Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

3 reviews

cookiecat73's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Car accident, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Child death, and Cursing

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death, Acephobia/Arophobia, Cancer, Medical trauma, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Medical content

longlost's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"I’m cradling my arm in a cast when the doctor tells us Lea is dead. Mom’s in a chair next to me, her fingers digging into the hospital bed, her eyes dull like all the light has gone out of them.
I try to say so many words. It’s not true. You’re wrong. She’s alive. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re lying. I don’t believe you.
But I can’t say anything. The words for what I’m feeling don’t exist. "

This book my beloved. Akemi Dawn Bowman conveys Rumi's grief over her sister's death flawlessly, and manages to make Rumi likeable and understandable regardless of how she lashes out due to that grief. Her connection to music is described so beautifully and

the way it helps her heal is incredibly lovely.

 

Rumi's grief is perhaps the shining area of this book - it feels so palpable and overwhelming, just as it is to Rumi herself, and ultimately makes

her journey to recovery even more heartfelt.

Her relationships with other characters such as Kai or Mr. Watanabe provided a relief from Rumi's heavy feelings of grief,

and it's no wonder that it's with their help that Rumi was able to learn to deal with her pain.

The first chapter shows us the events that killed Rumi's sister, and from there we only see her in small memory segments that provide glimpes into their relationship,

which isn't always as flowery as one would like to remember it. Many of the memory sequences feature Rumi and Lea fighting, and build up to Rumi's feelings of jealousy towards her sister and that their mother always preferred Lea to her. The painful relationship between Rumi and her mother after Lea's death was incredible heartbreaking to read about, even if ultimately they turned out okay.

Rumi grieves heavily throughout the book which can make it a hard read, but the story of her healing is definitely worth reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, and Injury/Injury detail

tintinmd's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't usually read slow-paced books. This was a bit of a heavy read given that Rumi deals with death and grief, and so many more things as she's figuring out her sexuality. It felt a bit dragged out to me. 
Overall, this book was a mix of difficult, heartwarming, hopeful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Vomit