Reviews

He Mele A Hilo (A Hilo Song) by Ryka Aoki

sumayyah_t's review against another edition

4.0

"He Mele A Hilo" is a story about love, faith, friendship, and identity. Written in Hawaiian pidgen English, the narrator weaves several individual tales together to create one large story. Some transitions between voices will feel choppy to those unused to folktales and traditional story telling. All in all, the cadence and language feel warm. Ryka Aoki has done a wonderful job immersing the reader in Hawaiian culture, and bringing to life the lives of Harry, Nona, Noelani, Kam, and Steve, to name a few.

danibeliveau's review against another edition

5.0

I never wanted this book to end. Every page was a taste of Hawaii - the atmosphere, the attitudes, the foods, the music, the community, the speech patterns. It's one of those books I put off finishing for a while because I just wanted to continue to live inside of it a little longer, and sure enough, the ending made me cry. An absolute joy from start to finish.

mxsunny's review against another edition

5.0

I absolutely LOVE this novel. Since I'm at work, and have already spent the first hour here finishing the book, I'll keep this quick. This book is full of characters who have deep histories with each other, with their families and communities and with the islands. You'll love this book if you're into seeing the world as full of ancient magic and believe that our past is always part of our present. I could hear all the voices as I read though I did have to make liberal use of the hawaiian pidgin glossary int he back. If you love food, dance, music or human relationships then you might enjoy this book. Please read this book!

okay go read this review: You are more than your trans self by Emma Caterine.

jacob_wren's review

5.0

I cried through the last fifty pages of this book. Perhaps the closest I've ever come to tears of joy while reading.

madeline_the_terrible's review

3.0

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the characters are rich and the setting is beautiful. I love that Aoki wrote so much in Hawaiian pidgin. She wasn't trying to make her story accessible - she simply told her story and trusted the audience to get it. On the other hand, the plot is extremely thin and the story felt fractured at times. Don't read this with the expectation of interesting twists and turns.

emmc's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

rrrrj's review

5.0

An incredible first novel from Ryka Aoki full of myth, food, music and heart. He Mele A Hilo follows an endlessly endearing ensemble of characters (who speak and are described in the local language of Pidgin) - their stories entwine and unravel at a relaxed pace that fits perfectly with the themes Aoki's working with. The narrative slowly peels back the edges of our world to reveal a magic that is at once mysterious and divine and as ordinary and knowable as spam. I usually find myself slogging through adult literary fiction, but this was a real pleasure to read.

charleyroxy's review

5.0

He Mele A Hilo: A Hilo Song by Ryka Aoki is a story populated with the most wonderfully diverse characters and voices. I was surprised that I did not need to take notes to keep all the characters straight, which has been necessary for so many of my other reads lately. What a breath of fresh air! It is a story of belonging, family, food, identity, spirituality, and hula all woven together with rain, ocean, lava and land. It is exactly the kind of beautiful soul escape I needed and perhaps many could use right now.
~~~
I loved that it was written in Hawaiian Pidgin English with a glossary at the back. Before starting I read through the glossary but I caught on quickly and didn't refer to it often while reading. One thing that I didn't know about was all the terms referring to ethnicity in Pidgin. I think most people know 'haole' as the term for white folks, especially from the mainland, but there are many others. From what I gathered in further reading some could be seen as deragatory depending on tone and intent which in this book was not the case. They seemed to be more terms of endearment and identity than anything negative.
~~~
Ryka Aoki has a talent for writing in the same way some of her characters do with hula, music, cooking chicken, fishing, and more. It is innate, it brings you to tears, and makes your face hurt because you don't even realize you have been smiling so hard while reading. I do not remember where I heard about this book, around this time last year, but I remember searching for Hawaiian Own Voice authors and this sounded exactly like what I was looking for. I would absolutely recommend to everyone!

jenhugsbooks's review

4.0

I really loved this. It's one of those books where you smile fondly later when something reminds you of one of the characters like you would about someone you know in real life.

I read this as part of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (for the own voices Oceania prompt) and also because I was traveling to Hawaii and wanted to read something by someone who was from there. I finished it on the plane and I think I referenced it more than any guidebook we took with us.

I would read a whole series with these people.