I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a valuable addition to whatever canon we now have. I am personally interested in the history and culture of this region of the world, so I was very happy that I could read almost 700 pages of well researched historical fiction/fantasy about it! I loved picking up little things about the different societies of Polynesia, their languages and foods, and tiny little tidbits of history.

I haven’t read any of this author’s other work, so I won’t be able to compare, but I will say that this is not the greatest book I have ever read. The characters are interesting, but not compelling or incredibly lifelike. They are sketched out in a kind of understated, fable-like way (reminded me of children’s book characters in parts). This might be by design, but the effect is they never really seem real to you in the way that really great characters do. They seem to sort of just be there on the page. The tone/diction of their speech was also interesting to me. It was mostly sort of detached and formal, but then there would be brief flashes of incredible casualness that sort of made everything seem catastrophically familiar and contemporary. Again, this seemed by design, but I’m not sure how much the effect worked on me.

I really enjoyed the time-split narrative aspect. I thought it was well executed and built suspense (kept me reading!!!!).

Overall, not the best book I’ve ever read, but thoroughly enjoyable nevertheless!

While I liked the premise and overall plot of "The Wayfinder", this book just wasn't for me, mostly because of the writing. The style was way too flowery for me and I would have enjoyed a more straight-forward narrative.

Thank you net galley for the opportunity to read this book. But in all honesty, it was difficult to follow. I’ve put this book down so many times to the point that I wanted to dnf it so badly. But I wanted to give it a fair shot and i just wasn’t the targeted audience. All the names were impossible to pronounce correctly without butchering it and it just made it that much more difficult to want to even be remotely interested in the story.

There were many things that interested me when requesting this arc, and I was so looking forward to it! I was intrigued by the different Polynesian islands and the various ways their indigenous cultures presented themselves, especially related to storytelling. This has been a huge point of interest for me lately.

However, I have found the plot and characters in this novel very difficult to follow. As soon as I got a handle on what was happening, we moved to another POV in another place and, potentially, time. It feels confusing and a little too hefty. There are many, many characters and storylines and it’s hard to keep track of them.

Ultimately, I have decided not to finish this book. I wanted to keep trying, but I fear it would take me way too long if I did, considering how long this book is. Some of the trigger warnings I have read in other reviews have contributed to my unwillingness to keep reading.

I can tell that this was extensively researched and thoughtful, but it just isn’t for me. Thank you so much to NetGalley for a chance to read this book! I hope it finds its audience.

Absolutely, I understand your concerns! Here’s a fresh, brief summary in a different order and with reworded sentences:

Adam Johnson always surprises, and *The Wayfinder* is no exception—a sweeping historical novel set in the world of the Tu’i Tonga empire. Johnson captures the lives of Kōrero, a young island woman facing the depletion of her people’s resources, and two brothers whose arrival could mean survival. The story unfolds across parallel timelines, exploring the brothers’ past journey and their family’s ties to royalty, while also diving deep into Kōrero’s struggle for her people’s future.

The novel masterfully weaves in Tonga’s oral traditions, poetry, and language, bringing authenticity and depth. Johnson isn’t afraid to write about heavy topics like war, trauma, and environmental destruction, yet there are also threads of hope and resilience. With so many well-developed characters and emotional twists, *The Wayfinder* is an immersive read that blends cultural history with suspense and heart—a powerful addition to Johnson’s impressive work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC of The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson.

I give this 4.5 stars overall.

I absolutely love Adam Johnson's work. Both The Orphan Master's Son and Fortune Smiles are favorites of mine . His short story, Nirvana, lives rent free in my head. The man is just talented. He's a must read for me.

The Wayfinder, a historical epic, was not what I expected from him, but one that I fully embrace on the other side of those 736 pages. Johnson has wells of range and the artistic vision and The Wayfinder is a shining example of how we can always expect whatever comes next from him will be top tier.

The story is told over two timelines, which may not seem clear in the first 15% or so, but does solidify early-ish in the novel. One timeline follows Kōrero, a young woman on an island inhabited by shipwrecked slaves three generations ago. No strangers have visited their island, and it is rapidly nearing the full depletion of its resources with no wood available for boats and no community members with the skills to sail. or navigate. By some miracle, two young brothers on their own journey wash ashore on Kōrero's island and her people begin to determine a way to save themselves.

The other timeline happens in the very near past and revolves around the two brothers and their family and their longer journey to end up on Kōrero's island. My one of three minor gripes with this whole novel is this narrative difference, because, with the timelines being so close in time, it, at times, did not work for me. Truly, what I wanted was more of Kōrero and her journey. thinking from the description that this is about her journey to leadership, but I think the majority of the book is about the brothers and the royal family of Tonga and the empire's negative influences. I think I would have been fine if the first timeline came first and there was a second part of the novel with Kōrero's storyline and that would have made everything feel more balanced instead of back-and-forth just when you get invested in each part. But honestly, that's very minor, because Johnson tells the story of the Tu'i Tonga empire and introduces the characters in such a way that you want to know more about each of them and you want each chapter to spend more time with whomever is being featured at the moment. (The second gripe is I didn't ever have any idea of what century/time I was in exactly, given all my knowledge of the Tongan empire comes from this book, so I would have loved some references to the year, both when this begins and how much time passes with all of these water journeys, because I wasn't sure how long the timeline actually was. The third gripe is that I wanted to know for sure about Papa Toki, Hine and the others given Kōrero's tasks at the end of the novel - I think having a knowledge of how much time had passed in the novel would have helped with this).

Johnson does not shy away from darker aspects of war, PTSD, sexual assault of women, and slavery. He also features the depletion of resources and extinction of animals, the purposeful burning of islands to de-home inhabitants, and the offerings required to the kingdom that leave communities with nothing. The overarching story covers the themes of empire, of environmental and animal conservation, and of trauma, while also bringing messages of hope and healing and forgiveness and the power of community and nonviolence in a world full of violence.

There are little note sections interspersed throughout chapters that convey the oral storytelling traditions of the Tongans and recount tales that may directly influence the characters or the history and culture. There is also a lot of poetry and translations of Tongan and Fijian language that adds emphasis to the stories. You can tell Johnson researched and carefully arranged these stories and these usages, and I appreciate his efforts to respectfully bring this empire to life in so many faceted ways.

When it comes to characters, Johnson can make you both love and hate a horrendous character, or feel such sympathy for those that don't have the freedom to feel it for themselves: Aho, Tapoto, Lolohea, the Wayfinder, Finau, Moon Appearing, the Tu'i Tonga, Sun Shower, the Tamaha, Punake, Havea, Tiri, etc. etc. So many characters have the opportunity to shine and show multifaceted personalities and character arcs, and all the arcs felt true to what we were told of those people. Even knowing with Johnson's hints who would die several chapters ahead, it would still hit like a gut punch even when you learned more about the other characters and their motivations, while not ideal, were valid to their feelings. This is what makes Johnson so fantastic - he can make you cheer for a character and in the next sentence turn that on a dime and it is all entirely planned for.

When I started this as an ebook I had no idea what I was in for. This is a hefty book at over 700 pages.

Split between the Tongan royal family and a remote island where the residents are slowly starving with nowhere to go, you have a tale of political intrigue and royal succession contrasted against a coming of age survival story. The worlds collide and the staggered timeline means we gradually uncover what brought them together.

There is something epic about this book. It feels like a homeric poem or shakespearean tragedy with characters unequivocally destined to their fates. Despite this epic length and scope it maintains a steady pacing that makes it hard to put down. Each new event feels weighty and predestined.

It feels exceptionally well researched. I will say at the start it felt a bit like reading a history textbook and took a while for the story to pick up. But I do appreciate how much I’ve learned about this time and place.

Central themes include storytelling/oral history, abuse of power, depletion of natural resources, belonging, and cycles of violence especially in the context of war.

This book is dark. Though not gratuitous (imo), there is a constant grind of violence, especially against women, which makes for difficult reading at times. One man in particular is such a chilling figure and sections from his perspective were deeply unnerving. But each character, especially on the Tongan side has their villainous moments which attests to how power and violence both corrupt. Horrific acts are justified by duty and blame can always be shifted elsewhere.

This is absolutely going to stick with me for a long time. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

“Wayfinder” is the latest novel by Pulitzer Prize winner Adam Johnson. This rich work blends literary historical fiction, focusing on Tongan people during the height of the Tu’i Tonga Empire. Johnson emotional narratives explore human behavior under extreme conditions. In this case, we are transported to the South Pacific to witness the struggles of various Polynesian communities, particularly Kōrero, whose small island is facing starvation.

The novel features multiple interconnected stories that reflect the oral storytelling traditions of indigenous communities. Johnson employs shifting perspectives and layered storytelling structures. However, this approach makes the book heavy and challenging to follow, as it does not follow a straightforward linear progression. Instead, there is a large cast of characters and narratives to keep track of, along with Tongan vocabulary. While the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) includes a limited cast of characters, I personally would have benefitted from footnotes or a short glossary, along with a map and timeline.

I appreciated the comprehensive perspective but would have preferred a more linear story focused on a single point of view. I personally found it very difficult to follow the various threads. While I valued the exploration of power dynamics, I would advise readers to check content warnings ahead of reading, as there are instances of sexual assault, although they are not graphic in detail. I liked many aspects of the book but wanted a more concise focus on a particular viewpoint and story arc.

Fans of epic tales by authors like Abraham Verghese or those interested in oral storytelling and speculative fiction, such as Simon Jimenez, might find this book appealing. Thank you to Farrar, Straus, Giroux, and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars for me mainly because of how much I struggled to follow and stay invested in the many characters and their stories despite being well researched and well written.