Listen, Ocean's 8 is one of my comfort movies. I don't usually consume "heist media" so many heist tropes and ideas always feel original and fresh to me. Hammajang Luck, as it is aptly comped, is cyberpunk Ocean's 8 with a crew of Asian and Pacific Islanders trans, nonbinary, butches, and femmes lesbians and I couldn’t put it down.

When Edie is unexpectedly released from prison thanks to the woman who betrayed them, they struggle to find a job that won't break their parole so they can support their family. Angel (an ex-something) waltzes in with the plan for the heist of a lifetime. Together they must recruit a team without their personal issues getting in the way of the plan.

I love that this book is very influenced by old school (working class) butchfemme lesbian bar culture (in a way I could see Stone Butch Blues in a lot of world and character building). Edie, Cy and Duke are clearly identified as butches and have this butch bonding, while butch friendship is rare in lesbian media. Edie (they/them) and Cy (he/him) are nonbinary (specifically Māhū in text) and looking for some form of transitioning whereas Duke is a cis butch (with a trans femme partner). Having different forms of butch expression in a book, I could cry. Something that reminded me of SBB/working-class lesbian bar culture was the distinction between the type of work available to each of them between manual labor and sex work.

The book balances Edie’s familial life, the heist plotline (and the large cast that i really enjoyed, each hads their little thing, grifters forever) and their romance with Angel in a way that doesn’t feel like any had to take a back seat as all were linked to each other.I was very invested in how all this would turn out for Edie. As a character, Edie has a small arc (i felt as if their character was overshadowed by the elements i mentioned earlier) about their need of belonging 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.

There's this trope of pairing a darker-skinned butch (often reduced to a himbo, golden retriever, a brainless jock) with the smart paler-skinned femme. I don't think it's fully my place to speak on it but I find Edie to subvert this trope in many way: first by making them the main character they have so much depth that a lot of butch characters lack, then it's shown time and time again that they're quick on their feet, smart in their own way (the poker game) and they have a deep knowledge of the station to be the best runner. They’re not reduced to muscles and eye candy.

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 -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 the 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

Makana Yamamoto wrote this perfectly and had that scifi element that I was looking for. I thought the world was wonderfully done an enjoyed getting to know that world and characters. I cared about what was happening to the characters and how they worked in this story. I enjoyed the heist element and wanted to continue reading this universe and from Makana Yamamoto.