Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn

9 reviews

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, Blood, Car accident, Death, and Drug use

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

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

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

Moderate: Car accident, Addiction, 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: Drug use, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Blood, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts

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

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

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

_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: Blood, Car accident, Drug use, 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, Blood, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

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

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

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

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