𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋ 𝟒 stars

Aaaah, this was so good!! It felt like a combination of *Ocean's 8* and *Six of Crows*. Gotta love a good heist book 🙂‍↕️
The found family aspect in *Hammajang Luck* was amazing.
And the narrator of the audiobook did so well?? I loved how they could do all those accents, hehe.


ᯓ★ pre-read

It's finally time! I've been so excited to read *Hammajang Luck* by Makana Yamamoto ever since its release date 🤭. Definitely one of my most anticipated YA book reviews this year!

This was a really fun book! It's got so many great elements: intelligent characters, a fractured relationship, a family that's supposed to be kept in the dark but isn't really, a meticulously planned heist, the casual inclusion of trans lives, the recruitment of a diverse and uniquely skilled team specifically for the heist, biodigital ethics, a ragtag Robin Hood vibe, second chances, third chances, and more. Some parts felt a little forced, like the siblings who only have each other, the awful ...

Angel betrayed Edie after a heist went south. Now, Edie's done eight years in the slammer while Angel's become a security officer for some Elon Musk-esque billionaire. Angel gets Edie sprung from prison to strong-arm her into pulling off another heist—shaking down the bad guy for a cool billion. So, they assemble a crew of con artists, acrobats, a hacker, a safecracker, the whole shebang. The story really leans into building the romance and the whole 'found family' vibe, which, for me, didn't qu...

There were exactly two things I liked in "Hammajang Luck" - Edie and their family, and all the socio-economics.Wait. Three. Because all the representation was pretty awesome too. Other than that, this was a huge disappointment.And OMG, this book needed a map! I could not picture the setting at all, and I think having a map to show me where everything was would have helped me get a sense of what this place was like. One of the biggest issues with "Hammajang Luck" is that it had no sense of place....

This book bills itself as a queer, cyberpunk Ocean’s Eleven, and honestly, that's exactly what you get, and then some. It's got swagger, a voice that grabs you, and it's just a flat-out fun ride.Okay, the plot itself isn't winning any originality awards. Our main character gets sprung from prison, dangled the promise of one last, epic score, and then we get to watch them wrangle a ragtag crew as they scheme to take down a truly loathsome bad guy – the kind you just love to hate. Instead of a cas...

Rep: Hawaiian agender butch lesbian mc, lesbian li, Hawaiian transmasc side character, transfem femme lesbian side character, butch lesbian side characterGalley provided by publisherOkay, so sometimes you just *know* from page one that you're not going to vibe with a book. Other times, you *think* you won't, but it gets better, and you start to think you were wrong! Then it turns out your gut feeling was right all along, and now you've wasted precious reading time on something incredibly dull.Ho...

3.5 stars.The vibes in *Hammajang Luck* remind me of that *Fast and Furious* meme where Vin Diesel emphasizes that nothing's stronger than family. And while I'm a hater at heart, the way that Makana Yamamoto presents that theme is actually pretty heartwarming, and I ended up liking it.TLDR; I came for the heist, but stayed for the cozy family vibes and Hawaiian community ties.And I'll admit, as someone who works in a similar field (sadly, not black hat heist related), I really appreciated the at...

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC! Honestly, I appreciate what *Hammajang Luck* by Makana Yamamoto was going for, but it really fell flat for me. Let me break down why:I liked the world-building we got, but it needed more depth. I wanted to be more immersed. I felt the same about the descriptions. The cyberpunk descriptions we *did* get were cool, but for a book that was pitched as a *Blade Runner* comparison… yeah, I was disappointed. I was expecting so much more grit.The plot ...

Cyberpunk but make it 'enemies-to-lovers lesbian space heist' LIKE LISTENNNN. Seriously, though, it's like Ocean's 8 meets Gideon the Ninth. If you're looking for a fun, fast-paced read, Makana Yamamoto's *Hammajang Luck* delivers. Think found family vibes with a healthy dose of sapphic yearning in a neon-drenched future. This book review is basically me screaming into the void that everyone should read *Hammajang Luck*.

I absolutely love it when the most anticipated book release of the year doesn't disappoint! When Edie is unexpectedly released from prison thanks to the woman who betrayed them, they struggle to find a job to support their family. With a pregnant sister and a sick niece, they know they can’t afford to fall back into their old criminal ways, but money is tight and no one will hire them. Then Angel, their childhood friend and the woman who put them in prison, waltzes back into their life with the ...