THAT WHICH FEEDS US

A search for her twin sister lures 19-year-old Lehua to Kōpa‘a Island, home to a mysterious, ultra-exclusive resort.

Six months ago, Lehua quit the track team and dropped out of college, determined to find her own path away from her twin Ohia’s shadow. The girls have barely spoken since then—until Ohia calls to tell Lehua about her internship on a farm in Hawai‘i. The sisters were raised in Phoenix by their grandparents and have never visited their “ancestral homeland, the fantasyland of [their] grandparents’ stories and superstitions.” Two weeks later, the sisters’ track coach appears at the mortuary where Lehua works, looking for Ohia and revealing that the normally stellar student is on academic suspension. Despite Lehua’s anger, she worries when she can’t reach Ohia, so she travels to Kōpa‘a, an off-the-grid wellness resort and persimmon orchard. But the manager claims that Ohia, who used a fake name to get the job, quit after a week and left. Lehua doesn’t believe in ghosts, but there’s something unsettling about the island. Missing the only boat to nearby Maui, she’s left stranded with a storm coming. As Lehua unravels the mystery of her sister’s disappearance, she uncovers the dark history of the island and the white missionary plantation-owning family who stole the land. The latest from Kendall, who’s hapa Native Hawaiian, is richly atmospheric supernatural horror that explores diaspora experiences, the ongoing impact of colonization, and the sisters’ complex, dynamic relationship.

Vivid and potent.