bigbookslilreads's review against another edition
4.0
I feel this will be an especially difficult book for me to review since I don't read a lot of contemporary. I do not really have anything to compare it to, and I cannot definitely say whether some themes were well-approached or not because they do not pertain to my particular experience. I am not even a little bit Asian to my knowledge, nor have I felt out of place in the society I live in as the MC does in this book. I have no childhood trauma like the MC, nor do I have to deal with any form of abuse from my family. And although I can somewhat relate to her on the basis of social anxiety and insecurity, it is not on the level that she experiences it. Nevertheless, I will try talking about my personal reading experience.
This book really stressed me out. As I was reading it, I felt like I was digging through my own scars. Even after putting it down, it left this bothersome ache in my chest. Written in first-person, this book is just so raw. It makes you sit through the endless feelings of insecurity and unworthiness of the MC, makes you cringe from her reactions, hopelessly try to reach beyond the pages and take control, somehow. It got to a point where I was deeply wishing for SOME good to happen to the MC; because so many bad news were being handed to her. So much bad was happening. While there are a lot of good moments, especially in the second half of the book, I feel like I should state this outright as some people might find this book triggering.
I was also surprised that at least the Goodreads synopsis revealed pretty much everything up until the 60% mark. That was... pretty jarring. I'm glad I wasn't too spoiled since I only read it at about the 40% mark.
With these warnings out of the way, I can get into the main aspects of the book that have influenced my rating: Writing, plot, characters and themes.
I loved the writing style. I think the author portrayed the emotions of the characters so well, that, as I said, it made me hurt. There was also a nice link throughout with the MC's art, her painting, and that was definitely my favourite part. Besides, there are these nice contrasts between what the MC is thinking to say vs what she actually said, which made it so relatable.
I would consider this a more character-based novel. We are following the MC as she is trying to figure out what she'll do after graduation, what she'll do about herself when she doesn't like the situation in which she is in at the moment. It was a pretty standard "finding yourself", "coming of age" story in this regard, and I liked that. I thought the pacing suffered a bit in some parts of the book, but I was mostly along for the ride. The ending, nonetheless, still felt a bit rushed to me, and I honestly would've liked it to be a bit different, especially with the love interest. I know this plot also borrows a bit from the "love as a saviour" trope, or at least a relationship as such. But really, just a bit. The MC is pretty clear throughout how she has to go through this journey on her own. So that was pretty good! I am just a sucker for romance, and I thought that the way it ended was a bit too unbelievable for me.
I felt that the MC's struggles were well-fleshed out, even though I couldn't get much of a grasp on her personality besides some nerdy moments and her whole passion for painting. I did enjoy the side characters a lot, especially Jamie and Hiroshi. They were pretty sensible and supported the MC in her journey. The MC's mom stood out among the characters, and the author succeeded imin making her 'narcissism' evident. So much so that it sometimes felt like a caricature. I even asked myself if it wasn't the MC being unreliable? But no. I felt that the mom was very much shoved in the narcissism box, but in a way that wasn't very tactful. There were only suspicions of this and other mental health problems in her, and it felt very vilified. Even though justified in some instances, I didn't appreciate these mental health (split-personality disorder, narcissism, bipolar) labels being thrown around without proper analysis going into it.
This leads me to the themes. Racism, emotional and sexual abuse and mental health are the most prevalent in this book, and I thought that they were approached quite well. As I stated above, there is not a lot I can relate in this, but I empathised deeply with the main character throughout the book and because of this I can say that it was done in a believable way. I would just like that part about the mom that I mentioned above to be better.
Overall, I think this is a really important book. I gained a lot from reading it, and I would recommend it to anyone that might feel even slightly interested in art, or any of the themes mentioned above. Specially insecurity. Though it can be a bit triggering, it is very much worth it, in my opinion.
This book really stressed me out. As I was reading it, I felt like I was digging through my own scars. Even after putting it down, it left this bothersome ache in my chest. Written in first-person, this book is just so raw. It makes you sit through the endless feelings of insecurity and unworthiness of the MC, makes you cringe from her reactions, hopelessly try to reach beyond the pages and take control, somehow. It got to a point where I was deeply wishing for SOME good to happen to the MC; because so many bad news were being handed to her. So much bad was happening. While there are a lot of good moments, especially in the second half of the book, I feel like I should state this outright as some people might find this book triggering.
I was also surprised that at least the Goodreads synopsis revealed pretty much everything up until the 60% mark. That was... pretty jarring. I'm glad I wasn't too spoiled since I only read it at about the 40% mark.
With these warnings out of the way, I can get into the main aspects of the book that have influenced my rating: Writing, plot, characters and themes.
I loved the writing style. I think the author portrayed the emotions of the characters so well, that, as I said, it made me hurt. There was also a nice link throughout with the MC's art, her painting, and that was definitely my favourite part. Besides, there are these nice contrasts between what the MC is thinking to say vs what she actually said, which made it so relatable.
I would consider this a more character-based novel. We are following the MC as she is trying to figure out what she'll do after graduation, what she'll do about herself when she doesn't like the situation in which she is in at the moment. It was a pretty standard "finding yourself", "coming of age" story in this regard, and I liked that. I thought the pacing suffered a bit in some parts of the book, but I was mostly along for the ride. The ending, nonetheless, still felt a bit rushed to me, and I honestly would've liked it to be a bit different, especially with the love interest. I know this plot also borrows a bit from the "love as a saviour" trope, or at least a relationship as such. But really, just a bit. The MC is pretty clear throughout how she has to go through this journey on her own. So that was pretty good! I am just a sucker for romance, and I thought that the way it ended was a bit too unbelievable for me.
I felt that the MC's struggles were well-fleshed out, even though I couldn't get much of a grasp on her personality besides some nerdy moments and her whole passion for painting. I did enjoy the side characters a lot, especially Jamie and Hiroshi. They were pretty sensible and supported the MC in her journey. The MC's mom stood out among the characters, and the author succeeded imin making her 'narcissism' evident. So much so that it sometimes felt like a caricature. I even asked myself if it wasn't the MC being unreliable? But no. I felt that the mom was very much shoved in the narcissism box, but in a way that wasn't very tactful. There were only suspicions of this and other mental health problems in her, and it felt very vilified. Even though justified in some instances, I didn't appreciate these mental health (split-personality disorder, narcissism, bipolar) labels being thrown around without proper analysis going into it.
This leads me to the themes. Racism, emotional and sexual abuse and mental health are the most prevalent in this book, and I thought that they were approached quite well. As I stated above, there is not a lot I can relate in this, but I empathised deeply with the main character throughout the book and because of this I can say that it was done in a believable way. I would just like that part about the mom that I mentioned above to be better.
Overall, I think this is a really important book. I gained a lot from reading it, and I would recommend it to anyone that might feel even slightly interested in art, or any of the themes mentioned above. Specially insecurity. Though it can be a bit triggering, it is very much worth it, in my opinion.
victoria_08's review against another edition
4.0
This book was really good. Every time I picked it up I didn't want to put it down. The characters are all so well written, and the story is so beautiful. Coming of age stories can be very hard to write, but this book captures something special. It's heartwarming, heartbreaking and overall a really good time.
juliterario's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW, WOW. No. Sé. Cómo. Reseñar. Este. Libro. Bienvenido sea Starfish, uno de mis nuevos favoritos del año y de todos los tiempos. ¡Vaya obra maestra! Hace tiempo que quería darle una oportunidad ya que, vamos, hace años que está en boca de todos. Me alegra tanto decir que leí la novela de Akemi Dawn Bowman en el momento perfecto, justo cuando la necesitaba y en el instante en el que más la disfrutaría. A veces encontramos el libro indicado en el momento indicado. Yo lo llamo magia. Reseña próximamente en el blog :)
orionoconnell's review against another edition
5.0
I love the poetic way that this was written, the overarching theme of Kiko's art and the way it ended each chapter. The way her trauma was turned into beauty, and the love and joy that a found family brought her as she emerged as her own person.
Kiko's character, and that of the people surrounding her, were so well fleshed out. I saw so much of myself in her character, and in her story. This one goes out to trauma survivors, but there should be trigger warnings for mentions of past sexual abuse, and severe mental health issues, as well as a big one for emotional manipulation and abuse.
I loved the dynamic between Kiko and Hiroshi, and the concept that flourished was found family and I really would love to see more of that- the acceptance and love of a family- starring rather than a romance.
Honestly, my least favorite part of the book was Jamie, and I think that perhaps this would have been better told as a friendship rather than a formed love so that the focus would have shifted on the main character more than a romance. There was more than enough story to tell without the romance. Jamie, in my opinion, kind of took from it a bit with some light non-consent in form of making Kiko's decisions and pressuring her.
I would LOVE to see a continuation of Kiko's world and her growth as a character with recurring characters. I did not want this world to end. Easily a favorite that I will read again.
Kiko's character, and that of the people surrounding her, were so well fleshed out. I saw so much of myself in her character, and in her story. This one goes out to trauma survivors, but there should be trigger warnings for mentions of past sexual abuse, and severe mental health issues, as well as a big one for emotional manipulation and abuse.
I loved the dynamic between Kiko and Hiroshi, and the concept that flourished was found family and I really would love to see more of that- the acceptance and love of a family- starring rather than a romance.
Honestly, my least favorite part of the book was Jamie, and I think that perhaps this would have been better told as a friendship rather than a formed love so that the focus would have shifted on the main character more than a romance. There was more than enough story to tell without the romance. Jamie, in my opinion, kind of took from it a bit with some light non-consent in form of making Kiko's decisions and pressuring her.
I would LOVE to see a continuation of Kiko's world and her growth as a character with recurring characters. I did not want this world to end. Easily a favorite that I will read again.
jaysy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
sophiaeve's review against another edition
4.0
4.5... this hit pretty close to home and it hurt but was also beautiful
michaelagreenall's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
finalgirlfall's review against another edition
5.0
i liked this book when i first read it. i need to reread it now.