A new urban fantasy novel by one of Hawaiʻi’s own has hit the shelves: It features a young Hawaiian woman who must solve a murder to clear her name, and it’s gripping readers across the islands and beyond.
“The Killing Spell” is the debut novel by Native Hawaiian author and local TikTok personality Shay Kauwe, who grew up on Hawaiian Homestead land in Waimānalo.
Her novel is set in a near apocalyptic future, where catastrophic floods drown the Hawaiian islands and unleash magic into the world — a magic that’s deeply attached to the language of ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi.
HPR sat down with the novelist to talk about her writing, the ups and downs of being a social media personality, and to hear what inspired her to craft a magical version of her homeland through her writing.
“I’ll say, if somebody's local, it's like if homestead had magic,” Kauwe said. “And then the other thing is, in a world where each language is its own branch of magic, what does Hawaiian look like in that world?”
“The Killing Spell” is published by Simon & Schuster and is available online and wherever books are sold.
As part of her book tour, Kauwe will be at Hale Līhuʻe / Hā Coffee in Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi on May 8 and at Basically Books in Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island on May 9. More information about the book tour can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on May 4, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
