I'm happy I got this book through the Early Reviewers program, as it was a great read. I found the writing very engaging and the characters felt very real. ( )

For a first effort at fiction by a technical writer, I was surprisingly impressed. Although a fictional piece there is much historical information regarding the evacuation of Japanese Americans from Hawaii that I found new and interesting. A thoughtful story that had me wondering what parts of the mother and son relationship was autobiographical and what was truly fiction. ( )

An interesting look into a variety of complex, interconnected topics centered on questions of identity, culture, and history. Hayashi tackles a lot of complicated topics in Two Nails, One Love. What starts as a novel confronting the complex navigation of two homophobic cultures as a gay man quickly expands into issues surrounding being a child of immigrants, a person of Japanese descent in America, the reaction of Americans to the attack on Pearl harbor and the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the tensions within a family straddling two cultures, and more. A touching story well worth a read for anyone interested in how history affects individuals, what it's like to be a gay son of immigrants, or the interplay of and tension between cultures as people move from one place to another. The only reason Two Nails, One Love does not earn a full five stars is that the writing can sometimes be a little clunky, especially in the first few chapters of the book. The book is written primarily in a first person narrative, and often Hayashi uses this to give us direct descriptions, which can sometimes feel less like access to his inner thoughts and more like poor writing. These moments are uncommon and easily overlooked, however, especially as the story begins to unfold into its greater context. ( )

The Japanese-American internment was such an horrific time in our country’s history, and this author did an excellent job depicting not just the historical details, but the toll it took on individuals and families, continuing into the present. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about the Japanese American experience and family dynamics.

At times it felt like this novel was trying to gallop through more key points of 20th century history than it could do justice to, but at other times when it slowed down to individual experiences it was engaging and touching. The protagonist's mother's experience of having to move from Hawaii to a camp in Arkansas during the second world war, followed by the family's deportation to Japan despite them being US citizens, and the protagonist trying to find himself as second or third generation immigrant, wanting to seek his own destiny and identity versus following what his parents want to support, wanting to be open about being gay but not wanting to risk the consequences if his parents aren't happy about it—all of these parts were very interesting and swept me into the story. ( )