Thank you Harper Voyager for the eARC via NetGalley.

Futuristic, heist, Hawaiian crew - ‘Hammanjang Luck’ sold me on this to read the eArc. Unfortunately, it fell kinda flat in places where I really expected more.

Also, several scenes of this novel coincidentally reminded me a little too much of a TV series I recently viewed. I guess thats what bothered me. I felt like I knew what was coming next without putting in the effort to think about what I was reading. A personal issue, but if anyone has watched "Leverage" they may understand as well..

The setting was lacking. I get Kepler is built up of different wards, like slums and rich, etc. The different wards they explored were brief, and not that different from one another. Sure, the wealthy have more mods implanted in them - but Cy, the trans character, had lots of mods done too. I wish we could have explored more of the actual world - to see how different the world Edie and crew live versus what the other Kepler wards experience.

It was fun to see the characters using Pidgin. It gave a sense that they were upholding the culture passed down to them. It was conversational and natural dialogue that didn’t feel too structured.

‘Hammanjang Luck’ was a fine novel, just wished there was more world-building to understand the social structure of society.

Thank you HarperVoyager and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am a simple girl, I see “cyberpunk lesbian heist” and I say “gimme.” I’m very pleased that Hammajang Luck did not disappoint and it was one of the most fun reads of my year.

I should probably start with a bit of a disclaimer: I am not the pickiest person when it comes to world building, and I do not spend a lot of time trying to predict how things will happen (and also I tend to be a vibes and character driven reader). While I loved Hammajang Luck, it’s a little on the cheesy and mildly cliche side (not a bad thing imo) and I can’t really comment on whether or not the heist is “good” in terms of execution. The vibes were excellent and I felt very fond of all the characters, so YMMV. The world building worked for me, and I like to fill in details on my own, but I digress.

I loved the premise of this and the factors that drove Edie to agree to taking on the heist, and I really loved the way Hawaiian culture was woven throughout the story—the clearest example is the inclusion of Pidgin (Hawaiian Creole), which I thought made the story richer. This book is also very queer and I loved how normalized it was. Edie and Angel’s relationship is a b-plot for sure but I really liked it! I thought it was fun to see the tension between reconciling pre-existing feelings with the Big Betrayal between the two of them and the fact their relationship at the start of the book is a hot mess. I appreciated the romance was messy and the way they approach it is messy, because this is my personal favorite flavor. The characters worked really well for me, even the bratty teen and the precocious teen (I think, maybe, if a teenager who is So Sure of their skills they think they’re better than older characters at their jobs is something that will irritate you your experience will be different than mine, but that’s neither here nor there). I thought it was interesting to see varying opinions on body modification, especially ones involving the brian. The antagonist was easy to hate and the main cast easy to root for, but I did really like how the mystery around Angel unfolded. Outside of the crew’s relationship, I also really liked Edie’s relationship with their family and how those pressures affected them. The cyberpunk setting was like catnip to me and while I think the antagonist was a little like… Obviously Evil, I didn’t mind. Edie’s narrative voice was strong and distinct, and I think Yamamoto wrote an impressive debut.

Overall I had a blast with this and loved the experience. I think it’ll most likely be a YMMV situation for most people, but I highly recommend.

Heist plus second chance love plus super queer cast? Hammajang Luck is all of those things and this enjoyable debut from Makana Yamamoto kept me engaged and invested during the emotional rollercoaster that is this story.

Edie has just been freed from the prison she has spent eight long years in, by the person who betrayed her in the first place, Angel. Going back to her home means dealing with the daily struggle of her sister Andie to keep her kids fed and cancer treatments paid for. No one legit will hire Edie here, and she doesn't want to leave her family again, so she accepts Angel's offer of One Last Job, the one job that will set them up for life and by the way, destroy the billionaire overlord that makes everything terrible.

I will admit that I found the romance between Edie and Angel to be the weakest point, not only because EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON, thank you very much, but because we don't get to know Angel very well, so for Edie to fall back into her arms was a little disappointing. But I love a good found family and in this, the book delivered.

Hammajang Luck is basically Oceans 11 but make it sci-fi and queer. Did I mentioned that I freaking love Oceans 11? A good heist is always a good time, especially when the target deserves it soooo much. The only thing that made this a bit difficult to read is that so much of the dialog was Hawaiian Pidgin. Thankfully, my husband was born and raised in Hawai’i so I’ve had a fair bit of exposure to it. Otherwise, I would have been lost a few times. I would absolutely love to hear this as an audiobook, though. It would be so much fun! In fact, when they make Oceans 37, this should be it.

I absolutely understand the comparison's to Ocean's 8. It's a heist operation in space with a Hawai'i background.

Edie unexpectedly finds themself paroled from jail after 8 years, just to be offered one last job by the woman who betrayed them. Edie and Angel put together a crew to pull off their biggest heist yet.

I loved Edie's family and how they were willing to do anything for them. The crew was an interesting blend of people, but there were so many characters that it seemed like they were all kind of one-note. Sci fi is usually a bit harder for me to read, but this one was pretty easy - light on the world building but gives enough details to make it plausible. I definitely enjoyed the Hawaiian cultural references and all the queerness. This was a solidly good debut, and I'm excited to see what else comes from the author!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Super fun and easy space heist! I really enjoyed the MC and appreciated that the world building wasn’t terribly dense. The biggest issue I had was it felt like three different plot points and a relationship all happened really fast and within a few chapters so it felt sort of crammed in there just to have. Another 50 pages to help some things cook and it would’ve been a 5 star read for me! Overall though I really loved it and found myself being sad that I’ve finished it!

I appreciate a good heist, and LOVE that this one is set on an exoplanet 120 years in the future with all the tech body modifications you’d expect for a future-set novel. I also love that the author’s Hawaiian heritage is present with many of the characters speaking Pidgin (Hawaiian Creole). This was super queer, with the 8-person heist crew including transmasc, transfemme, nonbinary, and multiple sapphic characters.

What I didn’t love: the romantic subplot was a strong undercurrent throughout the story, and Angel was a cold jerk for 95% of the book. Tatiana the smug teenage thief continually telling Edie (a mere decade her senior) how much younger and better she was also majorly got on my nerves. Both of these annoyances are resolved by book’s end, but they impacted my enjoyment while reading.

Oh this was an exhilarating read! I'm not usually much for heist stories, but this one hit the nail on the head with everything I loved about the heist crew dynamics of Ocean's 8, and the incredibly well-rendered world-building of a Space Station culture of The Expanse. Most of the crew are queer women or genderqueer, the commonly used patois language is Hawaiian Pidgin, and at the heart of it is a second chance love story. Angel and Edie are hard to root for because of the history of hurt between them, and I wish we had Angel's POV as well in the story. But her motivations as a dark horse mastermind makes the heist beats of the story really taut and exciting till the very end. I also adored that this is such a classic found family story, but also weaved into it is a story about a family of immigrants and the community they create in a new world. Not to mention the oodles of delightful banter, excoriating social commentary and the incredibly visual style of writing that that the author effortlessly deploys to make this a positively unputdownable read. I can't remember the last time I felt so satisfied after a sci-fi read that delivered on every front for me.

Thanks muchly to Netgalley for the ebook ARC. Do yourself a favor and pick this up ASAP when it releases in January. Can't wait to read more from the author.

I really wanted to love this book, and I do appreciate what it was trying to do and the representation, but in the end it didn't work for me. I found the characters uninteresting and couldn't root for their romance. I wanted more from the world building, especially the cyberpunk elements. I think this would have worked better as a graphic novel or an animated show than a written book. The best part are the cultural and family portions.

I think a lot of readers, especially those who love con artists, heists, and queer characters, will love this. I'm sad it didn't work for me.

💰ℍ𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕒𝕟𝕘 𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕜💰

When I found out this was a queer, Ocean’s Eleven-style sci-fi adventure with a focus on Hawaiian culture, I was immediately intrigued. I love a light-hearted heist, especially when the criminals have Robin Hood ambitions and the target is someone you love to hate. I had high hopes, and I’m happy to say, this story absolutely lived up to the hype I built up in my mind.

The world-building in this book is fantastic. The author creates a future where, despite having colonized the galaxy, humans still hold onto their cultural heritages. I particularly enjoyed the use of Hawaiian pidgin throughout the story, which allowed me to learn more about Hawaiian culture in such an immersive way.

The characters were another highlight. The banter and chemistry between them was wonderful, and I loved the LGBTQ+ representation. Edie, in particular, stole my heart. She’s big-hearted, selfless, and stubborn as a rock. Through Edie, the author does an excellent job of exploring the challenges faced by people trying to rebuild their lives after prison, showing why returning to crime can feel like the only option.

And, of course, the found family trope was the cherry on top. The sense of belonging and loyalty among the characters was so heartwarming. I had so much fun reading this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, queer read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

U.S. Pub Date: January 14, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager Publishing for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

#hammajangluck

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for this advanced copy! You can pick up Hammajang Luck on January 14, 2025.

This book sucked me in right away and kept me hooked the whole time! I really have to be in the right mood to read sci-fi, but I feel like the premise and world-building in this story didn't overwhelm you. It eased you in while still keeping the story moving, which I really appreciated. Edie was a fantastic protagonist with flaws and strengths that leapt off the page, I love how Makana Yamamoto wove in a queer, non-binary character and cast so easily into this world. I also loved not only the romantic relationships but the found family vibes evoked with this heist crew.

Angel and Edie's relationship was wonderfully portrayed with just the right amount of angst and tension. I wasn't sure Edie would be able to forgive Angel, but I think the way they went about it made sense for the characters and story.

Overall, this was a super quick and fun read that I highly recommend picking up come January!

This book was not bad, but it was also not for me at all. First, I had zero clue that it was written in a dialect for some parts, and I absolutely hate that so much. I also just did not love the way this book was written. For me, it felt like too much telling rather than showing.

I enjoyed all the LGBTQ* representation in this book, and how “natural” it felt to have those characters, rather than them being a part of the story with that being their only character trait. I also did enjoy the found family, as well as the real family, aspects of it, but overall I think I am just not meant to be a sci-fi reader.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the advanced copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC! All opinions in this review are my own.

RATING AND OVERALL THOUGHTS:

3.25 stars. I found this to be a very middle of the road but quick heist novel. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either. It was all very surface level and formulaic but it does have amazing queer rep and cultural/socioeconomic themes.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

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WHAT I LOVED:

- The natural inclusion of queer identities that isn’t seen enough in SFF!
- I really saw the love the author has for their culture and Hawaii in the novel and love how it was so seamlessly translated into the characters every day lives.
- The times Edie spent with their family, especially with their sister Andie and her kids, was honestly the best parts of the novel. You could feel the genuine love there and I honestly looked forward to those moments more than the plot moments centered around the heist. My only gripe with that though was how much Edie seemed to *hate* Tyler and went out of their way to try and prevent Tyler from seeing the kids which is pretty fucked up. Tyler was a douche in the sense that we were constantly *told* he put climbing the social ladder over his family with Andie but we never got to actually *see* that so when Edie constantly had the inner thoughts of keeping Tyler away from Andie and the kids, it just felt like someone was pissed that their older sister grew up, had a family, and was currently undergoing some martial problems that Edie took a hard side in. Unless Tyler was doing actual harm to the kids, you don’t prevent them from spending time with their parents. It wasn’t Edie’s place to decide that.

WHAT I DISLIKED:

- The romance was unbelievable. Honestly the idea that Edie just rolled over nearly the entire book, even after Angel was the reason they went to prison, and Angel never truly got called out for it until towards the 80% mark only for Angel to get sooooooo offended for being (rightfully!) called a snake that she kicked Edie out of the room leaving Edie to roll over and show their belly again. I already wasn’t buying their romance, since there was no real moments of bridging that reconnection, that the Happy Ever After ending had no meaning. There was no redemption.
- The characters were very one-note. I didn’t hate them but I had no attachment to any of them really. They were all there to serve a purpose in a very barebones matter. I also didn’t feel like the crew never really became a family, there was no genuine connection for most of the book. Edie absolutely felt like an outlier to most of them except Cy but that is only because they knew each other their entire lives.
- The plot was very predictable, I never felt any of the stakes and it didn’t do anything new in an exciting enough matter to keep me engaged. I did find it hard to suspend my disbelief with how easy everything seemed to be and that they were never caught sooner.

WHAT I AM NOT SURE ABOUT/WANTED MORE OF:

- I was surprised to find that the Hawaiian Pidgin was easy to read (I did have to look up a few words here and there as expected for one with no familiarity of the language but most of it I gleaned via context clues) however I found the dialogue that was written entirely in, for lack of a better word at 2am, “proper” English felt unnatural. I just felt like no one would actually speak like that. I would’ve rather the entire novel been in Pidgin honestly.
- The worldbuilding was a bit sparse which isn’t necessarily *bad* but it also just felt like Earth Lite:tm: but in the vague notions of Space:tm:. There was no depth to it which was a reoccurring problem throughout the novel.

Oh this book. This book was so unbelievably FUN. Not only that, but it expertly portrays desperation and loss, friendship and growth. I love the openness of the queer characters, the unabashed trans-ness of this book. It's such a lovely, magnificent book and I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

My only real complaint is the ending– it felt rushed and in some ways unsatisfying. I think in many ways the least important part of the book to me was the romance elements, but I understand the purpose they serve here– I just found myself not as interested in it. Though I do think the romance will work for a lot of people, it just didn't work as well for me.

I also loved the use of pidgin throughout the book. This books feels like living in Hawaii, albeit a Hawaii far away from the islands. Most of the struggle of longing for the home planet felt like longing for a Hawaiian culture that was ripped from its people by the invasive species that is American imperialism.

This is a wonderful, important book. I will be picking up future books from Makana Yamamoto.

Not objectively bad in any way, just not for me. The prose is very quick and plain and direct, and the first-person narration isn’t to my taste. I was hoping to get swept up in the characters and worldbuilding even though I don’t usually like heist stories, but alas – no, I just don’t like heist stories. Which is of course not Yamamoto’s fault!

If you DO like heist stories, and the blurb sounds up your alley, I encourage you to look this one up! Because it seems like it’s going to hit all the usual heist high-points for sure.

So there's two things to know going into this review: I dystopian futures, and I can't remember the plot of any of the ocean's films. Well, like, I know the rough idea, but cannot for the life of me remember how any of them turn out.

I loved this book. From the start, right out of a hollywood movie, to the end, which, to be honest, could have also been out of a hollywood movie. Meet Edie, fresh out of spending their twenties on an icy prison planet, and ready to go straight. Except. There's rent to pay, cancer treatment to fund, and no one with hire them. Enter Angel with an offer Edie just can't refuse. Maybe one last job won't hurt, and it'll hurt even less when it's against the guy that got Edie sent to jail in the first place.

The book is a perfect future dystopian heist, with a great side of sapphic romance, Hawaiian culture and full cast of LGBTQ+ characters. It was about community, legacy and what really matters in life. It loses a slight star because it could have had a more dramatic ending!

4.5* rounded up!

I can confirm this is NOT like Ocean’s 8 meets Gideon the Ninth. -____-

I wanted to love this very much. Your girl loves a heist. But it was a bit too cheesy and cliche for my taste. Neither the characters nor the world ever had a chance to really set down roots in my brain.

😔

A lovely queer heist novel.

I can definitely see the comparison to Ocean's 8 with this one, though in my opinion it has very little to do with Gideon the Ninth other than both share a butch main character. With Blade Runner it shares the cyberpunk aspect, though Hammajang Luck, while still playing in a capitalist hellhole setting, is nowhere near as bleak. I found this to overall be a rather positive and upbeat book that makes you feel good while reading.

Despite this being a heist novel, this felt almost low stakes. Thus I find the Ocean's 8 comparison much more fitting than Six of Crows, simply due to the humorous tone and how things just simply... work out, with very little pushback. There is still tension, near misses, and high octance scenes that will get you excited while reading! I just never got the "omg I have no idea how they could possibly get out of this" feeling. Instead, it's more celebratory, triumphant adrenaline of watching the characters overcome the obstacles and succeed.

Plot-wise, the book is pretty straightforward. Edie is released from prison, and the very person who betrayed them is now looking to hire them for a job again. But with a family to support, and a big payout at the end of it, and few alternatives, Edie finds themselves agreeing. There's a crew to recruit, bait to lay out, traps to plan, routes to prepare, and finally, the big heist.
There were no big surprises or big twists, though it wasn't exactly predictable, and never boring. Just nothing groundbreaking new, which is perfectly fine!

I really enjoyed the side characters. The final crew was diverse and fun with multiple trans and nonbinary characters of different varieties (some directly referred to as Māhū), and I really enjoyed reading their banter. I almost wish we had learned more about the dynamics within the crew, as ultimately it didn't go very deep. The Hawaiian Pidgin was new to me but a lot of fun to read!

Where the book was underwhelming for me was the romance. I generally found Angel to be one of the weakest characters. She is cold and standoffish, keeping up the image of the unflappable leader, which unfortunately also meant we never really got to glimpse behind the mask. And the few glimpses and honest open conversations were too little too late for me - or rather they just weren't enough for me to believe the romance from it.

Another aspect is how Edie's prison time feels almost forgotten a lot of the time. Eight years is long. And yet they are still considered to be one of the best "runners", meaning able to make their way through the dangerous, impassable corridors of the station. When they haven't been doing it for eight years??? SO much must have changed??? And then they have 2 heart-to-heart conversations with the childhood friend who sold them out, and they are in love and all is well and nothing changed??? It unfortunately broke my suspension of disbelief.

Overall this was a lighthearted read with some pleasant action. It didn't wow me, but it was fun and entertaining depite its flaws.

This was such a fun, fast-paced book. Hammajang Luck is essentially Hawaiian Heist Lesbians in Space, and every part of that is delightful. The casual way the book incorporates Hawaiian pidgin was enjoyable and added a lot of depth & feeling to the worldbuilding, which is essentially a futuristic space colony living late stage capitalism. I loved getting to know Edie and their relationship to family, to their past, to their own identity, and to the other members of the crew. The heist portion moved quickly with some tension but was not too stressful—in that sense, I think Ocean’s 11 as a description of the vibe is right on the mark. Everything wraps up quickly and in a generally satisfactory way. I do wish we had gotten a little more with the other members of the crew, but I think the focus was always more about Edie than about the heist. Very fun.

We need more space heist books.

Hammajang Luck promised me one thing I couldn't resist: outcasts on a heist. It's compared to Gideon the Ninth, but I almost wish it wasn't because the only similarity is sapphics in space, and it fails to include what makes this story unique: the family dynamics.
This is a heist story. It doesn't have any particularly novel scenes, but that doesn't matter because we're here for the fun of it. Edie, upon being released from prison, is roped into yet another crime with their friend - and maybe more - Angel, who betrayed them before. Together with their team of outcasts, Edie and Angel organize a heist against a technology guru trillionaire. I thought the stakes were relatively low for a heist novel, but I didn't mind too much. There weren't a ton of plot twists, either. For as much as the heist was emphasized in the blurb, I feel like this book focused more on vibes than anything...which I didn't love.
I think the issue for me was that I didn't really connect with any of the characters. I'm going to take partial blame for this; a lot of Life Things were going on when I started this book, and I didn't really get into it until after the characters had been introduced, so I didn't really get to know them well enough for a found family book. As far as the main characters went, I thought Edie was fine as a narrator, but they were more avoidant than active. I didn't love Angel, but I didn't hate her. Andie was probably my favorite because it's rare we get to see someone outside the heist have opinions on it.
Hammajang Luck is a sci-fi heist story perfect for fans of found family and real family mixing together.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.25/5