Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for permitting this book to be a Read Now to help members develop their Feedback Ratio in exchange for an honest review.

Review Summary:
This is a historical fiction based in early to mid 19th century France and Hawaii. The story follows three friends - Balzac, Victor and Jèrriais - as they seek to continue the legacy of fallen revolutionist Toussaint L'Ouverture. The three start in France during a time of political and religious upheaval, and as rebels find themselves becoming fugitives. They plan to escape to Haiti to aid in their cause, but following some changes in plan Balzac joins a group of Catholic missionaries to the shores of Hawaii in the hope to unite with powerful allies. Victor and Jèrriais must try to meet Balzac in Hawaii to travel to Haiti with reinforcements. As we always find in a good story, things don't quite go to plan. The Catholic missionaries are not welcome as expected, and Balzac becomes a fugitive - again. We follow him as he tries to intergrate amongst the locals while keeping a low profile. As a freshly qualified doctor/surgeon he utilises his skills to work, live and make friends in his temporary home. Those friends include Mayme, a prostitute who has close ties to those in power, and Mayme's old friends Ikaika and Alani. Hawaii is similarly going through a period of cultural tension which Balzac must navigate to keep safe. Meanwhile, we see Victor and Jèrriais try their best to travel to reunite with their friend while attempting to steal a hoard of French gold to give back to the Haitans avoiding discovery and arrest but another looming threat - pirates. All three characters experience fear, betrayal, love and self discovery. All the while, Balzac tries to find answers to an unsettling symptom he experiences - one that he has yet to tell his friends about and a priest could not exorcise from him...
Positives are that there is some very strong characterisation, moreso in the Hawaii point of view. Hawaii is beautifully written and captures the close ties to nature that the Hawaiian culture has. The overarching storyline is engaging and the way the two points of view have subtle links and knock-on-effects to each other was very clever. The mixing of English and French in sentences was quirky.
Negatives are that the Victor and Jèrriais aspects of the story felt underdeveloped in comparison to Balzac's. This was a shame because the development of Jèrriais especially was one of my favourite aspects of the book and the effects of his growth on his friendship with Victor. But their chapters were so short they sometimes felt quite rushed. I also haven't found myself caring much about the antagonists in this story. The prose in this book was often excessively flowery which led to quite a few sentences or scenes that didn't make an awful lot of sense. I found this issue strongest in scenes relating to religious discussions or spiritual experiences and naval battles. Another criticism would be that the Hawaiian terminology and culture would probably be difficult to follow for someone with no prior knowledge. I was lucky in that the last book I read was a tale of Old Hawaii so this was all still fresh in my mind, but I might have struggled without this.

3.5 stars. An engaging, if not somewhat uneven, story with some very strong characterisation. Let down by some irritating aspects of prose that made for a slow read at times.

FULL REVIEW BELOW. AVAILABLE WITH THE ADDITION OF HIDDEN SPOILERS ON GOODREADS

World-building:
In some ways the chapters in France weren't neccessary. While they provided context to the characters and their motives I felt I didn't garner much understanding of the political and religious issues going on. Early chapters where the group discuss it I found difficult to follow, and I still don't know whether France was supposed to be Catholic, Protestant or not religious at all in this novel. In many ways the book didn't explain France or the characters involvements in Haiti. What exactly were they rebelling against? It felt as if there was an assumption that the reader had the knowledge of the state of France's leadership and law at the time, which I didn't. We didn't get to explore much of France and its environment, or the medical school Balzac attended. Hawaii was definitely the main focus of the book. The building of this was fantastic in comparison; the palpable tension/battle between Old Hawaii's traditions and the new Protestant reform such as the loss of kapu laws, places of worship and religious rites. The new powers and rights of women and the conflicting feelings the women had towards their newfound freedom and their loyalty to their Gods. The foreign illnesses and issues brought to the islands by the foreign colonisers. It felt like I was truly immersed. Victor and Jerriais' world was still very much involved in France, so again I didn't feel I really understood much of what was going on. The group of people the pair unknowlingly become involved with have their own culture and moral code, but again their journeys together were more of summary than having developed chapters.

Characterisation:
Balzac in particular is a very well written character. He is complex and often conflicted, but has a sense of humour and playfulness. His dialogue is natural and his inner monologues were expert at evoking a sense of anxiety. Mayme is a similarly interesting character and she provides oppurtunities to explore Old Hawaii's traditions and changes following colonisation. Their interactions are lovely to read. Jèrriais and Victor were a missed oppurtunity for me. Jèrriais had some genuinely heartbreaking moments of inner conflict and self-discovery, but just not enough words commited to it in my opinion. Victor I would say even more so, as I feel I don't really know his personality much other than his basic motives. The antagonists of the story are quite weak. I just don't find them particularly intimidating and didn't find myself experiencing any feelings of genuine peril. Bellingham in particular felt a bit like a charicature of a villain with his inner monologues being a tad too melodramatic. Other characters such as Alani felt a bit flat with his dialogue feeling more like exposition than anybody else. Ikaiki provided a source of self-reflection for Balzac but otherwise still feels quite mysterious and like he is there for convenience to push the plot along as opposed to a fully fledged character. Other side characters that Victor and Jèrriais encountered blended into one and I sometimes confused one for another.

Story:
The story has rebellion, plotting, action sequences, romantic sub-plots full of angst, a betrayal plot twist, some paranormal aspects and other gothic-like tropes. Plenty of stuff here to enjoy.

Prose:
Too flowery in parts. Some sentences were overly complex to describe a simple thing and sometimes I had to re-read several times to decipher what they were trying to say. Other unnecessary terms such as the word 'optics' to describe eyes, ‘olfactory organ’ for a nose or 'epidermis' to describe skin. I know what the author was trying to go for, dipping in to Balzac's medical brain, but ‘celestial fireball’ for the sun? It’s a tad much. Character placement and positioning was sometimes confusing which made it difficult to conjure the scene in my head. There were a couple of very modern colloquialisms that seemed to slip their way into the novel, like the words 'vibes', 'crappy' and 'hype'. All of which felt out of place. There was also excessive use of the word 'matte' to describe things which was sometimes not really appropriate or sensical. And I have to admit 'Balzac' is a VERY distracting name, sounding too close to a dirty phrase, and any time I mentioned the character to somebody in real life they burst out laughing.

A gripping retelling of displaced Frenchmen who travel far from home to escape the revolution at home. I picked it up, sank into it, and sailed around the world.

Recommended if you like European history, French culture, and a reminder that people have always migrated and made new lives in hostile places.

It was a stunner at times. Be prepared to be immersed in the story.

In this fascinating historical fiction novel, readers explore colonial Hawaii from the perspective of a French doctor escaping post-revolutionary France for a new world and a new life. When Balzac arrives in Hawaii, he does not expect to find an anti-Catholic society full of powerful women and new systems of healing and life. As he acclimates to this new society, Balzac begins to find his place in the world in the first book in the Naupaka duology. An exploration of Victorian medicine and colonial Hawaii, this novel explores some fascinating topics and themes through Balzac’s perspective. With a cast of varied and uniquely complicated characters, this novel is a fascinating exploration of two colliding cultures which are not often placed in conversation with each other. Kanehl’s characters are the start of the show with their complex and dynamic personalities, while the worldbuilding in this novel is absolutely incredible. The depth of detail, information, and research in this novel is astounding and really creates the vibrant tropical setting. With so much going on in this novel, readers should definitely be excited for the second book in the series to see what happens to Balzac as he continues to integrate into Hawaiian life.

Sadly this book did not engage me, and it took me a very long time to finish reading it. Not much can be said about the story itself without spoiling the plot development, but I'll try to put my thoughts into words without revealing too much. The prose is very descriptive making the story very slow paced. The change in point of view characters after the midpoint felt like a peculiar choice – why didn't we follow multiple POVs from the beginning, and were they even necessary for telling Balzac's story were the two opposing questions I struggled with while reading the second half of the book. I also failed to connect with Balzac whose sense of self seemed quite flawed (as was confirmed in the rare snippets we got from Mayme's perspective). I would have loved to have more of Mayme's point of view. The frequent use of Hawaiian and French words and sentences, often without translation in the text surrounding them, made it a little difficult to follow at times, as it was unclear whether I as a reader was meant to understand the communication that happened in the other languages, as the characters themselves obviously did.

Regardless, I would still recommend this book for people interested in this time frame in historical fiction and those who enjoy a meandering story, more a slice of life than a plot-focused narrative. The story raised a lot of questions that can be used to reframe the reader's vision of the world, and could make a great piece for a book club or to ignite conversation about the themes of the novel.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me this e-ARC

Well I am so sorry but I could not get further than page 50. From the synopsis it looked like I would love this book, however the writing style did not click with me. Well, giving 3 stars because plot looked interesting, it was just too descriptive and too slow moving for me.

I have always been a big fan of adventure books and historical fiction, so this book made me really happy! I do want to say that I actually didn't find this book that hard to follow as some other reviewers stated. I really enjoyed the writing and story-telling and I like that there was enough atmosphere building but also enough character development and plot to follow. I am kind of an atmosphere over characters and plot girlie, but I felt that this book did all three wonderfully! Obviously Balzac and Mayme were wonderful, but I was little interested in the Victor and Jeraiais subplot.

Overall, I would recommend this book to fans of Isabel Allende and Abraham Verghese. It even gave me a little bit of The Count of Monte Cristo vibes meets the show Our Flag Means Death. I loved the descriptions of the Hawaiian locations and the sense of adventure throughout the book. There was humor and it mostly dry and satirical (which I love). I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

"A revolutionist French surgeon. Victorian Hawai'i. A question of loyalty.

A Half Flower is the first installment the historical fiction and magical realism series Naupaka. If you enjoy exotic locales, cringe-worthy explorations of Victorian medicine, and subtle humor, then you'll love Mirà Kanehl's novel.

Unlock to travel to 1827 Hawai'i."

Because I really need to get the bad taste out of my mouth from the last book I read set in Hawai'i!

A Half Flower by Mira Kanehl is the first in a magical realism series. Fantasy mixed with historical fiction and set in Hawaii. I found the exploits of the revolutionist French surgeon and some of the fantasy aspects disturbing. I didn't enjoy the novel and dnf.
In all fairness, I'm not the right audience for this novel.
Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read it.

I really wanted to like this book, however, I found the plot confusing and the characters didn’t have the depth I would have liked them to have. A shame, as it showed early promise, however, this wasn’t a great read for me.

This was a rare DNF for me around 1/2 way through - simultaneously far too detailed and far too vague. The prose has far too many descriptive words in it. Rarely is there a simple sentence such as “he sat on a chair” or “he ran down the street”. Because of this, I struggled to follow what was going on.

After some opening chapters in France (could all be deleted, add nothing unless there’s a point later), we begin the story proper in Hawaii. There are lots of Hawaiian terms flying around with far too little explanation or time to digest them. I got completely lost. As part of this, there’s all the Hawaiian mythology, theology and worldview. As it’s not something I know anything about, I lost track of all the terms - is this word a goddess or a practice or a belief or a … you get the idea.

There’s clearly a story to be told with this material and our author has clearly spent a good deal of time researching it. However, we’re not there yet. I’d honestly strip this story back to very simple sentences then build the detail in from there.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I received this from Netgalley.com.

Good book, be prepared to spend some time with it. All encompassing, incredible characters neatly woven with historical figures and facts of 1800's Hawaii.

4☆

This book did not engage me for some reason. I did not enjoy the writer's style., and I did not think the characters were developed as well as they could have been. Having said that, it is certainly an original book, to be sure, and that is always a plus IMO. So, not a bad book, just not my cup of tea. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

A surprising novel where i went in expecting one thing and got something else. Definitely one of those novels where you can’t really talk about it without spoiling so i will say to those who like this style of weird abstract concepts with dense prose you’ll like this a lot. it’s what i like but my tastes are not typical of others.

Even though many themes of this book were thought provoking and highly interesting (concepts of religion, society), this novel was not for me. I could not relate at all to the characters . Too many elements of fantasy surprised and disturbed me as this was not mentioned in the blurb. This is not the kind of story I enjoy. If I had known I would not have read the book. Hence a 3* review for me.
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I am leaving voluntarily an honest review.