Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Hula

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

puttingwingsonwords's review

challenging hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

Is this extremely well written, a beautiful exploration on Hawaii exploitation on its people and culture, and how it effects one family through generations of women?Absolutely! I've been really enjoying it, fleshed out characters and deeply rich telling of the history of the Hawaiian Islands. However, decisions are being made and I'm not mentally or emotionally prepared for I what I predict happens-I'm just saving myself from the huge wave of second hand embarrassment, sympathy, fury and a whole lot more for what's coming. Don't think I can sit through traffic (I tend to listen to a lot of audiobooks on a commute I have) while this all goes down. Will try this book again, probably in another format.

Content Warnings

abby_can_read's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

📖
I had a good time reading this book. I loved it. The different timelines and the switches are a little confusing at times, but it does make for a good overall narrative. I liked the characters and the complex relationships between them.

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kshertz's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

What a fascinating way to tell Hawaiis history. The lineage of one family and hula. I learned a lot, but the story itself did not grip me. It was hard for me to pick it up and I frequently passed it up for more gripping books. It’s a slower more informative book so this is probably why. It’s not a big character book, more like a nonfiction with only a barely fiction family lineage. I think if it was mostly fiction with some nonfiction that would have gripped me more.

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vedpears's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

Excellent book - helps to have audiobook playing while reading the Hawaiian, if unfamiliar with the language. There were parts that characters spoke in Hawaiian, and the author did a great job to let unfamiliar readers get the gist of the meaning without writing out a direct translation, allowing for the novel to continue with ease.

The depicted relationships and family dynamics are realistic and dive deep without bogging the reader down. The very real occupation of Hawaii is both a backdrop and a nemesis in this book and I appreciate Hakes' willingness to lay out all the pain that comes with that here, without softening the language to make the invaders uncomfortable. I think Hakes does a fine job balancing fact and fiction to ensure the readers walk away being able to trust this view through a literary window of the ongoing theft of Hawaii from her people.

The only thing that keeps this from being a 5-star is that I felt the first third of the book didn't fit as well or flow as nicely as the rest of the novel. The beginning didn't have the same raw emotion/depth that the remainder of the story did, and I initially found it very difficult to push on - glad I did, but that took effort to push through.

Content warning: maternal estrangement, miscarriage, colonizers, bullying, cancer, car accident, death.

Content Warnings