Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Is it possible to fall in love with a place you have never been to? I am actually in love with a magical realism version of Hawaii. Washburn's Hawaii. His writing is that powerful. When we had Malia's POV, I was enchanted. She was my clear favorite, and I would wait seemingly forever to get back to her. All of the characters were so well written, so complex and layered.
While I am so very glad I read this (I was going to read this one before it became a Camp TOB pick simply based on the title and description alone), I have to confess that it took me a damned long time to read this. The story had me, right away, and I was all-in. Night marchers? Sharks?!? But then, it lost me. I kept putting it down. I'd say the whole second section, Ascension, I struggled to find that magic again. It came back with the last section! I'm glad I pushed through, but that is the reason why this is not a five star read from me. I still enjoyed it. I will still recommend it, I just can't say it was perfect (my definition of a 5 star read). I predict some of the events in this book will stay on my mind for quite some time.