Starfish ~ Akemi Dawn Bowman ☆ Book Review

Heey!

I finally finished another book that I had meant to read for a long time already.. but better late than never! I had heard so much about the great anxiety rep in this book.

 

5  / 5 stars
Trigger warnings; narcissism, sexual assault, racism, emotional abuse

Storygraph

 

I had missed so much on this book, wish i’d have read it sooner! Along with Eliza & her monsters, I related the most with the MC’s anxiety; I felt so understood! Though i’ve made great progress along the years, some things I still struggle with like talking to new people & leaving the house on my own.

 

Kiko’s family dynamics are difficult; a narcissic mother whom prefer her rapist uncle to her own daugther- things that I haven’t experienced myself but that felt as real as the anxiety!

Emery & Jamie were wonderfully written, so understanding or comprehensive of Kiko’s anxiety although they don’t understand it. The growth she goes through with the nudges needed from Jamie was everything 💜 We do need a little handing hand sometimes, despite not wanting to be a burden; we truly aren’t.

 

 

“Of course it doesn’t make sense—feeling this way doesn’t make sense. But if I could fix myself and turn off the anxiety long enough to feel normal, I would have a long time ago.”

“I don’t know how other people do it—don’t they ever feel like they need to recharge? Doesn’t talking to people for so long wear them out?”

“You care too much about what other people think. I mean, so what if you fail? So what if it takes a few tries? You’re following your dreams. It shouldn’t matter to anyone else how long it takes you or what your journey is like–it should just matter to you.”
“Different. The word makes me feel jittery and nervous, like there’s suddenly a spotlight glaring down on me, announcing to the entire room that I’m not like everyone else. It doesn’t matter how many red cups I hold—I’ll always be different.”
“I don’t have the courage to step outside of my own element. And my element, quite obviously, is being alone and invisible.”
“Someday I’d like to feel comfortable enough around people to actually say the things I want to say. I’d like to look around and not feel like i’m the outsider”
“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.”

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