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rkjreads 's review for:
The Wayfinder: A Novel
by Adam Johnson
When I started this as an ebook I had no idea what I was in for. This is a hefty book at over 700 pages.
Split between the Tongan royal family and a remote island where the residents are slowly starving with nowhere to go, you have a tale of political intrigue and royal succession contrasted against a coming of age survival story. The worlds collide and the staggered timeline means we gradually uncover what brought them together.
There is something epic about this book. It feels like a homeric poem or shakespearean tragedy with characters unequivocally destined to their fates. Despite this epic length and scope it maintains a steady pacing that makes it hard to put down. Each new event feels weighty and predestined.
It feels exceptionally well researched. I will say at the start it felt a bit like reading a history textbook and took a while for the story to pick up. But I do appreciate how much I’ve learned about this time and place.
Central themes include storytelling/oral history, abuse of power, depletion of natural resources, belonging, and cycles of violence especially in the context of war.
This book is dark. Though not gratuitous (imo), there is a constant grind of violence, especially against women, which makes for difficult reading at times. One man in particular is such a chilling figure and sections from his perspective were deeply unnerving. But each character, especially on the Tongan side has their villainous moments which attests to how power and violence both corrupt. Horrific acts are justified by duty and blame can always be shifted elsewhere.
This is absolutely going to stick with me for a long time. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, War