mariacinaz's review
5.0
Beautiful and tragic, a harrowing tale of lives in Hawaii in the years leading up to and during WWII.
isabelmacomber's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lilo_si's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Murder, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Rape, Death of parent, Blood, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, and Child death
aiidaa's review against another edition
2.0
DNF for now. I can feel this book putting me in a slump. I was really excited to read it, I really wanted a historical fiction that would teach me some history of Hawaii (I was at least expecting some on WWII and becoming a US state), however I'm on page 133/355 and so far I haven't gotten anything new about Hawaii or its history. 90% of what I've read is about jazz, 5% romance and 5% war. Granted, the writing is beautiful but I just can't take anymore reading about jazz. Maybe because I don't play any instruments or I don't really listen to jazz, but after 10 pages of reading about this I'm very over it. I do plan to pick it up again since I'v heard part 2 gets better so fingers crossed, but at this point I only pick this up out of wanting to get to the good stuff and not because I'm excited about it.
barnstormingbooks's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book that is hard to describe. The story line was from Davenport’s childhood, told to her about a local Hawai’ian musician who lost his love in the war. The epic is all Davenport’s creation. Meticulously researched from both records and by winning the trust of survivors, the historical details are brutal in their honesty. There is also a magic to this book that feels authentically native Hawai’ian, adding to each of the proven facts.
Set in a changing world (and moving around the globe) this sweeping epic is undeniable and devastating. Set between the buildup to World War II through the creation of Hawaii as a state all told through the eyes of an extended native Hawai’ian family. The politics and prejudices are palpable and illuminating. The music is visceral. The characters are told with a loving poetry that draws out love even in moments of brutality.
The depictions of violence and war are harrowing. Davenport was clear with her intention here. She decided to use survivor accounts and stories as close to verbatim as she could as she within the confines of her story. Allowing accounts of extreme violence to be heard without publicizing the victims. This story of war is of bombs and horrific violence by men on men and by men on communities. However, at the center is violence against women. The Chongshindae (women kidnapped, enslaved, raped, brutalized, tortured, starved and often murdered by Japanese military) story line was so graphic and honest I became nauseous as I read it. There is a deep love for the women of Hawaii, but there is forced happy ending. Just a coming to terms, and a bit of revenge that is more satisfying then I want to admit.
Overall, this is a book and stories that need to be heard. However, check your trigger warnings and look at where you place it in your stack. After finishing I had to rearrange all my reading plans as I unpacked this experience.
Set in a changing world (and moving around the globe) this sweeping epic is undeniable and devastating. Set between the buildup to World War II through the creation of Hawaii as a state all told through the eyes of an extended native Hawai’ian family. The politics and prejudices are palpable and illuminating. The music is visceral. The characters are told with a loving poetry that draws out love even in moments of brutality.
The depictions of violence and war are harrowing. Davenport was clear with her intention here. She decided to use survivor accounts and stories as close to verbatim as she could as she within the confines of her story. Allowing accounts of extreme violence to be heard without publicizing the victims. This story of war is of bombs and horrific violence by men on men and by men on communities. However, at the center is violence against women. The Chongshindae (women kidnapped, enslaved, raped, brutalized, tortured, starved and often murdered by Japanese military) story line was so graphic and honest I became nauseous as I read it. There is a deep love for the women of Hawaii, but there is forced happy ending. Just a coming to terms, and a bit of revenge that is more satisfying then I want to admit.
Overall, this is a book and stories that need to be heard. However, check your trigger warnings and look at where you place it in your stack. After finishing I had to rearrange all my reading plans as I unpacked this experience.
ilyamik's review against another edition
No lo pude terminar, últimamente estuve leyendo muchos libros largos y me encanta eso de seguirle la vida de los protagonistas durante muchos años, acá es un embole total. La historia no arranca más y la autora tiene un estilo que es muy telling not showing, o sea que me cuenta las cosas pero no me las muestra. Me quedó la sensación de que fueron personajes de cartón y que no pude llegar a ellos, lo mismo con la historia, como si lo estuviese viendo todo como espectadora y no pudiese romper esa barrera como lectora cuando la historia simplemente te absorbe y te atrapa. No me transmitió nada más que desesperación por SENTIR algo, ese es el problema con la romántica histórica, hay fina línea entre meter todos los hechos históricos posibles y que tus personajes queden en segundo plano y ahí es donde fallas porque para simplemente leer hechos históricos me leo un libro de historia.
Los protagonistas y sus luchas siempre tienen que ser central y la ambientación y el contexto histórico tienen que ENRIQUECER la historia.
Acá no es ni una cosa ni la otra, una lástima porque le tenía fe.
Los protagonistas y sus luchas siempre tienen que ser central y la ambientación y el contexto histórico tienen que ENRIQUECER la historia.
Acá no es ni una cosa ni la otra, una lástima porque le tenía fe.
polyhy_14's review against another edition
5.0
Keo is a self-taught Hawaian musician. Sunny is his soul mate. Starting in the early 1930s, this story follows their journey to New Orleans, Paris, and Shanghai where they are separated by WW2. It tells the horror of the interment camps, and the even greater horror of the largely untold story of the Japanese comfort women. From Shanghai and Rabaul, it travels back to Honolulu where redemption of a kind is found. Beautifully written, mythic and epic in quality. Highly recommended.
sarahhoward's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
1.0
I kept waiting for this book to start and then it ended.