Title: That Which Feeds Us
Author: Keala Kendall
Genres: Horror, Contemporary, LGBTQIA
Pages: 352
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Review Copy: Purchased ebook
Availability: Available now
Summary: For the world’s wealthiest, Kōpaʻa Island Resort is more than a destination. It’s the ultimate escape. With no cell service or Wi-Fi, the Hawaiian island is a coveted wellness retreat renowned for its persimmon orchard and promises of rejuvenation.
But their dream vacation is Lehua’s nightmare. When her twin sister, Ohia, goes missing, Lehua follows her trail to Kōpaʻa to find her. Instead, Lehua is cut off from civilization—and help—after the island’s boat leaves without her, stranding her with the resort’s lavish guests and enigmatic staff.
As Lehua investigates Ohia’s disappearance, she discovers her missing sister isn’t the island’s only mystery. Kōpaʻa’s rich exterior and sweet persimmons hide its dark plantation past. And Lehua can’t ignore the dreams haunting her each night—nor the warning telling her to leave the island at once. To uncover what happened to Ohia, Lehua will have to unearth the island’s bloody history and face the horrors that lurk within its sugarcane fields—or risk being consumed by them.
Sharply observed and gorgeously written, That Which Feeds Us explores the true cost of paradise as Lehua must fight to reclaim the land, the stories, and the very souls of her people.
Review: [Per the Letter from the Author: “That Which Feeds Us contains discussions of death, colonialism, racism, family estrangement, abandonment, loss of home and displacement, mentions of blood, sexual harassment, and depictions of violence.” There are some body horror scenes as well.]
Author Keala Kendall expertly utilized gothic horror in That Which Feeds Us to explore the costs of colonialism through Lehua’s family and Kōpaʻa Island. Hawaiʻi’s status as a paradise—and the terrible things that have been done to make it that way—are front and center in this novel, as is the frequent reminder that the cost to maintain it as such is ongoing. Lehua’s family’s displacement and her disconnect from her culture is sharply contrasted with the Jacobs family’s possession of an entire island, previously a plantation and currently an ultra-exclusive resort for the (white and) wealthy.
Lehua is keenly aware of the divide between her, the resort guests, and the resort staff and how very little she can trust anyone. Kendall did an excellent job of subtly building up an oppressive atmosphere via sensory details (the omnipresent smell of persimmons!) and some vividly unnerving nightmare sequences. The way the mystery of Ohia’s disappearance interwove with the unexplainable events Lehua started experiencing was a great way to create an omnipresent dread while Lehua was trapped on Kōpaʻa. It also highlighted just how much Lehua loved her sister despite their recent falling out, and the complexity of their relationship supplemented the novel’s exploration of abandonment and displacement. Lehua’s budding relationship with Melia was an interesting counterpoint as Melia frequently served as Lehua’s connection to the heritage/culture she had been divorced from.
The themes of predation are enhanced by the claustrophobic and lonely setting. Ohia’s decision to go to Hawaiʻi and Melia’s insistence on staying despite being blacklisted from resort work are both taken advantage of by the powerful. The resort guests’ attitudes toward Lehua are all different flavors of terrible and very much position Lehua as something to be consumed/experienced rather than as an equal. These scenes become increasingly upsetting as the the novel progresses, almost in parallel with the revelations about the island’s true history. Because That Which Feeds Us is a horror novel, the price for the truth comes at a high cost for the cast. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Lehua’s journey and the way the mysteries on Kōpaʻa were resolved.
Recommendation: Get it now if you are looking for a horror novel this summer. That Which Feeds Us ties the search for a missing sister to the bloody price of establishing paradise. Author Keala Kendall does an excellent job of exploring themes of colonialism, racism, and displacement via Lehua’s search for truth in the present and for the past. I’m definitely looking forward to Kendall’s future work.
Extras: Keala Kendall’s ‘That Which Feeds Us’ Excerpt Fires off a Big Mystery on a Hawaiian Island
Makana Eyre: Noir May Be Just What Hawaiʻi Needs Right Now