Rawr Reader,
I think I blinked. Where did 2022 go? I hope it had fared well with you. I want to get back on my review game because I did *checks notes—eek!* 3 reviews last year. Hehehe, suffice it to say my reading goal total for 2022 also underperformed. New Year, New Me, right?
The synopsis for Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn is provided by Goodreads:
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 Hawaii - with tragic consequences - they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.
Review:
Firstly, can we take a moment to gush over this title? Author, editor, whoever came up with this—thank you. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was the author, every page in this novel is pure art. Washburn is the sort of writer that by the time you finish reading the first sentence you know you're going to be in good hands.
Since we're in the area, I'd like to start off with the writing. I mentioned the first sentence because I think for myself, and for a number of avid readers, a first sentence if not a first page gives incredible insight into what the rest of the book will be like. Beginnings are hard. Many writers know this. Which makes it even more satisfying when the pages that follow continue to blow you away. I called the words art, and Washburn is a true artist. What's promising is this is his first novel. I'm definitely going to be on the lookout for him. (Check out two of my favorite passages below in the Quote section.)
His writing pulls an even further punch by the care he takes when writing in multiple voices, switching from one POV to the next like skipping a stream. Dean, Kaui, Nainoa, Malia (the mothers), and Augie (the father) all form thoughts and speech different from one another, and because of their unique voice when jumping between Hawaii to Washington to Oregon, etc, I immediately placed myself with the character. There is also another voice. I won't dive into who or what it is, but it's something Washburn created to transcend one place and one person. This addition made the story richer and more riveting and I want to leave you with as little as possible so you can discover it for yourself.
In technical aspects, this novel is almost perfect. Why then, might you ask, did I give this such a low rating? Well, it comes down to my personal preference and particular interest. The writing it beautiful, the characters are beautiful, but the pacing of the plot itself would drag in parts, and there were a few days I had absolutely no interest in picking it up. I was tempted to drop it altogether and it got me into a short-lived reading slump. Books that do that to me are not likely to be rated high. (To be fair, books that I have rated 4 stars on this blog or in my Goodreads I look back fondly and regard as favorites and would highly recommend them.)
At its core, SitToS is about a family who struggle to find their own ways to survive from the struggles of the outside world and from the dynamics of their household. Every character was treated with respect and given the virtues and vices normally only one or two characters would be given in a novel—implementing First Person POV being the most beneficial. You see the relationships between the parents and the kids, between the siblings themselves, and the kids and friends, and all of these relationships felt derivative of a real person. All of the characters wanted something to prove yet wanted to be enough. It's heartbreaking when people who are loved can feel unloved, undervalued. It made each of the kids' journeys feel something anyone would want to root for.
There are themes Washburn explores: identity, poverty, survival, and others. They are the feathers that allow this bird to fly. This is a coming-of-age story, but on another level, coming-to-acceptance story. All of our characters grapple with how they can move on from the shark rescue, remain true to their Hawaiian culture, while also survive in a twentieth century and twenty-first century Hawaii (and America).
Now not to discourage you, but I would have to say the beginning, the catalyst of the novel, is my favorite part of the entire book. Arguably, that scene might be in my top favorite literary scenes of all time. There was something profound in the images you picture when reading Nainoa's unbelievable shark rescue. I had chills. This moment and many moments following alluded to magical realism, drawing from Hawaiian mythology, yet it never scared away from placing these characters with real-world, everyday, relatable human problems. Nainoa's rescue wouldn't have happened in real life. It's a spectacle, but more than anything, it's nothing short of a miracle. However this living miracle and the events that follow are studied and inspected for the rest of the novel by the multiple points of view, with the multiple understandings that each member of the family walk away with. What is a miracle in one person's eyes can be a bane to another.
Move aside Jaws, Sharks in the Time of Saviors trumps you in best fictional shark encounter.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
(Ratings aside, I would highly recommend this. Down the road I would definitely be open to rereading.)
Quote:
"Like he was back out in the ocean among the sharks, bobbing alone. I could see him there, the waves and tides and gods dragging him around. But I'm in the water, too, I wanted to say. And there are plenty eyes on you. No one's watching to see if I stay afloat."
"When our language, 'Ōlelo Hawai'i, was outlawed, so our gods went, so prayers went, so ideas went, so the island went."
—Kawai Strong Washburn, Sharks in the Time of Saviors
My Goodreads:
Next To Read:
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Spoilers:
I don't know if it's just me, but I was on the verge of tearing when Dean pushed Kaui out of the car so the cops would pull him and him alone over. Big brother love. I don't have a brother, but man if I did I would only hope they would do that for me.
I would really like to discuss the climax of the book: Noa's death. In part, I shouldn't have been surprised it was going to happen. A man with miracle hands living to a ripe old age in literature seems as unlikely as a boy being saved by a shark. Better for this novel to be classified as fantasy. However I think the most grabbing quality of his death was for the fact that it seemed undramatic. I have no doubt it likely was done with that exact intention. His survival was miraculous, yet his death was far from it. It was done alone, in pain/not in pain(?), unknown for weeks, and the act was something that could happen to anyone. I think it will take a reread, but I would really like to grab the consistency of his powers? Why did it work at times and other times it didn't? It wasn't linked to affection or desire, yet it wasn't entirely to luck/chance and it wasn't exclusive to humans/animals. Was it like God, meant to service life, give and take life as a whole fairly with no bias?
And there was no bias in Noa's eyes. We see it in the pregnant woman's death as it unraveled Noa. It was the reason he returned home. Sought sanctuary, enlightenment, freedom from responsibility or possibly even caring? I can't imagine what someone who believed himself to possess godlike powers yet the compassion a god doesn't possess for humankind, and failing when he felt that with strong conviction, with adamant resolve that he could not. All the more tragic that he would slip back into folds of the ocean without a whimper, without a person to comfort him or even be thinking of him when he was his most lonely. People dying alone and without the comfort of anyone knowing where you are is high up on saddest deaths in fiction. Washburn treated the Flores siblings so beautifully . . . man why didn't give this book 4 stars?!
Until Next Time,
Nicole Ciel