kelseydkim 's review for:

Starling Days by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

5.0

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LOVE LOVE LOVE. Everything about Starling Days is wonderful and perfect. Mina’s relationship with depression is refreshingly realistic, which in turn makes the novel hard to read at times as she thinks and acts in ways that felt very familiar. To lash out at those you love, to feel numb on the most important days of your life, to feel like your body begins to shut down and betray you, to know that deep down no matter how much you want to get better, you’ll always have this illness that’s inexplainable to those without it. I can only imagine the strength it took Buchanan to write this. We need more fictional characters with mental illness because it’s so common and because fiction is one of the best ways to find a perspective other than our own. I believe this book will provide such a perspective to its readers, and that makes this a very special and important novel. Beyond that, Buchanan writes with colorful lyrical prose (much like her debut novel), drawing you in between Mina and Oscar’s worlds seamlessly. I appreciate that Buchanan chose to write from Oscar’s perspective as well, which allows readers to see Mina’s illness from the viewpoint of a confused and frustrated loved one; however, there is a distance between the reader and Oscar that isn’t there with Mina, possibly encouraging us to listen carefully to her story? I’m sad I’m finished because I so looked forward to opening this up the past couple of days. Buchanan continues to amaze me, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

“They said that to be loved you had to love yourself. Bullshit. How were you supposed to love yourself if no one else could see anything of value beneath your skin? No, she thought, it was the other way around. To love yourself you had to be loved.” (p. 59-60)