism in GLMG a little manic and unbelievable, especially for such a gritty and authentic story, but it was definitely all passable for me. 5 Stars from me and well worth the wait from Trent Dalton.
January 17, 2026
Let me start by saying that I love Trent Dalton. He’s a national treasure and, genuinely, his books should be read by Australians for generations to come. Boy Swallows Universe being voted #1 in ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Books of the 21st Century feels completely deserved.
Gravity Let Me Go has a familiar Dalton shape to it: the cryptic title, the Brisbane setting, those mysterious phrases that seem to haunt the main character, and the blend of crime with real-life struggle. In a lot of ways it mirrors Boy Swallows Universe (and to a degree Lola in the Mirror), but for me none of those elements are done quite as well as the original masterpiece.
What Dalton does brilliantly here is the Australiana. He paints an extremely accurate picture of suburban Australian life—its rhythms, its sounds, its language, the small behaviours that give a place its truth. It feels like you’re walking those streets. If you’re not Australian, Dalton is still a must-read if you want to get to the heart of the average Aussie and how we speak, joke, dodge feelings, and keep going.
I also really appreciated the warts-and-all portrayal of family life, especially from a father’s perspective. It’s honest in that Dalton way—funny, tender, a little bruised—where the love is obvious but so are the blind spots and the ego and the exhaustion. And overall, the plot is engaging; it keeps you moving, keeps you curious.
Where it slipped for me is mostly in the comparison that’s hard to avoid. The main character felt less likeable than in Dalton’s earlier work, and while I don’t need likeable characters, I do need someone I can properly invest in. The crime/suspense/climax was fine, but it didn’t have the same pulse or thrill as Boy Swallows Universe or Lola in the Mirror—those books had a stronger sense of momentum and payoff.
And maybe the biggest thing: it felt a little too autobiographical, in a way that occasionally pulled me out of the novel and made me aware of the author behind the curtain. Dalton’s “voice” is part of the magic, but here I felt it tipping into self-reflection a touch too often, when I wanted the story itself to do more of the lifting.
Overall: 3.5 stars. There’s still a lot to love—especially the Australiana and the family portrait—but for me it sits in the shadow of his best work, and it didn’t quite hit with the same force.
Gravity Let Me Go has a familiar Dalton shape to it: the cryptic title, the Brisbane setting, those mysterious phrases that seem to haunt the main character, and the blend of crime with real-life struggle. In a lot of ways it mirrors Boy Swallows Universe (and to a degree Lola in the Mirror), but for me none of those elements are done quite as well as the original masterpiece.
What Dalton does brilliantly here is the Australiana. He paints an extremely accurate picture of suburban Australian life—its rhythms, its sounds, its language, the small behaviours that give a place its truth. It feels like you’re walking those streets. If you’re not Australian, Dalton is still a must-read if you want to get to the heart of the average Aussie and how we speak, joke, dodge feelings, and keep going.
I also really appreciated the warts-and-all portrayal of family life, especially from a father’s perspective. It’s honest in that Dalton way—funny, tender, a little bruised—where the love is obvious but so are the blind spots and the ego and the exhaustion. And overall, the plot is engaging; it keeps you moving, keeps you curious.
Where it slipped for me is mostly in the comparison that’s hard to avoid. The main character felt less likeable than in Dalton’s earlier work, and while I don’t need likeable characters, I do need someone I can properly invest in. The crime/suspense/climax was fine, but it didn’t have the same pulse or thrill as Boy Swallows Universe or Lola in the Mirror—those books had a stronger sense of momentum and payoff.
And maybe the biggest thing: it felt a little too autobiographical, in a way that occasionally pulled me out of the novel and made me aware of the author behind the curtain. Dalton’s “voice” is part of the magic, but here I felt it tipping into self-reflection a touch too often, when I wanted the story itself to do more of the lifting.
Overall: 3.5 stars. There’s still a lot to love—especially the Australiana and the family portrait—but for me it sits in the shadow of his best work, and it didn’t quite hit with the same force.
October 23, 2025
Another phenomenal book from Trent Dalton. I’ll admit it, it was a little slow in the first few chapters, but then when I was almost convinced that Daltons unique writing style was gone and he was changing things up, I was about to give up. But I pushed through and thank goodness I did. Because his beautiful writing style is as brilliant as ever. I absolutely devoured it. I could spend my life reading nothing but TD books. I hope he’s got many more in the pipeline because I’ve finished them all! And loved every single one. Including GLMG!!
January 4, 2026
A little bit crime, a little bit magical realism, a little bit weird, very fast paced and very Trent Dalton!
The way Trent can interchange between internal dialogue, character discussion, the past, the present and the what is coming all in the one paragraph is just phenomenal.
The last quarter of the book I was turning the pages as fast as my fingers and reading brain would allow and I was desperate to see how the story ends.
There is always so much going on in a Trent Dalton book and this is no different. If you haven’t read Trent before, I personally wouldn’t recommend starting with this one.
The way Trent can interchange between internal dialogue, character discussion, the past, the present and the what is coming all in the one paragraph is just phenomenal.
The last quarter of the book I was turning the pages as fast as my fingers and reading brain would allow and I was desperate to see how the story ends.
There is always so much going on in a Trent Dalton book and this is no different. If you haven’t read Trent before, I personally wouldn’t recommend starting with this one.
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