Wow, I was really impressed with this debut novel. I have read a few teen dystopian/end-of-world novels and they all left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. Because they were shorter than traditional fiction, they often lacked appropriate character development, and the writing seemed a little rushed. I began to think this was the standard for the genre. Then I discovered Islands, which puts all of those stereotypes to rest.

Aslan is not afraid to use more words to develop his characters. As a result, he clearly builds a father-daughter relationship that is unrivaled in teen science fiction. I really appreciated a novel that focused on a familial relationship rather than driving the plot with a predictable romance.

And Aslan's use of language is awesome. He has moments of stunning prose but still manages to move the plot forward without getting bogged down by a flowery style.

Although I am a scientist at heart, I really enjoyed the interplay between science, religion and traditional Hawaiian culture. It is clear that Aslan absorbed much Hawaii while he lived on the islands. His understanding of the culture, both the historic and present, could not be achieved by a few visits. It had to be lived!

If I had one complaint, it is just that the plot twist toward the end becomes a little more fantasy/science fiction than I was really expecting. I was originally drawn to the novel because of the potential tension as characters dealt with an end of world scenario in the isolation of the Hawaiian islands. While this is the primary theme throughout the book, the reason for the drama was a little unbelievable to me.

Overall, however, I highly recommend this book. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel! ( )

What happens when the some kind of solar flare knocks out the power, then the tech, then the world as we know it? And our heroes are stranded on a different hawaiian island than they call home, while dealing with epilepsy? This book happens. I found it compulsively readable despite the really odd twist and it's a fab adventure for survivally inclined teens who aren't interested in romance.

Other fantastic features: Aslan does a great job weaving Hawaiian culture throughout the story and emphasizing it's huge importance to Leilani. I love that our strong main character has epilepsy and deals with it and finds ways to cope. ( )

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it. It was dystopian, but with some mysticism thrown in too. Reminded me a bit of Alif the Unseen, but without the romance. A meteor strikes creating a celestial anomaly (the “Green Orchid”), shutting down all electrical appliances, communications, and technology worldwide, stranding Leilani and her father on Oahu, away from their home on Hawaii. To survive and get home, they must revert to survival skills, alone and disconnected from the rest of the world. Leilani is a strong character, but feels like an outsider because she is half-Hawaiian and half-white and suffers from epilepsy. Good writing, with a credible plot, facing tremendous obstacles, the scope of which are largely unknown. For the same reasons, we mainlanders watch Hawaii Five-O in spite of the horrible acting, the descriptions and imagery throughout the novel were amazing. Aslan integrated in facts about Hawaii (culture, economy, history, and environment) in a seamless manner. Note: Based on the excerpt, I am somewhat concerned that the sequel may revert back to more standard YA fare. ( )

Leilani is an epileptic, and highly dependent on her medication to manage her symptoms. She still tries to live a normal life, and is still surfing the great waves of Hawaii and learning to drive under supervision. Her doctors have a new treatment they would like her to try, but she will need to spend a week at the clinic on a different island. She and her father make the trip, planning to get somewhat of a vacation out of the time. Then disaster strikes.

There is a strange green glow in the sky at night, and all satellite and other communications are down. Electronics are fried. It takes a few days, but people start to panic, and there are few ways to travel between the islands. Food becomes scarce, and the military steps in to try to provide some order to the chaos.

Will Leilani and her father make it back home? What about Leilani's medication? When will the craziness end?

This was a decent post-apocalyptic tale, though too heavy on the Hawaiian info dumping for my tastes. There were so many extraneous details that it dragged the story down for me at times, and I felt preached at a few times as well. ( )

I read The Islands At The End of The World on the plane to Honolulu, along with Big Little Lies. I’d been reading a lot about Hawaii before my trip, and I’m always interested in post-apocalyptic stories, so I enjoyed this story about surviving on Oahu after electronics mysteriously fail worldwide. Teenage Leilani and her dad are on Oahu for Leilani’s experimental epilepsy treatment when communications and electricity start to fail, and in the new world that opens, they have to use their wits to survive and make it back home to Leilani’s mom, grandfather, and little brother. It’s a solid adventure story, with believable factions and a supernatural twist. (It’s also the first post-apocalyptic story I’ve read in which a girl loots a razor to shave her legs, and, honestly, I’d be plucking my eyebrows in the post-civilization world.)

But I have to say that I didn’t fully get this novel until I was in Hawaii, and had been here a couple weeks. A lot of the story relies on an understanding of Hawaii and Hawaiian life, on the simultaneous nearness and incredible distance of the islands, and one the constant contrast of old and new lives. I thought of this book when my coworkers noticed the wild chickens running around, and joked that Hawaiians could catch and pick a dinner if they wanted. I thought of this book when I saw the gorgeous beaches and plastic trash. The whole thing really shows the exploitation of Hawaii for (foreign) tourism, from the weird lack of ferries between islands (which completely blows my mind — how is there no commuter line or tourist cruise between the islands???) to the conflict between locals and visitors, Hawaiians and haoles, wealthy and struggling, all just under the surface on the beautiful islands. ( )