The Islands at the End of the World (Islands at the End of the World)

by Austin Aslan

In this fast-paced survival story set in Hawaii, electronics fail worldwide, the islands become completely isolated, and a strange starscape fills the sky. Leilani and her father embark on a nightmare odyssey from Oahu to their home on the Big Island. Leilani’s epilepsy holds a clue to the disaster, if only they can survive as the islands revert to earlier ways. 
   A powerful story enriched by fascinating elements of Hawaiian ecology, culture, and warfare, this captivating and dramatic debut from Austin Aslan is the first of two novels. The author has a master’s degree in tropical conservation biology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo.

Praise for Islands at the End of the World:

“A riveting tale of belonging, family, overcoming perceived limitations, and finding a home.”--School Library Journal, Starred

"Aslan’s debut honors Hawaii’s unique cultural strengths--family ties and love of home, amplified by geography and history--while remaining true to a genre that affirms the mysterious grandeur of the universe waiting to be discovered."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred

"Aslan’s debut is a riveting tale of belonging, family, overcoming perceived limitations, and finding a home."--School Library Journal, Starred

• ISBN10: 038574403X
• ISBN13: 9780385744034
• Publish Date: 4 August 2015 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780385744034

Reviews

[shannonmiz]

So, You know when you are reading a book, and things are going really, really well? You're flying through the pages, not wanting to set the book down. You love the characters, the plot, the setting, and things are basically heading to five-stardom. But then,.. there's a snag. Something happens that you can't completely recover from, something plot-related. Well, that's where I am. I 95% loved this book. And then I was 5% really perturbed. I can't even really tell you why without spoiling stuff, so we'll try a little "loved vs. didn't":

What I Loved:

-Leilani. She. Is. Awesome. If you can't relate to her or like her as a character, then I can't help you, because she is amazing.
-Family-centric plot. We do not see enough of this in YA. The story follows Leilani and her father, but the rest of their family is never far from either of their minds. In fact, it is really the whole point of the story. They don't just want to get home, they want to get back to their family. It is quite beautiful and refreshing, and I adored it.
-Hawaii. Okay, is there a better setting for any book really? Of course not, it's Hawaii, people. But it works so perfectly with the plot, since Hawaii is cut off from the mainland and therefore sorely lacking communication, supplies, and other resources. It makes the story believable and terrifying. The world-building itself is superb. I could actually picture the scenes, and the addition of a lot of Hawaiian culture was particularly appealing.
-The plot (mostly). I love apocalypse scenarios, and this one is scary for sure. People are thrown into chaos, fighting over land, resources, and pretty much everything else you could imagine. No one and nowhere is safe on the islands. Add to it Leilani's epilepsy, and you have a particularly nightmarish situation. It also really brings the question that we rarely see in books: What would happen to people with medical needs that we take for granted? Frightening, really. The book is one epic adventure, and Leilani and her dad meet some very, very interesting people along the way. Some good, some bad, and some in between, but during the apocalypse, trust is certain to be scarce.
-No insta-love! No love triangles! And this book does not need them. It doesn't rely on romance at all. It just is at its core a book that makes you think about your beliefs, your morals, your survivability.

That One Thing I Didn't Love:

That One Plot Point. Obviously, I am not going to tell you what it is! But I will tell you that the plot point itself, while not believable, I could have rolled with since this is fiction. No, it is the characters' reactions to said plot point that got me. They just wouldn't react the way they did. No one would, I don't think. And that is where the book lost me a bit, I still loved it, but this did take just a bit away from my enjoyment.

Back to stuff I loved:

-The ending! It wasn't one of those complete cliffhangers that leaves you waiting years to find out what happens. But it does make you so, so excited to continue the story. This is the mark of an amazing ending in my opinion.
-There's a sequel! When I first added this book to my TBR, and even when I first got the book, I had no idea there'd be a second! Well, color me happily surprised.

Bottom line: The good far, far outweighed the bad in this book. I enjoyed it immensely, and became so engrossed in this world and these characters. It was an action-packed ride that I absolutely cannot wait to continue. I will certainly be reading The Girl at the Center of the World as soon as I can!

[leahrosereads]

When I first started reading THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, I really was enjoying it.

I liked that the setting was unique to me, taking place in Hawaii, and I liked that Leilani, the 16 year old protagonist, seemed like a fun, laid back gal with a medical condition, that was unfortunately, defining her.

Leilani has epilepsy, and she and her father leave their home on Hilo (the Big Island) to Oahu, for Leilani to take an experimental drug to help with her epileptic seizures. While on Oahu, the lights of Hawaii go out and mass chaos ensues.

No one knows why the lights have gone out or why technological devices have seemingly turned off. Leilani and her father are stuck in a tourist-y area, but they want to make it home to Hilo. And so they try.

Of course, Leilani, being an epileptic, and forced to go back on her regular medication vs. the experimental, has seizures that slow her father and her down in their journey. Also, everyone goes batshit crazy in Hawaii.

Seriously, society devolves so quickly and so thoroughly, it was absolute insanity to read. And I guess that’s where I started feeling ‘meh’ about the whole story. If this where to happen, I absolutely see some of society going this route.

Absolutely, no doubts in my mind, there would be militias and gangs popping up for turf, but it felt like these groups in the book were organized way faster than I think is natural.


Maybe not. And then, there was a lot of farfetchery going on with the plot itself. What’s causing Hawaii and all of the planet to lose power and everything else, well, Leilani says it’s pretty much like a galactic sea turtle, having come to Earth’s atmosphere to breed and raise its young. How does a 16 year old know this? When she has a seizure, she can hear what it’s thinking, and it told her. ...Yeah...that’s a thing in this book.


This ended up being a miss for me. Maybe the second book will be better, especially with all of the human conflicts surely to arise from this, but I don’t think I’m going to end up finding out.