Hammajang Luck

This is a classic heist tale, with the main twist being that it's set on a giant space station far from Earth, and the other twist being that almost every principal in the crew is queer. Edie, our nonbinary trans guy main character, is both bro and auntie in equal measures, and their role in their Hawaiian-descended family is a driving force in their character development. I really enjoyed the book. It's definitely action-packed, but it's also humorous, and pretty sexy sometimes. The ending is very satisfying too. Some readers might find it a bit too pat, but as someone who always roots for my queer characters to get their happy ending, I appreciated it. Also, I do recommend the audiobook version, as the narrator does an excellent job voicing different characters and reproducing the Hawaiian pidgin-inflected lingo a lot of the characters speak.

I was looking forward to reading this one as the cover blurb sounded like a story I'd enjoy but ultimately, it was a bit of a letdown. There are some things I liked: the general setting, the characters, the scam artists' scams, the poker game, the queerness, and the Hawaiian culture. The heist itself I found less compelling, mostly it was obviously unbelievable to me that it would be successful and they would be able to walk away from a heist like that. Later in the book there's a plotline that makes it even more unbelievable. Maybe heists work better on the screen than in a book in general. There should have been more world-building, it's rather superficial and the setting has remarkably little influence on the heist. The ending felt a bit rushed and way too smooth, considering all the things that happen in the book.

An okay read but don't expect too much.