“You must give all you have to life. Work to exhaustion. Think to exhaustion. And one day you will love to exhaustion.”

A very beautiful story that deeply resonated with me. It is always a pleasure to read about Natives and their love of the land and family. I was not expecting to get some Russian history, very interesting.

3.5 stars. Of course, I loved how much Hawaii culture that Davenport infused into this novel. I also appreciated how she wove together the underlying themes of nuclear testing, the fallout from that (including cancer), and the Hawaiian environmental justice movement. Davenport tends to write about strong women who alienate the people they love out of their need for self-sufficiency, and Ana was the epitome of that. I understand why Ana made the choices she did, but I still wanted to shake her sometimes and tell her to stop being so prideful. Davenport did a masterful job of showing how Ana is constantly running away from home, just like her mother did, even though Ana rarely leaves the island and her mother ran away to the mainland. However, the character of Nicolai and the Russia connection kind of fell short for me. I was originally hopeful when the parallels between the Chernobyl disaster and nuclear testing around Hawaii was introduced, but something about the Russia-Hawaii connection never really clicked for me. Nicolai was also such a larger than life character that he never felt real to me, more like a caricature, which kept the book from being 4 stars for me.

Kiana Davenport is at her best when describing the world of Hawaii's native people, and she does it well here. Touched with lyricism and the language of a people unknown to many of us, this novel rings with truth and leaves the sadness and mystery of a real life in its wake.

Ana is raised in her extended family's home and yearns for her absent mother. Redemption, forgiveness, and acceptance must all be taught at a hard price to Ana and her mother in this novel. At times I wanted to shake Ana; the mark of a great story-teller.

This is also, of course, a love story, though I found Ana and Nikolai's time together sort of a side note, really, and Nikolai himself to be strangely paper-like. As if his experiences in Russia were a strange afterthought. I would have liked to have seen more of Ana's mother's story, instead.

It is the story of a mother and daughter and the choices that they make that really resonates here, how we can hurt the innocent with seemingly innocent choices, and how anger serves no one. Wound throughout are gorgeous descriptions of an island and a people who are struggling to find their place in the world around them, told with an insider's tongue and knowledge. Beautiful and deceptively simple, this novel will leave you wanting to book a trip to Hawaii and call your mama at the same time.

Another great book by Kiana Davenport. Her two main characters are Ana, native hawaiian
girl, raised by her aunties & uncles after her mother left her when she was only 4 to
move to San Francisco. It seemed like a cruel thing for Anahola, her mother to have done,
but you fall in love with the aunties and uncles. Makes you think about your own aunts
and uncles and what a truly important role they play in our lives. The other main character
is Niki, born in Russia into poverty and cold. Ana & Niki's lives intertwine later in the
book. Haven't read a Kiana Davenport book I have not loved....she earns another 5 stars.

I loved how much history and Hawaiian culture was weaves into this story line. Especially the background of nuclear testing and the environmental justice movement in Hawaii. However, the dialogue fell a little flat for me. I also felt that the last 20% of the book didn’t quite seem realistic... it just didn’t click for me and I found myself skimming through to the end.

Kiana Davenport's books are about Hawaiian families, and the family in this book, I think, is the same family in Song of the Exile, but a different generation. This book is another love story and it deals with human rights.

Beautiful pictures of a Hawaii the tourist doesn't see and an eyeopener about what has been done to the island by "us." Relationships among the characters are a glimpse into a fraught but tender world. I am glad my friend recommended this to me a few years ago. I would read more of her books, too.

I love historical fiction, I love Hawaii, and so this was a good book for me. Loved learning all the Hawaiian and Russian words and phrases. The story was wonderful. At one point, though, it seemed to get a bit slow. But as I neared the end I just couldn't put it down. Solid 4 for me.

Wow- What a different look at Hawaii and the author pulls you into a slice of native here.

Slow start, but got good towards the end. About the relationship between a Hawaiian girl and Russian. Contrasts old and modern ways of life too. Decent read.

What I enjoyed most about this book were the vivid descriptions of Hawaii and Russia. What I didn't like was the way they were morphed together in the same book. There were some vauge similarities, but generally these are two completely opposite cultures that would be very difficult to weave together. As separate stories I would have enjoyed them much better! All that said, the book was well written and I enjoyed the author's style. I will look for other books by her in the future.

A lovely story, but nothing new if you have read Davenport's work.