Reviews

Shark Dialogues by Kiana Davenport

courto875's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

evelyne_crowe's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

5.0

mobcob's review against another edition

5.0

This book reads like both a legend and modern book. It explores what it means to be human from a Hawaiian background. The beginning of the book and its quick history of colonialism in Hawaii reminded me a lot of James Michener, but the examination of the human implications of this history were what made the book stand out.

ellajohn's review

dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

zarrazine's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

tigermuffin's review against another edition

This was just recommended by a featured GoodReads author, how exciting! I read it in 1997(?) and loved it.

marilynsaul's review against another edition

2.0

I FINALLY finished this book, after many thoughts of just putting it down and moving to something else. I definitely liked parts of it: learning more about the history of Hawai'i from a native point of view, including the revolutionary movement among the indigenous peoples; the shark totems and the Kahuna dreams; Duke. But overall, it was, to me, a very sad and disturbing expose of three generations of family dysfunction, which, I think, are supposed to be due to the subjugation of a culture, but which, I believe, transcends cultural affiliation: Pono's distance from her daughters and grand-daughters, framed in a supposed attempt to instill independence; the resulting attempt by the daughters and grand-daughters to find succor in unbridled sex and demeaning sexual-subservient relationships (because, as we all know, without a man, a woman is nothing); the unrelenting "if we don't who our grandfather is, we are nothing" theme, and Pono, so wise and prescient, not seeing the damage she is doing and has done. Early on I thought I would recommend this book to a friend of mine who lived in Lanai for a number of years. But as I got further along, I realized I couldn't recommend this book to anyone.

simplylauren's review against another edition

2.0

It started off with a great story, following a family's genealogy through Hawaii's history, but then got stuck in a rut of angst centering on 4 granddaughters of the main matriarch.

isabelmacomber's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kiminohon's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75