That Which Feeds Us: A Hawaiian Gothic

“This is a YA novel that I ate up in a weekend about a part Hawaiian named Lehua searching for her twin sister, Ohia, on a sketchy former plantation turned elitist resort called Kōpaʻa, a fictional island off of Maui. While the main story revolves around the search for Ohia, the novel tackles so much more. It addresses Hawaiian history, the horrors of plantation life on the islands, the long term effects of colonialism in Hawai'i, and cultural identity, both the importance of it and the shame of not knowing your own culture. The twins were not immersed in their culture growing up but, through the help of a young Hawaiian woman named Melia, Lehua learns about the land and people she is descended from. The friendship between Lehua and Melia is really the driving force in this novel and the more Lehua learns about her culture from her benevolent new friend, the braver she becomes in fighting the nefarious forces running the Kōpaʻa resort. Again, this is a YA novel so, tonally, I feel it succeeds in addressing a YA audience but I appreciate that is also succeeds in captivating an older audience. More Hawaiian gothics, please!”