A review by charmel
Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Starfish is art. With its wonderful writing, amazing characters, and thoughtful representation – this is legitimately a beautifully crafted art.

An art that I would gaze at for hours. An art that I wouldn't want to stop thinking about before I sleep. An art that broke me and also brought me together piece by piece. An art that I love with its flaws and all.

“Beauty isn’t a single thing. Beauty is dreaming—it’s different for everyone, and there are so many versions of it that you mostly have no control over how you see it.”


TW: racism, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, attempted suicide.

Some parts were somewhat hard for me to read, especially the family aspect of it and the parental emotional abuse Kiko was constantly receiving. It was so painful and heartbreaking. The author did an incredible job at discussing and bringing it - and the anxiety, insecurity, and some heavy problems - in a very good way. Reading this left me so emotional and I bawled my eyes out like a baby lol.

“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.”

This talks about knowing who you are and accepting who you are no matter what race, color, or face. This is a story about friendship, chasing your dreams, doing your thing, and not let people tell you what you're capable and not capable of. This book is an art. An art that stays in my mind and my heart forever.

”I draw five humans and one skeleton, and it doesn’t matter that the skeleton has all the right bones and joints—he will never be the same as the others because he doesn’t have the right skin.“

“It feels like a big step, doing things on my own. It’s scary, but it makes me feel stronger, somehow. I feel like my feet are heavier than I realized and if the wind blows I won’t be knocked over. Except it’s not my feet that feel strong; it’s my heart.”

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