I received this title from NetGalley through Ink Road Books prior to it's release in exchange for my honest review.
Summer Bird Blue was published on the 4th of April, unfortunately I was unable to get this review out until now.

My overall rating for this book is that it deserves a strong 4/5 stars. I found it both heart breaking and heart warming. For the majority of my reading experience I was completely wrapped up in the story. In my opinion there are only two downfalls to this book, and even then they are minor and did not affect my general enjoyment.

To be clear, this review may contain thoughts and opinions that talk about spoiler-ish material. I will do my best to keep it spoiler free.

Rumi is the protagonist of the story. She spends her time writing and playing music with her younger sister, Lea. In the beginning of the story they are involved in a serious car accident that results in her younger sister dying. After the accident Lea is sent to Hawaii to stay with her Aunt Ani and is left feeling betrayed by her mother. This is where she meets and develops friendships with her Aunt's neighbours - Kai and Mr. Watanabe - who attempt to help her come to terms with everything that has happened.

3.5 stars

When Rumi's sister dies in a car accident and her mother sends her to Hawaii to stay with her aunt, Rumi is left feeling abandoned and unwanted.
Rumi's sister, Lea, was her best friend, her song co-writer, and her entire world. Surrounded by strangers and struggling with her grief and guilt, will Rumi be able to make friends and move on?
Can Rumi forgive her mother and herself?

Summer Bird Blue is an emotional, heart-wrenching read.
I thought Rumi was a good protagonist. I liked that she wasn't perfect - she could be rude and fought with Lea, but she loved her with all her heart. I felt so sorry for Rumi for all she had been through.
I liked a lot of the characters in this book and at times I wished that I could be at Hawaii with them, even if just to give Rumi a hug.
My favourite part of the book has to be Rumi's relationship with her aunt's neighbour, Mr. Watanabe. But I also loved Rumi's characterisation and how well the author explained Rumi's thoughts and how grief affected her.
The plot was interesting and held my attention. I liked that there was asexual representation.
This was an emotional, heart-felt read that had me in tears at times.

Overall this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

I don't read that much YA contemporary fiction, so this was a wee step out of my comfort zone, but I'm so glad I took the step.

This novel is simply incredible. The diverse representation is so important, the main character Rumi is mixed race; white and Hawaiian/Japanese, and the novel is set in Hawaii with a group of characters who are natives to Hawaii. Rumi is also questioning/exploring her sexuality, and is exploring identifying (albeit loosely) as asexual. This is one of only a handful of YA novels I know of that feature asexuality, but don't try to "cure" it or have the character have a relationship with another character, instead letting Rumi explore and question as much as she wants, and have the other characters fully accept her.

The novel's main theme is bereavement, Rumi is dealing with the loss of her sister and best friend during this novel. A word of warning: this novel is pretty heavy, the way the author writes about grief is incredible, but if you weren't in a great place mentally while reading it, it could be quite affecting, so please bare this in mind when deciding whether to pick the book up or not.

But the novel itself is brilliant. It is full of so much feeling and heart and grief and how Rumi comes to terms with her feelings, and how to keep your identity after heartbreak and allow yourself to consider personal growth. Bowman writes everything with so much depth and heart, it's a novel that is well worth reading.

The rest of the characters are very well-developed and written too. Kai is such a likeable guy, he is a source of light and humour in the novel, which beautifully contrasts with Rumi and how she is feeling, and stops the novel from being too dark to read in its entirety. He does make Rumi seem even more unlikeable, but I enjoyed this element to her character. I didn't like her, but I did sympathise with her, and although I disagreed with a lot of her decisions, I could understand why she acted the way she did.

Overall I really enjoyed this novel. Even though it was a heavy, emotional read which dealt with some serious and emotional issues, I highly recommend it!

*3.5 Stars

It's difficult to put into words how I felt about this book. It follows Rumi who has been shipped off to live with an aunt in Hawaii for the summer in the wake of her younger sister's death. We see her struggling to deal with her grief, her anger with her mother and her desire to fulfill a promise to her sister.

I struggled a lot with the character of Rumi. She's definitely not someone I could see myself being friends with in real life. She's an extremely jealous and judgemental person and it was hard to differentiate whether that was her way of masking her grief or just her genuine personality. As frustrating as these traits were to understand, it did excentuate how real Rumi's character was. A lot of the times protagonists are portrayed as incredibly normal people with a few flaws but generally with the best intentions and Rumi is definitely the opposite of that. She's not perfect at all and as difficult as it was to feel any connection with her character, I appreciate how refreshing it is to read about a character like Rumi and the struggles she endured.

The book handles complex issues very well though. The conversations about grief, depression and Rumi's confliction between moving on and not wanting to feel like she was simply forgetting her sister hit very close to home for me. Losing someone so close to you is incredibly difficult and so I could relate and understand Rumi's feelings about being left behind and not knowing how to move on with her life. I also have to point out the asexual/aromantic representation as Rumi struggles alot with understanding her sexuality and how she feels about not feeling romantically or sexually attracted to anyone and all the questions she doesn't have answers for. All these elements are very well written and I really enjoyed these aspects of the book.

I absolutely adored Kai though. He's such a sweet and understanding character and the perfect friend for Rumi. Even though he clearly likes her as more then a friend he never pushes her to feel the same way and respects the boundaries that she sets without any ultimatum. I also loved Mr Watanabe, her grumpy elderly next door neighbour, who helps Rumi to regain her love of music and understanding about grief. Lastly, I was enchanted by the Hawaiian setting and the many descriptions of delicious food. I've never been but it really does sound like paradise.

This book is a heart-breaking delight. As you follow Rumi’s journey through grief and her new life in Hawaii, your heart will break, be fixed and break all over again. With wonderful characters and an important story Summer Bird Blue kept me transfixed the entire time.

After Rumi loses her sister Lea she has to deal with the grief of losing her sister and best friend. It’s a tough journey that is helped along by the people she meets in Hawaii and the journey she takes with them. Kai and George are the main two in this circle of characters, two people who deal with Rumi’s grief very differently and it was beautiful to read their different reactions and how they helped her along her journey.

The book also somewhat deals with Rumi’s sexuality, and how she struggles to understand it. It’s written so fluently and it is dealt with so passionately throughout the course of the book. Rumi doesn’t really know the label of her sexuality and it is left somewhat open.

This is a truly beautiful book. It deals with grief in such a tender, powerful way. I highly recommend it.

Having read and enjoyed the author's debut book, I was expecting to love Summer Bird Blue more than I actually did. There were certainly aspects that I liked but sadly it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

I think the main issue I had was that Rumi (who was already prone to being snappy before the death of her sister) spent the vast majority of the story stuck in the anger stage of grief. Whilst her feelings are for the most part legitimate, the repetition of her thoughts got a little taxing. She's constantly commenting on how she's mad at her mother for leaving her, that nobody could possibly understand what she's going through, that she was her mother's least favourite daughter and so should have been the one to die and so on. If these had been demonstrated in different ways rather than the same sentences over and over then perhaps I would have found the story more emotional. As it was, I didn't actually feel much in the way of empathy until the latter stages of the book where she begins to let go of some of her anger and allow herself to be sad.

With regards to the areas that I enjoyed, one of the highlights was Rumi's bonding with her aunt's neighbour Mr Watanabe. Their interaction over music, food, gardening as well as their conversations about family and grief were lovely to read. As a fan of having 'ambiance room' videos playing in the background whilst reading, I can imagine Mr Watanabe's lounge with soft music playing on a record player/the ceiling fan going round and round/Poi dozing on an armchair would make a great set-up as I wanted to be there with the characters during these kind of scenes.

I also appreciated sexuality and identity being a theme of the book. As the story goes on, Rumi's questioning of her sexual/romantic identity becomes a stronger plot point. Before going into the book I was a little wary of a possible romance with a boy being used as a grief-solver as I've read this in several contemporaries before, however I was relieved to find that this wasn't the case. Having an aro/ace character not only made a nice change but the actual questioning itself was handled well and will hopefully help any readers who are going through a similar journey themselves.

Finally I'd just like to mention that the way language, food and scenery descriptions helped to cement the location. I haven't read a book set in Hawaii before and so the writing/inclusion of these elements assisted in making the setting come to life.

Overall whilst this book didn't quite have the impact as I was expecting, I would still recommend the book and will continue to read the author's future works.

Initial Thoughts
This is one of those – I loved it so much, I don’t even know how to review it – kind of books so I want to first start of by apologising if this review is just a big slur of READ IT, READ IT NOW. Because I mean, aside from thinking that you should definitely do this, I think it’s good to get some specific reasons as to why you should be reading the book, right?

Second of all, I have to admit that I have been dying to get my hands on this book ever since I heard about the asexual rep. I haven’t read too many books with this yet and so I wanted to know if it was done well or not. The answer? It was done exceptionally well. Honestly, I have never felt more connected to a character than I did to Rumi. I felt her struggles and had been through her pain myself. It was just so incredible to be able to relate so very much to a character on a page. This is something that I will never forget and I am forever grateful to Akemi Dawn Bowman for dealing with it in such a realistic and relatable way.

To finish up this little summary of my initial thoughts, Summer Bird Blue blew me away. It is an emotional rollarcoaster that I absolutely adored from the very beginning until the very end. It is so incredibly well written and really pulls you into the story – essentially making you completely forget that you are not a part of the world it’s set in. I felt so many things for Rumi and was just incredibly happy with how the book ended. It was just an absolute dream book to read for so many, many reason and I cannot recommend you read it enough.

Best Things About the Book
Asexual Rep! – Honestly, can not get over how much I truly loved the rep in this book. It was just absolutely wonderful to read. Akemi has captured it so well.

Friendships – This book really looks at how important friendship is and how it can help us to be better people. I really loved the friendship group that Rumi finds herself in when she finally arrives in Hawaii

Kai and Mr Watanabe – These two characters were by far my favourites of this book. They were just so different and yet both helped Rumi in their own unique ways. It was just so wonderful to get to know this amazing characters.

The Music – I really fell in love with the way that Akemi described music in the novel. It made me appreciate music so much more. I love how Rumi finds her way back to music in the story as well. It is just so descriptive and lovely.

The Treatment of Grief – This book, by and large, deals with the very sensitive topic of grief and dealing with the loss of a loved one and Akemi has done this in an incredibly sensitive and emotional way. It’s just so wonderful to read and it is so easy to follow Rumi on her journey. This is a book that may help someone who has lost someone close to them and just isn’t sure if anything will ever be okay again.

Not so Good Things
Some of the descriptions from Rumi felt a little too sexual for me personally. This is an odd thing to put in here, especially considering I just said I loved the rep in this book but there were just a few moments where the descriptions that Rumi gave of the male characters that pulled me out of the book because it didn’t feel true to her character – in my own opinion. This may not be the same for other people but just from my personal experience of life. Regardless of this, I still absolutely loved this rep and this book so it definitely didn’t detract from my reading of the story.

Rumi’s sister was painted as this most amazing angel person who didn’t seem to do anything wrong. I understand that we’re only seeing her sister through Rumi’s eyes but Rumi is so often harsh with herself that I feel like a conversation with her mum at the end, talking about some of Lea’s less “nice” qualities would have rounded the book up a little bit. Again, this was a small nitpick of mine and definitely doesn’t stop the book from being amazing.

The Intro:
I can’t decide if I wanted to cry more here or at the end…
The intro is superb – it’s not a difficult plot to follow but it was laid out here perfectly and sets up for one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching stories I’ve ever read. I cannot even imagine the heartache and hurt that Rumi must feel but the way her emotions are conveyed on the pages is astounding.
The Middle:
This is where we start to see Rumi’s internal conflicts really coming out, she feels isolated and the fact that Kai isn’t necessarily the most empathetic individual really impacts on her mind set and outlook in the short term.
This is also where we learn more about secondary characters and their backgrounds. It’s almost a parallel to Rumi beginning to escape the prison inside her mind and open her eyes to her new surroundings. Though not being immediately accepting of them, you definitely see the awareness creeping in.
The Ending:
Still can’t decide if I want to cry more here or at the beginning…
Amazing. Simply Amazing. This book is tied off perfectly and I was left wholly satisfied with the ending. I felt like I’d been on such an emotional journey with Rumi, and Kai and felt so protective of the both of them. What they have is so pure and they’re so delicate yet so much stronger just be safe little friends! I could read Rumi’s story forever.
Characters:
Though I don’t think the primary focus of this book is to be diversity-champion there is representation from all kinds of social groups, and I think putting Rumi (ace rep btw!) in a place she feels she does not belong at all did more to underline the similarities than the differences we have as a human race. Not to say the differences weren’t there but I felt this story brought so many individuals together from different backgrounds, age groups, etc.
Kai is maybe one of my favourites, though he doesn’t start off as this he really grows on me throughout the book and the ways in which he supports Rumi. I just want to give him a big hug!
Narrative:
Akemi’s writing style is beautiful. We all know this from Starfish (which by the way if you haven’t read you totally should!), and her latest novel is no exception. The way Akemi includes Hawaiian Pidgin and more native colloquialisms is expert, and although I had to stop and concentrate whilst reading these passages, I felt it added perfect depth and reality to the story.
It made it all the more emotional and really impacted on my emotions. You feel for Rumi of course, but the discovery of other characters’ troubles brings about a realness that’s just remarkable.
It’s centered around the need to write a song so music in this book plays a big part, and I feel like this book needs its own soundtrack! It would be perfection.
Summary:
This book deserves all the stars. Buy this book.
Yes this book is emotional, but my word is it powerful. So not only does it have great representation, and a great storyline, it is a story that will 100% stick with you for YEARS. Though why you wouldn’t want to do a re-read is beyond me. So naturally I’m awarding this book 5/5 because it was just everything I ever wanted from a contemporary fiction, and even more than I expected from Akemi (and she set the bar so high with her debut).

Summer Bird Blue is an emotional, heart wrenching read all about grief, dealing with loss and finding your way through such a terrible ordeal. It is written in such an evocative, powerful way that you will find yourself reaching for a packet of tissues and wanting to hug your loved ones tight. As someone who has dealt with the loss of a close family member this story really resonated with me and I felt like I could almost feel how Rumi felt.

This book is mostly all about music and how it can bring people together and help you deal with trauma and that is something that I totally agreed with all throughout reading it. As a big music lover I feel that music can speak to you in a way that no person can. Rumi's huge passion for music, especially with regards to writing songs will touch readers everywhere. The full lyrics to Summer Bird Blue were honestly beautiful and I did find myself making up a tune to it in my head. Also, I found that the writing style was so poetic that at times it did feel like a song to me.

Rumi was a character that I found hard to warm to at first. I could understand that she had to deal with her grief but she was very rude to her aunt - who was only trying to look out for her and also her mother. I'm not condoning her mother's actions for abandoning her, I just feel that Rumi should have spoken to her and not been so stubborn. Rumi was a brutally honest, blunt character and this made her rather complex on the whole. Mind you, as I read on I did find myself starting to like her as she started opening up to the people around her.

Rumi's sexuality was also touched upon in Summer Bird Blue and I just want to commend the author for bringing asexuality to our attention. I haven't read any YA featuring an asexual character before and I was in awe of how well it was tackled. I feel that Rumi will be a great role model for teens who are struggling to figure out who they are. It was just brilliantly done.

The friendships that Rumi made with Kai and George were definitely ones that she needed. With Kai, she found herself just acting like a teenager and in time opened up to him about her sister. Kai was patient with her and was there when she needed him. Their friendship was what true friendship should be. Her friendship with George was one that was unexpected. Both of them had experienced loss in their lives and it was heartwarming to see two people from different generations bond over their experiences.

Summer Bird Blue is a very character driven book and although I loved reading about the various character development I did feel like a plot was missing. I am someone who prefers a plot driven novel to a character driven one, so I did find myself getting slightly bored at times. I need a good plot to stick my teeth into and this was lacking in this particular book and did let it down for me.

Summer Bird Blue was a heartbreaking, poignant read that shows us how friendship, love and music can help us cope with grief and ultimately bring us that inner peace we all desperately want.

My latest favourite read is Summer Bird Blue, written by Akemi Dawn Bowman. Who is also the author of another of my favourite books, Starfish.

Summer bird blue is a story of hope, perseverance and love. The story of a young girl called Rumi is told after she has lost her beloveds sister Lea in a awful car accident. Rumi’s mother takes the really badly and to grieve she sends Rumi away to Hawaii with family. What follows is a tale of hopelessness, pain and anger until Rumi makes unexpected new friends and learns to grieve with their help.

Summer Bird Blue is up with my favourites of 2019 and the YA genre in general because of the powerful tale told.
Akemi’s writing style is unique to her and her use of imagery is amazing, she can really set the scene and convey characters emotions well.
At times I found myself reacting to Rumi’s sometimes disastrous decisions which means I really cared for all the main characters in the story.
These are some of the many reasons I have to give Summer Bird Blue the highest rating I can.
Five Stars from me!

Thanks for reading this review and I apologise for my prolonged absence for reviewing, I endeavour to post more reviews soon as I have a few more to write.

*Thank you to Simon Pulse & NetGalley for allowing me to experience this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve never read a book by Akemi Dawn Bowman before - I had seen I’m Jellyfish around and was interested but I’m glad I got to experience her work!

“The music fills me with life.
I take in a breath of air like I’m coming up from the sea, and the music transports me to a foreign shore. Somewhere high up in the clouds where my thoughts are crisp and sharp and I feel like I’m floating above the entire world.”

In this story we follow Rumi - a girl who’s a bit lost in the world and isn’t ready to know what she wants. We follow Rumi throughout her journey with grief after her sister is taken away in an unexpected accident. Music helps her on her road to recovery alongside her aunts Hawaiian neighbours.

This was such a moving story & it kept you reading. Although this was such a heartbreaking read it was done so well I loved it - trust me though you will feel so many emotions reading this one!

”Music is magic and lightning and fireworks.
Music is going to help me live.
I just need to find my way back to it.”

I haven’t experienced grief myself like Rumi did, but the way the story was done made it feel as if you were experiencing it with her - it was easy to understand how she felt and reacted. I loved seeing her path with coming to love music again and finally being able to finish the song - it was a beautiful journey.

After her younger sister, Lea, dies in a car accident, Rumi is sent to live with her aunt in Hawaii. Wracked with survivor’s guilt, Rumi doesn’t know how to begin coping. Far from home and without her sister, Rumi is angry. But with the help of her new neighbours, Rumi finds her way back to reconnect with music and her sister.

This story was just absolutely incredible. It’s intense and emotional. I was genuinely captivated by Rumi’s journey as we follow her from a very vulnerable place and watch grow in her healing journey. She begins the story in a very angry place, her mother had abandoned her, and now she’s in an unknown place. Memories are scattered in scenes which reveal her past and demonstrate how everything led to Hawaii. While they read a little abruptly at some moments, I loved what they showed. They really built into Rumi’s past with her family and allow Lea to fully flourish into her own despite never actually appearing in the current time.

What captured me the most about this book is how Rumi uses music to deal with her grief. At first, she’s very reluctant to keep music at bay but returns to it to fulfil her final promise to her sister. Music has so much power in this novel, and that was one aspect that I really appreciated.

I feel like Rumi will anger a lot of readers. There’s a certain expectation of how grief should be portrayed, usually a constant state of sadness. And Rumi isn’t like that all the time, she’s angry, rightfully so, and she’s hugely expressive and says everything unabashedly. I just hope no one interprets her grief as her being a “Bad” character. Also, the parent-child relationship here is rather interesting, and I enjoyed the different take on the usual “strong parent who is there for their child” type I’m so used to reading about.

Amid everything, one subplot follows Rumi as she questions her own sexuality, and she later identifies as asexual which is pretty amazing to read considering how ace characters in YA are severely underrepresented.
I love books that have large friendship groups where everyone truly cares for each other, and Summer Bird Blue gave us just that. Rumi meets Kai, her neighbour, and later meets Hannah, Gareth and a whole bunch of others who genuinely care for each other. I would have loved to have seen more of them. There’s also her elderly neighbour, George Watanabe, and I had such sheer joy while reading about them doing such simple things. His own story is heart-breaking.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was just so heartfelt and emotional, especially the last quarter had me in tears. A story about a girl exploring her grief, but also a story about family and friendship. A brilliant character-driven novel that really hit all the right notes .

A highly emotional read. You will be grabbing the tissues with this book. Beautifully written and I am looking forward to reading what else this author has in store.

Summer Bird Blue is a powerfully evocative, intensely beautiful and heartbreaking story. At its core it feels a little like a coming of age over the summer kind of story but is so much more and although I am fortunate enough to be unable to imagine anything close to the all-consuming guilt Rumi feels and therefore cannot comment much on the accuracy of those emotions I feel like there are messages throughout this book for everyone, whether they have lost someone or not. It teaches a lot about grief but also mental health, confidence in yourself and others, identity (sexuality or otherwise) and feeling comfortable in your own skin as well as being able to let yourself rely on others and being there for them in return not to mention family, the good and the bad.

Akemi has absolutely hit the nail on the head with her second novel, it’s a brilliant mix of heartbreak and hope. I cried at this book a lot and in under ten pages – this book does not pull its punches. But although I can remember each and every moment that made me cry and hurt for Rumi and her family I can remember so much happiness too. There are some fantastic, organic moments throughout the book that just make it feel so real and make you really remember the good moments in spite of the painful ones and I think it’s an amazing parallel to a great approach to life, things can be bad and painful but we can’t let ourselves forget the good too.

Every single character in this book is memorable and I love them all. Kai is the most perfect male character I think I have ever read. I’m not saying he’s perfect because he’s gorgeous and can do no wrong, he feels perfect because he is flawed and he has problems like we all do and he doesn’t always deal with them in the best ways but that is life and I love him so much. I also love Mr Watanabe, who again I love more because of his flaws, he is quite possibly my favourite character in this book and maybe in any contemporary book I’ve ever read, he is an absolute gem. I also learnt about Hawaiin pidgin which a lot of the Hawaiin characters speak, first of all, I thought it was a written as it sounds accent kind of thing but then looked into further and realised it was its own language of sorts. I stumbled over reading it to begin with but it quickly became second nature and I really loved it.

Considering a fair amount of this book, especially the first half, is rather internal it moves really well. The internal parts are often scattered with memories of Rumi and her sister which helps to break it up some and everything else just moves in such a way that it feels really balanced. I found it really hard to put this book down and read it in about two days which is pretty fast for me and the poor book suffered from spine wrinkles which from me is a sign of an enjoyed book. I feel like I’ve been on holiday to Hawaii for the past five weeks and learned some important life lessons, I think this is definitely a book I’ll revisit in the summer.

Starfish was one of my favourite books of last year and left me eager to see what Akemi Dawn Bowman did next, so when Ink Road Books invited me to take part in the blog tour for Summer Bird Blue, I immediately accepted. This book has confirmed the author as one of my all-time favourites thanks to her exquisite writing style and efforts to normalise discussions of mental health, sexuality, and other issues; these books should be mandatory in all school libraries. Grief is the main topic of this story after Rumi’s younger sister dies in a car crash. It’s often heartbreaking and sometimes difficult to read but always sensitively handled and nuanced.

Rumi was a fantastic main character and it was interesting that the author decided to make anger Rumi’s prominent reaction to the loss of her sister. Everyone exhibits grief in different ways and showing that anger is a valid emotion permits others to feel the same way without accompanying feelings of guilt. Rumi’s confusion about her sexuality is partly caused by all the labels she feels pressured by and I loved how this played out over the book. My absolute favourite character though was Mr Watanabe, her aunt’s elderly neighbour. I’d honestly read a whole book about just him and his grouchiness.

Music is another theme permeating the book, with Rumi defining herself and her world through music. However, music is also the way she and her sister bonded so it’s a painful reminder of everything she’s lost. Survivor’s guilt means Rumi feels she shouldn’t be experiencing any happiness but music is as necessary to Rumi as breathing and essential to her healing process. This sense of confusion was wonderfully conveyed and highlighted how grief is unique to each individual. Summer Bird Blue is a heartbreakingly raw and honest exploration of grief, with its lyrical language underpinning a message of hope and positivity. I’d highly recommend both this and Starfish to all YA contemporary fans.

I really enjoyed this - a well-written story of grief, sisterhood, friendship and identity, with a beautiful Hawaiian setting.

Last year, Starfish was one of my favourite reads. I loved the way the story had so much depth, and I felt like it was really a book that I could both laugh and cry at. So obviously, I was so excited to be able to pick up Summer Bird Blue early.

I’ll be honest, I was so excited that I decided to go into the book blind (without reading the synopsis). As a result, I read the first little bit and started to have a horrible sinking feeling in my chest as I realised Lea was probably going to die. I know, I know, it is right there in the synopsis, so I won’t go ahead and pat myself on the back for guessing this, but man it was a terrible blow all the same.

It was great to see glimpses of Hawaii in the pages of Summer Bird Blue. I liked seeing how different it was for Rumi from her home in Washington, and as hard as it sometimes was for me to pick apart the Pidgin English, I thought the book really benefitted from including it. I liked how it forced me to read sections of the book out loud to myself, and how Rumi’s own struggles to comprehend it at times worked so well with her own grief and inability to express her feelings.

I didn’t find Summer Bird Blue quite as engaging as Starfish. I found Rumi a harder protagonist to connect with, although I totally understood where her prickliness and anger came from. She comes across as a very easy character to understand, but I think I am just such a different person that I sometimes struggled to see how a person could follow these lines of thought. Like, for example, she lashes out at her mother because she is jealous of her relationship with Lea, to the extent where she kind of gloats to her mom that Lea said her name as she died and so she was the most important person to her sister. I haven’t lost someone who was this close to me, so I guess maybe I’m not the best judge, but I did find it a bit confusing. It didn’t make me necessarily like Rumi less, but it did make it harder for me to not wince at her behaviour at times. My favourite character was definitely Mr. Wantanabe. I loved his gruff grumpiness, and how he managed to connect to Rumi without even saying very much. He got through to her in a way that I thought was genuine and brilliant and this is the friendship that absolutely kept me turning the pages. I didn’t feel so connected to Kai, but I did enjoy seeing how he grew throughout the story.

As with Starfish, I think the two best selling points of Summer Bird Blue is the complexity of the situation unspooling throughout, and the beautiful descriptions. I’m usually not someone who loves deep and difficult contemporary novels—I am a light and fluffy girl at heart. But I do think Bowman paints a great and multifaceted glimpse at grief and our own understanding of mortality and life. It’s something that I’ve seen a lot of in YA, but it is rarely something I have seen done so well. Which kind of naturally leads to me discussing the descriptions. Music is how Rumi understands her loss, and so many of the most poignant descriptions in the book occur when she is writing a song, or when she’s tinkering with a piano. I loved every single word of these descriptions, and honestly they just blew me away. If nothing else, everyone who wants to be a good writer should look at Bowman’s amazing descriptions because I feel like we could all learn a thing or two. Also, I definitely did not cry during the songs. I was chopping onions at that exact moment in time.

Overall, I’d give Summer Bird Blue an 8/10 stars. I loved the descriptions and the way Bowman delves into the difficult theme of grief, but I sometimes found it hard to connect to the protagonist. However, it is a really poignant book and I fell in love with so many aspects of it, so I’d definitely recommend picking up a copy when it comes out.

Trigger Warnings: This book features death by car accident, familial death, grief, a panic attack, a heart attack, blood.

I've wanted to read Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman ever since it was announced. I absolutely adored Bowman's debut novel, Starfish, and was sure I would love her second novel just as much. And I wasn't wrong; Summer Bird Blue was incredible.

This book is absolutely beautiful. It's heartbreaking and raw, and there's absolutely no escaping Rumi's grief. But Summer Bird Blue is about so much more than a girl grieving for her sister, and feeling such indescribably rage. Rumi is much more complicated than that. It's the story of a very insecure girl, who has just lost the one thing she was sure of. It's a story of family, love, identity, and friendship.

Rumi is perpetually unsure, and this is true even before Lea dies. She doesn't know who she is or what she wants, and is so scared of making a choice in case it's the wrong one - what if she changes her mind? What if she hurts people in the process? This is connected to her dad, who abandoned the family when Rumi was very young, because he wasn't mature enough to deal with having children. She's so scared she's like him. And this links to her questions surrounding her sexual and romantic orientations; she doesn't want to choose a label, because they don't exactly fit, and what if she's wrong anyway, and things change? Again, she doesn't want to make that decision. She's also very honest and quite abrasive, which she thinks reminds her mum of her dad. So while she absolutely adores her sister, she's also hugely jealous of her; Lea is sunshine and joy personified, the sweetest, kindest person, and Rumi is pretty sure that their mum loves Lea more. Lea also seems to have everything figured out; she knows who she is and what she wants, and is confident in a way Rumi isn't, and Rumi just wishes she was as "normal" as Lea. She is a ball of confusion and insecurity, affected deeply by events of the past, and pretty much in a constant state of overwhelmed. Except when she and Lea are writing music and playing together. Lea and music mean the world to Rumi, they're the two things she's absolutely sure of.

But with Lea's death, both her sun and music, which is her life blood, are taken away from her. And on top of that, her mum is so overwhelmed by her grief, she sends Rumi away to Hawaii to live with her aunt. Rumi is hurting, feels abandoned, and sees this as proof that her mum loved Lea more, and even though she's dead, she's choosing Lea over her. Rumi is grieving, too, and needs her mum now more than ever, but she's completely checked out of Rumi's life. And Rumi is raging. At her, at the world. Anger and fury is the only way she knows to express her grief, and she hurts almost everyone she comes into contact with.

Rumi isn't the nicest person, but felt for her so much. She is just so lost; her anchor has gone, her solid ground, and she doesn't know what to do. She's not dealing with it or coping with it very well, and this is exacerbated by her mum's complete absence. I just wanted to give her the biggest hug. She is hurting so badly, but doesn't really know how to let anyone help her. When she lets her aunt's neighbours - Kai, a boy around her own age on one side, and Mr Watanabe, an elderly man on the other - into her life, slowly but surely things begin to change. Mr Watanabe, quite blunt and grouchy, of very few words, helps Rumi bring music back into her life again, with the old records he allows her to listen to with him. Music is incredibly important to Rumi, it was her life, but now she's lost it. She can't imagine writing or playing or even listening to music without Lea, but she misses it so badly. But Mr Watanabe's songs have no links to Lea, songs they've not heard before, so it's one of Rumi's ways back to music - slowly, gradually. Mr Watanabe is hilarious in his grouchiness and how he tells Rumi off, but he's also incredibly wise, and Rumi's relationship with him becomes so important to her.

As does her relationship with Kai. To Rumi, Kai is the tiniest peek of the sun during a rain storm. Again, slowly, gradually, he brings Rumi back to life, with him being so carefree and just full of fun. He doesn't take anything that seriously, and he'll call Rumi out on her crappy behaviour by mocking her. He is always there, even though Rumi is so spiky and angry; always inviting her out with his friends, and giving her some teenage normalcy. He listens to her, and seems to get her, and he is just completely wonderful. You can probably guess that he has a thing for Rumi, but she doesn't have a thing for him.

Which leads into the absolutely stunning way Summer Bird Blue talks about Rumi's sexual and romantic orientations. Rumi falls somewhere on the asexual and aromantic spectrums - or at least she thinks so - but she just doesn't know where. And nor is she comfortable with the labels. She's so confused, partly because she can't find a label that is explicity her, and partly because she doesn't know herself well enough, yet, to know what "explicitly her" would mean.

'"I know what asexuality is. But there's also demisexual and gray asexual and then romantic orientation, too--and I don't know where I fit in. I'm not comfortable with the labels, because labels feel so final. Like I have to make up my mind right this second. Like I have to be as sure of myself as everyone else seems to be. And honestly, I don' really know what I like or don't like. I didn't like kissing Caleb, but does that mean I'll never like kissing anyone? I don't know the answer to that. I don't whether I'll ever meet someone and want to kiss them, or date them, or have sex with them. I just know that I'm not attracted to people the way you are."' (p264)*

'"Well, I don't like girls like that." I pause. "I don't think I like boys like that either. Is that weird?"
He doesn't hesitate. "No, not at all. Lots of people identify da same way as you."
"But I don't know how I identify, exactly. I know about the labels, and I guess if I was basing it off what the Internet says, I'd identify as asexual. And maybe somewhere on the aromantic spectrum, too. But I feel I don't fully relate to any of the labels that exist. Some of them are mostly right, but not exactly right. And asexual and aromantic labels--they're about attraction. They don't explain why I'm not sure if I like kissing, or how I'm not interested in sex right now. It's so confusing to me."' (p332-333)*

It's just so beautifully discussed. And Rumi is not judged by anyone except maybe herself. Everyone else is so accepting of who she is, or who she may be, and nobody puts pressure on her to figure it out and decide, to pick a label and define herself, and it's all just so wonderful. And, although I'm not asexual nor aromantic, I think Summer Bird Blue would be so helpful to those who are questioning whether they may be asexual and/or aromantic, and even those who have questions about their sexual and/or romantic orientations outside of the asexual and aromantic orientations. Because it's ok to not be sure, to not have all the answers, and to just exist and be as you are. It was just gorgeous!

Summer Bird Blue is pretty diverse the whole way through. I think there's only one white person in this book - Rumi's dad, who appears very briefly in a flashback. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure everyone is a person of colour. Rumi is multiracial; her mum is half Hawaiian and half Japanese, her dad is white (possibly Irish). Kai is half Japanese and half Korean. Kai's friend Gareth is half Filipino and half Samoan. Hannah and Jerrod, Kai and Gareth's other friends, are half Black and half Japanese. And Gareth's sister Izzy is gay. And quite a few of the large cast of characters speak Hawaiian pidgin, too. It's pretty awesome.

I absolutely adored this heartbreaking but hopeful story. I felt so much for Rumi, and I adored her friendships with Kai and Mr Wantanabe. It was just a gorgeous, gorgeous book! And has cemented Akemi Dawn Bowman as one of my favourite authors. I can't wait for her next novel, Harley in the Sky!

*All quotes have been checked against my purchased finished copy of Summer Bird Blue.

Thank you to Ink Road Books via NetGalley for the eProof.

Rumi Seto worries a lot because she doesn’t have the answer to everything. What should she eat, where should she go and who should she love? There is one thing that Rumi is 100% sure of though, that she wants to spend the rest of her life writing and performing music with her younger sister, Lea. Then Lea suddenly dies in a car accident and Rumi Is sent away by her mother to live with her auntie in Hawaii. Now that Rumi is thousands of miles away from home, she struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother and having no music in her life.

56157346_2589401841101049_3230895242974593024_nAkemi Dawn Bowman, the author of Summer Bird Blue is known for writing the most personal, beautiful, meaningful, poignant and hard-hitting stories and this books is exactly that! I felt so many emotions whilst I was reading this book, sadness, anger, love, pain and even happiness. This book managed to bring every single emotion through the pages. The writing style of Sumer Bird Blue is excellent it felt light but also felt lyrical at the same time. Another thing that I loved about this book were the pauses in between the real-time story to visit Rumi’s memories of the past.

The characters in this book are all extraordinary! Rumi such a well-rounded character. I felt so many of Rumi’s emotions. She was often incredibly conflicted and expressed how she felt through anger. Her emotions are all over the place throughout the book which is exactly how they should be if you have just lost your sister. Her character development throughout the book is one of my favourite character arcs in a book in a long time. Kai was a joy to read about, he made the book relaxed whenever he was a part of it. The ways in which he helps Rumi are so beautiful. Mr Watanabe’s character is actually one of my favourite characters from the whole book. He added so much to the story and I loved learning more about his character throughout the book. His little dog Poi is excellent too. Rumi’s Aunt is also incredible and never leaves Rumi’s side even when things get tough.

Music is such a huge part of this book and who Rumi is. She used to write songs and play with her sister Lea, so it means a lot to her. I liked reading about how she found comfort in music but could also at times finds it painful to listen to. I play the guitar and ukulele and related in many ways to how music made her feel. Having music be such a huge part of this book made a music lover like me, love the book even more.

This book is also a perfect read for anyone who has a strong bond with their sibling/s or for anyone who is looking to read about siblings. Rumi and Lea had an incredibly close relationship and we get to see this through Rumi’s memories. Some showing the relationship in a good light others showing it in a bad light. I found it incredibly interesting to read all about a sisterly relationship too as me and my sister are close.

Overall, this is an incredibly heart-warming and heart-breaking book all about teenage grief. This story made me laugh and it also made me cry. I will be recommending it to a lot of people in the future, just as I am doing now! Akemi Dawn Bowman has done it again and written a stunning novel!

Summer Bird Blue is beautifully written and feels so very real. Grief is portrayed in all its intense, uncomfortable, multifaceted glory and I was fully drawn in by the story.

Rumi, the protagonist, is brilliantly sharp. Summer Bird Blue had such a natural flow to it as we follow along on her journeys of grief and self-discovery.

One powerful part of Rumi's development, and one I've not often seen in literature, is her asexuality/aromanticism. It isn't glorified or shamed. It is simply Rumi's own exploration of her identity. This is such a character-driven book, and Rumi's conversations and experiences around this part of her identity fit in to the story perfectly.

Recommended to YA fans who enjoy impactful, character-driven stories.