Disclaimer: I received this book from the library. Support your local libraries! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: Hula 

 

Author: Jasmin Iolani Hakes 

 

Book Series: Standalone 

 

Rating: 2/5 

 

Diversity: Hawaiian MCs and characters 

 

Recommended For...: adult readers, historical fiction 

 

Publication Date: May 2, 2023 

 

Genre: Historical Fiction 

 

Age Relevance: 18+ (racism, language, pregnancy, death, blood gore, miscarriage, homelessness, cancer) 

 

Explanation of Above: There is some racism mentioned and shown in the book. There is some strong language. Pregnancy and miscarriage are mentioned. Death and blood gore are shown. There are discussions and showings of homelessness and cancer as well. There might be more as I did DNF the read. 

 

Publisher: HarperVia 

 

Pages: 400 

 

Synopsis: "There's no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started." Hi'i is the youngest of the legendary Naupaka dynasty, only daughter of Laka, once the pride of Hilo; granddaughter of Hulali, Hula matriarch on the Big Island. But the Naupka legacy is in jeopardy, buckling under the weight of loaded silences and unexplained absences, most notably the sudden disappearance of Laka when Hi'i was a child. Hi'i dreams of healing the rifts within her family by becoming the next Miss Aloha Hula--and prove herself worthy of carrying on the family dynasty. She demonstrates her devotion to her culture through hula--the beating heart of her people expressed through the movement of her hips and feet. Yet she has always felt separate from her community, and the harder she tries to prove she belongs--dancing in the halau until her bones ache--the wider the distance seems to grow. Soon, fault lines begin to form, and secrets threaten to erupt. Everyone wants to know, Hi'i most of all: what really happened when her mother disappeared, and why haven't she and her grandmother spoken since? When a devastating revelation involving Hi'i surfaces, the entire community is faced with a momentous decision that will affect everyone--and determine the course of Hi'i's future. Part incantation, part rallying cry, Hula is a love letter to a stolen paradise and its people. Told in part by the tribal We, it connects Hawaii's tortured history to its fractured present through the story of the Naupaka family. The evolution of the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement is reflected in the journeys of these defiant women and their community, in whose struggle we sense the long-term repercussions of blood quantum laws and colonization, the relationship between tribe and belonging, and the universal question: what makes a family? 

 

Review: I DNFed this book within 2 hours of starting it (so about 100 pages in). This book was beautiful, but kinda meh for me. The book had a very slow start and the book went through a bunch of family history. There was a lot of back and forth timelines and multiple POVs which made it hard to figure out who was talking when. The book was written in beautiful verse though and I can tell the book is very impactful, but I’m just not the target audience for it unfortunately. 

 

Verdict: It was beautiful and sweet, but not for me. Maybe it’ll be for you though!