What do you think?
Rate this book
Defining Right: The Page of Pentacles
Life hasn't been easy for eighteen year old Amiri. As a Maori boy in the 1980s, there are certain expectations of what he'll grow up to be, and he seems to fail at all of them. Shuttled from one relative to the next, Amiri feels like the whole world has given up on him when he's exiled from the family farm down to an elderly aunt living in Auckland. He's surprised when Auntie Moana takes an active interest in his life -- and who he's dating -- pushing him to be a person no one has ever believed he could become.
From Tane, his childhood best friend, and on through a series of mismatched boyfriends and potential lovers, Amiri can never seem to find the right one. He can't figure out exactly what the world seems to want from him, or who he wants to be. As he slowly learns about himself and works toward becoming a doctor, Amiri struggles to come to terms with himself as both Maori and gay, hoping he can reconcile the two and find a partner who will love all parts of him equally.
From Tane, his childhood best friend, and on through a series of mismatched boyfriends and potential lovers, Amiri can never seem to find the right one. He can't figure out exactly what the world seems to want from him, or who he wants to be. As he slowly learns about himself and works toward becoming a doctor, Amiri struggles to come to terms with himself as both Maori and gay, hoping he can reconcile the two and find a partner who will love all parts of him equally.
- GenresM M Romance
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 14, 2025
This was a beautiful story told in few words but with all the depth of character you'd find in a novel. I anticipate re-reading it many times over.
Read
August 3, 2009The story of Amiri is basically a coming of age, even if it starts when Amiri is already 18 years old. But more than a passage between is young and adult years, it's a passage toward his independence and the path that will lead him to be a man comfortable with his sexuality.
And the important word is "man" since, truth be told, Amiri as young boy is already comfortable with his sexuality, but only considering him and himself. Amiri has no doubt, he is gay, and he is also enough self-confident to be able to find and share his sexuality with boy of his same age. But Amiri is not comfortable with the society where he is living.
Amiri is the son of divorced parents, and at first he lived with his mother; when his mother found out that Amiri was gay, she sent him living with his father. I didn't feel as his father didn't approve him, but probably he was not able to raise a kid (even if Amiri was already 18 years old) and decided to send Amiri to leave with his aunt, Moana. The passage from a small town to a bigger one is probably the best for Amiri, but it was also destabilizing. Amiri has also to leave behind his childhood best friend, Tane, a boy that probably, if they had the chance, could have been Amiri's true love.
Due to his missing basis and support, at first Amiri falls in a not good relationship for him with Jacob; it's not that Jacob is not good, it's that Amiri is not considering himself worthy of something more. After Jacob, Amiri falls for Joe, a straight guy; it's obvious that again, Amiri is choosing the wrong man, not since he is unlucky, but since he is not still at ease with himself. Only when Amiri has the chance to grow and gain confidence in himself, only than he will find the right man, Graeme.
The story is not very long, less than 30 pages, but it has really the feeling of something longer. Despite the few pages, Amiri's character has the chance to develop, and from the start it was already deep and good. Defining Right is a classical discovery journey of a young man in searching of himself.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TG4O0K/?...
And the important word is "man" since, truth be told, Amiri as young boy is already comfortable with his sexuality, but only considering him and himself. Amiri has no doubt, he is gay, and he is also enough self-confident to be able to find and share his sexuality with boy of his same age. But Amiri is not comfortable with the society where he is living.
Amiri is the son of divorced parents, and at first he lived with his mother; when his mother found out that Amiri was gay, she sent him living with his father. I didn't feel as his father didn't approve him, but probably he was not able to raise a kid (even if Amiri was already 18 years old) and decided to send Amiri to leave with his aunt, Moana. The passage from a small town to a bigger one is probably the best for Amiri, but it was also destabilizing. Amiri has also to leave behind his childhood best friend, Tane, a boy that probably, if they had the chance, could have been Amiri's true love.
Due to his missing basis and support, at first Amiri falls in a not good relationship for him with Jacob; it's not that Jacob is not good, it's that Amiri is not considering himself worthy of something more. After Jacob, Amiri falls for Joe, a straight guy; it's obvious that again, Amiri is choosing the wrong man, not since he is unlucky, but since he is not still at ease with himself. Only when Amiri has the chance to grow and gain confidence in himself, only than he will find the right man, Graeme.
The story is not very long, less than 30 pages, but it has really the feeling of something longer. Despite the few pages, Amiri's character has the chance to develop, and from the start it was already deep and good. Defining Right is a classical discovery journey of a young man in searching of himself.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002TG4O0K/?...
January 7, 2010
I think this is one I will come back to again and again - so the rating will probably go up to five stars with time.
This overview of Amiri's life as he goes from rejected teen, slightly out of step with those around him, to successful surgeon through the 1990s is a poignant glimpse of coming to terms with many things. It isn't so much about Amiri coming to terms with himself as it is about coming to terms with life while being true to himself. That sounds very deep and meaningful and it is, but it is served up in an amusing, almost light-hearted, way. Amiri's surprise when something goes the way he'd like it to, rather than the way he expects it to, gives more insight into his childhood than a detailed account would.
This overview of Amiri's life as he goes from rejected teen, slightly out of step with those around him, to successful surgeon through the 1990s is a poignant glimpse of coming to terms with many things. It isn't so much about Amiri coming to terms with himself as it is about coming to terms with life while being true to himself. That sounds very deep and meaningful and it is, but it is served up in an amusing, almost light-hearted, way. Amiri's surprise when something goes the way he'd like it to, rather than the way he expects it to, gives more insight into his childhood than a detailed account would.
May 3, 2019
I enjoyed this story and found it very entertaining; however, I cannot find it any longer.
I did not realize it was the first in a series until after I read the 2nd story (which you can find in the anthology "Family Matters" which has several great stories by several great authors - well worth the money).
It is worth getting this one, then reading the one in Family Matters and then the last one I found on Barnes & Noble was "Sliding Down the Pohutukawa Root."
All were entertaining and, while they are a romance and have some m/m sex, the last 2 also encompass a sweet story about becoming a family.
I did not realize it was the first in a series until after I read the 2nd story (which you can find in the anthology "Family Matters" which has several great stories by several great authors - well worth the money).
It is worth getting this one, then reading the one in Family Matters and then the last one I found on Barnes & Noble was "Sliding Down the Pohutukawa Root."
All were entertaining and, while they are a romance and have some m/m sex, the last 2 also encompass a sweet story about becoming a family.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews