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ryceejo's review
4.0
The first half was a 5 and the rest was a 3-4. It was hard to transition from a compelling day-by-day story about the spreading of the Gospel to a bleak account of the end of the Napelas' lives with years between chapters. Overall, great, historically-accurate read and I love knowing so much more about George Cannon and Jonathan Napela.
chanizzle's review
4.0
A very fascinating look into the history of the LDS church in Hawaii. I enjoyed George Cannon's story more, but Jonathan Napela was a very interesting person to learn about too. Some very tragic experiences happened to him, yet he had such amazing faith.
Great book!
Great book!
emiged's review
4.0
An ambitious project, Belonging to Heaven covers a span of 36 years from 1843 to 1879 and the setting ranges from California to the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawaii) to Salt Lake City, Utah.
This touching story is told in three sections titled aptly: Faith, Hope, and Charity. Over the course of the book, the main focus shifts from the earliest missionaries that were called to Hawaii - primarily George Q. Cannon - to one of the earliest Hawaiian converts - Jonathan Napela - and finally to the leper colony on a remote corner of Molokai. This shift allows the author to tell more of the story, but it also felt like the focus wandered a bit. I wonder if it would have been better told in two separate books, the first focused on Elder Cannon and his companions and their struggles with the difficult language and foreign culture, and the second telling Jonathan Napela's story of conversion and faithfulness.
I loved the beautiful, descriptive language throughout and the generous sprinkling of Hawaiian - I found myself sounding out the phrases and trying them repeatedly until they came off my tongue easily. And respect for the Hawaiian culture, in contrast to more imperialistic, colonialist attitudes I half-expected, permeated each page. Speaking to President Brigham Young, Elder Cannon reports "the missionaries who were most successful with the Hawaiian people were those who respected their goodness and culture, the ones who acknowledged their simple faith and openness." Many good and uplifting Hawaiian traditions are continued and embraced by the American missionaries. And the final section is a moving story of interfaith work, service, and love.
Belonging to Heaven is obviously thoroughly- and well-researched, and I appreciated the attention to detail both regarding the early Church and native Hawaiian culture and history. I liked that each chapter ended with a handful of bullet points further illuminating some event or action from the chapter; this seems a better idea than constant footnotes that pull the reader out of the flow of the story or throwing all of the information in an appendix that is less likely to be read. However, some of the chapter-ending footnotes referenced events several decades later than the story, some repeated information from the chapter or from earlier chapter-ending footnotes, and some simply seemed odd, trivial, or out of place. They also seemed understandably biased toward LDS history, and I would have liked a bit more Hawaiian history as well.
To read the rest of the review, visit Build Enough Bookshelves.
This touching story is told in three sections titled aptly: Faith, Hope, and Charity. Over the course of the book, the main focus shifts from the earliest missionaries that were called to Hawaii - primarily George Q. Cannon - to one of the earliest Hawaiian converts - Jonathan Napela - and finally to the leper colony on a remote corner of Molokai. This shift allows the author to tell more of the story, but it also felt like the focus wandered a bit. I wonder if it would have been better told in two separate books, the first focused on Elder Cannon and his companions and their struggles with the difficult language and foreign culture, and the second telling Jonathan Napela's story of conversion and faithfulness.
I loved the beautiful, descriptive language throughout and the generous sprinkling of Hawaiian - I found myself sounding out the phrases and trying them repeatedly until they came off my tongue easily. And respect for the Hawaiian culture, in contrast to more imperialistic, colonialist attitudes I half-expected, permeated each page. Speaking to President Brigham Young, Elder Cannon reports "the missionaries who were most successful with the Hawaiian people were those who respected their goodness and culture, the ones who acknowledged their simple faith and openness." Many good and uplifting Hawaiian traditions are continued and embraced by the American missionaries. And the final section is a moving story of interfaith work, service, and love.
Belonging to Heaven is obviously thoroughly- and well-researched, and I appreciated the attention to detail both regarding the early Church and native Hawaiian culture and history. I liked that each chapter ended with a handful of bullet points further illuminating some event or action from the chapter; this seems a better idea than constant footnotes that pull the reader out of the flow of the story or throwing all of the information in an appendix that is less likely to be read. However, some of the chapter-ending footnotes referenced events several decades later than the story, some repeated information from the chapter or from earlier chapter-ending footnotes, and some simply seemed odd, trivial, or out of place. They also seemed understandably biased toward LDS history, and I would have liked a bit more Hawaiian history as well.
To read the rest of the review, visit Build Enough Bookshelves.
jramm's review
1.0
When your 84-year-old, devoutly-Mormon grandmother gives you a book for Christmas, and then checks-in several times on your progress, just read the damn book.
And even if you quit going to church 10 years ago, and are tempted to write that the book is pure sentimental propaganda, devoid of any real human emotion, serving the fanciful historical views of the famed correlation department, and prostrating to the emotional needs of members whom detest anything more than black-and-white, the church-is-always-right fan fiction...you don't.
You don't do it because that would make for an awkward run-on sentence. And more importantly, you don't because you love your grandmother. You just say, wow, that was lovely. Uplifiting and lovely. And then you run away before she gives you another.
And even if you quit going to church 10 years ago, and are tempted to write that the book is pure sentimental propaganda, devoid of any real human emotion, serving the fanciful historical views of the famed correlation department, and prostrating to the emotional needs of members whom detest anything more than black-and-white, the church-is-always-right fan fiction...you don't.
You don't do it because that would make for an awkward run-on sentence. And more importantly, you don't because you love your grandmother. You just say, wow, that was lovely. Uplifiting and lovely. And then you run away before she gives you another.
ghumpherys's review
4.0
4.5 stars. A very touching story about the beginnings of the LDS church in the Hawaiian Islands. The first part of the story focuses mostly on George Q. Cannon, one of the first missionaries sent to Hawaii, while the second part focuses more on one of the first converts, Jonathan Napela. I really enjoyed learning more about this part of the church's history and was inspired by Jonathan's story. I listened to the audiobook and wish I had access to the footnote references in the book to help me see which parts of the story were taken from historical accounts and which were fictionalized by the author.
mstaker's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. I went into it thinking it would be a lot like Moloka'i, but found that it dealt more with the church's first missionary efforts in the Hawaiian islands. Gale Sears did a beautiful job of weaving in actual journal entries and historical facts from those who were a part of this process. I fell in love with the Hawaiian people and islands all over again. A beautiful story of faith, inspiration, and truth. I highly recommend it!
jcdfrog's review
3.0
"Belonging to Heaven", based upon real people and true events, is the fictionalized story of the beginnings of the Mormon church is Hawaii. Most notable is the account of Jonathan Nepela, a man of Hawaiian royalty, who joined the faith and promoted it among his people. He was great man of faith, loyalty and love. His is a beautiful story.
Unfortunately, I found myself reading in what felt like slow motion. The author's writing was not as engaging as I would have liked. However, the final third of the novel is the story's strength and I am glad that I did not give up.
Unfortunately, I found myself reading in what felt like slow motion. The author's writing was not as engaging as I would have liked. However, the final third of the novel is the story's strength and I am glad that I did not give up.
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