A review by anwesha_rc
Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café by Jessica Redland

3.0

**Thanks to Netgalley, Jessica Redland and Boldwood Books to provide me with a copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.**

## Book in One Sentence

Jessica Redland's *Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café* is a modern romance story that showcases 2 people — Hollie and Jake — fighting their own demons and emerging victorious along the way.

## Introduction

Jessica Redland's *Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café* is about the lives of Hollie and Jake — two different people, navigating through their own lives. Scarred by their individual pasts, they have their own struggles. As they go through life, they find and help each other to overcome their own fears and reservations to live a more fulfilling life together.

## Themes

### Modern Fiction

The story is set in the contemporary world and focuses on the struggles of the people in this age. Not only does the author write about the lives of the two protagonists but also the side characters, shedding light on their day-to-day lives. This incorporates a hint of reality to the story as we might be the main characters in our own stories but that is the same for someone else too. The author also makes sure to create a sense of fraternity by acknowledging the struggles of other people and how they overcome them. Many times, this serves as an opportunity to encourage the protagonists to take a step forward and face their own fears.

### Battling You Own Demons

Both Hollie and Jake have their own demons and struggles. Hollie comes from a loving and supportive family but a few years ago, it all crashed down when she lost her family in a series of mishaps. She lost her loved ones, her support system. Jake, on the other hand, lost his mother the day he was born. This gave rise to resentment in his sister's mind, which haunted Jake till adulthood. Jake's father died in an accident later and he was raised by his grandmother, who passed many years later due to old age. His struggles manifested as experiences in his life. Both Hollie and Jake managed to overcome their demons at the end of the story.

## The Ending

The ending showed both Hollie and Jake battle their mental paranoias and emerge triumphant along the way. However, they didn't achieve these all by themselves. They helped each other face their fears and battle them until the very end.

## Significance of the Title

The title can be literal as we see at the end how they preferred forever to each other while the snow gathered outside. Sure, it wasn't "dancing in the rain" for them, but it was definitely something similar.

## Final Take

All in all, *Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café* is a great light-read. Sometimes I wished the story was more fast-paced. But if you are looking for something mature yet fun, this is for you.