Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Starfish

Such a good book with heavy situations and emotions. It was slow in the beginning and I felt like so much happened at the end and was rushed but ultimately it all came together and revealed the answers to puzzling situations. The ending was a happy one considering all the trauma the characters went through. There were some very real and dark themes throughout the book that the author captured respectfully and honestly.

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jhscng's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

dawg i should’ve read the tws before diving into this book 😭 such heavy topics in a ya book….

the writing was very sub-par and simplistic to me and i couldn’t get into it. i know it totally makes sense for the age range but the moral messages and teachings of the book were very explicit whereas i prefer more nuance and subtlety

overall this was a very conflicting read for me bc the topics of negative parental influences on mental health and self-image r hard hitting, also the biracial and social anxiety representations were beautifully (take it with a grain of salt) done, but i couldn’t connect with it personally. i know it may become an important read to some but not for me

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02062000's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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caitlindee's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

TW: racism, sexual & emotional abuse, parental abuse, toxic parent, gaslighting, suicide attempt

This book was AMAZING. I could not put it down and read it in one day. I had heard a ton of good things about this from one booktuber in particular and was so excited to read it once I found it at the library. And damn, I was not disappointed at all. It blew my expectations out of the water. This was such an emotional, heartbreaking, hopeful, inspiring journey. The writing, the characters, the plot, the relationships - everything was done so well. I cannot wait to read more by this author!!

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naddie_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

I try to manage expectations whenever I go into a read that is outside of my comfort zone, and oftentimes this approach works because I find hidden gems from whatever I read. This is one of the books that I didn't think would jive with me, but I ended up really loving it.

A lot of it has to do with the characters themselves, and how real their struggles feel. Even though I did get annoyed with some of the "miscommunication trope" flinging around (especially towards the end of the book), it did fit well into the narrative of the story and really made everything come together by the end of it. This was such a hard book to get through due to some of the potentially triggering subjects and the heavy subject matter, but it's such a wonderful representation in that sense. (Do check the trigger warnings.)

Suffice to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I loved reading about Kiko's journey to find herself in this lovely coming-of-age YA fiction.

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ehnaz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring relaxing sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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rose_play's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I’m the same amount of Asian as I am white. Why doesn’t anyone ever call me half white? It’s confusing. I wonder if it will always be confusing

It was going well till 70% but then the pacing took a downturn, so many juvenile plot points were added just for the sake shock effect. It was a melancholy read.
Some things were handled so well and then some, very serious, stuff was just glossed over

I thought nobody understood the way he was. I thought I was the problem. But some people are just starfish—they need everyone to fill the roles that they assign. They need the world to sit around them, pointing at them and validating their feelings. But you can’t spend your life trying to make a starfish happy, because no matter what you do, it will never be enough. They will always find a way to make themselves the center of attention, because it’s the only way they know how to live.”

I just didn't understand the need for romantic subplot and why was it even done in the first place. I didn't feel the chemistry or even the reason they were together, it'd have been so much better with them staying friends.

Every time I talk to her it feels like I’m taking a test. Most of the time I fail before I even open my mouth.

It was such an anticipated read tho, I'm very disappointed by how certain things were handled cause I loved the Asian rep ( even tho Asian doesn't always mean shall eyes and round nose for crying out loud, South Asia exists) even then the struggle of identity and heritage while in a toxic household was set up so well but alas, the ending ruined it for me. No this is not a spoiler it's tw so here you go.... The abuser is never punished, nor was he even fucking confronted. Her mental health was represented so well, but her mother's was brushed off and honestly was poorly written.

I’m half Asian, a girl, and I believe in aliens. Pretty much every lifetime before mine would have sucked for me.”

The main character was so passive tho, in whole book she made one active decision for herself, just one. I know it was hard but damn, should've given her more agency at least in the last chapters

It always seems like the only way to keep everyone else happy is to do something that makes me unhappy. I don’t know how to grow out of that.”

Also I didn't like the theme of the book of how everything she drew came from a bad place even after moving away. I know and I have myself expressed emotions through art and writing but if ALL of that comes from a bad place, how are you ever gonna escape if you are doing this all for escapism. What happens when you are in a good place in life. Shouldn't that zeal to create come from where you really want it.

If you crave a sad and tense read you could give it a shot.

I wish I could turn to dust and disintegrate into the dark air like I don’t exist at all. It would be easier that way.

Also there's a Taylor swift reference you all!!

I could never take photographs the way Jamie does. He captures strangers like he’s invisible. And he sees the best possible version of them—it’s the way I imagine things in my head, but the only way I can make it real is to paint it. To me, ideals don’t exist in real life. I have to make them up.But Jamie sees them everywhere. Imperfection is his ideal, because it’s real and tangible, and he knows how to translate it into a frozen moment in time that will be beautiful forever.

The writing is beautiful.

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miserablemoons's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

4.25

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