A review by emjay24
The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

3.0

I’m not sure why, but I was convinced this book was historical fiction. I had it on my to-read list, and then took it out of the library without re-checking much what it was about, besides something about Hawaii. I started reading it, and it was in present day, and I kept waiting for them to switch back in time, to the story of his ancestors and how they got the land he was supposed to sell. Nope! This is actually a book about a man whose wife has been in a coma in the hospital for a month. He is a busy lawyer and didn’t spend too much time with his wife, and basically no time with his 17 and 10 year old daughters. Now he’s coming to realize that he knows nothing about their lives or how to be a dad. People, both in the book and out, have questioned why he didn’t seem to be mad at his wife or the other man, but it seemed logical to me. She’s dying, why waste time now being mad? He would only regret it later. He has the rest of all time to worry about being mad, and only a short time to think of now and forgive and say goodbyes. I do find it hard to believe that he could be that clueless and apart from his family while he was living in the same house with them, but I guess there are plenty of people I’ve seen in real life who tend towards the same way. This book was just ok for me, because it’s not my style, but I think if you’re into this type of book, you’d really enjoy it.