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onegalonelife27's review against another edition
Is this extremely well written, a beautiful exploration on Hawaii exploitation on its people and culture, and how it effects one family through generations of women?Absolutely! I've been really enjoying it, fleshed out characters and deeply rich telling of the history of the Hawaiian Islands. However, decisions are being made and I'm not mentally or emotionally prepared for I what I predict happens-I'm just saving myself from the huge wave of second hand embarrassment, sympathy, fury and a whole lot more for what's coming. Don't think I can sit through traffic (I tend to listen to a lot of audiobooks on a commute I have) while this all goes down. Will try this book again, probably in another format.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Colonisation
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Pregnancy
abby_can_read's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Colonisation, and Racism
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Cancer, Blood, and Pregnancy
roaming_reader's review
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.
"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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, Child abuse, Racism, Colonisation, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Bullying, and Physical abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, Cancer, Misogyny, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
silodear's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Racism and Colonisation
brynpemery's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Miscarriage
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Death, and Grief
booksemmahasread's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Colonisation, Classism, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexism
Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, and Cancer
dollhousebooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Racism
Moderate: Pregnancy
lettuce_read's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Miscarriage, and Racism
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
careinthelibrary's review
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
I learned a lot from Hula. I'm new to reading and learning about Indigenous Hawaiian culture so I appreciated how thorough this was. I really heard the sounds, tasted the foods. It was vivid because of how detailed it was. I've never been to Hawaiʻi or any tropical location so this was a great way to experience it from home (and not contribute to the destruction of Hawaii through tourism).
This never quite got off the ground. I kept waiting for the story to take off, the pace to pick up, and it continued to plod along. The book was overall too long for my liking, especially the beginning section which was weighed down with intermittent historical details that I think would have been more effective and less dry if they had been sprinkled throughout the novel rather than clumped at the beginning. I felt I was taken away from the main characters and plunked into historical detail just as I was beginning to understand their motivations and personalities. The historical detail was fascinating and helpful to understand the context of their actions and their current dispossession of their homelands, but the way it was dispersed in the story wasn't helpful to me.
I really wanted the approach to Hi'i's place in her community to be more dynamic rather than the stalemate we arrived at early in the narrative. For instance, her cousin is in her hula class and she is skillful and well-liked by many, including the teacher. It would have been more effective, in my opinion, if the two cousins could have overcome their rivalry and become friends, the divisiveness was irritating and after a point, didn't serve a purpose in the story. Instead, we see that Hi'i and her cousin fight and look down on one another and that seems to never be resolved. The girls never see the value in each other, only see one another as a threat. I thought this would have been a great opportunity to show character growth and interconnectedness of those raised in their culture, but instead it was a jagged seam in the story.
I liked the mirrored nature of mother/daughter relationships in the book, the way we, at first, think Laka isn't supportive enough of her daughter then realise the rationale from her point-of-view. Laka was a really interesting character, she tries to be a different kind of mother than her own but ends up making different and similar mistakes.Hulali was a difficult character to like, though her cause is noble. I wish we'd seen more of her perspective and reasoning but instead she felt a bit like a two-dimensional villain. I thought the resolution at the end was unbelievable to me, Hulali was too easily won over after all the years of being against Hi'i. There are so many grudges and hurtful prejudices in this book and none of them felt realistically resolved to me.
This was probably my top anticipated release of the year, and it unfortunately didn't click for me like it seems to for lots of other readers. So while this was disappointing (I expected to really love it), I did get lots out of it and didn't mind the reading experience.
This never quite got off the ground. I kept waiting for the story to take off, the pace to pick up, and it continued to plod along. The book was overall too long for my liking, especially the beginning section which was weighed down with intermittent historical details that I think would have been more effective and less dry if they had been sprinkled throughout the novel rather than clumped at the beginning. I felt I was taken away from the main characters and plunked into historical detail just as I was beginning to understand their motivations and personalities. The historical detail was fascinating and helpful to understand the context of their actions and their current dispossession of their homelands, but the way it was dispersed in the story wasn't helpful to me.
I really wanted the approach to Hi'i's place in her community to be more dynamic rather than the stalemate we arrived at early in the narrative. For instance, her cousin is in her hula class and she is skillful and well-liked by many, including the teacher. It would have been more effective, in my opinion, if the two cousins could have overcome their rivalry and become friends, the divisiveness was irritating and after a point, didn't serve a purpose in the story. Instead, we see that Hi'i and her cousin fight and look down on one another and that seems to never be resolved. The girls never see the value in each other, only see one another as a threat. I thought this would have been a great opportunity to show character growth and interconnectedness of those raised in their culture, but instead it was a jagged seam in the story.
I liked the mirrored nature of mother/daughter relationships in the book, the way we, at first, think Laka isn't supportive enough of her daughter then realise the rationale from her point-of-view. Laka was a really interesting character, she tries to be a different kind of mother than her own but ends up making different and similar mistakes.
This was probably my top anticipated release of the year, and it unfortunately didn't click for me like it seems to for lots of other readers. So while this was disappointing (I expected to really love it), I did get lots out of it and didn't mind the reading experience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, and Domestic abuse