Kaua’i Storm by Tori Eldridge is the first in the new Ranger Makalani Pahukula series. Although she grew up on her family’s Kaua’i homestead, Makalani has spent the past several years in Oregon, feeling like she never fit in either place. She returns home for her grandmother’s 85th birthday celebration to find various issues plaguing her family.

I really enjoyed the sense of place that Eldridge brings to the story; it’s easy to picture the lush and beautiful but potentially dangerous landscape. The strongest part though is the Hawaiian language and Hawaiian Pidgin, used throughout. It not only brings a lot of depth to the story but from the little that I remember having lived there several years ago, it is spot on, and sounds the way that locals actually speak. There is so much cultural tradition packed in, as well, from food, dance, chanting, folklore, etc., which was all completely fascinating to read about.

In addition to the mystery, I was also captivated by the historical and political issues of land rights, land management and development, housing, and poverty that were the basis of the mystery. Those are real issues that are at stake all over Hawaii. It was great to see them unfold from a local point of view while still reading an exciting thriller.

If there was anything that I missed, it was a little more depth in the characters. While Makalani was pretty well fleshed out, many of the others were pretty one note. Since there were a good number of family and friends, and this is already a good sized novel, there really wasn’t much opportunity. Hopefully though, we’ll learn more about them in future installments because I did quite like the family.

I’m definitely looking forward to the next book! Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the digital ARC.

4.5 Stars

I loved that the whole book smells and reads liek Hawaii. It's not just a place for the plot to partake but it's also a character. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a chance to read this book.

I really wanted to read an interesting story from a Native Hawaiian. Although the story line is overall good and the heroine is likeable, the novel is too tiresome and fastidious to read. I'm not a native speaker of English, so even the pidgin was a challenge. But I'm really not interested in the native names of Hawaiian flora and fauna or their dishes. I kept going, although there were quite some lengths describing landscape or relatives all over the place. I learned some interesting facts about Hawaii that I could have learned in plain English. It seems it's not the paradise it's made out to be.

Another amazing book from Tori Eldridge, this time, set on Kauai, the place of my heart. What an eye-opening and honest story about the reality of life for locals on Kauai, far from the touristy paradise Kauai is known for. The MC is engaging and relatable and her struggle to be accepted into her ohana can be felt by anyone who has always felt a bit on the outside. At time pulse pounding and at times touching, Kauai'i Storm will wrap you up in the magic and spirit of the real Kauai and her people. Can't wait for the next book!

Huh! Such a different book that I thought it would be. I so love Tori’s Ninja series and I hope to see a whole lot more of Lily Wong, but this is a whole nuther animal. A few months before reading Kaui’i Storm, someone on one of my fave podcasts recommended a book called Ho’oponopono. I had no idea what they even said, but researched and found the book. I started reading with some misgivings as the harder parts to deal with in life are quite uncomfortable. When this came up in the book and the way it was presented in this intense family dynamic made me cry. While reading Kaui’i Storm, I was trying to figure out the genre and somewhere in the book, the term social-cultural anthropology was mentioned and I was “Oh, that’s what this is.” I also realized that I know absolutely nothing about Hawai’i and the social-cultural anthropology as well as the food of the islands which Tori leans on heavily in relating the family ways of life. It’s like a cookbook without the amounts and inspires a whole other way to make some foods in my future. Quite the ride! I enjoyed it so much and look forward to the next in the series.

I love Elridge's Lily Wong series and was apprehensive about a new series. You know how it is when you read a book by a favorite author but the characters are different and you keep waiting for the familar name to appear? | was happily surprised that I didn't have any trouble diving into Kauai Storm and never once expected Lily to appear. Another engaging female protagonist!

Tori Eldridge does a fantastic job in writing this first entry in the Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mystery series. I was invested in the mystery and getting to know the characters in this world. It had that element that I was looking for and was engaged with what was happening. I'm excited to read more in this series and from Tori Eldridge.