Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Written by Kawai Strong Washburn

Narrated by Tui Asau, G.K. Bowes, Kaleo Griffith and Jolene Kim

Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawai’ian gods into an engrossing family saga; a story of exile and the pursuit of salvation from Kawai Strong Washburn.
In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.
Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods?a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy.
When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i?with tragic consequences?they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980034179

Kawai Strong Washburn

Kawai Strong Washburn was born and raised on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i. His work has appeared in Best American Nonrequired Reading, McSweeney’s, and Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, among other outlets. He was a 2015 Tin House Summer Scholar and 2015 Bread Loaf work-study scholar. Today, he lives with his wife and daughters in Minneapolis. Sharks in the Time of Saviors is his first novel.

Reviews for Sharks in the Time of Saviors

[Susan Terendy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a love poem to Hawaii, and not the glitzy tourist mecca but the real Hawaii of the locals, in all its gritty glory. It's a poor, desperate, spiritual, haunted land filled with beauty and a deep love of family and the island. The story was very sad but also hopeful. I can't say that I liked any of the main characters or related to them but they did hold my interest. They often made me cringe with their spectacularly poor decision making and vulgar potty humour but this just made them more human. Even Nainoa the "savior" was tragically flawed which led to a pretty surprising outcome. I could never have predicted what happened and was truly shocked. It was always difficult to distinguish hallucination from vision or magic or miracle and that is the crux of this story. In the end it is clear that the real magic is within Hawaii itself, in its land and in its people.

I listened to the audiobook and all of the narrators were very good. I was surprised by the Hawaiian accents or dialects which weren't at all what I was expecting and I really enjoyed hearing the words and names that I would never have known how to pronounce properly. This one is really good in audio and I highly recommend it.

[Dayna Bennett · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sob!! This is not a light read, though it has humorous moments. It’s heavy but so beautifully written. So much depth to the story, and the magical aspects are…well, magical.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Really 2 1/2 stars.
The author can write, but up until this book it had been short stories. This is his first novel and the book is easily 150 pages too long.
The story basically ends half way through and even worse, like a lot of short stories, it has no ending.
Hopefully his next book will be an actual story worth reading.

[Evan Bentley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perfect! Loved this book so much. The audio was amazing.

[Chrystal Vaughan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the book of the year. Where has this story been all my life?

[Karen Randall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I tried this book because I've never been to Hawaii and had only the most basic notions about it. This is a beautiful written book and a wonderful audio production. I don't like to write reviews, but this time I felt like I owed it to the author and actors to say something.

[Carmen Villaruz Valentin · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story. At once magical and painfully realistic. Terrific narration.

[Rebecca Morgan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed the book and the characters. The plot was quiet but very effective and moving. I listened to the audio version, which was an amazing way to experience the story and get deeper into the characters. The only drawback was that the writing was too similar for the different characters—too often it was the author’s voice, not the characters’. But I suspect that’s a huge challenge with any book told from multiple points of view. I look forward to seeing what this author does next.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book...and a few days after reading it, I liked it more because it is the kind of book that gives me lots to think about. To me, the story is about the impact of colonialism. When local industry/agriculture collapses and Hawaii becomes reliant on tourism, their culture suffers. The people lose their connection to the land, and their customs and rituals become entertainment for tourists. As the author writes: When our language was outlawed, so our gods went, so prayers went, so ideas went, so the Island went. (pg. 181).The other theme of the book was that of sibling dynamics where one child is special (whether gifted or handicapped), and favoured, and just takes up more space in the family, leaving the siblings struggling to find their place. This dynamic was excellently portrayed in the book.Strong, strong writing and fascinating characters. And, at the end, some characters have found their way back; they are healed by their return to the land and to their culture. One will get there, I think. And one remains lost. p.s. I don't like magical realism or mysticism as a rule, but it is well handled and work in this book.

[dreesie-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Finally catching up on this book that was everywhere a few months ago.This family saga focuses on a native Hawaiian/Filipino family with 3 children. They leave the big island for Oahu when the sugarcane industry collapses, and take jobs in the tourist industry--while their extended families are back on Hawaii. All three children leave for the mainland for college--but all 3 find their way back after struggling on the west coast for different reasons. All, though, miss their islands. Family, heritage, and home (and what that means) are the real themes here.I thought he audio for this (with 4 narrators) was quite good, with very different voices that all sound Hawaiian, with various amounts of accent. The "magical realism" parts of the story I did not love--they were fine, and it worked well with the 3 kids' need to be home--but it just isn't really my kind of thing.That said, I have already recommended this to a friend from Hawaii. I don't know if she will like it, but I suspect some of the Hawaii-specific background here went right by me. I do see why people love this book, it's just not really my kind of thing.

[books9n9pickles · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had a feeling I'd like this one, and I'm so glad I did. The magical realist elements were lightly done, the language written as realistically spoken--complete with different linguistic quirks for each character--was beautiful, the Hawaiian culture made such a deep impression without catering to us haoles, and there were moments that I genuinely did not expect--a rarity for me. The end did rather abruptly introduce a potentially too-neat solution to some seriously overwhelmingly difficult situations for the Flores family in Hawaii, but at the same time I'm glad there was a little hope.

Quote Roundup:

P. 180: If a god is a thing that has absolute power over us, then in this world there are many. There are gods that we choose and gods that we can't avoid; there are gods that we pray and gods that prey on us;to there are dreams that become gods and pasts that become gods and nightmares that do, as well. As I age I learn that there are more gods than I'll ever know, and yet I have to watch for all of them, or else they can use me or I can lose them without even realizing it. Take money... Take language... Take you, my son.

P. 348: "Whenever I've made a choice in my life, a real choice... I can always feel the change, after I choose. The better versions of myself, moving just out of reach. ... I'm always losing better versions of myself. I don't know. You just have to keep trying."

[toric90 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This definitely needs a physical reread. I listened to it on audio while on a long drive and it was very engrossing, but I definitely didn't know what I was getting myself into. Filled with some magical realism elements, but steeped in family pain and history. Amazingly rich with cultural heritage but also confronts the taking of lands and colonization of Hawai'i. Really beautifully written. Heartbreaking. Honest. Hopeful. I should mention I really enjoyed the audiobook and it helped with the vernacular, but I also think this is the type of book worth sitting with and marinating on a little so I would love to physically read it next time.

[librolindsay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Too many feels.

[viking2917_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. The characters all felt so real and raw and flawed believable. The family tensions all rank true, and I liked how each character had their own arc and their own fate. The magical realism was very well handled. It never felt "unbelievable" to me. I loved the hula scene near the end, the attempted resurrection of the owl, and especially the first pages with the Night Marchers. Those pages grabbed me and the rest didn't let go. This book reminds me a lot of local author Chris McKinney's The Tattoo which is worth grabbing sometime if this slice of Hawaii is something you want more of. It has no magical realism to speak of, just real realism :)

[bookfest_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You will learn from the flap on the novel's cover that when Nainoa, the central character, is a boy, he falls from a boat off Hawaii and is rescued by the sharks. This is the first miracle, the first sign he is chosen by the Hawaiian gods. On one hand, this is a story of a family, struggling to survive. Noa's brother and sister have their own special talents, but when they go off to college, they both face their own demons. Noa struggles with his special gifts and the burdens they bring. Frankly, some of this was painful reading. On the other hand, this is a story of how the Hawaiians were robbed of their culture, and the price the people pay. Each chapter of the novel is written from the pov of one of the main characters, which adds another interesting dynamic.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of a native Hawaiian family struggling with poverty and identity in the 1990s and early 2000s. I think this book just missed me. I really liked how it began, and I enjoyed the depiction of Hawaiian culture, although I struggled to understand sometimes. I felt like it took a left turn somewhere toward the middle, and I never caught up with it after that. The end was tantalizing--I could almost get what was going on, but not quite. Overall, it felt like a struggle, unfortunately.

[kayanelson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2021 TOB—I don’t know how to rate a book when I’m unsure of what happened in the ending.So good character development of the Flores family. The plot is interesting. Noah has special powers because of the Night Marchers that were around when his parents conceived him. These are noticed when he is saved by sharks. The other children, Dean and Kaui fell unloved and try to be noticed. Dean as a basketball star and Kaui as a good student.All three children head from Hawaii to the mainland for college and it doesn’t go well for them. When Nao tries to find himself, tragedy ensues and the dysfunctional family tries to work through it. It doesn’t go well for any of them. But there is closure in the end. I just don’t quite understand what it is.

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I borrowed from the library.Story (3/5): Nainoa falls overboard during a glass bottom boat tour and is miraculously saved by the very sharks that people thought were going to kill him. His family (who is struggling to make ends meet) takes full advantage of his fame. Then Nainoa starts exhibiting strange healing abilities that come and go, which his parents also try to capitalize on. Fast forward many years as Nainoa is working as a paramedic and his family is still coping the events that drove most of their childhood. The story starts out pretty good but quickly loses focus. We hear from Nainoa, his mother, his brother, and his sister and very occasionally his father. The story very quickly goes from an intriguing tale of magical realism and the abilities Nainoa has gained along with the expectations of how he should use his power, to glimpses on how the focus on Nainoa damaged his siblings. The vast majority of the story is just kind of rambling through Nainoa’s siblings' lives as they try to recover their purpose in life and self-confidence. I was surprised at what happened to Nainoa (but not in a good way) and thought the story pretty much just crashed and burned at that point.Characters (3/5): I never really engaged with any of these characters much, there’s just too much bouncing around. Nainoa is really kept at a distance from the reader and even the few parts we read from his POV feel very distanced. A lot of the characters in here make a lot of bad decisions over and over. Nainoa’s siblings are wild and his parents are always scraping by. While they come across as very human because of their situations and questionable choices, I didn’t really enjoy reading about any of them. I also don’t really know anyone who lives the way they do and the way this was written made it hard to understand and engage with this lifestyle.Setting (4/5): I enjoyed the setting of Hawaii’s Big Island, I recently (well a couple years ago) spent a few weeks on the big island and it was definitely a different culture and lifestyle from the rest of the US. This book does a good job capturing that. The author represents the love/hate relationship of the natives/tourists well and captures struggles and cost of living somewhere so remote well too.Writing Style (3/5): I didn’t love all the bouncing around between different characters that is done here; it felt like it should be three or four separate stories and didn’t flow well. You feel very distanced from everything the whole time. There’s nothing technically wrong with the writing, it’s easy enough to understand and read...the story just doesn’t have much point to it. I also felt like there was some bait and switch here; I expected to read a cool story about magical realism, special powers, and destiny...what I got was “a day in the life of” type of story about a family’s day to day life struggles. My Summary (3/5): Overall this was okay but I found it fairly disappointing. This was not the story I was hoping for or expecting. It starts out really interesting but then completely loses focus and purpose. There are some highlights here; I enjoyed the big island setting and seeing the ramifications of Nainoa’s power and fame. However, there was a lot in here that just served to lengthen the story and push the reader away from the characters. I don’t plan on checking out future books by this author.

[sprainedbrain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As I read the first few chapters, I honestly didn’t know if I was going to stick with this book. The style of writing took a bit to get used to, but somewhere in Nainoa’s first chapter, I was completely hooked.

This book is very well written: lyrical and lush prose, every chapter told from the POV of one of the members of Nainoa’s family. Each character is so well developed, it gets to the point you don’t need the chapter titles to tell you which character is speaking—they are each so distinct and original.

Nainoa, with his eventful conception, his childhood rescue from drowning BY sharks, and his magical abilities, is the center of the story, but at the same time, it’s not really about just him. We spend a lot of time in the heads of his mother Malia, brother Dean, and sister Kauwi.

This is the story of a poor Hawaiian family. It’s the story of imperfect parents trying to do their best for their children, and those children trying to navigate their own way in life. It’s Nainoa trying to understand the purpose of his gift, and his siblings trying to understand where they fit in relation to their special brother. It’s a story rich in descriptions of Hawai’i and legends of the gods of the island. The magical realism is perfectly done, and the touches of magic actually serve to make the rest of the story seem all the more real. Sharks in the Time of Saviors isn’t a happy, feel-good story, but it still left me hopeful and made me smile more than once.

Kawai Strong Washburn has written a very powerful debut. I’m endlessly impressed with his storytelling, especially how he was able to write such a believable female character in Malia. I sometimes struggle with the way male authors write a woman’s POV, but not here.

It seems wrong to say that I ‘enjoyed’ such an extremely depressing book, but here we are: I loved this book.

[starbox_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Oh, wow! Will be one of my stand-out reads of 2020- the author's first novel which completely absorbs the reader in both a real iife family with major problems, and the world of ancient gods and 'Something Bigger'..The Flores family- working class Hawaiians, struggling to make an income, experience a miracle, when son Nainoa falls overboard and is rescued...by the sharks that pick him up. Thereafter he is "touched by the gods"- with a gift for healing...if not more.Meanwhile the other two siblings- basketball star, Dean and science student Kaui, feel sidelined.. As the kids are all in different locations on mainland USA, pursuing their callings, and the parents continue to scrape a living on the islands, a cataclysmic event will affect all their lives..Written in short chapters from each of the five family members, I completely believed in each of them. Unutterably beautiful, magical and fabulous.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The present connecting to the past, the people, the land. The gods and goddesses. The strength of this book is the vivid descriptions of Hawaii - I could feel it, smell it, and hear it! Especially in the language. It made me long to go there again. Like painfully long for it.So overall, I liked this book. However, I didn't like any of the characters. Especially the three kids. They are so very, very whiny. All three have incredible gifts and just whine on about them. The severe poverty of the family was such a great reason to embrace those gifts, and yet, they whined. I really wanted to reach into the book and smack all three as hard as I could. Gee whiz kids."I feel the breath of life in the valley." Man, I really need to the islands...

[kimpiddington · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Multiple voices-all unique and well done. Feel like I know the least about the main character-which is perfect, because all the other characters felt that way too. Great intertwining of supernatural and realism. Really enjoyed it.

[quondame · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The family at the heart of this story is achingly real, the two talented siblings who don't have their parents attention because the third sibling is really something special. Which is the door, but not the structure of they mystical nature of this book, which doesn't work on the same ground as the character level. The magic might work, I can see that, but for me, not well enough.

[booklove2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If I could hold one book up to represent a true sibling dynamic and how parents raise their children differently, it might be this one here.  I think that is the most important quality of this book, as well as being representative of place, and that place is Hawai'i. But there is so much within these covers! Washburn's writing is full and real and honest and vivid and rich.  The narrative switches perspectives between five characters and 4/5 of those characters remain equally present and represented.  Their mother might have chose favorites, but Washburn did a great job of treating them equally. That is a writerly trick in itself, I suppose.  Also, all of the characters voices are very distinct... I usually can't stand it when a writer has multiple voices/perspectives and all the voices sound the same -- the writer's voice.  That isn't the case here.  Some people would expect this novel to be or say this is "magical realism" but if the characters believe these events happened, I don't think it's magical realism at all.   I can see the heart that Mr. Washburn put into this lovely book, and I hope he has enough heart left for another novel...

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books that is mentioned in the "books to look for" kind of list that I note and then never get around to picking up because reading hours are limited, my book budget sadly under-funded and there are so many books being published. But this one is a part of The Morning News Tournament of Books Summer Reading, and if there's one thing I like even more than reading, it's getting to have opinions about books, so a copy was purchased (and if you haven't switched over to bookshop.org, now is a great time to do so).When Nainoa is a child, he falls from a tourist boat. He is returned to the vessel by a group of sharks, unharmed. His parents are amazed and from that moment he is viewed differently, as someone special, a situation that amplifies when he discovers in himself the power to heal. His siblings resent being left in his shadow, and less than understanding when he explains the pressure he feels. But all three excel in different ways, each ending up on the mainland at university, Nainoa graduating early from Stanford, and working as a paramedic as he waits to begin medical school, Dean on a basketball scholarship in Spokane and Kaui, the youngest, studying engineering in San Diego. What might read as an American success story in lesser hands becomes something more thoughtful as each member of the family struggles in a world where they are alone and without a support system. What a wonderful surprise this debut novel was! Yes, there's a bit of folklorish magic in there, but at heart this is the story of a family. One that struggles to get by in a place where jobs are scarce and low-paying, where the kids are fully aware of their circumstances. One in which one child is favored, putting enormous pressure on him and harming the bond between the siblings as the other two fight to be appreciated. And along with a pitch-perfect look at family dynamics, there's a gorgeous, complicated description of life in Hawai'i and how Hawaiians feel when they move to the mainland. The writing is very, very good and this does not feel like a debut novel at all.

[tytania-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The kingdom of Hawai'i had long been broken - the breathing rain forests and singing green reefs crushed under the haole fists of beach resorts and skyscrapers..."A tremendously good book with an unfortunately awful title. Synopses will tell you it is about a boy who is magically rescued by sharks and goes on to have supernatural powers, and you might wonder why you should read a silly fantasy tale like that (with an awful title to boot). But this is really the story of a Hawaiian family with deep, magically realistic ties to the earth; as well as the story of a modern family going to shambles.I went to the Big Island of Hawaii once and it had a life-altering effect on my spiritual attitude, i.e. it gave me one. I think it was at the point that a guide told us that the lava flows were "Pele's hair." We all hear about nature-worshipping religions and the Gaia theory, but only in Hawaii did I feel it literally. No, that particular lava flow really IS Pele's hair. So they don't want you to take a pickax to it, to my husband's disappointment. (It's gotta be a lot easier to adhere to a religion like that in a place with no winter. In Vermont, one feels bereft; god is literally dormant for so long.)This book brought it all to life. "Fire goddess Pele with her unyielding strength, birthing the land again and again in lava, exhaling her sulfur breath across the sky..." The family suffers from poverty, must leave the Big Island for jobs in the cities in Oahu. The parents work hard to send their children to colleges on the mainland. The one who is blessed with healing powers, Noa, becomes a paramedic. The eldest, Dean, becomes for a short time a basketball star; and the youngest, Kaui, goes to school for engineering. But always, the poverty:"My grandmother's grandmother's grandmother had no use for paper printed with the silhouette of some faraway haole man. It gave nothing. What was needed was food from the earth, housing from the earth, medicine from the earth... But ships from far ports carried a new god in their bellies... And money was the name of that god, and it was the sort of god that preyed on you, made demands and laid its hands on you with such force as to make the Old Testament piss its pants."In the end, it is not giving too much away to note that it seems significant that Kaui's job pays her not in money but in food from the earth. But I did not like how Dean ended up; and I don't know the significance of the fact that what he provided for the family was money.

[modioperandi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC.Sharks is a totally stunning stylistic fully-formed debut novel from Kawai Strong Washburn. It is all at once heartwarming and heartbreaking and realistic take on family. It explores grief and family functionality and dysfunctionality and it all just vibrates off of the page. Also straight from the beginning of the book it is very clear that things are more than a bit magical. As time passes the favored son Naiona Flores, conceived under magical circumstances, is shown favor by the Hawaiian gods and this blessing drives the family apart. Naiona gains abilities that grow and grow while his siblings lead their own lives and struggle to live a life outside of Naiona's legacy. Later the magical events return but this time events take a tragic turn. Sharks also tackles mythology and survival in a specifically Hawaiian mode. Kawai Strong is the only person who could have written this novel. It is a story that could have only come from him. I do not really see it as a part of other genre but it is a novel all to himself. Kawai Strong Washburn's debut is beautifully written lyrical prose that also captures the tone and language of the Hawaiian islands. For those unfamiliar the audio-book is a wonderful way to tap into the poetic use of language.

[hccpsk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn is one of those books that is difficult to describe because the language and spirit of the story are so unusual. A working-class Hawaiian family struggles to make ends meet, but also to relate to each other in the face of unbelievable events. Malia and Augie knew from his mystical conception that their son, Nainoa, was something special, causing them to often overlook their other son, Dean, and daughter Kaui. Told in alternating chapters by all the family members, Sharks spins a raw and magical tale about ohana, losing and finding yourself and love of Hawaii. Washburn does an amazing job of knitting lots of native language and soul into the narrative while still giving each character their own unique voice. Readers looking for something beautiful and different should definitely give Sharks a try.