If you've ever been on the receiving end of someone saying tourists should stop going to Hawai'i and not understood why, I need you to pick up this book ASAP. I knew it had gotten bad for native Hawaiians, but I learned so much more from this book. I learned that the majority of native Hawaiians have moved away from the islands because they can't afford to live there, and that some who remain live in tents at night while working at hotels by day. I learned how hard it is to keep land in a family across decades. And I think you should pick this up to learn more!!

This book was very informative about Hawaii. The narrative was easy to follow. It has a nice personal touch of sharing the history through the perspective and research of the author. The author does an excellent job as the narrator for the audiobook.

Imagine being handed 90 acres of lush Maui jungle by a king in 1848, only to watch your property taxes skyrocket 500% faster than tourists can snap selfies at the heiau—a massive 13th-century temple hidden in the rainforest. That’s the exact emotional rollercoaster Goo stumbles onto when she returns from the mainland to reckon with ancestral land, family squabbles, and maybe—just maybe—a spiritual treasure hunt under tropical vines.
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Goo’s dual reporter-memoir voice is equal parts investigative sleuth and sentimental beachcomber—complete with hummingbird-paced journalism and family gossip by tikis .

Her descriptions of the heiau are downright cinematic: black basalt walls, rainforest grandeur, and “tidal wave of black” vibes that fuel both personal awakening and career “Ah‑ha!” moment.

The real estate drama is hilariously tense: offshore millionaires eyeing your backyard, bureaucrats demanding tax gold, and Goo’s relatives debating whether to grow taro or cash in.

If you’re in the mood for a heartfelt, island-flavored memoir spiced with eco-activism, family intrigue, and ancient temple vibes, Kuleana delivers. It’s got the warmth of an aloha hug, the teeth of a tax audit, and just enough mossy temple mystery to keep you hooked. Minus one star only because I almost needed a flowchart to track all the family backstories—but hey, sometimes land and legacy are complex!

This book was a really beautiful and digestible history of Hawaii and one family's efforts to maintain and sustain their family land in Hana, Maui. The audio is read by the author and her feeling and passion come out through the reading. It's an interesting and important story, especially as a mainlander in the US who has traveled to Maui.

This is a well written memoir. My depth of Hawaiian knowledge was zero besides "Pearl Harbor" and a very beautiful vacation spot. I found this book to be very interesting. I enjoyed reading her journey of research and her family's history.
I recommend this book.

Fascinating account of one woman's relationship to her heritage and the land which connected her family to Hawai'i. Sara Kehaulani Goo is a journalist, she uses both her sleuthing and writing skills to tell her and her family's story. Along the way we get history lessons, pandemic musings, family drama, and cultural explanations. I was invested from beginning to end. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the audioARC.

Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, & Legacy in Old Hawai'i was a Macmillan Audio pick & how I wish this book had come out before my trip to Hawai'i last year! While there, we traveled along the west coast of O’ahu & saw the hundreds of tents lining the beaches sheltering unhoused people. At the time, the information I had on housing insecurity throughout Hawai'i was pretty basic: cost of living is high, income is low. What I didn’t realize was that the problem of low income, high cost of living, & high property values was a direct result of colonization. It’s pretty obvious once it’s revealed, & it’s a glaring example of the results of colonization.

Sara Kehaulani Goo discusses her family’s ancestral lands, gifted to them in 1848 by King Kamehameha III, & the 500% property tax increase in 2021 that threatened their ability to keep their land. Part of their land the family had gifted to a botanical garden in order to upkeep an ancestral heiau, a kind of temple. Between the land & the heiau, Sara explains the term “kuleana,” meaning responsibility, even stewardship, & often through generations. The family land & the heiau are Sara & her family’s kuleana. How can they do right by their ancestors in regards to caring for the land & the heiau? On the one hand, gifting the land with the heiau to the National Tropical Botanical Garden in order for the heiau to be restored & taken care of was a step in their kuleana. The other step is keeping the land in their family, as decreed in the original land agreement by Sara’s many-times great grandfather.

Along with Sara’s kuleana to her ancestral land, she reveals her struggles with her identity as Native Hawaiian, Okinawan, & Chinese, while having grown up in Southern California with childhood trips to Hawai'i & then settling in D.C. Sara is earnest & frank with the reader, & there are times when listening to the audio that I could hear the raw emotion, something close to tears, in her voice, since she narrated it herself. Not only did Sara share her experiences with her identity & finding connection to her roots, even as far away as D.C., but she shared her experience parenting children whom she tried to connect with their Native Hawaiian identities as well.

While this book explored & explained so much, like life it didn’t have a simple ending. Sara’s family’s land did find relief from “the tax man” from a new law, thanks to more Native Hawaiians in political positions than ever before, but it’s possible that solution could fall at the whims of a future government. Sadly, while her family’s story has a happy solution for now, the fact is that so many Native Hawaiians do not.

This book was definitely five stars, and I appreciate Sara’s openness and honesty baring her questions and family’s struggles with the reader.

Part Memoir and part investigative report, Sara Kehaulani Goo offers a professional and deeply personal account of the changes and new hurdles encompassing the residents of the Hawaiian Islands. Her multigenerational connection to the islands begins with a land gifted by Hawaiian royalty and ends with a financial crisis. An increase in property taxes by 500% reflects the struggle many locals face today, exacerbated by land grabs by big corporations and big celebrities alike.

Goo takes the reader on a journey from her first visit to the islands, through her journalism successes at the Washington Post to the complex family quest to save their land. The author explains how her ancestors inform her life in a Washington, D.C. suburb and how she works through her own identity crisis.

Recently, the Maui fires quite literally enflamed a seemingly insurmountable affordability problem. The land is such an integral part of Hawaiian culture but most descendants of the first residents can’t afford to live there.

This new work of non fiction reminded me of The Indian Card by Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz in both the journalistic integrity and passionate story telling, and the author narrating was an additional way to hear her voice. I would pair this with any novel by Sara Ackerman, an exceptional novelist of Hawaii stories.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio / Flatiron Books for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Kuleana is a great memoir of Sara Kehaulani Goo's relationship and feeling of obligation, responsibility, and feeling of connectedness to her indigenous Hawai'ian heritage. She chronicles her life around what it was like growing up on the main land, family that wanted to leave a legacy, her family legacy and land that was being taxed, what it meant for her to Hawai'ian and her connection to the islands, and what it might mean for the rest of her family.

I appreciated Sara's point of view and her vulnerability as she spilled out a piece of her life. I did enjoy reading more about the injustice of indigenous Hawai'ians and how you know... America's imperialism really twisted their culture, screwed them over about land ownership, and continues to slight them over until this day. Colonialism at some of its finest. Reading about this has only solidified already established thoughts about how the culture and ways have become adulterated. Kuleana was a great way to learn more about how people strive to live there and thrive, and the struggles they face to do so.

I highly recommend this book to all and is a great audio book as well.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

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A heartbreaking and informative book on one family's struggle to afford to keep their ancestorial land, in the frame of Hawai'ian history. Being forced by the American government to give up family land is a common story, and it's just so horrible that they're penalized for leaving the jungle in it's natural state. In a world where so much land is being eaten up by development and pollution, they should be allowed to leave it as it is, and even rewarded for it. The fact that taxing people out of keeping their ancestral property is not becoming any less popular is infuriating.

I really enjoyed this Hawaii centered book. As someone who lived there for ten years, went to the University of Hawaii, and still has family there, I enjoyed hearing more about family land and history.

Read this if you enjoy hearing about history, family ties, culture, and how much your blood determines who you are.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for a copy to enjoy.

Kuleana is a beautiful memoir about Hawaiian culture, native lands and a family that is keeping their native Hawaiian traditions alive. Kuleana is the Hawaiian word for responsibility or obligation and in this memoir it is mostly used to describe their ancestral land that is in trouble of being taken back or sold. I loved hearing about Goo's family and her journey to feel more connected to her Hawaiian culture and listening to how she supports her children to explore their Hawaiian lineage. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook if you get the chance because the author, Sara Kehaulani Goo narrates it and it is really powerful to hear her telling her story as well as the Hawaiian words spoken aloud. I loved learning about Hawaiian culture, the descriptions of Hawaii, hula and Goo's family's journey to figure out how to try to save their land. At times this book made me angry, there is a line "Hawaiians are living in a place that has the cost of living of NYC and wages of Arkansas" that has really stuck with me. Other stats of Hawaiians who are homeless and living in tents on beaches because of billionaires buying up land in Hawaii would make anyone angry too. This was very interesting (and possibly harder) to read right after finishing "There is No Place for Us" by Brian Goldstone who writes about the working class homeless in Atlanta. I left this book thinking about how we all live on Native lands whether its in Hawaii or the United States and how I want to be more thoughtful and it is a good reminder that this is all stolen land. This memoir is exactly what you need if you are interested in hearing family stories or Hawaii and its native culture. I look forward to folks getting their hands on this book or audiobook. I want to also thank NetGalley, MacMillian Audio and Flatiron Books for this advanced copy of the audiobook. Kuleana is out June 10, 2025.

As a frequent visitor to the islands, I embraced this audiobook narrated by the author Sara Kehaulani Goo. At times I was moved to tears, as she told the tale of her family's ancestorial land, and the economic climate in Hawaii for native Hawaiians. I'm so grateful to have read this. Highly recommend to anyone with any level of interest in Hawaii. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook.

Educational and engrossing, Kuleana is a solid read! Sara Kehaulani Goo perfectly blends memoir, history, ethnography, mythology, and journalism into this book. Kuleana is a story of land, heritage, loss and survival that I highly recommend! The audio is especially moving, as it is narrated by the author.

Hawaii is most favorite place in the world. In my first visit I was immediately captivated by the culture and history of the islands. I love learning more about Hawaii and this book delivered! Sara takes us through her family history, her connection to her Hawaiian blood and how she found a way to honor her heritage. I highly recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about Hawaii's history, culture and the unfortunate challenges natives face today in trying to keep their lands. The audio is narrated by the author herself which was wonderful!

A wonderful blend of science, history, sociology, and a personal story to share why the land of Hawaii is so important and why and how we all have a stake in protecting wild land

ANHPI Heritage Month 2025 #19

I admit, I didn't start off liking this. It felt a little holier than thou, but a memoir is a memoir, and it's hard to judge another person's depiction of their own life.

Sara admits she is 1/8 Native Hawaiian. It's truly not my place to judge how indigenous someone is. What does it mean to be Hawaiian? How much Native Hawaiian blood does it take to "count"? What is the difference between heritage and identity?

Her sister feels differently about being Hawaiian. Things offend her less. She is more practical than emotional. Can two sisters with the same Southern California upbringing feel differently about how Hawaiian they feel raising their children in DC?

I learned a lot about kuleana, ohana, and the connection to the land. The Hawaiian housing plight sounds a lot like the Californian one. I'm not sure a lot is being done about either.

While a lot of this deals with land tax increases and bad governing by a colonial government (the American dream, am I right?), I felt more connected to Sara's family story as a whole.

I did get annoyed when she tried to guilt trip her kids into wearing leis when they clearly didn't want to, but I'm not a mother. Your kids are their own people, and I think you should let them express themselves to an extent.

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

Sara’s story is important. This discusses the impacts the United States government has had on Hawaiian Natives, their land, and their culture. Sara Kehaulani Goo as part native Hawaiian shares her journey with her Hawaiian heritage as well as the struggles her family has had with their inherited land. Sara is a journalist by trade and you can see how she found a way to highlight problems o ur side of herself with her personal experience. She has a large respect for the Hawaiian culture despite spending a lot of her life off island. You can see her try to connect to her Hawaiian roots.

Personally, I felt this is great for people who truly want to understand the struggles Hawaiian’s are facing, but unless that is important to you this is missing a lot of emotional pull. I often found myself wishing Goo had found a way to weave her story into literary fiction because I feel it would be more impactful to the general audience and I would love to see this information be enjoyed and understood by a broader audience.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for and ALC

Absolutely incredible read. I loved this. I would like to read more from this author.

What a ride this was. I loved learning about Hawaiian culture, land issues native Hawaiian people are facing and everything in between.

This was fascinating from beginning to end. I highly recommend this one if Hawaiian culture is of any interest you you.

I cannot put into words how important this book/audiobook is. As an Anishinaabe person, I felt Sara Kehaulani’s pain and love for her land. This book was a journey of finding one’s identity, connecting with ancestral land, reconnecting with family and finding one’s spirit. I don’t have the ability to type how much I loved listening to this, the emotions it brought up and the love I have for the writer. Miigwetch for teaching everyone who will read and listen to this book about your family, your lands and your people’s history.

Having the author as the narrator was really the only choice for this recording. Hearing the Hawaiian words in her voice, hearing her sing the songs and hearing the pure love in her story made this all the more special.

I can’t recommend this book enough.