paperback, 384 pages
Published March 2, 2021 by Picador.
This book nicely blends modern life with ancient folklore. Its story involves a family and their struggles to live a meaningful life while the world around them devolves. The ending felt abrupt, but left me wanting to know more. Recommended.
I wrote about some really wonderful imagery in this one.
https://bit.ly/SharksImagery
goddamn.
A wow of a first novel that makes you look forward to more while at the same time you worry that anything else will be a disappointment. [a:Kawai Strong Washburn|11350440|Kawai Strong Washburn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1566579953p2/11350440.jpg] clearly worked hard on this, which you can tell by how effortless it is to read. A glossary would've been nice as there are many Hawaiian words in it, but you'll know what's going on even if you're too lazy to get off the couch and look them up, like I am.
[b:Sharks in the Time of Saviors|57155105|Sharks in the Time of Saviors|Kawai Strong Washburn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614084115l/57155105.SY75.jpg|70730151] teeters into a genre I dislike—magic realism—but ultimately stays far enough away from that to feel real.
The novel is narrated in five first-person voices, each authentic, and different readers may have different favorites. (Mine was Dean's, but that doesn't mean he was my favorite character.)
Beat hits hard enough in …
A wow of a first novel that makes you look forward to more while at the same time you worry that anything else will be a disappointment. [a:Kawai Strong Washburn|11350440|Kawai Strong Washburn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1566579953p2/11350440.jpg] clearly worked hard on this, which you can tell by how effortless it is to read. A glossary would've been nice as there are many Hawaiian words in it, but you'll know what's going on even if you're too lazy to get off the couch and look them up, like I am.
[b:Sharks in the Time of Saviors|57155105|Sharks in the Time of Saviors|Kawai Strong Washburn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1614084115l/57155105.SY75.jpg|70730151] teeters into a genre I dislike—magic realism—but ultimately stays far enough away from that to feel real.
The novel is narrated in five first-person voices, each authentic, and different readers may have different favorites. (Mine was Dean's, but that doesn't mean he was my favorite character.)
Beat hits hard enough in the club after eleven, making my ears all fuzzed along with the dirty tilt I'm getting from my sixth shot, I think. Me and the boys at the bar, this one with its restaurant on the other side and the sports TVs, and in between the spinning color lights and a little stage and dance floor like the place can't decide which one it is, bar or club or restaurant. Waiters trying for get around the few couples all grinding half faded on the dance floor.
