A review by storiesandsidequests
Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 I don’t know that I enjoyed this, so much as I appreciated the raw emotions and experiences in this book, which takes the form of poetic novellas set in Hawaii. There are a lot of difficult issues that come up, including rape/sexual assult, violence, and racism, among other things, so this is definitely not a feel good poetry book. Part 3 has a bit of a respite with the introduction of Bernie, who is just the kindest person. For someone unfamiliar with local culture and especially pidgin (Hawaiian Creole English), this might be difficult to understand, but I’d still recommend it. 
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