Sharks in the Time of Saviors
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.6
(177)
Kawai Strong Washburn
WINNER OF THE 2020 PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL. One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020. A finalist for the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. Named one of the Best Books of 2020 by the New York Times (#30), the Guardian, the Boston Globe, Oprah Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, BBC Culture, Good Housekeeping, LitHub, Spectrum Culture, Third Place Books, and Powell's Books.Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawaiian gods into an engrossing family saga; a story of exile and the pursuit of salvation from Kawai Strong Washburn.“Old myths clash with new realities, love is in a ride or die with grief, faith rubs hard against magic, and comic flips with tragic so much they meld into something new. All told with daredevil lyricism to burn. A ferocious debut.”—MARLON JAMES, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf“So good it hurts and hurts to where it heals. It is revelatory and unputdownable. Washburn is an extraordinarily brilliant new talent.” —TOMMY ORANGE, author of There ThereNamed one of the most anticipated novels for 2020 by the Guardian and Paste Magazine. One of Book Riot’s Best Books to Give as Gifts in 2020. In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods—a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy.When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i—with tragic consequences—they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.
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More Details:
Author
Kawai Strong Washburn
Pages
384
Publisher
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published Date
2020-03-03
ISBN
0374720770 9780374720773
Ratings
Google: 5
Community ReviewsSee all
"4.5/5
We get insight on each member of the family and the way they coincide especially the siblings there is such a deep rooted sibling dynamics in this book you get to see the love, resentment and anger between them this story also had a good amount of magical realism which was surprising but I loved I also really liked the whole incident with the boy and the shark that was so insane Definitely recommended listening to the audiobook its stunning it's fully casted the whole story is so interesting but also so sad the whole time i was holding my breath these characters are always going through it and it hard to read about but also this book holds such important topics and they are explored through a lot of beautiful writing that makes you feel so deeply about everything but also a thing that kept taking me out was there's some randomly really vulgar moments language wise lol but I didn't bother me too much just something to consider if you don’t like something like that "
Gizelle Villalta
"The bookstore was promoting this book, as it is written by a local author! I love a good family fiction. This one has some magical realism elements and draws heavily from Hawaiian myths. Very poetically written, with characters that could be any of the people I have met here in Hawaii. "
Elise Meyers
"3.5, I liked the story and characters, thought the magic aspect was a bit weird, and would’ve preferred it to just be about regular people. But it was good, and I enjoyed it!"
A H
Auden Harker
"I haven’t read it yet but just got it now :)"
Nate K
"Great family story. Liked the island focus. Life is different for native Hawaiians"
Eva Hamill
"One of those books which will stick with me for decades. A judicious use of magical realism elevates this from a common family tale to the stuff of legend. And in the process teaches us all about how our perceptions are not always what they appear. #best_of_2021 "
Andrew Cather
