Hammajang Luck was a fun sci fi heist, but its real strength was in beautiful family dynamics, an inclusive & queernormative world, and its love for Hawaii. 

Edie has spent the last 8 years in prison on an icy, isolated planet, and missed so much of their life - their nieces and nephews getting older, their mother dying, their sister attempting to leave a challenging relationship - so when they unexpectedly get early parole, they vow to never go back to heists.

Except Angel, the very person who betrayed Edie 8 years ago, is the person who gets them out. And she has a plan for one final job. The job that they failed on their last attempt. The job that will bring down the tech trillionaire who essentially rules their planet.

Can Edie really put their trust in Angel again? If they want to save their family, they might just have to.

The relationships between Edie, their sister Andie, and their niece (Paige)  and nephew (Casey) were a HUGE highlight of the book for me. Paige is such an iconic teenage character (and super wise). You could feel the love radiating between them, and the heartache of Edie missing out on so much. Both kids took to Edie in a very sweet way, and they challenged and prodded each other a bit, but also grew together. 

Edie and Andie stick together and care about each other so deeply. It was such a charming sibling dynamic. They’d lost both of their parents and were struggling to stay afloat, and they constantly had each other’s backs. They were also both dedicated to keeping their culture (as Hawaiians) alive and their parents' memories alive. How do you honor and maintain your culture even when you’re no longer on Earth?

As for the heist itself, it was more-or-less formulaic. Big bad tech guy, a team built of archetypes, a few “uh oh” moments but nothing too fear-inducing, and so on. The tension was never very high for me; I always thought they were going to be okay. There were no real twists and turns and I don’t think the heist elements offered anything new to the genre. 

The compelling aspect of the heist for me was Edie as a character and how much they had to lose - versus the danger or excitement of the heist itself. I did think the preparation elements and the introductory cons were very fun (though charmingly unbelievable).

Turning to the pacing, some parts towards the beginning really dragged. I wish we had leaped into the team already compiled, because there were a couple team members that didn’t get as much time in the spotlight. I wanted to SEE them come together as a family, and it felt like we were just told that it happened. I was really into the characters as we got to know them, but they still seemed like mostly strangers to each other. I do think adjusting the pacing at the beginning would have helped with this.

The queer rep is so rad. Butch and femme are used by the characters, and there are three super different butch major characters. The setting is a queernormative world with no gender or sexuality trauma, just casual representation. There are some discussions about how the world places you in boxes (ie. due to gender presentation, you might end up working at a dock or at a club), but no blatant queerphobia. 

As for the romance, Edie and Andie both are in toxic relationships (Andie is divorcing her husband and hoping to maintain custody of their kids, but he is still present, especially since she is pregnant). For Edie’s situation, I wished it had a slower redemption arc and we saw them move towards friendship. I loved Edie and Andie and just wanted healthier romantic relationships for them both! On the positive side, though, I adore Duke and Nakano’s relationship.

I think this book addressed classism really powerfully. You see the nitty gritty of this city and working life and who gets left behind - how neighborhoods are being destroyed and people are left in helpless situations.

The sense of space was a little weak, though. It was just tricky to get a full sense of the world. We were told that the characters are on a space station, but that tended to be glossed over outside of a few stated reminders and some funky gravity moments. It generally just felt like a high tech (but Earthside) city. What does it actually mean to be in space? What does the universe look like? What does it mean to mourn Earth? The ties to Hawaiian culture were powerful, but the rest fell to the side.

Though I clearly had some mixed feelings on this one, I really do believe it’s a worthwhile read. Not for bringing something revolutionary to the heist genre, but for the queerest heist team you’ll ever meet, a family that sticks together, and a love letter to Hawaii.

CW: death (parent), grief, classism, cancer, pregnancy, toxic relationship, sexual harassment, confinement, violence, sexual content

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)