The Kingdom of Oceana is a Young Adult Fantasy set in Hawaii 500 years in the past when the people and the sea-life lived in harmony. Each respecting and protecting the other. A time when myths rule and magic abounds!
When greed and sibling rivalry divide the islands and a dark magic infects the sea they must unite to fight a common enemy. But will it be in detriment of the whole island or will the rulers see the way before it’s too late.

This is an action packed story full of legend, history, myth, magic, danger, jealousy and a touch of romance.
I’ve rated at 11+ as there is a bit of violence involved although it is not too graphic and good does triumph over evil eventually.

Well plotted and beautifully described the scenes come alive as if watching them on the big screen. An immersive story of destiny that will hold the attention of both adult and child alike.

Suitable for 11 years plus. ( )

Two Hawaiian princes are coming of age and their sibling rivalry could turn to more than pranks and minor disagreements. When their trespassing on forbidden ground unleashes an ancient curse, things turn bad between their island and a rival island kingdom. Sorcery, surfing, and subterfuge combine in this beautiful coming of age story.

Prince Nahoa and his younger brother, Prince Ailani, are on the cusp of manhood. Their father has lead their island kingdom well for these many years, but now a rival island, Pearl Island, seeks their support and subservience. None of the royal family are eager to enter into such an agreement. There’s sibling rivalry, a minor love story, adventure, magic, mystery, and talking to animals. I was enchanted by this story.

The entire tale is told through Ailani’s eyes and I became rather attached to him. I really wanted him to come through this book intact. While he knows his place isn’t to rule (that’s the first son’s job once his father passes), he still has a well developed sense of right and wrong. Coupled with that is his ability to forgive, which is greatly tested where his brother is concerned. Nahoa is constantly teasing Ailani and sometimes outright insulting him. There’s also his pranks, one of which leads to the unleashing of a curse.

Both princes are tutored by the island’s kahuna, which is a magician priest. Ailani does a better job listening than Nahoa and he has a stronger bond with the old kahuna. The magic element of this story is so well done. The characters don’t question that magic exists because they have grown up around it. There’s shape shifting, speaking with animals, playing with lightning, telepathy, and more. I especially liked the bond with animals that most of the characters had. While the animals don’t talk back per se, they do respond to conversational questions, prompts, and commands. You can really tell a lot about a character in how they treat animals and that idea isn’t lost on Ailani.

My one little criticism for this story is that there are so few female characters. There’s princess Momi, who has a spark to her but is basically a love interest. Then there is Ailani’s mother who we catch glimpses of. She might have her own personal agenda or her nature may simply be to be a selfish and manipulative; we saw so little of her it’s hard to say which it is. I was most impressed with the daughter of the chief navigator; he’s training her to walk in his footsteps one day. Then there was an old lady selling fruit at market… and I do believe that was it for female characters. The story would have been enhanced by using some female characters to move the plot along instead of having them all be minor characters.

The story makes great use of the setting. This is one of those books where the setting is nearly a character unto itself based on how much it affects the story line. The Hawaiian culture is on full display. I loved that travel times between islands were realistic. I also had fun trying to guess what century this tale was set in. The islands have pigs, goats, and dogs so I was guessing perhaps this story takes place in the 1700s or 1800s.

Starting with some sibling rivalry to kick us off, the story build and builds. The unleashed curse isn’t initially a big deal but later it does become so. I loved learning alongside Ailani how this balance of nature and magic, or good and evil, of traditional ways and outside influences all tied together in the final burst of action. I really didn’t know how things would turn out for Ailani, Momi, and Nahoa and I was on my seat’s edge as I finished this book. The ending was satisfying but also left me ready for the next adventure in Volume 2.

As an aside, the publisher and/or author have a great website (http://kingdomofoceana.com/) set up for this book that includes study guides, a glossary, and a map. They really went all out in making this book a great pick for a class read complete with activities and quizzes built into the study guides.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Narration: Rayton Lamay was such a perfect pick for this book. I really felt submerged in to the Hawaiian culture with his narration. While I’m no expert on Hawaiian accents, he maintained a consistent accent throughout the entire book. He was also great at keeping all the characters distinct and his female voices were believable. He was wonderful at imbuing Ailani with the appropriate emotions. ( )

Hawaii is one of those places I've always wanted to visit, but admittedly I didn't know much about it until reading The Kingdom of Oceana. I know it's a state, that the word aloha can be used for hello or goodbye, and that the land was formed from volcanic activity. Literally, most of the exposure I've had to the islands are through movies like Lilo & Stitch and 50 First Dates. Yeah I know, that's pretty sad.

The author's beautiful way of describing the setting made me feel like I was there and I learned a lot through the novel and corresponding study guides. I even learned more about the language, so now when my husband makes me mad me I can call him an omo and he'll be none the wiser. Sorry honey!

All of the characters were really well developed and I enjoyed the underlying theme of sibling rivalry. Of course, the conflict between Prince Nahoa and Prince Ailani went far beyond the usual brotherly quarrel. Nahoa just assumed he would be king because he was born first, but he didn't have any of the qualities that make a good leader; he was too arrogant, prideful, and not entirely dependable. Ailani really took to heart their culture and the teachings from his father and the Kahuna (a holy priest or sorcerer), and proved to be brave, kind, and strong.

I'm a sucker for romance, so I was excited by the introduction of Princess Momi from Pearl Island. This was another source of strain between Ailani and Nahoa, because they were both immediately smitten with her. I loved that she was such a free spirit and had a passion for adventure. It was hard to know if it would lead anywhere, since her father, King Lako, was of questionable ethics and did not seem opposed to going to war in a quest for ruling not only Pearl Island but the Great Island as well.

There are quite a few unfamiliar Hawaiian words introduced, but the author made it very easy to identify them while reading by including foot notes. There is also a glossary of all of these words at the end, so you can always reference that as well. As I mentioned before, there are also study guides
available that give a crash course in everything from the mythology and culture of Hawaii to geographical and climate information. They include some very interesting information and intriguing pictures, as well as discussion questions and a quiz to gauge what you have learned.

Right from the beginning I was enthralled by The Kingdom of Oceana, and thought about how much I wished a novel like this could have been part of our required reading in middle or high school. It would have held my attention a lot more than the other books we were forced to read, that's for sure. The writing was smooth, the entire novel was elegantly worded, and while the author did use a lot of descriptive phrases to paint a picture for the readers, it was beautiful and I didn't feel at all like it was overdone. I was sad when I reached the final page, but the good news is that this is to be a series! I'm not sure if book two will center around the same characters, but I am excited to see what author Mitchell Charles comes up with next!

I received a free copy of this book from the publicist in exchange for an honest review. ( )

***This book was reviewed for Netgalley***

Charles' Kingdom of Oceana is a charming coming of age story focusing on Ailani, gifted with a sensitivity to magick, and his far more headstrong brother Nahoa, who sees only the base world and not what lies beneath. Nahoa is mischievous, and often that mischief is laced with a touch of hidden malice.

In the beginning, the brothers head to a forbidden ruin, where they find a creepy tiki statue that seems to possess Nahoa. He denies it later, but while under the tiki’s influence, he tried to push his brother off a cliff. Fun times. After the pair return home, they discover their father is back, and will take his sons on his next visit to Pearl Island.

Before this, though, the boys must undergo a sort of vision quest ritual. Once on Pearl Island, Ailani uncovers a terrible crime, one so anathema to his people, his brother, and Momi, daughter of King Lako, that they refuse to believe it at first. Ailani and his family are forced to flee Pearl Island. On the way back to the Great Island, the Kahuna with them takes the brothers to the place where tribespeople go to find their spirit animals, saying that it was necessary for the coming days.

The spirit journeys herald a danger far greater than even that which they uncovered on Pearl Island. Ailani, and the Kahuna’s apprentice Puhi go on a secret mission to hopefully put an end to one danger. It succeeds to a degree, but things aren't quite finished. Ailani must go alone to a forsaken ruin to retrieve the artifact corrupting the land.

I absolutely loved the cover! It fit the story perfectly. That's a pet peeve of mine, when covers don't reflect the story within. Each chapter has a footnotes section at the end, listing the Hawaiian words and phrases used, which is something I really appreciated. With the Kindle, I just needed to click the footnote number and the footnote text for that word to get the meaning.

I loved the orca scene when Ailani and Nahoa were being taken to the whale carcass The hunt scene was very visual; felt like I was there. And the orca coming up by boat to look at Ailani. Beautiful!

I found the dialogue stilted at times, and there was far more showing than telling. This was a good story. It would be an absolutely great one if some major tweaking with the showing/telling were done. There were a few grammar/spelling mistakes, but that did not detract from my enjoyment at all.

All that being said, I found the prose beautiful, and quite poetic in places. Even with the showing/telling issue, I still enjoyed the description of things- the vision quest, the journey to find the spirit animals, King Lako and his personality.

🎻🎻🎻🎻 I found this to be a very readable and engaging story, and perfect for its target age group. Recommended if you enjoy alternate historical fiction, tales of the Hawaiian isles, or coming of age stories. ( )