The Last Aloha

A Novel

By: Gaellen Quinn

Narrated by: Jolene Kim

How did Hawaii become part of America? This story, inspired by true events suppressed for nearly 100 years, is the one James Michener never wrote. In 1886, Laura Jennings travels to Hawaii to live with missionary relatives. She imagines she’ll live in a grass hut, ministering to uncivilized locals. When she arrives in Honolulu, she’s surprised to find her relatives are among the wealthy elite plotting to overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy. And the Hawaiians have developed a charming and prosperous Victorian kingdom.

To avoid her conniving uncle’s control, Laura leaves to work for the royal family and learns her family’s prejudices against them are false. The last queen, Lili’uokalani, wages a tragic struggle to save the kingdom. Through choices she makes when every avenue is blocked, Laura sees the power that can restore the spirit of a people caught in a turbulent world and discovers how long-hidden secrets of her own family lead the way to reunion.

©2019 Gaellen Quinn (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

Narration, narration, narration

I scrolled back through some of the reviews to make sure that it wasn't just me... it's not. When I first heard the intro I thought, "Oh GOD! Please tell me this isn't the voice I am going to have to listen to for the next 13 hours"... yup...it was. Lots of abysmal pronunciations. Do the producers actually LISTEN before they just release it?
The overall story itself was interesting. It brought me close to tears a few times. But the writing was scattered at times.
It was incredibly frustrating trying to keep track of all of the different characters. It took me about half to 3/4 of the way through before I had a decent grasp of most of the minor players. They should include a downloadable copy of the characters and family tree so you can actually follow more easily. Seriously.
It was odd the way they skipped months and years without mention of events in between and yet, went into agonizing detail, at times, over trivial things. I suppose these were meant to make a clear mental photograph. The image could have easily been accomplished in fewer words most of the time.

Agree with all the other listeners

The narrator was not great. If you put it on 1.1x speed it’s slightly better. The story behind Hawaii’s annexation was one I never heard before. Definitely boycotting Dole Foods!

Beautiful and tragic

Beautifully written with well-developed characters, this is a detailed account of yet another colonization of a pacific archipelago. As this story of greed, racism and malice moves toward its seemingly inevitable tragic end, you will feel as though you are there.

The only downside is the reader chosen for this book. The reading is very slow, often breathless and labored, and peppered with inexplicable pauses in the middle of phrases.

Good but not great.

I really wanted to love this book and it started out very interesting but it just dragged on and on in my opinion. Would've kept my interest if it had been a bit shorter and more to the point. I did enjoy hearing about Hawaiian history. Didn't care for the narrator at all, she read way too slowly and had a nasal sound to her voice. Overall worth listening to if you know nothing about Hawaii's annexation into the US and like historical fiction.

Good story

i enjoyed this book but struggled with the way narrstion was done for the characters from Scotland and Ireland.

Loved it!

Sad piece of history woven into a remarkable story; would highly recommend. Encouraged me to read more about Hawaiian history.

Great story but Narration

This story was very intriguing...wrapped around historical events. Sad for the Hawaiian monarchy. Sad for the Hawaiian people at that time. It’s sad that these wealthy landowners would do anything to get their way. Amazing story of forgiveness in the end, how to forgive those who steal everything away from you.

Agree with the other reviewers about the narrator. She sounds so breathy and like she has a cold. But I did like how she pronounced all of the Hawaiian name, phrases, words. Worth the listen even so, especially if you visit Hawaii.

Excellent historical fiction!

This was a great story based on historical facts. The reader read a bit too slowly, but I appreciate that she pronounced the Hawaiian words correctly.

Interesting but ...

... the historical aspect is different from other accounts. Lots of sadness in the history of Hawaii. The narrator paused inappropriately so many times it was ridiculous.

wonderful story but narration is terrible

this was a fantastic story! but the narrator sounds like she has a Really bad cold! a stuffy nose & sore throat and seriously sounds like she’s terribly out of breath- the Entire book but much worse the last 1/3. it was very very distracting and made me take deep breaths all the time bc she made Me feel out of breath bc she was! i will Not listen time any other books she narrates. unfortunate.