Chosen Family
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Chosen Family
Narrated by:
Madeleine Withington
Buy Now for $26.99
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Narrated by:
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Madeleine Withington
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By:
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Madeleine Gray
About this listen
A sexy, romantic, queer, epic literary novel for all readers by the award-winning author of the internationally acclaimed bestseller Green Dot.
Books about friendship are not often described as love stories, but this is one.
Nell Argall and Eve Bowman are both brilliant, odd and friendless. Traumatised in their first year of high school, their lives are changed forever when they meet.
Set in Sydney over eighteen years, Chosen Family follows Nell and Eve as they grow into themselves, as they both love and destroy each other. From school, to university, to careers, to motherhood, Nell’s and Eve’s is a relationship that is a life-raft that is also a poison apple that is also a Medusan stare, frozen in time.
Together, Nell and Eve are a double helix. Love, guilt, shame, joy – these emotions twist and turn between them. Can the wounds of adolescent betrayal ever really heal? Can we ever really understand what is going on in someone else’s head? And what’s love got to do, got to do with it?
'Warning: Clear your schedule for the all-consuming read.' Books+Publishing
‘I inhaled this book, holding my breath at passages that felt ripped straight from my high school diary in 2007.’ LUCINDA PRICE (@Froomes), author of All I Ever Wanted Was to Be Hot
‘Hilarious and devastating ... This book is everything to me.’ SIANG LU, Miles Franklin-winning author of Ghost Cities
When I saw 'Chosen Family' on NetGalley, I recognised the author from 'Green Dot', a book club pick that is still on my TBR pile. However, I knew it had been well-received by the bookstagram crew, and I'd also seen some fun publicity videos, so I requested it.
Chosen Family is described as "A sexy, romantic, queer, epic literary novel for all readers." It does contain some fairly vivid sex scenes, so if that's not your thing, this book might not be for you.
Chosen Family explores the complex friendship between Eve and Nell, two brilliant yet awkward loners who meet at a private girls' school and bond over a traumatic experience in the gym locker. Set against the backdrop of Sydney over the course of eighteen years, the story navigates themes of love, guilt, and when your best friends become your chosen family.
The characters are sometimes likeable, sometimes dislikeable, sometimes funny, sometimes messy and sometimes toxic.
Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia), for the ARC. Chosen Family by Madeleine Gray is out now.
A solid Thumbs up 👍 I'm moving Green Dot up my TBR pile.
Body Count = Telling would be a spoiler.
@madeleine_gray_ @simonschusterau @NetGalley
#NetGalley #thumbsup👍 @simonschusterau #simonschusterau #booksdeevaareads #2025bookshelf #deevaasbookshelf #booknerd #CreativeLife #goreadabook #allthebooks #Bookstagram #DesignInspiration #newrelease #Designer #murdermystery #acosymystery #GraphicDesign #DesignNerd #designdeevaa #Bookstagram #TBRList #Bookish
A solid Thumbs up 👍
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The best
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Chosen Family by Madeline Gray is a tender, sharp, and deeply validating exploration of love, friendship, and the messy work of becoming yourself.
This novel captures something rarely articulated so honestly: the quiet, life-shaping power of chosen family. Gray writes with a clarity that feels both intimate and disarming, illuminating the ways friendships can sustain us, disappoint us, and ultimately shape who we are just as profoundly as romantic relationships ever could.
The characters feel achingly real—flawed, loving, selfish, generous, and painfully human. Their connections unfold in ways that mirror real life: through small moments, miscommunications, shared meals, emotional messes, and the slow realisation that love doesn’t always look the way we’re taught it should. Gray’s prose is understated but emotionally precise, trusting the reader to sit with discomfort, longing, and growth rather than tying everything up neatly.
What makes Chosen Family truly special is its emotional honesty. It doesn’t romanticise friendship or queerness; instead, it honours them in all their complexity. It’s a book about learning how to show up, how to let people change, and how to choose each other again and again—even when it’s hard.
This is a novel for anyone who has ever found home in people rather than places. Quietly powerful, beautifully observed, and deeply affirming, Chosen Family is a book that lingers long after the final page.
This novel broke me, put me back together and then broke me all over again. It’s definitely a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me 🫶🏼
A beautiful exploration of chosen family & queer relationships
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