A review by octavia_cade
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

Oh, this was outstanding. I gobbled it down in two sittings, and enjoyed every painful minute of it. I think what I found most interesting - aside from the implicit exploration of what colonialism can do to an Indigenous population (and Hawaii is not a place I'm familiar with, but the parallels to my own New Zealand are clear) - is the interest in normality. It's not the superpowered sibling who succeeds here, or who is even the focus, although he is certainly the focus of everyday family life. It's the overlooked siblings, the ones who don't match up, who throw away chances and navigate their way to a better or worse future who turn out to be the most compelling storylines. Their experiences of not-enough - of not having enough, and of not being enough - are enormously sympathetic, and their growing connection, and disconnection, to home in the shadow of their legendary brother are the more realistic, the sadder, and the more hopeful outcomes. 

The whole thing is just wonderful.