Kiwi Sin

New Zealand Ever After, Book 5

By: Rosalind James

Narrated by: Emma Wilder, Calum Gittins

If it's better to marry than to burn, I was in trouble.

When you walk out of a cult with a driving license and the clothes on your back, you can face some challenges. How does a cooker work, and what do you cook on it? Is microwave pizza actually food, and how many times can you eat sausages before you never want to smell them again? And what do people put in all those bathroom drawers?

And, finally, how do you sort out the good and the bad of the place you've left and the place you've found and make your own way? How do you start over when half your family wants to recreate Mount Zion right here in Dunedin, New Zealand, and the other half wants to forget it?

And when you find the one and only woman you'll ever want to marry, what if everybody says no?

I'd been named after the archangel Gabriel. I was meant to know the truth and announce it to the world. So far, I wasn't even coming close.

©2022 Rosalind James (P)2024 Rosalind James

Love love

This series has been so fun and just kept my attention and I just want more and more of their stories!

great addition to the series

This is such a good book! This is Oriana and Gabriel's story. We met Oriana in Kiwi Strong - the third Book in the New Zealand Ever After series when her big sister Daisy rescues her (then known as Obedience) and her other sister, Frankie (then known as Fruitful) from the cult, Mount Zion, where they had been born and raised. Gabriel also grew up in Mount Zion, the stepson of the prophet's brother. The story begins when more people leave Mount Zion - Gabriel being one of them. This is about two young people who have to learn to live on the "outside" and also learn who they are, and accept their strengths and weaknesses and that they can love each other. There is a bit of an age gap, but Oriana and Gabriel are not typical 17 and 24 year olds because of their cult upbringing. They are both very shy and uncertain about life on the 'outside', but they are also sure about what they want in life. Oriana loves cooking, sewing and taking care of kids. Gabriel wants to work and take care of his family when he has one. Their maturity level is very similar. Rosalind does a wonderful job showing how difficult the transition from a rigid cult upbringing would be, questioning what they've been taught since birth. I recommend reading the other books in the series first because so many of the characters are in each of the books which adds to my enjoyment of them.
There's humor, drama and romance. Totally my kind of book! The narrators, Emma Wilder and Calum Gittins, are both excellent. They both do the different character voices very well and use appropriate emphasis on what is being said.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

another fabulous story

I don’t know how she does it, but Ms James delivered another fabulous story set in New Zealand, the adopted land of her heart.
Age isn’t always an indicator of maturity or industriousness, nor does being soft spoken mean you’re a coward or lack drive - take Oriana, for example.
Just because all the males in your community are given wives to marry by the elders doesn’t mean you have to settle for anyone but the girl of your dreams - just ask Gabriel.
Oriana and Gabriel have left the closed religious community where they were raised and are learning to function in the larger world with the support of their biological family, but also a few of the All Blacks that have appeared in previous James books. Plus we get the joy of true love and HEA. Brilliant! Cheers!
Wilder and Gittins do a phenomenal job of dual narration. They’ve got the voices, characters and emotions covered. I do believe they even add to an already well written book.
This can be read as a stand-alone story but it’s so much richer if you’ve read James’ Escape to New Zealand and her Not Quite a Billionaire series before the NZ Ever After series as the characters intertwine…
Recommend on all levels.

Interesting context for a solidly good story!

My only experience with cults was the orange-robed Hare Krishna who used to stand around the corners on my college campus, pressing unwanted flowers into your hands and guilting you into giving them money. The cult that Gabriel and Oriana departed was very different, emphasizing un-ending physical labor, perpetual child-bearing, strict gender roles and absolute patriarchy. And nobody outside the boss got their hands on any money! Practically nothing is the same on the Outside in the South Island of New Zealand. How Gabriel and Oriana struggle to adapt and to construct new lives in a bewildering new culture of vastly different expectations is so empathetic. Rosalind James does a great job of making you feel the constant mental effort this new daily life entails with its unending decisions. Oriana, especially, finds that the history she learned was not at all what the students in her new school have been taught.

This is an engrossing story of two young people growing up and growing in love in their new world while struggling with their family relationships as well. It’s wonderful to catch up with characters from past books, too, especially Hannah and Drew and Daisy and Gray. Highly recommend!

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own. I’d already bought the ebook versions and read it twice, BTW.

unique story

As always, Rosalind James surprised me with this one. I normally don't really care for young love stories, but this one is still somehow relatable despite being about a teenage cult escapee. Rosalind James is just so good at developing complex characters, that you can't help but relate to them in some small way. I appreciate that though they are young, the main characters have a maturity to them. I also appreciate the fact that the sex was limited in this romance novel. While I love a good steamy scene, the age and naivete of both main characters would have made me uncomfortable if there was a lot of it. Instead, it progressed very naturally and happened at the right time. The storyline overall is very unique. Definitely not a cookie-cutter romance. Though the story has physical attractions, the focis is more about the characters growing into themselves and each other.

The narrators were fantastic and I think this story is better as an audiobook. I sometimes struggle keeping the POV straight when it switches back and forth. With 2 narrators, there was no confusion.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Great Story meets Great Performance

Rosalind has written a wonderful story that delves into more than just a typical romance (which is a totally Rosalind thing to do). How do you fit into the outside world after leaving a cult but you still hold with some of the beliefs that you have followed all your life? How do you embrace your freedom, your new world, meet the expectations of those who love you, and still stay true to who you want to be?These are a few of the feelings that Rosalind manages to explore while telling the gentle love story of Gabriel and Oriana.
The story is wonderfully brought to life by Emma Wilder (who never disappoints) and Calum Gittins (who nails it in my opinion). This audible version of Kiwi Sin was truly enjoyable and should not be missed. I highly recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Wow, that was something new and awesome

"I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.”

I have been a fan of Rosalind's for years, and it is awesome to see how she has grown as an author and with this book she has certainly grown, this book showed more conflict with the characters so much so I was yelling at the characters and sometimes I was laughing at the characters as well.

I loved how some of the characters grew as well as the book progressed.

I can not wait to see what the next book in this series is and how she pulls it off

Thank you for such an enjoyed read and looking forward to more books from you

Great Book! Must Read!

Rosalind is one of my favorite authors. Anyone who like to read something unusual, this book is for you. Read about the organization of a cult and the people inside. Then appreciate their lives when the get "outside" the cult. Rosalind's characters are so diverse and fun! I really think this has to be one of my favorites. Please take the time to read about Oriana and Gabriel. You won't put it down.

"I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review, and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.”

Excellent Addition to the Series

Loved this book, the 5th in the New Zealand Ever After series. This is the story of Oriana (originally Obidience) who escaped from the Mt.Zion cult with her older sister Daisy’s help in the previous book and her step-cousin Gabriel. We see them learning to adjust to life on the “outside” - Oriana, at first is 16, is going to high school, with limited success. Gabriel, age 24, starts working as a laborer, but is trying to navigate cooking for himself, working a television, learning of the modern quirks of life. We follow the two of them over the next year as their relationship develops. Their families do not approve, but for very different reasons. So many questions come to mind — What does it mean to be worldly? What occupations are worthwhile? How old is “old enough”? The two narrators, Emma Wilder and Callum Gittins, are excellent.
Trigger warning: there are themes of misogyny, religious trauma, domestic violence, sexual assault, and child molestation in this story. However, I still absolutely recommend it! Five stars from me!
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated for my review and I was not required to write a positive review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Tough to listen to and harder to put down.

I hated how parts of this book made me feel but it is so well written and such a great listen. The narrators were amazing and the characters so well written. Unfortunately there is a lot of very believable awful in the book. It’s hard to hear that it happened to the characters and harder to think it is very possibly happen in real life this very moment. You won’t regret spending the money on this book especially if you have the other books in the series.