Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman | And emotional connections with the reader

Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Published by Simon Pulse ISBN: 1481487728
on September 26th 2017
Pages: 320
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis

Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.

But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.

From debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.

 

 

 

Starfish is a truly special book. But I do kind of regret requesting it. It’s not a bad book, it’s actually pretty good. Okay, it was great. But I couldn’t shake off the feeling that it just wasn’t written for me. Because it obviously wasn’t, but I like to be able to tell the people who will benefit the most from reading this book that they will probably adore it.

 

Kiko’s japanese heritage being a source of pride journey is a big deal

And it’s awesome. At first it bothered me so much, that she’s so confused about how to feel about being divided in half. I live in my own home country so no has ever said ‘I don’t date girls like you’ to me referring to my race or nationality. I know how it feels to be the outsider because of other things about yourself you can’t change, so even though I couldn’t completely relate to her position, I got the gist of the anxiety she felt most of the time.

The thing is, it takes a special kind of confidence to say ‘I don’t give a flying fuck about what you think of me’ because we’re built to care.

So yes, I’m very happy about Kiko’s journey. Teens are allowed to be confused, to have doubts and ask themselves questions, and to have no idea about what will happen in the future.

 

On role models and abuse and adult figures

I hated Kiko’s mother with the passion of a thousand suns. Why doesn’t she support her? Why is she so self-centered? I think this is something I just could not connect with. My mother is difficult, and sometimes she doesn’t understand my dreams and the things I do, which angers us both, but it’s okay. Because I know very well that she always has my back, and in fact, she has made it clear plenty of times that should a man ever touch me or talk to me in a way I’m not confortable with, she’ll get a machete and start doing away with (relatively) important parts of male anatomy.

I’ve grown with that ingrained in my mind. So it came as a shock, as it always does when I read about this kind of mothers in literature, that Kiko’s mother would behave like that.

However, I’m glad Kiko found a positive role model to look up to. I think we all need someone we can emulate.

 

This is a short review I know, but I’ve tried to put my thoughs about this as eloquently as I could. I’m not a teen anymore, but this book resonated with that lonely, anxious girl that sometimes I still am, that all she longs for is to just belong somewhere, and finds her place in art, and in my case, stories.

I think that no matter your background, you’ll find a way to connect with this story, so I really do recommend you give it a shot.

 

Does this sound like something you would like to read? What have you heard about Starfish? Isn’t that cover gorgeous?

 

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