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rachrixx's review against another edition
4.0
this one really gives you a glimpse into the ups and downs of someone’s life - especially in such a difficult circumstance. all the feels were felt.
laurenpat's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
It was interesting but dense. Story was good but felt longer than it was. I cried like 10 times. Not an easy read, but tried to keep the tone as lighthearted/hopeful as it could have been.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Abortion
evoss14's review against another edition
5.0
WOW! What an amazing story! This epic book spans pre and post World War II life in the leper colony of Moloka'i Hawaii. The book follows the life of Rachel Kalama who is sent into exile to Moloka'i at the age of 6. Fascinating historical fiction based upon real events. This book was eye-opening. However, the story is truly about family, hope, forgiveness, tenacity and faith. I was deeply moved by this beautiful story and found myself in tears more than once! I highly recommend Moloka'i!
elisecavanaugh's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
jenbsbooks's review against another edition
3.5
I liked this - didn't love it, as many others seemed to. I'd read [book:The Second Life of Mirielle West|55841940] less than a year ago, so instead of coming in without any knowledge of leprosy, much of this was familiar after reading the other/similar book.
I had this in all three formats. Found a brand new paperback at a thrift store (the sequel too) and was able to get the library copies (Kindle ... audio on Libby and Hoopla) without much of a wait. I went with the audio, but did need to refer to the text a time or two. It was a bit of a challenge to find my spot, the chapters were looooooong! In audio, they had to break up several chapters into two parts.
There were just 22 (chronological) chapters in this 400 page book. Four parts ... Part One: Blue Vault of Heaven (the early years, starting in 1891) Part Two: The Stone Leaf. Part 3: Kapu! (starts in 1903) Part 4: 'Ohana (starting in 1928, midway it's 1943-48). The Endnote(epilogue?) is 1970. These section headers are the only things included in the Table of Contents (no dates, I had to look them up manually ... I really appreciate dates, if given in the book, to be included in the TOC). Of course, the physical book doesn't have a TOC at all. The Parts/Headers/Chapters are there IN the book, but it's helpful for me to see a TOC, see how the book is set up in one glance.
This was all third person/past tense ... mostly from focused on Rachel, she's the MC. But there were times the omniscient narrator would change focus ... to Catherine, or Haleola. There was one time shift (Haleola remembering earlier years) too ... and these shifts were pretty subtle, no header indicating a change, and I got a little lost (these were times I needed to refer to text, do some re-reading, figure out things before returning to the audio).
I don't know that I have the fascination with Hawaii that so many people do. For me, this, like Panchinko or Shantaram or Lisa See's novels, the exotic location/names/mythology is both interesting, and something I disconnect, the unfamiliarity making everything harder to remember.
As always, I skimmed through the Questions and Quotes here on Goodreads ... sometimes that jolts something in me, making me remember or appreciate things more. Didn't really happen here. There are discussion questions included in the text copies ... the physical book has two more questions than the Kindle copy. The discussion questions weren't included in audio, but the Author's Note was, which is good, as it had interesting information.
On thing with the audio that REALLY annoyed me, and small as it is, reduced my "like" for the listen, was in the digitization from CDs, the "end of disk 1" (through a dozen disks) was still here in the audio. Really? Editing couldn't have taken the time to take that out? It's just sloppy production.
Other things I note: There were a couple "songs" in the text ... early on, Rachel's father sings, and the narrator sang. Later on during a couple other songs, it was spoken/patter speak. I wondered if one song's tune was unknown (or not real?) ... the other was a LDS church hymn (Come Come Ye Saints ... All Is Well). The MoTab was even mentioned, and the "Mormon" religion had a few parts to play in the story. Words I notice: scant, sneaked, detritus.
No proFanity. Some sex, nothing really explicit/descriptive.
3.5 stars. While I was listening/reading ... I really wasn't loving it, but I felt like I should finish. Nothing wrong with the writing, I thought it was well done ... it just wasn't capturing me. I did like how things wrapped up in the end, and I might even read the sequel, we'll see.
I had this in all three formats. Found a brand new paperback at a thrift store (the sequel too) and was able to get the library copies (Kindle ... audio on Libby and Hoopla) without much of a wait. I went with the audio, but did need to refer to the text a time or two. It was a bit of a challenge to find my spot, the chapters were looooooong! In audio, they had to break up several chapters into two parts.
There were just 22 (chronological) chapters in this 400 page book. Four parts ... Part One: Blue Vault of Heaven (the early years, starting in 1891) Part Two: The Stone Leaf. Part 3: Kapu! (starts in 1903) Part 4: 'Ohana (starting in 1928, midway it's 1943-48). The Endnote(epilogue?) is 1970. These section headers are the only things included in the Table of Contents (no dates, I had to look them up manually ... I really appreciate dates, if given in the book, to be included in the TOC). Of course, the physical book doesn't have a TOC at all. The Parts/Headers/Chapters are there IN the book, but it's helpful for me to see a TOC, see how the book is set up in one glance.
This was all third person/past tense ... mostly from focused on Rachel, she's the MC. But there were times the omniscient narrator would change focus ... to Catherine, or Haleola. There was one time shift (Haleola remembering earlier years) too ... and these shifts were pretty subtle, no header indicating a change, and I got a little lost (these were times I needed to refer to text, do some re-reading, figure out things before returning to the audio).
I don't know that I have the fascination with Hawaii that so many people do. For me, this, like Panchinko or Shantaram or Lisa See's novels, the exotic location/names/mythology is both interesting, and something I disconnect, the unfamiliarity making everything harder to remember.
As always, I skimmed through the Questions and Quotes here on Goodreads ... sometimes that jolts something in me, making me remember or appreciate things more. Didn't really happen here. There are discussion questions included in the text copies ... the physical book has two more questions than the Kindle copy. The discussion questions weren't included in audio, but the Author's Note was, which is good, as it had interesting information.
On thing with the audio that REALLY annoyed me, and small as it is, reduced my "like" for the listen, was in the digitization from CDs, the "end of disk 1" (through a dozen disks) was still here in the audio. Really? Editing couldn't have taken the time to take that out? It's just sloppy production.
Other things I note: There were a couple "songs" in the text ... early on, Rachel's father sings, and the narrator sang. Later on during a couple other songs, it was spoken/patter speak. I wondered if one song's tune was unknown (or not real?) ... the other was a LDS church hymn (Come Come Ye Saints ... All Is Well). The MoTab was even mentioned, and the "Mormon" religion had a few parts to play in the story. Words I notice: scant, sneaked, detritus.
No proFanity. Some sex, nothing really explicit/descriptive.
3.5 stars. While I was listening/reading ... I really wasn't loving it, but I felt like I should finish. Nothing wrong with the writing, I thought it was well done ... it just wasn't capturing me. I did like how things wrapped up in the end, and I might even read the sequel, we'll see.
susan379's review against another edition
3.5
Took forever to read, but it was good. Learned about leprosy
nikla88's review against another edition
4.0
Mi sono chiesta alla fine del libro più e più volte se mi sia piaciuto o meno. Ci sono tutti gli ingredienti per un fantastico romanzo storico però secondo me manca un po' di ordine, ci sono troppe cose per un solo libro. Sarò controcorrente ma credo che il libro avrebbe dovuto soffermarsi di più su certi avvenimenti invece di aggiungerne sempre di nuovi, meno stravolgimenti continui e più introspezione, meno bocche aperte e più riflessioni per il lettore.
Il libro presenta moltissimi lati positivi, mi ha dato modo di scoprire dei pezzi di storia che non conoscevo e che mi hanno donato un'altra visione su di una certa parte di mondo. Il messaggio forte della protagonista invece mi ha confortata. Nonostante la merda che ci affligge, che ci sta' intorno, la vita è preziosa e ci regala milioni di momenti di pura felicità.
Il libro presenta moltissimi lati positivi, mi ha dato modo di scoprire dei pezzi di storia che non conoscevo e che mi hanno donato un'altra visione su di una certa parte di mondo. Il messaggio forte della protagonista invece mi ha confortata. Nonostante la merda che ci affligge, che ci sta' intorno, la vita è preziosa e ci regala milioni di momenti di pura felicità.
lovebrydie's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0