Reviews - Sharks in the Time of Saviors

2.01k reviews for:

Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Kawai Strong Washburn

3.89 AVERAGE

hgoravec's review against another edition

3.5

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

alissanelson's review against another edition

5.0

Really really really enjoyed this, both for its twinges of magical realism and its very Hawaiian Hawai'i. It's got a lot of beauty and a lot of deep and visceral sadness. This isn't a book about a charismatic protagonist with magical powers, it's about the interconnectedness of people with their land and culture. It's about the crushing reality of poverty and the trauma of loss for the indigenous people of Hawai'i and the things people do to escape it (both the poverty and the trauma).

Just need to get this off my chest for anyone who might stumble across this review after reading some others: There are a lot of weird, kind of racist reviews here (Dean and Kaui aren't written with the same voice at all, what a weird thing to say; the small amount of pidgen is completely understandable if you know anything of native Hawaiian culture/like with any book that might not be of your culture, maybe take the time to immerse yourself in someone else's experience for a minute? or fucking google it?). Those who suggest that there isn't enough of Noa's voice here didn't pay attention to the message of the book.

emily_madcharo's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

alex_isreading's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

angel_ontheother's review against another edition

4.0

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

Content Warnings

cinereus's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

A really beautifully done debut! The part that really shines here is the character work, each member of the family (mostly, which I'll get to later) really shines through in a way that feels incredibly nuanced and organic. The alternating points of view, often a really tricky thing for authors to pull off without characters feeling disjointed and same-y, really worked here with such distinct voices, personalities, motivations, and deep existential fears. I also loved all the setting work around Hawai'i, a place I've never been but which was evoked clearly and distinctly without any reliance on Standard Tropical Setting tropes, and the windows into culture and history and how all the characters interact with these things were enlightening. I wasn't expecting this to be a kind of solarpunk-esque fantasy but I am NOT COMPLAINING.

The main thing that didn't work so well for me was the ending, which felt rushed and like the author perhaps realized he hadn't fleshed out the father, Augie, near as much as any of the other characters. Having such a focus on him and his point of view appear so late in the game caused a bit of narrative whiplash that I feel like could have been avoided with him being a more established character earlier on, ending on a more open-ended note, or letting the ending come more slowly.