Reviews

The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

junemcteer's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

your_true_shelf's review against another edition

emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

cathi77's review against another edition

2.0

Not my favourite book.  I found the story to be slow and not really going anywhere.  Scottie I found to be annoying but the 1 thing I did enjoy was Matt and Alex's journey through the book and how their characters developed.

sternbergjulie's review against another edition

4.0

Fun and funny, with great characters. I long to edit the ending, though.

sdoyle's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

syndi3's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

 i like scotttie character. for 10 years old she is fiesty, stuborn and strong. she done her best to be brave facing the fact losing her mother. 

matt is terrible husband. and through his journey letting go his wife, he encounters a fact that his wife was having affair. 

this book is talk about forgiveness and letting it go. acceptance. but the wording does not connect with me. some of the pages i am just skimming. 

spideygirl's review against another edition

2.0

Not my favorite, but a worthwhile read leftover from my "prepare for Kauai" reading list. Not many of the characters felt well developed and as a result they weren't truly likable. Also didn't know enough about the wife to feel sorry for her.

somanybookstoread's review against another edition

5.0

Loved this book!

The characters were impressively developed and the emotion on the page was heart-wrenching and realistic. I was able to identify with all of the characters and the difficult time they went through. I was thankful for the opportunity this book provided me to reflect on the loss of my father. Had the story not been so gorgeously rendered, I'm sure that wouldn't have been available to me.

I'm also struck by how skillfully the author took on the persona of a starkly male narrator.

Great read! Sign me up for more Kaui Hart Hemmings!

sdchibro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

gwalt118's review against another edition

4.0

I read this because I want to see the movie, and I almost always read the book before I see the movie (duh). My favorite thing about this book was the character development, especially with Matt and Alex. Hemmings does an excellent job of showing characters' strengths and weaknesses, as well as how they grow over the course of the novel. The juxtaposition of this growth with Joanie's death is done beautifully; it's not overstated, but the inference is certainly there. I like this book because it's real - I can definitely see this happening in real life. The characters and their situations feel like this story could be happening next door to you. It's not a happy ending, but it's a hopeful one. I don't know why someone would not enjoy this book. Now I need to see the movie. :-)