Falling into Rarohenga

by Steph Matuku

It seems like an ordinary day when Tui and Kae, sixteen-year-old twins, get home from school – until they find their mother, Maia, has disappeared and a swirling vortex has opened up in her room. They are sucked into this portal and dragged down to Rarohenga, the Māori Underworld, a shadowy place of infinite dark levels, changing landscapes and untrustworthy characters. Maia has been kidnapped by their estranged father, Tema, enchanted to forget who she really is and hidden somewhere here. Tui and Kae have to find a way through this maze, outwit the shady characters they meet, break the spell on their mother, and escape to the World of Light before the Goddess of Shadows or Tema holds them in Rarohenga forever.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fiction, Mythology, Family, Indigenous

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2021

About the author

Hi,

I'm based in New Plymouth, New Zealand, but you can find me on Facebook and Bluesky. Feel free to say hi, I'd love to hear from you!

STEPH

Reviews

[CW ✨]

It's so awesome to see a book that feels so close to home for me. Falling into Rarohenga is a fantastic portal fantasy into Rarohenga, the Māori Underworld, packed full with Māori atua (gods) and mythology, and I had SO much fun reading this.

- Follows Māori twins Tui and Kae, who come home one day and discover that their mother has disappeared - and that a portal to Rarohenga has opened in their bedroom. Together, they must overcome the challenges within Rarohenga and save their mother.
- I loved the adventure into Rarohenga, where we get to meet Māori gods, goddesses, and mythological beings (like the beloved taniwha!).
- I also loved that Falling into Rarohenga is an epic celebration of Māoritanga, one that will resonant and empower Māori readers.
- This is a quest adventure story at its finest – set in a place where the world tries to make you stay, with challenges that test character and will.
- If you love stories about siblings and the ups and downs of siblinghood – from annoying each other, to getting on each other’s nerves, but also how they learn from one another and grow stronger because of their bond with another.

Content warning: mentions of dead family members, supernatural/fantasy themes

[India]

This was an interesting read. Super fast paced and it gave Percy Jackson vibes but Māori. There was some nice character development in Tui and Kae. I wish that there was more depth to the Māori mythology aspects though.

[J.C. Hart]

I loved this book! Fast paced, full of action, with delicious cliff hangers that make you rush to read the next chapter. It was both hilarious and poignant.

[lucy black]

A while ago I read one of my childhood favourites ‘The Half Men of O’ to my kid. The old fashioned language, strange gender stereotypes and long winded plot kindof took away from my fond memories and my kid wasn’t enthralled. Falling Into Rarohenga is the perfect modern day replacement and a wonderful novel in it’s own right. This easy to read and relatively short fantasy centre’s around twin teens who enter the underworld to save their mother. The same kid that wasn’t super impressed with Maurice Gee reads a lot of Rick Riordon and often talks to me about wishing there was a Percy Jackson for Aotearoa, well, I’d vote Steph Matuku writes our block buster atua Māori series. Matuku knows how to write realistic teen characters and weave their colloquial haphazard chats and worries with history and spiritualism, I can’t wait to see what she does next.

[Julia Smith]

Loved this.

It is crucial to have such wonderful stories of mātauranga Māori in our school libraries and this modern urban fantasy is a gem. The banter between the teen twins is relatable and often hilarious, teamed with Māori mythology, an underworld quest, mythical and magical beings, and survival, this action-packed shortish fantasy is a winner.

I'm reading it aloud to Year 9 classes coming into our library and all the students are asking for 'one more chapter!'

[Jenna]

Read this to see if it would work for our Māori superheroes english unit, and it is perfect. Works for juniors, but not seniors. There is greaf setting and character development. The māori myths are accessible for someone who hasn't heard of some of them before. Loved this. Highly recommend for young New Zealanders.

[Eliott]

3.5⭐️

This was such a fun book!! I love any and all mythology, but Maori mythology has been an obsession of mine for years, so this was especially fun for me to read. I would have read it a lot faster, but I kept getting sucked into research rabbit holes every time some creature or god was mentioned, I was having a blast lol. My one gripe was the relationship between Tui and Kae; holy shit was there bickering ever annoying! I get that they’re children, and I did like how their relationship developed throughout the course of this book. But I could have done with a little less bitching between the two of them 😂. It kept taking me out of the story, so I really wish this had been for a slightly older audience. But otherwise this was a solid read and I really enjoyed it!

[Melinda Szymanik]

This is a great read for teens - fast paced, fresh and with great dialogue. Twin teens Tui and Kae are thrust into Rarohenga, the Māori underworld where the dead go, to rescue their mother. Tui and Kae are chalk and cheese and haven't really got on since their mum and dad split but this task will need them to pull together. Rarohenga is filled with demons, dangers and demi-gods, some willing to help, others keen to hinder - can the twins succeed or will they be stuck there forever?

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I learnt a few new things about Māori mythology. It's well written with plenty of action, drama and humour. Recommended.

[Beebadobe]

⭐ 1/5 — WHY DID WE HAVE TO READ THIS?

I honestly hated Falling into Rarohenga. The only reason I finished this book was because my English teacher forced us to read it. If we were actually allowed to choose our own books, I would have picked literally anything else.

The story was boring, the characters were annoying, and I never felt interested in what was happening. Every time my English teacher said we had to read more, I already knew I was going to be bored.

I don't understand why this book was chosen for us. There are so many better books we could have read, but somehow we ended up stuck with this one. Reading it felt more like a punishment than something I was supposed to enjoy.

Overall, I give Falling into Rarohenga 1 star, and that is only because I can't give it 0. I would never willingly read this book again.

[Jenny]

Really great book. Perfect for older middlegrade or younger YA. Loved the Māori mythology. It was also so fun to read a book using Kiwi slang, I didn't realise how little of that I get on the books I read.

[Trish]

Beautifully told story that weaves Māori legends with fantasy. My students love it too. Highly recommend it.

[Wendy Bamber]

Told from alternate perspectives of a pair of 14 year old twins, it’s fantastic to have some Māori main characters in a fantasy setting and some realistic language and interactions between siblings. They are quite different and bounce off each other throughout. I love the introduction of various atua and taniwha and the bush settings. I did lose track a little about a third in when I wasn’t fully gripped but i found that it picked up again and can think of plenty of kids who I think will like it. Suitable for year (6) 7/8s.

[LibraryKath]

Eh... it was OK. I don't think this really qualifies as a young adult book, even though the protagonists are 14. It feels very young and a little bit... cheesy? I did really enjoy the Māori lore throughout the book, and the action feels interesting and exciting. I just found the prose overly simple and childlike.

[Malia Wong]

LOVE THE MĀORI MYTHOLOGY, LANGUAGE, & SIBLING BOND!! Didn’t love the plot holes, pacing issues, and mention of masturbation in a YA book 🤢

[Chloe Fergusson-Tibble]

📚📚📚Falling into Rarohenga by Steph Matuku (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Āti Awa) 📚📚📚
*
🐈: Purrrrrfect
👩🏽‍⚕️: A great YA ‘fantasy’ novel
•
An action packed fast paced adventure about twins Kai and Tui who search for their Mum, Maia, who has been swallowed by a vortex to Rarohenga (paradise). With the help of those who have passed on to Rarohenga the twins overcome various obstacles in the great search for their mother including encounters with Māori Atua, taniwhā and Ponaturi. This is a coming of age tale with a rocketing pace and plenty of cliffhangers to keep you turning pages.
•
The characters are two Māori teens who are figuring out what kind of people they want to be. Kae loves music but is tending to get into trouble at school. Tui is an overachiever and is planning her great escape from her current situation by flitting off to university. Both blame their mother for the things that are going wrong including the lack of time she has for them as a single mum. Kae, who yearns for his dad, idolises his rebel father despite understanding how toxic he is for his mother. Tui, on the other hand, is very loyal to their mother but still despises how she had to step up and care for her when their father left. Furthermore, Tui has had a hard time at school and Kae seems to have all the friends.
•
Despite their swirling emotions the twins, who love their mother heaps, go to find her and help get her home. Along the way they learn more about te ao Māori (the Māori world) through encounters with various atua (gods) and creatures. I especially liked how Matuku wove in the names of atua long forgotten, and had the characters struggle to remember their names for a while, before finally mastering them. It was a clever metaphor for the arduous but rewarding journey that many choose to take when reclaiming te reo Māori (language), tikanaga (protocols), and pūrākau (stories). It’s pretty epic to see the twins identity grow through exposure to the magic our world has to offer.
•
I think that this is a perfect novel for young people for various reasons. It’s about indigenous kids in a ‘fantasy’ world that’s actually based on their own indigenous stories. It’s choice that Māori kids might come away with an empowering sense of…..’the story is not real but the world is mine’. I also think many kids will relate to the storyline of being in a single parent family where its sp tempting to believe that their parents are either all good or all bad. It’s satisfying seeing the teens grow to understand life more as the novel unfolds.
•
Without hesitation - I recommend it.
•
Ngā mihi @huiapublishers for this review copy.
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#maoriwriters #indigenousauthors #nzbooks #readmore #bookstagram #taleswiththomas #catsofinstagram #currentlyreading #stephmatuku

[whatbooknext]

Kae and Tui are fourteen, polar opposites and twins. They have a love-hate relationship. Kae hates the way Tui is all…

I can fix anything. I am so smart because I study all the time and Kae should too. I’m a school prefect. I’m the one who stepped up when Mum fell apart after dad left.

Not that she says this, but he reckons it’s the way she acts, and it bugs Kae.

Tui hates the way Kae doesn’t study or do his homework, and is always in fights or in trouble at school. Deep down she’s also mad that Kae avoided home and the fallout after their dad left, spending time on his music and mates instead. The fact that Kae sticks up for his dad even though they haven’t seen him for years, also gets under Tui’s skin.

After a particularly messy day at school, fights, a suspension and loss of privileges, they get home to find Mum gone, her room trashed and a spinning vortex in her bedroom floor! They cannot fight the force of it and…

… they land in Rarohenga – The Maori Underworld. A relative who has passed on explains. Their dad has kidnapped Mum and dragged her into this land of many levels, creepy landscapes, famous and forgotten Maori atua (gods), dreams and memories.

Tui and Kae must go after her or lose her forever. No matter how independent they are at home, they love and need their mum and will do anything to get her back. Their journey begins…



I loved this New Zealand novel. Teens worldwide will love this exciting story of NZ myths and gods and goddesses. A Taniwha is a key character (of course!) and there are many other gods and creatures I have heard of, plus many that I hadn’t.

The squabbling between the twins is sharp and funny, then heart warming as their true feelings begin to show instead of the walls they have built around themselves since their family fell apart. Kae’s idolisation of his father is slowly eroded as he learns the truth, and Tui’s love for her mum and brother is strengthened.

Kiwi slang (Yea nah, Don’t be a dick etc) reminds us that the twins are from right here, right now, thrown into a world of the past. Steph Matuku’s fusion of old and modern is perfect, providing a blend of humour and history in a plot that races along.

Told in both twin’s viewpoints, (first person, present tense) also brings you closer to the characters, and quickly snatches you up into their journey to save their mum.

Great YA Fiction, and what about that Spectacular Cover by Stacy Eyles!

[Emily]

3.75. I liked the focus on the twin/sibling bond between Tui and Kae throughout this book, how it showed them navigating complex changes in their relationship and how no matter what, they always loved and were loyal to one another. Individually, Tui and Kae were great characters and I enjoyed seeing them confront their own flaws; it really felt like they both came a long way from the beginning of the book.

In this story you are really immersed in traditional Māori beliefs and many of the stories that come from these. It was so cool to see this described in detail, and to read about the different roles different figures play in Rarohenga.

The plot itself was super pacey; the action starts pretty much straight away and doesn’t let up till the end. There was such a variety of challenges that Tui and Kae had to face which kept me as the reader on my toes. However, the breakneck speed of the plot does work against the book, too. It felt like nothing really had a chance to breathe and be given weight to, especially Tui and Kae’s emotional reaction to things. For example, arriving in Rarohenga and meeting their aunt again, Kae realising his dad is terrible, and the twins seeing their dad die, among other things. The ending also felt quite abrupt; I felt like we should have seen a chapter each from Tui and Kae back in the World of Light. As a final note, I did find it took a minute for me to settle into the story.

[Penny]

Loved this way more than I was expecting to!!

I am not a huge fan of mythology - I get all confuddled with the names - but this story rocked along nicely, incorporating essentially a quest tale with Maori mythology.

Kae and Tui are twins who do NOT get along. Kae is a rebel and won't follow rules, and Tui is the opposite. And so they frustrate each other.

Their mum and dad split up after their dad has a stint in prison, and Kae is finding this harder to deal with than Tui.

When they get home from school one day to find their mum missing and a gaping hole in their house, leading to Rarohenga, the Underworld, they head straight in to try and find their mum, who they are sure has been taken by their dad.

There follows an exciting and mysterious journey where they encounter a number of Maori mythological beings and have their relationship tested even more than they do in the real world.

I will be suggesting this to fans of Percy Jackson as the mythology element, coupled with an excellent sense of humour, should definitely appeal!

[Brandon Landy]

Trash. The book was 200 pages of boring, almost unreadable sentences. The only reason I got past page 20 was because it was for a school assignment. I don't know why it has any good reviews at all. The sentences didn't work, and characters were boring and had the most fake emotional growth ever. The mild swearing tries to make it seem cool and edgy, but just makes the book as mess. The plot was lackluster and the last two chapters were even worse. I wanted to throw up during them. Fortunately it was a short 200 pages that only felt like 500. When the English teachers said we had to read again because nobody else finished it, I nearly cried. I pretended to read it and just read Emperor: The Death Of Kings under the table. If you are looking for a good read, stay away.
Other Books that I would recommend for the age range
Percy Jackson and The Olympians
Fablehaven
The Kane Chronicles
Skulduggery Pleasant
The Hunger Games
Mortal Engines
The Maze Runner
Jurassic Park
ANYTHING BUT THIS!!!!!!!

[Sasha Wolf]

When their mother disappears, twins Tui and Kae fall through a portal in her deserted bedroom and find themselves in the Maori underworld.

It took me a few chapters to really feel engaged by the twins as characters, but I sat up and began to take notice when it became clear to me that the story that unfolds is in conversation with all of (in no particular order) the Narnia books, colonialism, and indigenous tradition. Each twin embodies those conversations in different ways. This turned out to be the key that drew me in, and by the end I could not put the book down (literally – I almost let my bath overflow.) The eventual conclusion is nuanced, with a great deal entrusted to the reader to figure out. I would be very interested to read more by this author along similar lines, whether by way of a sequel or a standalone.

[Carole]

I really enjoyed this supernatural adventure quest. Twins Tui and Kae find themselves in Rarohenga, along with Maori spirits, gods and goddesses, taniwha and demons. Their mother has gone missing and they discover from their Auntie Huia (who died some time ago and they miss dearly) that there father has taken her. It's up to Tui and Kae to find her and bring her home, and this is made extra tricky because they are always at odds with each other. Chapters alternate between Tui and Kae, and each chapter heading indicates which character is narrating (a great idea and really helpful for readers!) Very well written, fast paced action, and great characters with realistic teen voices. Highly recommended for secondary school libraries.

[✿ jessica ✿]

I'm not surprised to find out this book was originally a film script, I couldn't help but think how amazing it would be to see Rarohenga and Māori mythology brought to life on film as I was reading it! *Cough* someone get onto that effective immediately *cough*.

This was such a fun and quick read... and I absolutely adore Tui and Kae 💙 I need more Pasifika and Indigenous authors and stories in my LIFE! 4.5 stars ⭐️

[Izzy C]

3.5 Stars. Great for intermediate/young YA readers. Felt like a Māori "Labyrinth" (1980s movie) the way it speeds along with such a visual narrative. Unfortunately, that speed came at a cost. Racing through obstacle after obstacle didn't allow for much complexity & depth. I much preferred her earlier novel, "Flight of the Fantail" which was aimed at a slightly older audience & therefore had much greater character development & a far more intricate plot.

[patz]

It was a good book! I loved the realistic sister and brother bond that is sure to relate with people around the world. Maori books are deeply underrated and this book was very well-written. With Maori myths embedded and themes of abandonment which make this book a nice read. This book is perfect for adults and kids alike. An enjoyable read if your bored or in need of something unique <3 8/10

[Allie // Kitasai]

I am a sucker for YA Fantasy set in NZ that's well written, even better when there is Māori incorporated like this!

I would say its a bit on the younger side, hence the rating, but overall a fun enjoyable read.

4/5

[Leo]

TW: death, blood, bullying

A fast-paced adventure of twins Tui and Kae, who don't get along, trying to rescue their mother from the underworld. I absolutly adored the Māori mythology (I love anything involving Taniwha), and THAT COVER!

[Melanie Lindstrom]

An adventure in the Māori Underworld. Pacey writing and humorous interaction between the twin protagonists as they encounter unusual beings and Gods in Rarohenga. I'd suggest it for a Year 9 student. Might be a bit light for Year 10.

[The Bibliognost Bampot]

Great tween / lower reading level YA New Zealand adventure. A modern, clever interpretation of the old Māori traditions and beliefs, engaging, fun, interesting, relatable characters and with important themes too including redemption.

[Bathsheba]

My kids really enjoyed me reading this to them, even though they've grown up and pretend they're too old. It's great to have our culture represented in contemporary literature and the adventure very similar to other stories if this age group.

[Anne Herbison]

I enjoyed the switching points of view between teenage twins Tui and Kae as they travel into the Māori underworld in the hope of rescuing their mother who has been kidnapped by their estranged father. The pace is fast, and the descriptions evocative.