Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn

10 reviews

anarmandameg's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

allyem_reads's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 5.57 CAWPILE

This is not at all what I was expecting when I picked this book up. Whether that is a good or bad thing, I can't tell you. What I can say is that the ending was really unsatisfying? I feel like we didn't get any closure. But I did like how the author portrayed grief and depression. This whole book was really a study of grief, and it was well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Blood, and Car accident

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

hhashisaka's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Blood, and Medical content

surprisebear's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cursing, Death, Blood, Dementia, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Car accident, and Colonisation

danajoy's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

Minor: Police brutality and Pregnancy

andrewhatesham's review against another edition

fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Car accident, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

_kathill's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

mitone_winona's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective 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

First thing about this book, it does a beautiful example of combining magical realism with the realities of being in the modern times as well as combining the culture of Hawaii into a twist that I understand deeply as someone who is indigenous in America. Not only does the book deal with magical realism and how it affects the family, but its understandable in a way that is very modern and I believe relatable even if the book wasn't about the current things going on with Noa, who is a pseudo centerpiece that is surrounded and switched out by his family member's perspective of how they view Noa and the affect of their parents on the 3 children as well as Noa's existence being exceptionally amazing, he is still a young man who grew up overly praised rather than seen as a boy and a human.

This book is so natural and real with how it goes over being siblings in a challenging dynamic, being successful in a way that matters so much to you and your parents, and the consequences of reality on those goals and aspirations. Each sibling is very unique in both struggles and goals they all wish to achieve.

This book is so natural and realistic in a way that makes you cheer on even if the moment is tense. You want these characters to thrive and continue on. I highly suggest you read this book if you like magical realism combined with TRUE reality that intertwines both amazingly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, Grief, and Car accident

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Violence

kaiulanilee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This book was absolutely stunning in so many ways. 
Particularly the way it wove language into beautiful but sometimes very jarring sentences and the way the author was able to capture the distinct personalities and thoughts of each character with the way he wrote their chapters was brilliant. This is an absolutely brilliant story about family, resilience, Hawaiian mythology, and our connection to the world around us and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault

bobbijopmh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

“The kingdom of Hawai‘i had long been broken—the breathing rain forests and singing green reefs crushed under the haole fists of beach resorts and skyscrapers—and that was when the land had begun calling.”

This novel artfully blends harsh realities and magic, on a story encompassing all members of a single family and spanning decades of their lives. 

As someone who doesn't read a lot of magical realism, I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this. It's worth noting, though, that a lot of the ‘magic’ in this novel comes from Hawaiian traditional beliefs and lore.

The storyline had me gripped. With plenty of compelling twists and turns, which makes it hard to say much about the plot other than it's about finding a place where you truly belong, the relationships between family members, and the burdens that come with enormous expectations. 

Kawai Strong Washburn switches voice for the different perspectives presented perfectly; creating a deeper understanding and connection with each character through their voice and mannerism. Malia with her lyrical, poetic and emotional descriptions; Dean with his strong pidgin-Hawaiian accent; Kaui with her insecure “okay?” and “right”. It is very skillfully written. The descriptions of places, and feelings, are atmospheric and almost a sensory experience themselves. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it was unlike anything I've personally read before, and I can't wait to see what Kawai Strong Washburnwrites next!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Car accident

Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood