Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying. What to eat, where to go, who to love. But one thing she is sure of she wants to spend her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.
Then Lea dies in a car accident, and Rumi is sent to live with her aunt in Hawaii. Now, miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, feeling abandoned by her mother, and the aching absence of music.
With the help of the "boys next door" teenage surfer Kai, who doesn't take anything too seriously, and old George Watanabe, who succumbed to grief years ago Rumi seeks her way back to music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.
With unflinching honesty, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible.
Initial thoughts: The first half of this book felt really draining. It's partially my fault for not checking the synopsis again right before delving into the audiobook. Had I realised beforehand that this is a book about a protagonist dealing with the loss of her sister in a car accident, I might not have picked it up. However, I was aware that she was biracial, same as the author. It's based off this that I took on a recommendation to read Summer Bird Blue.
What I found draining about Summer Bird Blue was Rumi. She was selfish and extremely negative. Granted, she was angry at the world but how can someone extol the virtues of a loved one and still be obstinate about their own actions? It's this disparity that really got to me.
Writing style was decent. Plot pretty straightforward. Yay for asexual and aromantic spectrum rep. Audiobook narrator was just about tolerable — alright with the normal narration but annoying with male speech voices.
