I got an ARC of this book.

I really liked the art and the focus of this memoir. The feeling of other, because of a part of you that you can't change. I am a white man, so I can't speak on the race aspects. I do however have a lot of other idenitites where I got feelings that seemed to be similar to Mari. These feelings hit hard. I felt so intensely for her. I wanted her to find a place she felt at home and without the burden of others trying to define her or call her less than.

While this was an engaging read, it is hard to call it fun. The topic was intense and the depths of Mari's depression was difficult to read. It was an important story. It just was one that needed time to sit with and really be in the feelings versus many other graphic novel memoirs.

I don't think I know Mari any better now, which can be a downside to memoirs that can make them rated lower. In this case, I feel like it was a bonus. I learned about some intense feelings and complications to her identity, but I didn't learn her. She was not the focus. This outside pressure was. It was really well done.

Christine Mari shares her struggle with identity and depression in this coming of age graphic memoir. Her whole life she’s felt like an outsider, she’s had people tell her she’s not really Japanese because she can’t even speak the language. Christine decides it’s time to go back to her roots, she says goodbye to her fiends and family to study abroad in Japan. As it turns out Japan isn’t exactly what she was hoping, instead of fitting in and finding herself she feels even more confused, and lonely.

I want to thank NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The author does a good job at showing the mental struggle of not feeling whole, I feel like a lot of biracial people could relate to the things Christine has gone through. I personally felt myself relating to her mental health journey, understanding you have depression and feeling guilty for even having these feelings is very difficult. Especially when you feel so alone in the world even though you’re surrounded by people.

“In the end language doesn’t matter, I just want to hear your voice”

The relationship the author has with her grandmother was touching, and I’m very proud of Christine for reaching out and asking for help.

I definitely recommend this to anyone struggling right now, you’re not alone and it’s okay to ask for help!!

⚠️Trigger warnings⚠️
-Heavy talks of depression
-Self H*rm

There was a lot to relate to for me, unsurprisingly since I share a lot of identities with the author/mc, but the start of the book had me worried that it'd be too niche to be relatable to many, and that it also might just not have anything fresh to add to the ya graphic memoir category. It went in a bit of an unexpected direction and veered away from just focusing on the mixed kid identity crisis though and addressed depression, which I think probably ended up being the stronger piece of the story. I do wish the language barrier she had with her family was explored further though.