Hammajang Luck

by Makana Yamamoto

HAMMAJANG | adjective. Definition: In a disorderly or chaotic state; messed up. Chiefly in predicative use, esp. in all hammajang. Etymology: A borrowing from Hawaiian Pidgin. Source: Oxford English Dictionary.

Edie is done with crime. Eight years behind bars changes a person - costs them too much time with too many of the people who need them most.

And it's all Angel's fault. She sold Edie out in what should have been the greatest moment of their lives. Instead, Edie was shipped off to the icy prison planet spinning far below the soaring skybridges and neon catacombs of Kepler space station - of home - to spend the best part of a decade alone.

But then a chance for early parole appears out of nowhere and Edie steps into the pallid sunlight to find none other than Angel waiting - and she has an offer.

One last job. One last deal. One last target. The trillionaire tech god they failed to bring down last time. There's just one thing Edie needs to do - trust Angel again - which also happens to be the last thing Edie wants to do. What could possibly go all hammajang about this plan?

Ocean's 8 meets Blade Runner in this trail-blazing debut science fiction novel and swashbuckling love letter to Hawai'i about being forced to find a new home and striving to build a better one - unmissable for fans of Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Genres: Science Fiction, Queer, Fantasy, LGBT, Fiction, Adult, Lesbian

368 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2024

About the author

Makana Yamamoto was born on the island of Maui. Splitting their time between the Mainland and Hawaiʻi, Makana grew up on beaches and in snowbanks. Always a scientist at heart, Makana fell in love with sci-fi as a teen–they even led the science fiction and fantasy interest house at their college. A writer from childhood, fiction became the perfect medium for them to explore their interests as well as reconnect with their culture, coalescing into a passion for diverse sci-fi. They love writing multicultural settings and queer characters, as well as imagining what the future might look like for historically marginalized communities. In their free time, Makana likes to hoard dice for their Dungeons & Dragons games, experiment in the kitchen, defeat bosses with their guildmates, and get way too invested in reality competition shows. They currently live on the East Coast with their wife and two cats.

Reviews

[Aster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when my most anticipated release of the year doesn't disappoint.

When Edie is unexpectedly released from prison thanks to the woman who betrayed them, they struggle to find a job supporting their family. With a pregnant sister and a sick niece, they know they can’t afford to fall back into their old ways of crime but money is tight and no place will hire them. As Angel, their childhood friend and the woman who puts them into prison, waltzes back into their life with the heist plan of a lifetime, Edie must reconsider their promise to their sister. Together they must recruit a team without their past personal issues getting in the way of the plan. What started as a plan to rob a powerful trillionaire soon exposes uncomfortable secrets.

Ocean's 8 is one of my comfort movies. To me, who doesn’t usually consume heist media a lot of tropes of the genre and ideas felt fresh and genuinely appealing. My interest in anything centering on a heist is often limited because there’s only so much twist you can put in this genre. I won’t lie Hammajang Luck remains formulaic in this aspect but innovates in many others. Hammajang Luck, as it is aptly comped, is cyberpunk Ocean's 8 with a crew of Asian and Pacific Islanders trans, nonbinary, butch, and femme lesbians and I couldn’t put it down.

One of my fears was how the book would balance the three pillars of Edie’s interest: their familial life, the heist and its cast, and their romance with Angel. It’s easy to neglect one but as they tied back into each other (Angel is an old family friend of Edie, Edie is doing the heist for their family, Angel and Edie constantly work together for the heist, you see the idea). Edie’s care and love for their family is a highlight of this book for me and I believe will be for other reviewers. Edie’s sister Andie is a constant presence that I grew to care about. Their family hasn’t forgotten the Old Earth Hawaiian customs and ways of living.

As a character, Edie has a small arc (I did feel that their character took a back seat to the three pillars I mentioned earlier) about their need for belonging and finding a place (and people I assume). However, the power of telling a butch lesbian who spends the book convinced they must sacrifice themself for everyone, for their family, that they are loved, that they are wanted and will not be left behind, that everyone would rather they be safe and alive than sacrificed is just too powerful. Subversion of the butch martyr.

Now, is the romance with Angel a bit toxic? The twist of why Angel did what she did is predictable, anyone familiar with genre romances could tell who is behind the medical fund, etc. But we’re not the protagonist and we’re witnessing it through Edie’s lens. I enjoy the tension, the messiness, the years of yearning and pain and reconnecting. So much to unravel there.

Also I really loved the side cast? They have a small role (Duke and Nakano forever) but each is given at least a small spotlight role once in the book.

As a lover of butch SFF (Gideon the Ninth, The Unbroken, this year’s Metal from Heaven), I always look at the way butch identity is written and incorporated in fantasy and science-fiction settings. What is kept and what is added, what are the norms to defy, the paladin or the scholar, the rebel or the cop? Hammajang Luck is very influenced by old-school (working class) butch/femme lesbian bar culture. If you have read Stone Butch Blues, you’ll know what I mean. Edie (they/them), Cy (he/him), and Duke (she/her) are clearly identified as butches in the text (the word is used thanks to the privileges of sci-fi over fantasy). Cy and Edie are long-time friends and have this familiar best-friend dynamic (also denoted by language as Edie is more comfortable falling back into what I think is Hawaiian Pidgin around him than other characters). In contrast, Duke is a newcomer with a different experience and yet forms this butch camaraderie with Edie, giving them advice, teasing them, and playfully fighting with them. I want to highlight those butch friendships and maybe mentorships (as well as different forms of butch expression) that are so rare in media and yet are one of the backbones of Stone Butch Blues.

There’s a specific line right after we meet one of the crew members, Sara saying that butches like Edie and Cy ended up in warehouses and docks as opposed to femmes like Angel and Sara worked in clip joints and street corners, all trying to survive in their own ways. While the cyberpunk elements are light in this book (or rather start being slightly more prominent towards the end of the book), the genre can only really be engaged with from a working-class perspective and I find the added perspective of the recognizable available jobs the world gives to you for how you present to be really interesting.

Transness is also a strong undercurrent of the book: Edie and Cy are nonbinary (specifically referred as Māhū in text) and have sought or are seeking a form of transitioning during the story whereas Nakano is a trans femme woman and Duke’s partner.

Lastly, I want to reflect on this trope of pairing a darker-skinned butch (often reduced to a himbo, golden retriever, a brainless jock, sometimes perceived as more aggressive) with a smart paler-skinned femme. I don't think it's fully my place to speak on it (and also I don’t want to ignore the nuance of who is writing those stories, reflecting their own lived experiences and the people in their lives) but I find Edie to subvert this trope in many ways: as the main character and narrator, they have a depth that is not often offered to butch characters outside of their role as a sex object/eye candy/bodyguard, then it’s shown again and again that Edie is quick on their feet, have a deep knowledge of the station which makes them the best runner, is a leader that people trust and can take quick decisions as well as good and reading people and a smart player (the poker game)

[Zana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

The vibes in Hammajang Luck remind me of that Fast and Furious meme where Vin Diesel emphasizes that nothing's stronger than family. And while I'm a hater at heart, the way that this book presents that theme is actually pretty heartwarming and I ended up liking it.

TLDR; I came for the heist, but stayed for the cozy family vibes and Hawaiian community ties.

And I'll admit, as someone who works in a similar field (sadly, not black hat heist related), I really appreciated the attention to detail when it came to the heist portion. The physical security cracking and code breaking were right up my alley, and you could definitely tell that the author did research on all of this.

I also loved the family drama, and I'm saying this as a hater of sappy family dramas and sob stories. Edie, her sister, and Angel's relationships felt so real that I could feel like I was a part of their family, like some cousin hanging out at the periphery waiting for the tea to spill.

The Hawaiian pidgin added another layer to the family dynamic and closeness I felt to the characters. While I spent my childhood on an island that's almost 7k miles away from Hawaii, the pidgin felt so familiar that I could easily feel myself among family members. It's details like this that'll always make me an advocate for representation and diversity in books and all media.

While the villain and the other characters that took part in the heist were ultimately forgettable, I honestly still had fun with this book. I'd recommend this for someone looking for a lighter futuristic read.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this arc.

[K.J. Charles]

Angel sold Edie out after a crime gone wrong; now Edie has done eight years in prison while Angel has become security officer to a mega rich Elon Musk type. Angel gets Edie out of prison to force them into doing the heist to shake down the bad guy for a bajillion squid, and they set up a team with grifters, acrobat, hacker, safe cracker etc.

Very much focused on the building of the romance and found family, which for me didn't entirely work with the heist plot. The heisters quickly become a close loyal team. The heist goes almost completely as planned, and any bumps in the road are very quickly overcome. The villain is an oaf who never feels like a significant threat, and we don't feel like either Angel or Edie is about to betray the other despite the huge betrayal eight years ago. Basically nothing goes wrong and nobody backstabs anyone, so even when it's trailed that they might, we don't really believe it.

Ultimately it’s a book about family and forgiveness and enduring love and doing down the bad guys. The cultural background is very well done, and the setting is vividly drawn. But 'heist' primed my tastebuds for treachery, tension, calamity, and unexpected twists, and I felt the lack of those. However, the zeitgeist is very much not with me here, and if you want the fun of a heist without stressful angst, tension or jeopardy, this will float your boat perfectly.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book. Lots of great ingredients: smart characters, a broken relationship, family that needs to stay in the dark but only kind of does, an elaborate heist, normalization of trans lives, the recruiting of diverse and specific talents just for the heist, biodigital ethics, a Robin Hood rag tag team, second and third chances, etc.

There were some contrived things like siblings that only have each other, a crappy ex, and cancer.

There was one thing that confused me: Angel and Edie are cousins? In the end, I decided they are social cousins rather than blood cousins. Otherwise, the book would be too weird.

Lots of action. Lots of angst. Fun. 3.5

[Gyalten Lekden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book promises to be a queer, cyberpunk Ocean’s Eleven, and that is exactly what you get, plus some. It is confident, has a strong and engaging voice, and is a lot of fun to experience.

The story itself is not incredibly original. Our main character emerges from prison, has the promise of one last job to rule them all, and then we get to watch them assemble a motley crew as they plan a heist against a despicable antagonist who you feel good rooting against. The villain isn’t a casino magnate but instead an absurdly wealthy tech CEO that is a cross between Elon Musk and Bryan Johnson, but otherwise the overarching plot is pretty much what you would expect, including the occasional wrench in the plans and the eventual outcome.

However, what makes this story stand out from the crowd is not just the cyberpunk futuristic setting of a colonized space station that is ravaged by wealth inequality and corporate, capitalist greed, but the characters at the center of the story and the pure love for those characters that the story carries within itself. We have a number of queer characters, including trans representation, but that is hardly the most interesting thing about them. In this timeline their gender and sexual identities aren’t any sort of point of contention, it isn’t a single locus of conflict in the story, and yet the author still manages to celebrate their diversity and make it a meaningful part of their identity. More importantly is the love for Hawai’i and the cultural communities and families that come from the island. The characters’ cultural sentiments and outlooks, as well as their language patterns, are incredibly specific. This specificity drives this story, accentuated by immersive and skilled dialogue that switches between Pidgin and mainland English from one paragraph to the next depending on which characters are in conversation. The queer/Pacific Islander/cyberpunk works really well to make something unique and fun. Our main character, Edie, is at the center of the story. This is what helps distinguish the story from other heist stories, because they are more than a simpler suave thief, they have an intimate personal life and a deep love for family, a family we spend a lot of time with. Their characters feel genuine and complicated and really well-rounded, and they set this story apart.

The writing and pacing were consistently strong, and the secondary characters were also interesting, though they more or less fit into expected archetypes. This kind of is to be expected with a large-cast heist story, but attention was given to some of them to flesh them out a little more, make sure the audience had something more to grab onto with each of them, and I appreciated that. The story was familiar, and almost expected, at least if you’re a fan of the genre, but that gave it a very cozy kind of feeling. I knew what to expect of the plot, so I was free to focus on other details, like characters, and so on. I would have liked a few surprises, along the way, and it would have been nice to have spent a little more time with some of the other crew members, to fill out those characters a little more. In addition the ideas, about what we are willing to do for those we love and how what it means to make something out of nothing when the odds are stacked against you, they are perfectly lovely and they do support the story, but they are also a little simple and easy, and I wouldn’t have minded if they had a little more heft to them, a few more thorns or complications. Those are the main reasons for only 3.5 stars, because I felt like the rich tapestry of this world--the culture and this group of characters—had so much to offer and while what we got was incredibly fun, it held the promise of more. Still, though, a really good time. It had me smiling the whole time, and I enjoyed spending time in the world and didn’t want to put it down. It isn’t particularly complicated or genre-breaking, but it has great representation, has strong writing, and is definitely fun.

(Rounded up from 3.5)

I want to thank the author, the publisher Avon and Harper Voyager | Harper Voyager, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Sana]

Cyberpunk but make it 'enemies-to-lovers lesbian space heist' LIKE LISTENNNN. Also, like Ocean's 8 meets Gideon the Ninth

[Sarah SG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the arc! Hm, I appreciate what this book was trying to do, but it did fall very flat to me. Let me break down my grievances:

I did like the world building we got, but there should have been more. I wanted to be more immersed than I was. I felt the same with the descriptions. I loved what cyberpunk descriptions we did get, but for a book that pitched itself as a Blade Runner comp… yeah I was let down.

The plot was boring and damn laborious to read through. I ended up being uninterested in the plot pretty early on, but pushed myself through. Yet, my apathy didn’t go away, even as it ended. I think my feelings (or lack thereof) stemmed from the fact that I’ve read many stories like this before. Essentially, the plot was not unique in the slightest. So many books have done what this book is trying to do, and so much better.

I could have hung on more if only we had compelling characters. Unfortunately, I was not engaged with any of the characters, nor were they compelling. In addition, the antagonist I found to be cartoonishly bad. He was as dimensional as a straight line.

The romance was irritating and predictable, not to even mention the fact that there was barely any development. In my opinion, this was the weakest aspect of an already weak book. The relationship between Angel and Edie was toxic and unbelievable all the way through. You’re telling me that Angel ruins Edie’s life and for the vast majority of the book they fight all the goddamn time, yet all of a sudden they’re in love and have loved each other forever??? Huh??? Jesus fucking Christ give me a fucking break.

The ending made me roll my eyes. This book is a Lifetime movie

I will give this book points on its cultural (diaspora) and socioeconomic commentary. The most intriguing parts of this book came from Edie and their family practicing and hanging onto their cultural identity. The same can be said for Edie’s thoughts and feelings on class difference and gentrification; of wanting to become the man, yet hating them all the same. The author ate with that one little thing

To make the long fucking story short, if you’re looking for a good sci-fi, cyberpunk-esque read, unfortunately you won’t find it here. There were a couple things this book did well, yet most of it I found lacking and uninteresting. I’m very disappointed and sad, and if anyone has any diverse cyberpunk recs, I need them indubitably 😭 -2.5 corporations rounded up

[⭑𓂃 mia [semi-hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋ 𝟒 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

aaaah this was so good!! it felt like a combination of ocean‘s 8 and six of crows. gotta love a good heist book 🙂‍↕️
the found family in this was amazing.
and the narrator of the audiobook did so well?? i loved how they could do all these accents hehe


ᯓ★ 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝

it‘s finally time. I‘ve been so excited to read this ever since its release date 🤭

[charlotte, · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rep: Hawaiian agender butch lesbian mc, lesbian li, Hawaiian transmasc side character, transfem femme lesbian side character, butch lesbian side character

Galley provided by publisher

Okay, so sometimes, it’s apparent from the very first page that you won’t get along with a book. Sometimes, you think you won’t, but it improves enough that you think you might be wrong! But it turns out your first instinct was correct and now you’ve spent god knows how long on a really boring book.

However! That was truly the only issue with Hammajang Luck. It was, otherwise, entirely and utterly okay. Yes, that translates (to me) into a 2 star review, but it was sort of… inoffensively boring? I read to find out what would happen at the end, but I didn’t necessarily feel compelled to.

Really, I don’t have much more to say about this one because of that. The characters were alright, but not spectacular, and some of the twists you could see coming a mile off, but. Again. It was okay. In fact, the only bone I have to pick here is about a metaphor. Could someone (anyone) explain to me what exactly it means that someone “could have carved her initials out of the tension in the air”?

[Iona · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was exactly two things I liked in this book - Edie and their family and all the socio-economics.

Wait. Three. Because all the rep was pretty awesome too.

Other than that, this was a huge disappointment.

And omg this book needed a map - I could not picture the setting at all and I think having a map to show me where everything was would have helped hold a notion of what this place was like in my mind.

One of the biggest issues the book has was that it had no sense of place. This was, supposedly, set on a space station, but honestly it could have been set anywhere. I never remembered it was supposed to be a space station and was often surprised when I was reminded. In general, all the world-building was sparce and needed way more time devoted to it.

The found family elements just didn't work for me - I never felt like they were close or that there was any depth to their relationships. Edie and Cy were supposed to be old childhood friends, closer than close, and honestly, they felt more like neutral acquaintances. There was an awful lot of telling and not showing when it came to the characters so a lot of it was very passive, and lacked any emotional connection (This was also true of various plot points in the book - I really feel like as plot holes came up, the author would just add in a 'person X had said A to person Y' to deal with them).

The first half of the book dragged SO MUCH - we didn't need to see Angel and Edie putting the group together. I really think the book would have been better served if Angel already had the team together and they were already in the midst of putting the heist together when she sprung Edie out of prision. Nothing happens in the book until about the 45% mark and by that point I'd lost most of my interest.

I did quite enjoy the research etc that needed to be done for the heist - and the con being pulled on Atlas was fun. But the heist itself went off basically without a hitch and there was never any jeopardy or worry that they might not succeed.

I think one of the biggest misses in the book was Angel - there was nothing likeable about her for about 85% of the book and by the time the attempt to humanise her happened, it felt too much like an out of character 180 that just made no sense. I think a pov from Angel would have maybe helped? Let us see past the facade that Edie couldn't see past or get past - give us insight into her motivations and emotions earlier so that that final 15% doesn't feel like such a turnabout for the character. It felt like an Angel we'd never met or even, really, even got a glimpse of.

And do not get me started on the romance. Because, omg, that was so very toxic. Edie is very legitimately angry with Angel for most of the book, and once Edie hears Angel's sobstory, suddenly everything is okay and they're madly in love with her and Angel, at no point has to really grapple with what she did to Edie and how she wrecked their life, instead they just get together. Not to mention all the ways she manipluated Edie into joining the crew and making it so they can't go straight, like they were planning.

I still don't get why Edie didn't give Angel up to the Feds - get immunity for the crew, and protect your family - Angel smashing the billionaire's tech and calling the Feds on herself, doesn't negate all the shit she put Edie through.

At literally no point was I cheering for Edie and Angel to get together - I was mostly cheering for Edie to leave Angel far behind and get on with their life.

I feel, too, like this cribbed way too much from Leverage and Ocean's 11 - especially Ocean's - in a way that was way too obvious and I was mostly reminded of how much better both of those are.

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

One of my most highly anticipated upcoming releases–lesbian con artists doing a heist in space!--HAMMAJANG LUCK was enjoyable but ultimately fell short of my expectations in terms of world-building, plot, and romance.

Heist movies are my guilty pleasure. The Ocean’s franchise, The Italian Job, Charlie’s Angels, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.--I have watched these all multiple times. They are a perfect escapist genre for me: self-aware absurdity combined with impressive, intricately woven plots. For the first half or so of HAMMAJANG LUCK, I was able to look past its weaknesses and enjoy my reading experience. HAMMAJANG LUCK’s plot really isn’t new, but it was hitting the beats of a heist story right for me: the slow bringing together of a motley crew, the pre-heist lifts, the stern but brilliant mastermind (Angel) and their chaotic second (Edie). Beat for beat, HAMMAJANG LUCK reminded me of the Ocean’s movies, and that was great.

But then my attention and interest started to flag, and I was forced to reckon with the book’s biggest weakness: its minimal world-building. The story ostensibly takes place on a giant space station (?), Kepler. I know vaguely that Kepler consists of Wards on varying levels catering to people of different socioeconomic means, with differences in light and air quality, services, shops, etc. But I don’t see any of that in the book. I had to make a concerted effort to remind myself that this book supposedly takes place in outer space… because, honestly, it reads like it could just be happening on Earth.

We don’t get a good sense of how life on a space station is different. The characters in HAMMAJANG LUCK act, talk, and go about their daily routines like they’re living on Earth. They take showers (in normal bathrooms?), they eat off tables, they go to parks with their families. I wanted to get a better feel for the world. What does it look like to walk down a street in their ward? What can you see when you look up at a view supposedly blocked by the other, more well-off wards?

Even the heist itself doesn’t read like it has fully reckoned with the implications of committing a heist of that magnitude on a space station. The most it seemed to have been considered was when Edie was informing others how they needed to blow up a wall carefully because they didn’t want to risk depressurizing the area in which they’re in. Um, okay. No big deal, right?

Maybe some of this could have been explained by the fact that the story is set a mere century into our future? (In the 2100s.) But it’s the little things. Like how time is still told in 24-hour increments. Or how the monetary system (“credits”) seems like just a cut-and-paste job for “US dollars.” Or how their comms system is no better–and, one can argue, worse–than our current phones.

Now let’s talk about the characters. I liked the representation of lesbian, nonbinary, and trans characters. I liked the diversity. I LOVED the Hawaiian Pidgin (and wouldn’t have minded a whole book written in the language!). But… most of the secondary characters are mere sketches and archetypes. The immature and brash computer geek. The long-suffering but noble sister/mother. The Elon Musk-coded evil trillionaire who believes it’s his god-given right to have anything and anyone he wants. Even Edie and Angel read familiar: Edie the gruff, mouthy, but golden-hearted butch, Angel the beautiful and intelligent ice queen.

And finally, the romance. Going from 0 (constant snipes and glares) to 60 (sex) in the span of a few pages, AND we find out that they’ve been pining for one another for 20+ years? I wasn’t convinced. There was no character development to get them to that point, merely the setting aside of long-held misbeliefs about one another.

HAMMAJANG LUCK’s marketing suggests that it’s good for fans of Tamsyn Muir. It’s not. It doesn’t have the ingenuity, the impressiveness of the Locked Tomb series, the sense that you’re entirely at the mercy of an artist who's a genius with words. Instead, treat HAMMAJANG LUCK as a fast-paced escapist read along the lines of Yume Kitasei, Ryka Aoki, and Becky Chambers, and you’ll be more able to forgive its weaknesses and enjoy the ride.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐ rounded down to 2 because I don't want to give people the impression that I think it's worth reading.

A strong start that quickly nosedives into mediocrity. I didn't hate this book, there's definitely much worse, but everything about it felt very juvenile. I mean that both in writing and plot. I finished the book feeling largely underwhelmed and like the book didn't really deserve its ending.

🚀 THINGS I DID LIKE 🚀

- a diverse cast that does mostly take into account the different identities of its characters; they're not just tokens.

- the Hawai'ian community felt very real and cozy in this, and i liked the inclusion of Hawai'ian Pidgin.

🚀 THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE 🚀

- echoing others, nothing was really earnt. The crew does essentially close to 0 real planning, making up things on the fly and often getting saved by Deus ex machina "oh actually I happen to be good at this, I just didn't mention that before". There were no stakes even during the heist because nobody in this book really is allowed to fail.

- I think it became kind of obvious early on that the author hasn't actually consumed much sci-fi nor heist material. It sort of felt like a fanfic of a heist, which is like. It works when you care about the characters, but for me, this book was too short for such a big cast. It's not impossible to make a reader care in a sparse few sentences, but I don't think the author has really mastered that art quite. Most of the crew disappear whenever they're not having a scene; I feel like Sara for example was only really there for 3 scenes, of which two could've easily been filled by other characters.

- we have a lot of characters we spend too much time on (e.g. Tyler) that just don't add anything. I feel like we barely learnt anything about most of the cast, and they felt quite flat with how few scenes most of them got.

- going back to the setting, the author mentions real life technologies that just don't work like how they think it does. I can give it a pass because sci-fi, but still it was a bit distracting as someone that works in tech.

- the world feels kind of like poorly thought out set dressing. We don't learn all that much about it which isn't necessarily bad, but it's really odd to me how often we hear about all these sci-fi-esque things, but then all the actual tech is... Really vulnerable. There are no real security systems in place, so there was never any need for discretion whatsoever. Characters hang out openly then get shocked people knew they hang out.

- Angel was imo the biggest flaw in this book. I can believe in a toxic romance but it needs to feel deserved; Angel ruined Edie's life and keeps defending it and then only really half-heartedly apologised at around 90% in which is much too late for the relationship to be remotely believable.

- it made me like Edie less to be honest. Protagonists are flawed, but I personally just find it really embarrassing to read about someone making such poor choices over a not-even-ex from nearly a decade ago.

I was personally the most miffed about the ending. I don't care about it being too clean, but it exemplifies what I mean by that the setting is just set dressing. We get hints of this unjust system in the lower wards, and then Edie is only able to uplift their people because of the money.

I'm not even gonna get into the fact there's no way they could've laundered that and just hang around, it's just... Weird they're giving a preachy spiel about how they never needed money, only Angel and their family. But like, that's objectively not true? Your niece was dying due to lack of medical care. The shops were closing if it weren't for that money.

I don't think they needed to be the people that change the system, but it feels bittersweet to me to call it a good ending that one person gets to hoard and distribute wealth at their discretion, but ultimately the system still just... Sucks. Nothing changed, the money just changed hands. I'm not a fan of that honestly.

All in all I'm glad other people liked it, and I agree with someone else that said it would make for a perfect popcorn read. Sadly I'm just not that type of reader, I don't enjoy flawed books when those flaws aren't on purpose (unlike satire, books that are meant to be cringe/fun, etc.), so this book really doesn't work for me.

TLDR; I think this could've used at least 10 more rounds of editing and cutting out characters, and I don't like that it's so compliant to the status quo despite being a sci-fi centred around qpoc. But there's absolutely worse out there, and it's not offensively bad or anything, it's just... Also not really good, there's nothing I can really say about it beyond "well, it has qpoc" which just isn't enough for me.

[DianaRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc!

i really enjoyed this debut, sci-fi heist novel, despite the too timely economic and climate commentary... i especially enjoyed the immense cultural appreciation and love for hawai’i. the cast of characters were all fantastic as well!

i’m certainly looking forward to makana yamamoto’s next book!

[Cathy Eades · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of those books where I think the author was so caught up in making a statement and expressing their beliefs that they forgot to write a decent story. It was all just too much and too little, a total oxymoron.

First off the plot. There was absolutely nothing unique. Yes it's set in a space station but it was the same old let's rob the bad corporate guy and add a sick relative, an ex lover and an entire cast of lgbtq r us. There was no real pace and the characters just met up, planned things and then tried a robbery. It was childish and poorly thought out.

The there is the characters. So this book felt like they just needed to add all the lgbtq family to tick a load of boxes. It totally ruined the story. It was so predictable. The butch lesbian and the pretty one who may it may not be into her. The trans robotic one???? The acrobat who is a flexible lesbian who hates men and had trauma from her childhood but ended up an exotic dancer, and of course how can we forget the bad man. In fact men are just portrayed as bad unless they are a dad or a friendly shop keeper. All the other men are bad and abuse women. Like really!!

The there's the actual writing. It sucks. There was no world building. People in flyers but imagine these however you will. They live in space but it's never set out what it's like. There appears to be a class system of wards, but these are never described. Eddie leaves prison and tries to use her train card and surprisingly it's empty. But the next day she's off galavanting around. All her clothes still fit after 8 years yet it starts by saying she couldn't fit into her clothes in prison. Or was this a random reference to her boobs??? The robbery was childish, the way Angel actually says things like respect me I'm the mastermind. Like who would ever say that? And she quits her Jon because it's implied her boss wants to sleep with her, but the author hasn't got the balls to say this yet they were happy to detail oral sex earlier on. And the dialect? This is meant to be authentic??? Yep you guessed it, it was childish. I just feel like the book was a total waste of time.

Lacked pace, childish storyline. No world building whatsoever and 1 dimensional characters who randomly say weird words one minute but not the next. The author should have spent more time writing and developing the story than to k boxing the genders they represented. Stereotypical childish story at best. Sorry.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not going to say this sapphic sci-fi heist novel cured all my woes, but I'm not not going to say if, if you know what I mean.

This book was so good. So deliciously queer. I loved the Hawaiian ancestry and representation. I loved the friends-to-enemies-to-allies-to-lovers romance central to the story. I loved each and every one of the supporting cast.

If you enjoyed Ocean's 8, you'll like this book.

[Nathaniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read with illumicrates book club *

This Book manages to not have a single thing about it to keep my interest for more than a few seconds. From the romance I didn’t root for at all to characters who didn’t matter and cringe scenes.

I did like exactly two things about this book
- Edies relationship with their sister.
- The butchfem grifter couple that scams people.

There was literally nothing else. I think I mentally checked out during the malware dildo scene because it just felt cringe ”RANDOM XD” to me. Since the book isn’t too long I still finished it but I would honestly not recommend it.

Its also not bad enough to circle around to being funny? So it commits one of the worst literary crimes. Being boring.

I also think the scifi setting was meh and didn’t really matter. It would have been such minimal rewrites to just have it be earth in ten years which in my opinion is bad.

Personally ( as a nonbinary masc person ) I also got confused by the fact that Edie was supposed to be non passing yet always passed. Like why is everyone in this evil capitalist hell so accepting? It also kinda made the goal of hrt & top surgery feel kinda low stakes lol.

The romance also bothered me because the book kinda refuses to acknowledge how toxic it is? I think I could have enjoyed it more if the book just dared to lean in to it. Idk now i just stod there like okay sure I guess.

Anyway thats one rambling review haha and I need a better heist book

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can confirm this is NOT like Ocean’s 8 meets Gideon the Ninth. -____-

I wanted to love this very much. Your girl loves a heist. But it was a bit too cheesy and cliche for my taste. Neither the characters nor the world ever had a chance to really set down roots in my brain.

😔

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[Amanda at Bookish Brews]

cyberpunk lesbian space heist in which an ex-con must reunite with the partner who betrayed them for one last job?! SCREAM i can't wait!!!

I'm so happy for more cyberpunk not written by white men!!!

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you HarperVoyager and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am a simple girl, I see “cyberpunk lesbian heist” and I say “gimme.” I’m very pleased that Hammajang Luck did not disappoint and it was one of the most fun reads of my year.

I should probably start with a bit of a disclaimer: I am not the pickiest person when it comes to world building, and I do not spend a lot of time trying to predict how things will happen (and also I tend to be a vibes and character driven reader). While I loved Hammajang Luck, it’s a little on the cheesy and mildly cliche side (not a bad thing imo) and I can’t really comment on whether or not the heist is “good” in terms of execution. The vibes were excellent and I felt very fond of all the characters, so YMMV. The world building worked for me, and I like to fill in details on my own, but I digress.

I loved the premise of this and the factors that drove Edie to agree to taking on the heist, and I really loved the way Hawaiian culture was woven throughout the story—the clearest example is the inclusion of Pidgin (Hawaiian Creole), which I thought made the story richer. This book is also very queer and I loved how normalized it was. Edie and Angel’s relationship is a b-plot for sure but I really liked it! I thought it was fun to see the tension between reconciling pre-existing feelings with the Big Betrayal between the two of them and the fact their relationship at the start of the book is a hot mess. I appreciated the romance was messy and the way they approach it is messy, because this is my personal favorite flavor. The characters worked really well for me, even the bratty teen and the precocious teen (I think, maybe, if a teenager who is So Sure of their skills they think they’re better than older characters at their jobs is something that will irritate you your experience will be different than mine, but that’s neither here nor there). I thought it was interesting to see varying opinions on body modification, especially ones involving the brian. The antagonist was easy to hate and the main cast easy to root for, but I did really like how the mystery around Angel unfolded. Outside of the crew’s relationship, I also really liked Edie’s relationship with their family and how those pressures affected them. The cyberpunk setting was like catnip to me and while I think the antagonist was a little like… Obviously Evil, I didn’t mind. Edie’s narrative voice was strong and distinct, and I think Yamamoto wrote an impressive debut.

Overall I had a blast with this and loved the experience. I think it’ll most likely be a YMMV situation for most people, but I highly recommend.

[iam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely queer heist novel.

Check out the full review and more on the blog!

I can definitely see the comparison to Ocean's 8 with this one, though in my opinion it has very little to do with Gideon the Ninth other than both share a butch main character. With Blade Runner it shares the cyberpunk aspect, though Hammajang Luck, while still playing in a capitalist hellhole setting, is nowhere near as bleak. I found this to overall be a rather positive and upbeat book that makes you feel good while reading.

Despite this being a heist novel, this felt almost low stakes. Thus I find the Ocean's 8 comparison much more fitting than Six of Crows, simply due to the humorous tone and how things just simply... work out, with very little pushback. There is still tension, near misses, and high octane scenes that will get you excited while reading! I just never got the "omg I have no idea how they could possibly get out of this" feeling. Instead, it's the more celebratory, triumphant adrenaline of watching the characters overcome the obstacles and succeed.

Plot-wise the book is pretty straightforward. Edie is released from prison, and the very person who betrayed them is now looking to hire them for a job again. But with a family to support, a big payout at the end of it, and few alternatives, Edie finds themselves agreeing. There's a crew to recruit, bait to lay out, traps to plan, routes to prepare, and finally, the big heist.
There were no big surprises or big twists, though it wasn't exactly predictable, and never boring. Just nothing groundbreakingly new, which is perfectly fine!

I really enjoyed the side characters. The final crew was diverse and fun with multiple trans and nonbinary characters of different varieties (some directly referred to as Māhū), and I really enjoyed reading their banter. I almost wish we had learned more about the dynamics within the crew, as ultimately it didn't go very deep. The Hawaiian Pidgin was new to me but a lot of fun to read!

Where the book was underwhelming for me was the romance. I generally found Angel to be one of the weakest characters. She is cold and standoffish, keeping up the image of the unflappable leader, which unfortunately also meant we never really got to glimpse behind the mask. And the few glimpses and honest open conversations were too little too late for me - or rather they just weren't enough for me to believe the romance from it.

Another aspect is how Edie's prison time feels almost forgotten a lot of the time. Eight years is long. And yet they are still considered to be one of the best "runners", meaning able to make their way through the dangerous, impassable corridors of the station. When they haven't been doing it for eight years??? SO much must have changed??? And then they have 2 heart-to-heart conversations with the childhood friend who sold them out, and they are in love and all is well and nothing changed??? It unfortunately broke my suspension of disbelief.

Overall this was a lighthearted read with some pleasant action. It didn't wow me, but it was fun and entertaining depite its flaws.

I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

[Anniek · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my 2025 goals is to read more sci-fi, and this felt like a great place to start. I had so much fun with this, it made me want to procrastinate, because all I wanted was to continue my lesbian heist novel. I loved how much time was taken to get the crew together, because that's always my favourite part. After that, things started to feel a little rushed though, and I would have liked to get to know all of the side characters better. I think this book could have done well with another 100 or so pages, with things being fleshed out more.

[Maia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edie has spent the last eight years in prison after being sold out by Angel, a childhood friend and partner in crime, who took a plea deal after their biggest job went south. When released, Edie vows to get an honest job, to support their sister and her kids, to help pay for the family medical bills and other dept. But when Angel comes around again with another job offer, robbing the riches man on Kepler Station, Edie struggles to say no to what this score could offer. This is an enemies to lovers (and also childhood friends to lovers) romance wearing a heist like a thin coat. I loved that nearly every single character is queer and many are also trans or nonbinary, but the actual crime scheme was only sketchily drawn and did not hold up to any serious thought. Almost every plot twist came too easily and then had no consequences. Pick it up for the romance but not if what you really want is sci-fi, thriller, or crime.

[Victoria (Victoriabooklover) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you so much Harper Voyager for sending me a copy of this one. I enjoyed it!

Hammajang luck is no BS which I appreciated, as soon as Edie is out of prison we get right into it: the possibility of another job. We get into the dynamic between Edie and everyone in their family after 8 long years but we also get to see their dynamic with the person who betrayed them and how that’s changed while also floating around the idea of working together again.

After that the book moves fast and again I appreciated that, I loved the sci-fi aspects of the world, the Hawaiian culture, the recruiting members for the heist, the slowly progressing shift in relationship between Angel and Edie. It all made for a super quick / enjoyable read.

The only note I think I have is that…the stakes didn’t feel that high? Maybe it’s a me thing but the whole situation with Joyce Atlas didn’t feel like it quite reach climax for me. But it was still enjoyable though!! I definitely recommend it.

[Charlie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should preface this review by saying that quality-wise this 100% is a one-star, but I saw a homophobic 1star review so now it gets an extra star from me because lesbians.

What a horrible disappointment this was! It was marketed to me as The Locked Tomb x Ocean 11. I haven't seen ocean 11, so I can't speak on how much it matches up to that, but I love The Locked Tomb and I was expecting to see a book that has, if nothing else, a main pairing of butchfemme lesbians with a complicated past (though Harrow is, in my opinion, not a femme, but that's neither here nor there). And I got that... in its worst iteration possible.

To begin with, some positives: I liked the attempts at authenticity and the fact that the heist was made entirely of women (most of them queer) and trans people. A++ I also liked that the main character is a non-binary butch and they get a top surgery at the end and that their identity is not ever questioned or dismissed. Good stuff.

Umm, I suppose I appreciate that this book introduced me to Hawaiian pidgin? Writing it out makes it more inaccessible, but I was listening to the audiobook, so at least I got to hear the words sounded out instead of trying to do it in my head.

I think that's it

Let's break this down:

The writing. A lot of it was tread bare and on the nose. Extremely obvious things are often stated point blank with no attempt to expand on the emotion, include metaphorical language, or anything. Most of the writing literally reads like this: "Ugh, Atlas. I hate that guy, he made his money on the backs of poor people like my family." etc. I'm not saying this kind of writing has no place in fiction, but literally the entire book is written like this, and it feels almost infantilizing to me, an adult reader.

The dialogue: Again, terrible. There's no subtext. Almost everything is brought to the surface. The attempts at fights/retorts fail, because characters are always super dramatic and argue like teenagers with very exposition-y lines. "You're a snake!" "No, I'm not a snake." Angel is probably the worst offender as every single one of her lines is written like I went to Chat GPT and asked it to write me dialogue for a generic "girl boss" character. Everything is a cliché and nothing is ever kept under the surface (unless it's to do a Big Reveal later). It feels practically didactic in nature.

Lack of Depth None of these people besides Edie and Malia actually have a personality. Andie's only trait is "nice and supportive". Her kids' personalities are "kids." Tatiana is Malia squared. Cy is Edie with more enhancements and he/him pronouns. Angel is just the most cliché girlboss. Sera is Angel, but more helpless. Duke is Edie, but more educated and she/her. Duke's partner is... trans??¿¿?? I literally don't even know what her main trait is supposed to be. Every cis guy is just douchebag sex pest in almost the exact same way. There's no depth to any of it, their relationships feel informed rather than developed, and the humor doesn't land. The book was trying to convince me these people are a "found family" but I'm not even convinced they are separate characters.

Romance: In theory, I should love this pairing. The irreverrent butch x bossy femme is one of my fav ship dynamics. And they have a complicated history? Give me some of that good soup! Unfortunately, I found this lackluster. It had none of the delicious longing and homoeroticism of Griddlehark. Going back to the lack of depth in the characters and the poorly written dialogue, this pair came across as entirely flat and I found that I simply did not care about whether they ended up together or not.

Plot: It was fine, but IMO unnecessarily complicated, I stopped caring about the con being pulled on Atlas pretty early on. It was just so convoluted for literally no reason.

You could have easily simplified, gotten the main team down to four people, and made it a much tighter book.

[PhantomBeanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for the Illumicrate readalong and this was one of those books that had a lot of elements that I liked but felt short in execution.

Hammajang Luck is a sci-fi heist book in which Edie Morikawa, a thief who has spent 8 years behind bars after their last job failed comes out of prison and is roped into doing another job with none other than Angel Huang, their childhood friend and the very person who was responsible for putting them in prison. From this offset, I expected an entertaining heist, quippy characters, and a simmering hate-to-love dynamic between Edie and Angel which the book attempted but never really brought to heights that could have been.

I'll start with what I really liked in Hammajang Luck. The book is in Edie's perspective and I definitely felt that their voice was distinct and they were the most fleshed out. Their complicated feelings of doing this last big job in order to provide for their older pregnant sister, Andie, and her kids, of which one has cancer, and so their personal stakes in this heist job were absolutely there. Edie's relationship with Andie was really the emotional backbone of this book, and it's what kept me rating this book any lower. I felt all those conflicting feelings of love and duty.

The other thing that I adored was in the form of the grifter couple that is Duke and Nakano. They were probably the most entertaining characters in the whole book, and they truly embodied true soulmates. The couple that scams together, stays together and I hope they continue scamming people until they grow old.

Sadly, this book had a lot of faults and one of the major flaws is that the characters were quite shallow despite the seeming uniqueness of each one of them. If they had been fleshed out more then I think it would have led to more stakes in the heist. I will say though that I actually despised Angel. She was inconsistently written and her whole relationship with Edie was toxic, and I wouldn't have minded them getting together if only their reconciliation and the romance was better written. This whole book would have been far better without their romance and Edie's struggle with going back to their old ways while juggling their lies to their family would have been a more compelling story.

This story also severely lacked tension which is integral in a heist story. There was only one scene that really stood out to me that actually had tension and it was the poker scene. This was a vital scene but the fact that the actual heist had minimal suspense and tension to that scene is a travesty for a story like this. Don't get me wrong I did like the heist, but it didn't live up to its potential because of the missing essential ingredient of tension. This relates to the characters as well because it felt like the writer was afraid of them having consequences for their actions but those very things are what would have amped the tension and led to a thrilling heist story. It was very disappointing.

Lastly, the sci-fi setting was also pretty much non-descript and just seemed like set dressing. The story lacked atmosphere befitting a sci-fi and a heist story.

I don't regret reading this book because it did have some bright spots, but I simply left with a lot of what could have been thoughts. I do wonder if maybe this needed a stricter editor, because then it would have been greater than its current form. In any case, Edie, you really could have done better.

[alyssa✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so much fun

[Hari Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had so much fun reading this. The butch MC Edie feels tangible and complex and vulnerable all at once, I loved them. Their family dynamic feels so real, and the problems they're facing really make the heist feel like their only appealing choice despite fairly genuinely wanting to go straight (something often set up badly in 'one last job' heist plots.) I was basically delighted how it unfolded and meeting all the characters on the crew. Also thought the audiobook was great, and feel like it probably adds something hearing the pidgin said out loud.

It's character driven more than a crazy heist and I don't know that the plot climax feels technically flawless, but I definitely 5 star enjoyed it. I found it very cathartic and compelling all the way through, but also non-stressful as a reading experience, which was honestly the perfect thing for me in the current state of the world.

[Ashtyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Who are you selling your soul to?”

🗣️🗣️LESBIANS!!🗣️🗣️HEIST!!🗣️🗣️IN SPACE!!!

3.5 ⭐️This was a joy to read!! It starts out a little rough but the bulk of this book is incredibly fun to read, with an impressively balanced cast and with excellent stakes. I loved Edie as a character, and the bonds they have and build with their family and heist crew.

Truly, my only big critique is the exposition (the first 50 pages are so), which doesn’t quite match the caliber of the rest of the book. Certain scenes are summarized when they should be expanded upon more, other early scenes drag on where it isn’t necessary to. That being said, this issue largely goes away once the main crew starts to be assembled.

And the main crew was a delight! I think it’s rather difficult from a writing standpoint to balance 8 main characters while still grounding the narrative in a first person perspective, especially for a heist story, but I think “Hammajang Luck” pulls it off while still grounding Edie’s experiences first and foremost.

The romance is wonderfully queer and paced perfectly. I wish we’d gotten some more specific flashbacks to Angel and Edie’s youth, but I wanted angsty ex lesbians and this book delivers!!

Last qualm: I don’t know why the hell this is comped with Gideon the Ninth, beyond space lesbians. I mean, yay for space lesbians, but this book is not a match in terms of writing style, vibes, plot or themes. Which is fine! It’s on the tin, folks: read this for gay people stealing shit, genuinely compelling family dynamics, and two exes causing a ruckus.

[Gee · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5)
This had everything I should have loved - sapphic romance. Heists. Misfits.

Sadly I found it was lacking in all fronts. The plot was just okay. The actual heist disappointingly small. And the characters were very flat. They all kind blended into one or just had a very small personality.

[Evelien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guardians of the Galaxy meets Ocean's 8 - there were quite a few plot conveniences, but nothing too unforgivable for a standalone novel, and most importantly, I had fun reading.