The Killing Spell

by Shay Kauwe

In this spellbinding fantasy debut set in a future where language magic reigns, a young Hawaiian woman must solve a murder to clear her name.

Kea Petrova is dealing with more than her fair share of trouble.

At just twenty-five years old, she’s the youngest of five Hawaiian clan leaders living on the Homestead in outer Los Angeles. Nearly 200 years ago, when a catastrophic flood submerged the Hawaiian islands and unleashed magic into the world, these clans forged a treaty with the city, establishing a new Hawaiian homeland. But that treaty is about to expire.

Kea struggles to keep her small clan afloat, scraping together rent each month through odd jobs and selling her own crafted Hawaiian language spells. While her talent for language magic is her saving grace, she feels like a shadow of those who came before her. Just when she thinks things can’t get any more complicated, the murder of Angelo Reyes—LA’s most prominent Filipino activist—turns her world upside-down.

Angelo was killed by a death spell—something that, due to the properties of each school of language magic, can only exist in Hawaiian. With independent spellsmithing being technically illegal, Kea quickly becomes the prime suspect, known for her spellwork on the Homestead. To clear her name, she must unravel the mystery behind Angelo’s murder and confront LA’s most powerful (and dangerous) players, each wielding their own type of magic. The clock is ticking—can Kea save herself, her clan, and the Homestead before it’s too late?

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Indigenous, Paranormal, Mystery Thriller

288 pages, Paperback

First published April 14, 2026

About the author

Shay Kaleoʻoluhoʻiloliokawaipāhe Kauwe is a kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) author from the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi. She grew up on the Homestead in Waimānalo but moved to Russia because she fell in love with a boy. Her and the boy now live in Honolulu with their poi dog, Iris.

Shay holds an M.Ed in Education and taught English, ESL, and Literacy for nearly a decade.

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

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

SIGHHHHH.

I’m going to give up on requesting ARCs, I swear. THE KILLING SPELL attracted me because it combined so many topics I am a nerd for–linguistic politics and social power–with a genre I have long adored (urban fantasy). Unfortunately, I felt like it suffered from a lot of debut author issues with world-building and characterization.

There are many features of TKS that, at first glance, make me excited to recommend to any fan of Ilona Andrews, particularly their Hidden Legacy series. Kea is the breadwinner for her ragtag large family; magical abilities dictate social and political hierarchies in the world; and the MC is unwillingly dragged into magical city politics.

As someone who’s worked in language education my whole career, I was really excited to read about the concept of language magic. Sadly, the magic system of TKS remained at a surface level. There’s a fairly simplistic hierarchy of languages broadly classified as “classical” languages–such as Latin, French, Spanish, etc.–and “emergent” ones, e.g. Chinese and Japanese. Part of the conflict is between classical “purists” and those who champion more inclusivity and openness in designating languages as official magical ones.

Which is very interesting, but because this concept is not extrapolated further into things such as social dynamics, Board politics, and so on, I’m left wondering if the difference between the two groups of languages is just… racism? Odd because, you know, Chinese is one of the oldest continuously used languages in the world. The book also doesn’t give any insight into how other, non-official languages are ranked compared with one another, and why. If you’re going to make an urban fantasy world, I need to believe that the author has thought through the effects of that magic system into every aspect of life.

This haziness around the significance of different language systems applies also to Kea’s language, Hawaiian. Which is really unfortunate because, you know, the whole book revolves around the significance of Hawaiian. One of the most salient features about Hawaiian in TKS is that it is not a written language, and thus cannot have as much magical importance. Or something like that. The problem is, the book doesn’t convincingly show why it is so magically significant when a spell is written down as opposed to when it is spoken. In the story, written and spoken spells seem to both have similar effects. There’s also the added confusion that Kea is apparently not a consistent magical user, and so her spells often backfire. However, it is unclear whether her misfiring spells are the result of Hawaiian’s oral tradition, or because of her own self-doubt, the latter of which is a key feature in the story.

TKS opens with two high-drama scenes. This didn’t work for me, as the scenes felt more like they were placed there to grab readers’ attention and less to set up relevant information for the rest of the story. In the first scene, Kea battles a magical creature that has come onto their property because the youngest member of her family disrupted some wards. My issue with this opening scene is that battling magical creatures is not a significant feature of this magical world–it barely comes up again elsewhere in the book–and it sets up expectations about Kea’s family dynamics in a way that, again, isn’t relevant to the story. In this scene we are introduced to Kea’s large family, but, in addition to having very little on-page time, any time any family member is on the page, they don’t say or do anything that makes them particularly memorable. Readers are told that Kea carries heavy responsibility for the well-being of her family, but in the book she spends so little time with them, and the time we see them spending together is so mundane, that we aren’t really convinced by this aspect of Kea’s internal motivations.

The second scene is even more ridiculous, featuring a flying forest magic fight between Kea and members of her landlord’s family, and then Kea returns from the fight to find that someone has stolen the hard-won groceries from her car. Again, this scene was unnecessary. First, this kind of magic-on-magic fighting is not a staple of this magical LA; similar encounters never happen again, except in one final scene. Second, Kea’s family’s financial insecurity is made out to be a big thing at the beginning, but is kind of forgotten about in subsequent scenes.

Characterization was the other major letdown. Everyone felt one-note, with the author kind of force-telling us about how we’re supposed to feel about them, and not letting that readerly connection happen organically through how the characters talk or act. I felt this especially with Sora, Kea’s love interest. He is introduced as this hot, badass, scarily powerful spell-wielder and new member of the Board, but he spends most of his on-page time from the get-go finding excuses to touch Kea. His favorite thing to do is to reach under her chin to tilt her face up so she can look at him, then to deny vehemently that he has any feelings for her. Sorry, but I’m not convinced of their romantic development or individual character development, not when he starts off and continues like this.

There’s a good story in here somewhere. Unfortunately, it is lost amongst distracting and irrelevant scenes, while the truly interesting aspect of the book–the magic system–is underdeveloped.

[Rebecca Roanhorse]

An absolutely fantastic debut. The Killing Spell is an urban fantasy set in a near-futures Los Angeles that manages to balance humor, romance, and adventure with a murder mystery, all driven by language magic. It also manages to be a thoughtful exploration of the consequences of colonization and the choices the colonized are forced to make in order to survive. I tore through it in two days and loved every second.

[Sara. · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ rounded up. Ah, thought I'd love this one, because I go feral for a language-based magic system. For all the things that didn't work for me though, I'll say it's a quick and breezy read. The murder mystery aspect was intriguing enough to get me to keep turning the pages.

The strength of TKS has got to be the absolutely fascinating world where magic is utilized through spells cast in different languages. Every time we learn more about the languages used for magic is a highlight. I'm so intrigued by spellsmithing, which is essentially creating spells according to the language's respective grammar rules, limitations, and staying true to the culture it's rooted to. Given the sociopolitics revolving around language use in general, of course there are themes that I generally enjoy reading about: anticolonialism, racial inequalities, erosion of cultural identity, reclaiming & preserving one's heritage, exploitation of the vulnerable.

Kea is a strong POV character for me to follow. I empathise with her so much as an oldest daughter having to shoulder the burden of taking care of the rest of her family, while juggling her personal journey of getting in touch with her roots that ultimately make her a stronger spellsmith. She does well enough for someone who isn't formally a detective, but the investigative storyline itself could've been more engaging. For one, there's pages wasted on her having to learn to dance just to infiltrate a gala to interrogate a suspect, which she didn't even end up doing! Felt like merely an excuse for Forced Proximity with her love interest Sora. Speaking of whom-

Shockingly (not), I didn't care for the romance. Love to see an interracial couple with no white person involved, but the development was way too rushed. We also barely know anything about Sora other than he's Japanese, Broody & All Serious Business. Why does he even emotionally connect with Kea, aside from her being a decent person to work with. Personally I'd sacrifice the romance to better flesh out the magic system, the actual investigation, and the sadly underdeveloped Hawaiian clans.

Magical creatures (magi) also exist but remove them and nothing really changes??

Overall a decent debut with strong concepts & ideas saddled with a Just Okay execution. I would absolutely be down for another story set in this world though! The language magic is just too good to be kept to one novel.

[Zana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to really like this novel because the premise sounded super cool, but the execution was just okay.

Initially, I thought that this was going to be a post-apocalyptic novel (a destroyed homeland unleashing magic into the world? Very end times), but the vibes were just contemporary urban fantasy. We don't get to see the world pre-magic or experience the transition, so magic was just a fact of life for folks who are licensed to spellsmith (or doing it illegally) and the people who benefit (or not) from the spells.

My favorite part of the story was getting to meet Kea's clan. You're introduced to her family and her clan right in the first chapter within a cute action scene where they're trying to fight off a magical creature who broke past their wards. It was a really promising beginning. A mixture of fun and serious.

I loved the mixed Native Hawaiian and Russian rep. It was very unique and the linguistic and cultural blending was one of my favorite parts. I loved the clan's close-knit ties, including Kea's relationships to her family and clan members. The struggle to lead her little clan and be their voice among the much larger clans on the Homestead was enjoyable to read about.

Unfortunately, the book lost me after all of that. The tone ended up being very older YA, meaning that the worldbuilding was just detailed enough to satisfy the reader. Kea's character arc was also very YA coded. Without going into spoilers, her plot armor became a deus ex machina. All of the story beats took predictable turns. There weren't really any shocking revelations or plot twists if you're well-read in this genre.

The whole spellsmithing thing wasn't all that exciting in the end. It wasn't really utilized as much as I thought it would've been. There was more talking about it and its effects, rather than performing magic.

I think the part that really sealed the older YA vibes deal for me was Kea realizing that different ways and different types of thinking and doing don't have to be hierarchical or better than the other. (But then again, we have people in charge who strictly think in absolutes, so this is on me for thinking that people should know better.)

She also mentioned that, “Academia taught us that there was no value to these unscientific beliefs” re: Native Hawaiian storytelling, myths, traditions, etc. Maybe if you don't study social sciences, languages, the arts, etc.? Since Kea had no formal education or training, the anti-formal learning vibe here was off-putting.

Anyway, this book wasn't all that memorable for me, unfortunately. I just wish that the tone was more adult and matched the seriousness of the premise.

Thank you to S&S/Saga Press and NetGalley for this arc.

[AndaReadsTooMuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no idea who had this book in one of their TikTok posts, but whoever you are THANK YOU! This was an absolute delight to read. The authors note at the start made it seem a little intimidating because they used the Hawaiian language for the spells and didn’t necessarily provide English translations. But any fantasy reader knows, language is fluid and sometimes you are not going to pronounce it in your head correctly even though you understand the meaning perfectly. That was the case here.

Set in a dystopian future in which LA becomes a magical city center and those outside the city limits are left to their own, people are part of clans. A connection to their nationality and magic that’s traced through lineage. Each clan has a head that holds the family spell that grants them the power to survive. The magic system in The Killing Spell is incredibly complex and beautiful. Unique to each person it allows everyone to tap into magic within their family line. It isn’t packaged and neat, it sprawls across the globe and offers something different to each person that uses it. This magic system is the backbone to the entire story. When someone uses a killing spell in a language that is only spoken, our protagonist, Kea, must not only figure out the spell but also find the killer in order to keep her family on their ancestral land. It’s a race against time against some very powerful people.

At its heart, it’s a story of acceptance. Owning where you came from and who you want to be. This was beautiful and heartwarming. I think it shines a much needed light on why culture and history are so important. We stand to lose so much when we don’t connect with our past.

[Lori]

Native Hawaiian/Pacific adult fantasy book. Sign me up! I'm so excited for this

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two hundred years after magic arrived and sank the islands of Hawai'i, Kea is the twenty-five year old leader of her clan and is struggling to make ends meet. When she's framed for murder, she makes a bargain with the council of LA mages: find the real killer, or surrender her land.

I really, REALLY enjoyed this one.

It had a lot to like: underdog heroine who has a LOT of shortcomings but is determined to succeed, a taciturn hero with a heart of gold, a fascinating magic system, and tons of twists and turns and political machinations that deal with language, colonialism and diaspora, climate change, magic and the meaning of land and home, and safety versus independence.

I think that if you enjoyed Jade City and Ebony Gate (by way of Babel), I think you'll enjoy this one.

I received an ARC from the publisher

[Ka'i NeSmith · Rating 1 out of 5]

You want to be nice to Shay, i want to be nice to Shay… but hear me out…

Ē! Excuse me Miss Waimānalo! WHERE are your ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi chops? You promised Hawaiian language magic, so why does your character keep saying really Anglo-supremacist things like Hawaiian doesn’t have a “natural” word for luck (pōmaikaʻi!) or king (mōʻī!) or hero (meʻe OR kāʻeʻaʻeʻa!) or that Hawaiian “doesn’t have the range to deal with these computers.” I grew up with these disgusting stereotypes and discovered in my ʻōlelo practice that they are completely untrue. I’m shocked to find them in a book by a Hawaiian! ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi has the exact same range as English and as any language on Earth! Obviously languages use different strategies to express themselves—RF Kuang covered this in Babel without going so far as to say any language lacks a “natural” word for a word in another language; by putting two languages on each silver bar, the meaning was understood to not fully exist in either language, but in between them. And ʻauwē, that point went right over Ms Kauwe’s head, because she seems to think that if a word became common after the year 1800, or under foreign influence, then it’s not a “natural word.” That means two hundred years of major Hawaiian innovation, including the epic of Hiʻiakaikapoliopele, including the 15-year broadcast of Ka Leo Hawaiʻi, including the living Hawaiian that is spoken to this very day, none of that counts in The Killing Spell! By those rules, English doesn’t have any “natural” words for computers either! I might not be so mad if the whole selling point of this book wasn’t Hawaiian language magic. So many opportunities! And the pule ā make—the famous killing prayer of legend? So scary! Hawaiian stories are bursting with so many creepy incantations for bringing evil or luck, for tracking magic back to its source, for sending the spirit far and wide, for moving mountains and draining oceans. Why didn’t any of that make it into this book i so highly anticipated?

“ʻO kū ʻo kā ka hana a Wahineʻōmaʻo!”

[BookishlySonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book instantly transported me back to the early-2000s era of urban fantasy that I absolutely fell in love with; the kind of story that balances quippy humor, gritty magic, and a heroine you can’t help but cheer for. The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe nails that nostalgic vibe while still feeling fresh and relevant.

At the center of the story is Kea, a sharp-tongued, magic-wielding protagonist navigating a world where language is not only communication but also power, status, and control. Magic is regulated through written language, with Romance languages dominating as the “elite” standard, and newer inclusions like Mandarin and Arabic only grudgingly accepted into legitimacy. Meanwhile, languages like Tagalog are dismissed as inferior, barred from full participation in magical systems.

And then there’s Hawaiian, Kea’s connection, and the most marginalized of all. Because it is traditionally unwritten in this world, its magic is considered unstable, illegitimate, and dangerous. In a society that equates writing with authority (echoing real-world histories where literacy itself was a gatekeeping tool), Hawaiian magic is pushed to the absolute fringes.

When a dangerous Hawaiian spell sets off a chain reaction of political consequences, Kea is pulled into a conflict that forces her to confront both the rigid structures of regulated magic and her own place within them. What begins as a single crisis quickly spirals into a deeper mystery involving colonialism, systemic control, cultural erasure, and long-standing power imbalances embedded within the very language of magic itself.

The pacing is fast and addictive, carrying you through a layered plot full of tension, action, and sharp humor. Kea is an absolute standout! She’s witty, self-aware, and deeply compelling, with a voice that makes even the heaviest moments feel engaging. She’s easy to root for, especially as the stakes grow more personal and the lines between right and wrong become increasingly blurred.

Overall, this is a wildly enjoyable read that delivers both nostalgic urban fantasy vibes and something much more thoughtful beneath the surface. Fast-paced, emotionally grounded, and thematically rich, it’s absolutely worth picking up.

[Jacqie · Rating 2 out of 5]

In theory, I should have really liked this book. It's got magic connected to language, an interesting urban fantasy setting that you don't usually see (Hawai'i) and I like reading diverse authors. It just didn't do it for me, at least right now.

Maybe it's because the beginning of the book felt very fraught with drama. We start off with our main character Kea killing a magical creature that has gotten into their coop and killed most of the clan's chickens because a young cousin who's staying with them now because of his own family tragedy decided to remove the ward so he could go into the coop. Kea puts herself in danger to deal with this menace and all he can do in return is be nasty to her, blame her for his family's death (I have no idea if this is in any way true but if we run true to form with tropes it's not true) and not accept any responsibility for the fact that he's single handedly destroyed the whole family's source of meat and eggs and forced a lot of financial pressure onto the whole family. I wanted to smack him myself but everyone else tells Kea that she should apologize to him to keep peace (?!?!?!).

Next Kea runs into trouble at the gas station. She's getting supplies for her clan with the last of her money when her landlord shows up to demand rent early or something. Then there's a huge fight chase scene, Kea's money gets taken and when she gets back to her car all the supplies she bought are gone too.

This just made me tired. I know the author is trying to build empathy for Kea, show that she's got a lot on her shoulders and also show how magic works in this world and make a motive for Kea to go off and do something to get money. But it just made me tired. People in the real world deal with this shit every day too and they don't have magic powers that they can leverage, a sexy Russian who will begrudgingly help them and fall in love with them. I just didn't feel like going further.

[Ananya Sarma · Rating 4 out of 5]

as someone blessed to receive an ARC copy, here’s an honest review

-the story was gripping, like I was jumping on it hard. Although it started off slow, it picked up, and I was super engaged.
-I also LOVE the romance. The slow burn was SO slow. Like if every failed kiss gave me a penny, I’d have a LOT of pennies.
-the only issue I had with this book was the obvious plot armor. Like there’s no way this girl has this much luck. Out of every life and death situation, she manages to use her one word spells that usually don’t work well, and somehow it works? Especially when she just reached her hand out to save herself from being buried alive. Tbh, that plot armor was more obvious than Kylie Jenners lip filler.
-other than that. I would definitely recommend this, it’s a great easy urban fantasy to follow, and I will be recommending it to fans of caravan, OUABH, and in the veins of the drowning

[Andrea Beatriz Arango]

This was such a cool read!

The (magical dystopian) dynamics between the Hawaiian Homestead and Los Angeles really hit close to home for me as a Puerto Rican living on the archipielago, and the language-based magic system was incredibly complex and fascinating. I truly would read more books set in this world ‼️.

Seriously, though, THE KILLING SPELL comes out April 14, and to my knowledge it's the first trad published fantasy by an indigenous Hawaiian author 🥹❤️. So go support Shay with a pre-order or library request! Especially if you like your fantasies smart & nerdy w/ a swoony dash of romance. And especially especially if you're into linguistics and are not a language purist 👀.

Okay, that's my spiel! Go read it so we can chat about it, please!!

[Runalong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very impressed by this that makes a magical murder mystery plot and combined it with a fascinating magical world that also has a look at how cultures are accepted or not in society as having value

Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in a post climate crisis re-imagined Hawaii and LA this urban fantasy has a magic system that revolves around language. Ohana, unexpected romance, and a murder to solve are all key factors in this story.

[Neilina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was beautifully written from start to finish. Such an intriguing concept to weave languages as forms of spell casting (with some history in there too!). I love that the plot wasn’t centered around a love affair between two characters, but rather a love of culture and family.

[Collin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one had me thinking it would be pretty good for about three chapters, and then all the frustrations became too egregious to ignore.

The writing isn't even strong enough to carry the romance, overemphasized and underbaked as it is; Sora Kaiser isn't a real, coherent character, he's an embarrassment of clichés and checklist Book Boyfriend lines, a truly exhausting character to have to read about. If I'd wanted a book with a love interest straight out of every cutesy fantasy mafia romance, I would read one of those (or listen to the audiobook at 1.5 speed), not a book that purported to have something to say about language and colonialism and community.

But The Killing Spell definitely isn't skilled enough to follow through there, either. I won't blame everything on Kauwe, because I think she was criminally let down by her editor(s), who ignored or didn't catch obvious contradictions, confusing descriptions, and stylistic hiccups that should have been revised. Still, there are macro issues here, too. Some of them aren't really mine to critique - although I have read books that deal with colonialism much more deftly - but I did at least expect that the whole "every language has stereotypical things it's better at, magically speaking" thing would be subverted somehow. But nope. Hawaiian is good for nature magic but not for technological magic and Latin works best when carved in stone. Groundbreaking stuff.

It doesn't help that this book commits, imho, the prevailing literary sin of the moment, which is Overexplaining Every Damn Thing. Whenever something happens relating to the book's themes, Kea has to turn to the reader and explain exactly what's going on and why Colonialism Is Bad or whatever, and it's insufferable. This book is ostensibly for adult audiences. Act like it! Give me a little credit as a reader. If you stopped writing like a kindergarten teacher, you might actually, idk, develop your characters into actual characters instead of a half dozen tropes and stock lines in a trenchcoat.

But I did learn a bit about the Hawaiian language. Blessed little, to be sure, but it was the book's one saving grace.

[ColleenIsBooked · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story follows Kea who is the leader of her family at only 25 years old in a world where Hawai'i has a 200-year lease on land in California ending soon and needing to be renegotiated (the islands were essentially demolished in an environmental disaster 200 years ago). So tensions are high between the clans of Hawai'i and the leaders of LA, the governmental capital in this world that is run on language magic. Kea's family is struggling as there are monsters roaming around, they do not have a family spell and therefore no say in the new lease, as well as owing a lot of money in mortgage to more affluent Hawaiian clan. As if this isn't enough to concern us, Kea is also roped into an investigation of the death of a board member in LA that appears to have been done with a spell in Hawaiian, working with a guy she does not like, Sora.
I felt that the language-based magic was an interesting concept and I liked that Kea wasn't immediately the best at it. Unfortunately, the book felt a little disjointed at times as we hopped from scene to scene, but it evened out a lot more towards the middle to end of the book. I, personally, did not care about the romance at all. I didn't really feel the chemistry between them at any point. A friendship would have worked just as well.
Overall, I think this book was a really interesting concept. It is also only around 300 pages and, to my knowledge, a standalone. So if you are looking for a shorter fantasy with an interesting world and magic system, check this one out. 3.5 Stars.

*Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts are my own. Thanks as well to Ariel for buddy reading with me :) *

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantasy with a magic system structured around language and a political system drawing the lines between acceptable language for magic and unrecognized. Kea's primary non-English spell languages are Hawaiian and Russian, and she couldn't be more outside the system. She's called to help solve a murder of a language board member, and faces discrimination despite the fact that she can create powerful spells.

I liked this a lot! It reads a little YA (the first person POV made me think that) but Kea also reminded me of Nevada Baylor in Hidden Legacy, with a big chip on her shoulder and something to prove.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this dystopian/fantasy debut about a world where language has power and different ethnic groups are fighting for their autonomy and more. I don't read a lot of books about Indigenous Hawaiian characters so this was a refreshing change. There was also a bit of romance, some intrigue and a couple good twists. Definitely a great read for AAPI month! Recommended for fans of books like Hula by Jasmin Iolani Hakes.

[Abigail McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh I really liked that! literally read it in like two sittings, which is fab, it's fantastically readable. perhaps the world building could've used a bit of work, but it had a lot of good things to say and was very fun. I'm super curious to read more from the author in the future!

(also kea and sora had a similar energy to pet and jinyeong from the city between books and I'm obsessed with them for that haha)

**content warnings for profanity (some f-bombs), and suggestive dialogue

[Alexandra Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool and different. Really liked audio version to hear all the languages!

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ this was fun! I wish the world and magic system were further explored as opposed to the romance, but I still really enjoyed the culture and language. A quick, breezy read!

[Renata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loveeee the worldbuilding concept here and would love for this to be a series!! For meee I was less interested in the romance part of this romantasy but that's OK!! I think this could be a good pick for older teens too--it's not ~too spicy~ but it is cool and pretty fast-paced.

[Rallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off: GET THE AUDIOBOOK!!! Barrie Kealoha does an incredible job - in a book about language, not knowing/hearing the correct pronunciations of everything feels criminal, and their voice is so beautiful.

SECOND: I rarely get so mad that I feel in my whole body the need to join the main character in a discussion (argument), but my god the linguistic colonialism and white supremacy was so, so, SO well-written. I was grinding my teeth in frustration and outright rage. Okay so she obviously couldn't go punch people in the teeth (and shouldn't slapping them) but I can! Let me at them!

To be more serious, this is an incredible book. Kea is strong, smart, and impossible to not love, while Sora is a goose who thinks he's a heron. The setting is unique but also entirely grounded, every aspect of the magic system made sense on an almost intuitive level. Shay Kauwe uses the manifest destiny of the setting and linguistic colonialism as a biting critique of our world, echoing a long history of political linguistics - the ghost of Gloria Anzaldúa is dancing because Kea will not let her tongue be tamed. I would love to see this book engaged with in high school literature/language arts classes, and with university-level literature/anthropology/sociology/linguistics classes!

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me so happy, I resent that it had to end.

[Savanna Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love my people.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute love letter to languages, especially, of course Hawaiian, but also Russian, other Polynesian languages, and so so many others. There was so much care that went into this book, it felt like it's own Smithing. The characters were so wonderful! and the climax made me cheer out loud! Will definitely recommend this one

[Kierstyn Saoirse · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly I was confused and bored for a lot of this

[Thelatebooker]

Not just the Hawaiian fantasy debut you’ve been wanting, but the one you NEED. This story has world building, linguistics, whodunit, and my favorite — banter between the main characters! Eeeeek! *blushing*.

If you’re looking for an easy and fun introduction to Hawaiian, the people, the beliefs and the mana that ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi holds, this is an excellent start.

Excited to read more from this author!

Mahalo to SagaPress for the ARC of this. This review is completely of my own choice.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book! I really liked the concept, but the execution didn't fully work for me.
This is a good debut though and I look forward to reading whatever else this author publishes!