Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Wow! I hardly knew anything going into this book and it really blew me away, such an incredibly strong debut!! Washburn has really special and unique voice and I will read anything else he comes out with immediately
Worth reading. It is a tiny bit long, but, honestly, it's an easy read, and I likely took a long time finishing because I was busy with work.
So my company recently got a contract with a company in Hawai'i and I saw this book on Barak Obama's list and decided it would be great to learn more about Hawai'i.
The author tells the story of a family in Hawai'i that centers around the middle son, Nainoa who was rescued from a fall off a boat by sharks at a young age. Nainoa is seemingly blessed with many gifts after this experience. This experience and his gifts of music and healing eventually overshadow his siblings achievements. I was completely sucked in to the magical moments in the story- I've seen a lot of weird in the world so a small boy rescued by sharks- in a place with quite a special history- didn't actually seem that odd. The aftermath of the event was amazing and kept me reading. I feel like the author was able to cram so much into that story- family dynamics, first generation college students, Hawaiian experiences on the mainland, healing powers and how to use them, first loves, deep and profound loss, finding your place - you name it. It is all in these 300 plus pages and it all actually makes sense.
I was- as I often am, slightly disappointed in the ending. It was satisfying and did bring some closure, regarding some of the main characters, but not all of them. In a way, I suppose it was a bit like the life we all live...not everything gets wrapped up in a neat and tidy bow.
I feel I definitely learned more about Hawai'i and even though my work is generally analytical -I still feel this has helped me to better understand the work I'm given.
One thing that stuck in my craw though- Dear Author, if a man falls off a ladder with brittle bones and he breaks a bone- that's a regular fracture. A pathological fracture- which you describe in the book- (as a man with cancer ridden bones falling off a ladder and getting a fracture) is actually a fracture that occurs with no obvious trauma at all. It's a weird little detail but I remember it being so jarring for me that I suddenly - for most of the rest of the book- wasn't able to see/imagine Nainoa as a real person anymore- it interrupted my flow as I knew in that moment that this was a story concocted by an author. It's a tiny error- but it really made the reading less good. Thankfully, I know less about basketball and engineering so if there were flaws in those descriptions- I missed them.
So 5 stars. I don't even really know how to review it,I feel like I could discuss any one of the chapters for hours with another reader.
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think I liked this book? I was in a weird reading mood with this one. Whenever I was actively reading it, I was pretty invested, but when I wasn’t actively reading it, I didn’t think about it at all and didn’t have an urge to pick it up. So, I’m not sure if it was me or the book.
The premise is interesting: we follow Nainoa, who seems to have some sort of otherworldly gift for interacting with animals and healing, and his family over the course of two decades. I was invested in Nainoa’s story, but less so in the stories of his two siblings, particularly his sister Kaui. And unfortunately, in this novel of shifting perspectives, we hear from Nainoa the least.
However, I think Strong did a good job of illustrating complex family dynamics and the toll that having a sibling who is somehow deemed “special” or “talented” can affect the other siblings and the pressures that come with those sort of labels. He also did a good job of showing the Hawaii that tourists don’t see: the culture and struggles that many native Hawaiians face.
I’m not sure I fully “got” everything about this book, but I liked (what I think is) the overarching message: that native Hawaiians are smart and valuable and that they alone have the knowledge and power to restore and protect Hawaii. It read as a somewhat reluctant love letter to the islands and those feelings were perfectly captured.
2.5 rounded up. I was really excited for this book. It sounded amazing - magical realism, family drama, Hawaii, etc. and had great reviews. However, for me, it fell flat.
The opening of the book and introduction to the Hawaiian mythology of the Nightmarchers was super intriguing and the steady progression of the family's interconnectedness to the magical forces surrounding them had me hooked. I always struggle with multiple viewpoint books, so that was a challenge, but I was okay with it overall in the case of this book because it presented a perspective from each person as to what they believed was taking place and how it was affecting them personally.
The story lost me when "the tragedy" happened. It seemed like a totally pointless twist to the story that made the last half of the book a slog to get through, and cancelled out a lot of the interest/purpose of the first half of the book. If the same exact thing had happened, but in the last quarter of the book and we spent much less time dealing with the aftermath or at least tightened it up a bit, I think I would have been much more engaged. As it were, I was bored. I could only get through about 15 pages per reading session before I was literally falling asleep.
The last chapter or two kind of helped bring it around a bit more and bring things full circle, but it didn't make up for all the time spent wallowing after "the tragedy."
The opening of the book and introduction to the Hawaiian mythology of the Nightmarchers was super intriguing and the steady progression of the family's interconnectedness to the magical forces surrounding them had me hooked. I always struggle with multiple viewpoint books, so that was a challenge, but I was okay with it overall in the case of this book because it presented a perspective from each person as to what they believed was taking place and how it was affecting them personally.
The story lost me when "the tragedy" happened. It seemed like a totally pointless twist to the story that made the last half of the book a slog to get through, and cancelled out a lot of the interest/purpose of the first half of the book. If the same exact thing had happened, but in the last quarter of the book and we spent much less time dealing with the aftermath or at least tightened it up a bit, I think I would have been much more engaged. As it were, I was bored. I could only get through about 15 pages per reading session before I was literally falling asleep.
The last chapter or two kind of helped bring it around a bit more and bring things full circle, but it didn't make up for all the time spent wallowing after "the tragedy."
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a gut-punch of a debut novel, full of astonishingly sharp grief and sensation. The language cuts deep and lingers in this family story backed by all the power and beauty of Hawaii's landscape and culture. An atypical story with echoes of magical realism in a thoroughly modern dress.