Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - Hula

Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

tlaynejones's review

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slow-paced

4.0

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abby_can_read's review

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

📖
I had a good time reading this book. I loved it. The different timelines and the switches are a little confusing at times, but it does make for a good overall narrative. I liked the characters and the complex relationships between them.

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roaming_reader's review

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

I'm not usually one that can sit through a slow-paced book, and the first 100 pages or so are very slow. But they give important context, and hook the reader enough that you want to keep going and you wan to see where the story will go. "Hula" is a multi-generational story, focusing on mother and daughter relationships and the importance and sometimes fluidity of identity. I admit that I am not well versed on Hawaiian history or culture, and I learned a lot from this book. The author decided against including a glossary of the many Hawaiian words and phrases used in the writing and I support the decision for that. She wrote that she didn't want to other the story by using a glossary, italics, or footnotes. The author also noted that she is not native Hawaiian, although she was born there and comes from a family who has been there since the 1800s. And this is reflected in the characters of the novel, especially Hi'i. The book was thoroughly researched and the story was drawn from both that research and the author's childhood and life in Hawai'i.

"Hula" is written in a really interesting way - a mix of second and third-person writing. We hear the inner monologue of the characters, but we are also told the story through the collective voice of Hilo itself. It took a minute to get used to this, but I thought that it was such a beautiful and interesting way to present the story. Hilo itself was also a character, so it needed a voice.

The only reason I did not rate this book 5 stars is because of the pacing. It starts out very slow and eventually picks up, but it was definitely challenging to get to the meat of the story. But, I will recommend it to anyone. It's beautiful.

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vedpears's review

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

Excellent book - helps to have audiobook playing while reading the Hawaiian, if unfamiliar with the language. There were parts that characters spoke in Hawaiian, and the author did a great job to let unfamiliar readers get the gist of the meaning without writing out a direct translation, allowing for the novel to continue with ease.

The depicted relationships and family dynamics are realistic and dive deep without bogging the reader down. The very real occupation of Hawaii is both a backdrop and a nemesis in this book and I appreciate Hakes' willingness to lay out all the pain that comes with that here, without softening the language to make the invaders uncomfortable. I think Hakes does a fine job balancing fact and fiction to ensure the readers walk away being able to trust this view through a literary window of the ongoing theft of Hawaii from her people.

The only thing that keeps this from being a 5-star is that I felt the first third of the book didn't fit as well or flow as nicely as the rest of the novel. The beginning didn't have the same raw emotion/depth that the remainder of the story did, and I initially found it very difficult to push on - glad I did, but that took effort to push through.

Content warning: maternal estrangement, miscarriage, colonizers, bullying, cancer, car accident, death.

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creativerunnings's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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

4.25

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aqtbenz's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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silodear's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book. It takes place in the town I grew up in, partially during the time of my childhood. The characters were so vivid and complex. I loved the unique of the story. I felt the heartache of the characters so acutely. I loved the light dusting of magic.

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