As with some of this Author's previous work, I had to remind myself that it was fiction. I found myself weeping at the the storyline which (I found) beautifully written. And really had to strain my credibily thru some of chapters. EX; 1. Nikolai's birth circumstances. 2. His adult scarring explained as the marks of wolves gnawing at him, while in a semi-frozen state. 3. Ana's baby arrives 2 Mths early, but presents at a very healthy 8+ pounds.

All in all a very riviting read... Well done & I will be on the watch for another of this Author's work.

I read this for a book club. I didn't like it and I probably wouldn't have finished it otherwise. It's sad, but sad for the sake of being sad, with very little resolution. The characters aren't well developed, the plot is contrived. I found myself not caring about their sadness or what outcome they might have. Huge time gaps interrupt the flow of the story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved, loved, loved this book. Two seemingly disparate cultures, are on display in this book. The story of Ana, a native Hawaiian, who grows up on the Wai’ane Coast on the island of O’ahu and the story of Nikolai Volenko, born on the sub-arctic tundra of Northern Russia. What they have in common is the environmental abuse they witness rained down on them by their respective countries/government. This was a thoroughly engrossing love story and I’m so glad I found it! Highly recommended.

Such a hard one to review. Some of this book was absolutely brilliant and incredibly moving (the generations of women supporting Rosie’s childbirth, max’s final helicopter ride), but so much of this book was so frustrating. The pacing was a mess, and I couldn’t understand why certain parts of the book were glossed other and others given so much time. In the end, this book had simply far Too Much Going On. If it had focused on the dual stories of Ana and Anahola’s lives and the family around them, it could’ve been wonderful!

A book set in Hawaii about family and what's important. It was kind of a sad book, but very interesting about the culture in Hawaii.

As a transplant to Hawaii, I am always interested in learning more about the Hawaiian people and their culture. This story takes place on the Waianae coast of Oahu, a largely poor Hawaiian area. It is a story that weaves together themes of Ohana (family), especially mothers and daughters, the politics of marginalization of cultures, the detrimental effects of military bombing and toxic waste and a love story! The lead male character is from Russia, and the book describes the harsh conditions most Russians have and continue to endure. Difficult to read at times, yet still interesting, informative and full of relationship and character development.

Quite possibly the most beautifully written book I've ever read.

Love the Oahu setting and references to places I knows and the depictions of Hawaiian culture, history and legends. I knew about the bomb testing done in Micronesia and the Hawaii island of kaho’olawe but didn’t realize how much bombing was done on Oahu or the environmental impact and protests in the sixties.
While I appreciate the parallel’s drawn to Russia, overall that story line didn’t resonate with me and the Russian character Nikolai seemed overly dramatic and stereotypical.

Great book exp!oring Russian and Hawaiian cultures

Read it on a trip to Hawaii and it kept me interested in Hawaiian culture and history with a good story.

This was a nice book about both Hawaii and Russia. I have to admit that I didn't find this to be exactly a page turner. It took me about three weeks to get through it and while I was interested in the characters, I wouldn't say it was riveting. I guess I felt this way because I found the main character a little standoffish. She spent half the book hating her mother then the next half ignoring her family. She couldn't get over the events that happened to her and actually live. At times I just wanted to shake her and tell her to move on. Otherwise, this was an enlightening book. I liked the mixing in of Hawaiian and Russian words (although flipping back and forth to the glossary every page got old after the first chapter). I would recommend this book to anyone looking to get a sense of Hawaii from a local perspective.

A 3.5 for me. Beautifully written at times, but I felt the author tried to do too much. The book would have improved dramatically if it had been more focused. There was definitely one central character, but other characters and their stories were ALMOST as central, and although these characters were integral to the main character, their stories should have been presented more as background and less as equivalent story lines. It almost felt like 3 separate but related novels should have been written. The underlying political messaging was heavy and almost overdone, yet somehow never managed to feel complete. This lesson in morality could have actually been its OWN novel, with the characters functioning only in supporting roles. I guess it felt like the author had too much to say for one novel and this book left me feeling much as I do after conversing with my ADD child.

4.5 stars