Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Starfish

by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Kiko Himura yearns to escape the toxic relationship with her mother by getting into her dream art school, but when things do not work out as she hoped Kiko jumps at the opportunity to tour art schools with her childhood friend, learning life-changing truths about herself and her past along the way.

Reviewed by reveriesociety_ on

4 of 5 stars

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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.



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.

Full review and other book reviews at Reverie Society

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 15 August, 2017: Finished reading
  • 15 August, 2017: Reviewed