*spoiler alert*
In a single syllable, I would characterize this book as transforming. Akemi Dawn Bowman’s book, Starfish, is about a girl named Kiko Himura, a half-Japanese kid who struggles to express herself and is perpetually imprisoned in her own anxiety-ridden bubble. Her controlling mother makes her feel alienated and unworthy as if she doesn’t belong anywhere. Despite this, she persists, since she believes that her true life will begin once she gets into Prism, her dream art school.
Unfortunately enough, when she gets rejected from her dream school and ghosts from her past return to torment her, she feels abandoned and voiceless. After gathering the courage to explore other art schools across the country with a long-lost childhood friend, she discovers transforming truths about herself, her history and identity, as well as how one’s life changes as one begins to accept and embrace their authentic self.
I know how it feels to be trapped inside your head, alone with your thoughts. I’m writing this review with the hope that it may help my readers feel less alone through difficult times. We don’t always discuss our difficulties and concerns with others because we need a solution. We speak up so that we can be heard and understood. I hope that after reading Kiko’s journey, people would feel as though someone understands what they’re going through. I hope they feel more understood—more hopeful. And I hope they feel like they’re not so alone in the world. And that there’s someone else out there who “gets it” too.
Before reading this piece, I believed that no one understood how I felt or what I was going through. But then it dawned on me: I didn’t need to tell them. They simply knew, just as I did. And maybe when you share experiences—when you see a mirror reflecting your story—you recognize the place it must come from.
Akemi Dawn has written the best representation of social anxiety in this book. You feel what the protagonist is going through as you read. Starfish is a powerful book in the sense that you see this incredible development of Kiko Himura from a shy and insecure teen to a self-assured young woman. Starfish is a story about family, identity and pursuing your passions and dreams, but it’s also about realizing how essential the truth can be.