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clairemariarose 's review for:
Sharks in the Time of Saviors
by Kawai Strong Washburn
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book made me mad lol
spoilers right away btw because i have beef here
the kids sucked. they were whiny and annoying. i get not being the favorite child (i have twelve siblings and i’m ranked near the bottom of both of my parents’ lists), but you don’t take that out on the favorite child? that’s a grievance to take up with your parents? so they isolate noa?? as punishment for their parents’ favoritism?? wack.
AND THEN NOA ACTUALLY DIES????????? wtf?????? he was the only perspective i enjoyed!!!! he had actual struggles he was dealing with!! the internal struggle to live up to expectations set by those around him — that was an interesting narrative!! and then he DIED?? wack.
and then we shift into this weird post-noa existence in which i’m suddenly supposed to care about this family now that the chosen one is gone?? like…is the message here that the only way this family could come together is through the death of one of the children?? y’all couldn’t just like…have a productive conversation?? wack.
and so dean becomes a prison drug lord and i’m supposed to be on board with that because the family needs the money. wack.
and the issue of kaui’s sexuality was not addressed adequately to me. i’m all about queer representation, but this felt like it was thrown in for no reason. like kaui’s story didn’t have enough going on so it was like…what else can we add here? oh yeah, make her gay. but her whole relationship with her roommate made me soooo uncomfortable (the bathroom scene??? WHAT WAS THE REASON????) and i thought it was handled poorly. overall? wack.
highlights of this book:
- i found the magical realism interesting. noa’s abilities made for an interesting complexity.
- the prose surrounding hawaii was beautiful. i wish more of the story was actually focused here than in the continental united states.
so yeah that’s basically where the two stars come from.
tl,dr; this was wack
spoilers right away btw because i have beef here
the kids sucked. they were whiny and annoying. i get not being the favorite child (i have twelve siblings and i’m ranked near the bottom of both of my parents’ lists), but you don’t take that out on the favorite child? that’s a grievance to take up with your parents? so they isolate noa?? as punishment for their parents’ favoritism?? wack.
AND THEN NOA ACTUALLY DIES????????? wtf?????? he was the only perspective i enjoyed!!!! he had actual struggles he was dealing with!! the internal struggle to live up to expectations set by those around him — that was an interesting narrative!! and then he DIED?? wack.
and then we shift into this weird post-noa existence in which i’m suddenly supposed to care about this family now that the chosen one is gone?? like…is the message here that the only way this family could come together is through the death of one of the children?? y’all couldn’t just like…have a productive conversation?? wack.
and so dean becomes a prison drug lord and i’m supposed to be on board with that because the family needs the money. wack.
and the issue of kaui’s sexuality was not addressed adequately to me. i’m all about queer representation, but this felt like it was thrown in for no reason. like kaui’s story didn’t have enough going on so it was like…what else can we add here? oh yeah, make her gay. but her whole relationship with her roommate made me soooo uncomfortable (the bathroom scene??? WHAT WAS THE REASON????) and i thought it was handled poorly. overall? wack.
highlights of this book:
- i found the magical realism interesting. noa’s abilities made for an interesting complexity.
- the prose surrounding hawaii was beautiful. i wish more of the story was actually focused here than in the continental united states.
so yeah that’s basically where the two stars come from.
tl,dr; this was wack