A review by mylynn
Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto

4.5

With comps like Gideon the Ninth, I couldn't help but be excited to read this and while I wouldn't say it's at all like GtN, I did think it was fun and a pleasure to read in it's own great way!  This book starts off strong and immediately grabbed my attention.  I found Edie so loveable and I really enjoyed following them as our main character.  Watching them navigate re-entering society and finding their place with their family while also secretly doing One Last Job to help their family was a balancing act that felt so precarious and well written.

The blood family and found family in this book are both great, and I loved all of our side characters.  I feel like Makana Yamamoto does a great job of creating distinct personalities and my only critique is that I wish we got even more backstory to some of these characters.  I really liked the heist aspects and there were points that had me holding my breath in suspense.  The second chance romance really worked for me in this one!! I didn't know how it was going to and didn't fully buy into it until later in the book, but I think that was by design.  

Lastly, I loved seeing Hawaiian culture and language  integrated with this sci-fi world.  It feels really special to see islanders in a traditionally published book!!

Thank you to Harper Voyager for the eARC (but I also bought this book via Illumicrate who did a beautiful SE)!