Summer Bird Blue

Bowman's writing has such an ease and flow that her books are easily on sitting reads; Summer Blue Bird is no exception. I started reading it because I forgot to take my current read out with me; I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the characters, the situations and how much I related.
The plot develops around a core thread of grief. It's not simple, it's' not clean but rest assured Bowman is there to guide you through Rumi's turbulent summer of anger. The story deals with grief, loss and abandonment in such a way that the book is a cathartic read. It's a must read for anyone who has experienced loss and for those who haven't and wants to empathise.

This was a devastatingly beautiful book with such real characters that I couldn't help but fall in love with.
It dealt with grief in a refreshingly honest way which definitely doesn't make it a happy book but an important one none the less.
I really enjoyed that one of the main focuses of this book was family relationships like the bond between the main character Rumi and her sister Lea. There was also so many great friendships scattered throughout the book which I loved getting to read about.
Lastly, I adored that music was such a big part of the main character. it made the story all the more special.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers at Black & White Publishing, and Ink Road, for the opportunity to read and review this novel in advance of its publication!

There are so many things I want to talk about here!

Book summary:
Rumi has just lost her sister Lea in a car accident. Their mum, struggling to cope with the loss of Lea, sends Rumi to Hawaii to stay with Aunty Ani, on a street of interesting characters, leaving Rumi to navigate her grief alone,

In life, Lea shared with her sister a love of music and song writing. Just before the accident they had begun their new song, Summer Bird Blue. Now Rumi knows she must finish it, even though music now hurts her.

Cover:
This is what drew me to the book on Net Galley. Blue is my favourite colour, and the curling wave, the colours and the birds… it’s adorable and I love it. In a book shop I would totally be directed to this book by the cover.

Characters:
Rumi is the main character in Summer Bird Blue. My first thought = she’s an angry soul! But that’s part of what makes her real. Because she is incredibly real. Not everyone is likeable all the time, particularly at such a harrowing, awful time when they lose somebody close to them. I respected the grief process she went through. True, I didn’t always enjoy her as a character, but I respected her, and sometimes that’s just as vital.

Though Lea isn’t alive during the course of the novel, she does feature in the flashbacks, and is, after Rumi, the primary character. Lea is loveable straight away, through Rumi’s perspective. She is kind and generous to a fault, always putting her sister first, always ensuring her happiness over her own. The more memories we see, the more I liked her.

Kai and his friends are like balls of sunshine tumbling around, making things brighter and happier for Rumi. I loved them all. Yet it is Mr Watanabe, the grouchy neighbour, whom I liked the most. His simple acceptance of Rumi and her darkness, and his understanding of her explosive emotions is worth so much.

Themes:
The primary theme is grief, as already mentioned above. Grief doesn’t effect us in the same ways. It can be ugly and dark, and consequently sometimes so is Rumi. The author isn’t kind to us in this sense – she doesn’t hold out on the grieving process to be make the reading easier. She throws us in head first, so that experience all the emotions that Rumi does. At the end, I finally shed some tears, and I appreciate the journey we are taken on through Summer Bird Blue.

Another theme is sexuality. It is impressive that there was space for this in such a full novel, and I like that it’s there. It adds yet another layer to the book, and it’s great that the author shows us this often confusing side of being a teenager, and then normalising it. Incredible.

Music is a huge theme to Summer Bird Blue. It is displayed using imagery, and beautiful imagery at that. Through metaphor and colour, smells and touch, Rumi shows us what music means to her, and it is wonderful.

Language:
This is an interesting part to the book. It is set in Hawaii, and true to the region depicts their native tongue and accent. I love books that do this – it’s immersive and gives the characters real voices.

“ “If you no like talk to me, den stop making kine humbug fo’ everybody.”” (Ch.4, loc.354)

I admit it made it a little hard to read at first, then I got used to it and loved that the author did this.

To conclude :
Rumi got to me. I loved her journey through her grief, her fight to find herself again without losing Lea along the way. The setting was beautiful, the music was stunning, and the characters and language were phenomenal. Summer Bird Blue is one of those books that makes you angry, that makes you cry, gives you hope, and ultimately brings you joy. A highly recommended novel for anyone who wants to feel all the feels possible.

Rumi and Lea were sisters who loved to sing and write and perform their songs together, best friends.



Until a tragic car crash...



As Rumi gets sent away to her aunt's by her mother she has to cope with losing her beloved sister and her mum too.



Whilst away her neighbour Kai and his friends hang out with Rumi but its an elderly neighbour who truly gives her friendship and no messing guidance as she grieves and struggles to accept all that has changed and she has lost.



There's also the fact of finishing the final song they began together, Summer Bird Blue.



Ann emotional story of how to adapt and accept a close death and the Many ways people deal with the turmoil it can lead their lives to be affected by. I really liked that Rumi also touches on the fact of not being sure if her sexuality and it made her realistic as a teenager in today's times. A fast flowing hard hitting read.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

This would be a perfect read for anyone who has a strong bond with their sibling or is looking to read about that. Rumi has always been there for Lea when their mother was working hard to provide for them and as a result they have a really close relationship. We get to see glimpses of this through Rumi's memories of the good and bad. The format of these flashbacks are also done in an interesting manner as they pop up in the middle of chapters, headered as "a memory". At first I found it slightly jarring but in the end I actually I think I liked the clarity.

I also highly recommend Summer Bird Blue to anyone who is musically inclined. Rumi and Lea wrote songs together and played music together so music is a huge part of who she is. She sometimes finds comfort in it but she also can find it very painful. Personally, I enjoy listening to music but I cannot play any instruments and I don't have the connection she does. As a result, some of the descriptions of music and feelings Rumi had didn't fully resonate with me but I'm sure others would appreciate them.

It was also refreshing to read about a YA protagonist that isn't happy go lucky. I realise YA is moving forward and dealing with a lot darker and more serious topics that can affect teens so I am pleased to read a book contributing to that movement. Consequently, this book left me welling up and angry right along with Rumi.

This book also delves into Rumi's sexuality and how she is still working it out and doesn't really want to put a label on it. There are wonderful discussions about sexuality and primarily asexuality which is something I haven't seen a lot of in YA books and I really appreciated the addition and I think it will help young readers.

My one criticism of this book is that for the first 50% Rumi is really angry and struggling to come to terms with her grief. She is unwilling to be around people or to make any effort with them. Then it seemed to switch and she was suddenly a lot more open. Obviously it didn't seem like she was all fixed and there was a good progression from that mark. It just felt a bit like one chapter she is yelling at everyone and then the next she is happy to be around people again. Although, I realise there is no right way for anyone to grieve so it is only a small criticism for me, that I can barely put into words properly anyway!

Overall this was a touching look at teenage grief and family bonds that I highly recommend. I am looking forward to finally picking up Starfish even more now!

I’m still crying as I write this. Summer Bird Blue is such a stunning well told story about grief. I cried almost the whole way through!

Rumi’s story is heart wrenching and so painful and utterly perfect. I love that not only is she so angry with pain, but also not actually a personable character in the first place. I loved her so much for that. Her compliment sandwiches were amazing.

And the ace rep. Oh the ace rep. I seriously wish there were more books like this out there and that this one had been published when I was 16. 💙💙 It’s just gorgeous, and well articulated for all that Rumi is confused.

I also love music, though sadly I’m not a musician, and I felt Rumi’s love for it throughout. I desperately want to hear her songs.

This has also done nothing for my rampaging desire to visit Hawaii. One day! It felt like it was a part of the story as much as the characters, which is always hard to do.

Mr Watanbe is so fantastic. I want to hug him. Ditto with Kai and his friends. They’re so great - accepting and helpful, even when they occasionally put their foot in it.

Go read this book. Bring tissues.

This was an amazing book that captured the process of loss and grieving so well. The main character Rumi isn’t perfect and she doesn’t have all the answers. At times it’s difficult to like her or sympathise with her but she is unbelievably real and that makes the story thoroughly engaging. Highly recommend this book, especially if you know a young adult or teenager struggling with loss or who they are.

I knew I’d have to read everything Akemi Dawn Bowman ever writes when I fell in love with ‘Starfish’. With ‘Summer Bird Blue’ Akemi has confirmed her place as one of my favourite authors.

Rumi is one of the most acerbic characters I’ve loved in a long time. She’s angry, she’s confused, she’s mean, she feels guilty as hell. Lea, the good sister, daughter, friend, human being, died in an accident and Rumi is left to try to figure out how to do life without her best friend. Her mother has abandoned her, shipped her off to Hawaii for the summer to live with Aunty Ani, who’s practically a stranger, and Rumi is furious.

Rumi’s grief is so palpable that I needed to take a few breaks from reading just so I could breathe for a while without inhaling pain. The portrayal of grief in this book was brilliant - visceral, uncomfortable, painful and so real. Normally I would be annoyed if a character’s thoughts were as repetitive as Rumi’s were at times but it added to the authenticity of her character.

People were shown to be grieving differently in this book; there wasn’t a one size fits all portrayal. I hope this book makes its way into the hands of young people who need to know that they’re not alone, that their feelings are valid and that it’s okay to need help.

‘Sometimes I’m not sure if there is anywhere left in the world I can look where I won’t see the empty spaces she left behind.’

Some of my favourite conversations in this book included Rumi’s “sandwich method”, where she wraps what she really feels inside two compliments, including, “I like your eyeshadow today. I feel like I’m eating neon-colored mucus. Thanks for cooking.”

As I read I kept finding ways to use sandwiches as an analogy. Aunt Ani’s house is sandwiched between the homes of Kai and Mr. Watanabe who, while they’re polar opposites in many respects, befriend Rumi and support her while she’s grieving. Then, if you want to take it even further, Rumi is sandwiched between the memories of her sister and the fear of having a future without her.

My favourite character was Aunty Ani’s lonely neighbour, Mr. Watanabe, who has a yappy dog called Poi and is hiding a beautiful heart beneath his grumpy exterior. While he’s comfortable with silence, when he speaks he’s certainly worth listening to.

“Grief is only a visitor, but it goin’ stay mo’ longer when it sees you hiding from it.”

I loved the way music is woven into this book and the lives of its characters. Rumi’s unique way of describing different songs helped me ‘hear’ and feel them in a way that I don’t remember experiencing in a book before.

‘The piano music is like vanilla lattes and sugar cookies. Cozy. Homely.’

I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when I learned one of the characters in this book was asexual. I was overjoyed that this wasn’t just casually mentioned and then set aside. The representation was realistic and the reactions of other characters when they discussed it was everything I hoped it would be. It was never portrayed as a weakness or something to be ashamed of and I loved that kissing an attractive person didn’t magically change this person’s sexuality. I definitely want to read more books featuring asexual and aromantic characters.

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry before Rumi did and with some strategic reading breaks I almost made it. When I finally did cry it was definitely the ugly kind; I essentially sobbed through most of the final 10%, obliterating about half a dozen tissues along the way. I’m now nursing a fairly spectacular ugly cry hangover headache but it was entirely worth it.

Before I finish I have to mention the amazing cover! It was Sarah Creech’s gorgeous cover of ‘Starfish’ that drew me to Akemi’s debut and once again Sarah’s cover design and illustration complement the story perfectly.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ink Road, an imprint of Black & White Publishing, for the opportunity to read this book. I want to recommend it to everyone!

This was such a wonderful YA contemporary that deals with such important topics such as grief and sexuality.

What I loved about this book was that it was set in Hawaii. The descriptions in this book were beautiful. This would be a perfect book to read in the summer on a beach chilling out or in your back garden with a pimms.

When I saw that the synopsis says "boy next door" I was really concerned that this was going to be a heavily romance centered book but it definitely wasn't.

I loved the commentary around sexuality and labels, and not knowing which labels or groups you belong to or any. I really related to what Rumi says in this book about not knowing what you should or be expected to know that certain ages and how everyone else seems to know what's going on all the time

This is such a beautiful, moving story. I loved how it incorporated music, I loved that element.

Overall, it was just a really lovely YA contemporary set in amazing place with wonderful characters and important themes. I could really see this being turned into a film

This book is one to read, so emotional , have your tissues ready with this one. Touching , with humour too and heart breaking raw emotion. Very real characters and plot. It really captures the chaotic nature of life, the highs, the lows , it’s not an easy read but well worth it. A book that changes how you view things

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

4.5 stars

I'm pretty sure there are still remnants of mascara tears on my face from finishing this book. This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching story about a teenager struggling to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life.

Rumi spends her summer in idyllic Hawaii with her aunt and is trying to make sense of the world now that her sister and best friend, Lea, has been taken from it. The writing style was light and lyrical and I found Rumi's pain so tangible.

Summer Bird Blow is a profound exploration of grief and loss. Feeling lost and abandoned, Rumi’s angry. Bowman conveys her conflicting emotions and watching her lash out on others and struggle to deal with her feelings makes her feel all the more realistic. She can't fathom a life without her sister; what does she eat, who should she love, how can she possibly go on now that the only person who truly understood her is gone? Healing is no linear journey, yet watching her progress over the entire summer was incredible. Although it was an arduous effort, she learns to manage and understand her emotions. She learns to rekindle her passion for music. It's the answer she was so desperately searching for.

What’s more, Summer Bird Blue highlights the importance of seeking help and letting others in. Rumi is stubborn in her determination to remain isolated in the dark and initially vilifies those who are trying to support her. However, eventually, she learns to accept support. Two relationships I enjoyed watching blossom were that with the boy next door, Kai, and the grumpy old man Mr. Watanabe. These friendships don’t ‘cure’ Rumi, but the impact they have on her makes her realise that there is still a life out there for her. She’s might never be completely okay. And that’s fine.

Overall, this was a tear-jerking, hard-hitting, but ultimately, awe-inspiring read. Rather than her misery being quickly rectified, Bowman's depiction of the grieving process is raw and realistic. There's diversity, complex familial relationships, friendships, hurting and healing. I know I'll always be recommending this book to anyone who loves hard-hitting contemporary.

I read Akemi Dawn Bowman’s beautiful debut Starfish last year and completely fell in love with her writing style and thoughtful perspectives about life. Not long after I finished it, I discovered her second book, Summer Bird Blue, would be released later in the year and I was ecstatic because I needed more of her stories, more of her writing in my life. Despite feeling pretty desperate to read Summer Bird Blue, I could never find a copy of it anywhere so you can imagine my surprise when the ARC turned up on Netgalley one day. When my request was accepted, I was so thrilled! And now that I’ve read this amazing book, I honestly can’t wait to buy a hard copy of it and read it again and again when it’s released in a couple of months.

Summer Bird Blue is about Rumi, a girl who worries she’s running out of time to make the decisions everyone else she knows is already making for themselves. Decisions about their futures and who they love and what they want to do with their whole lives. She’s confused about a lot of things and has no idea why she doesn’t know herself as well she thinks she should at this time in her teenage life. All she really knows is that she just wants to spend all of her time making music with her sister and best friend, Lea. To live her dream of songwriting and creating music with the one person who accepts and knows her for everything she is. But, when Lea dies in a car accident and her Mum sends her away to Hawaii with her aunt for the summer so she can deal with her own grief, Rumi is overtaken by anger and the loss of everything she knows and loves. She spends the summer struggling through her thoughts and feelings. With the guidance of her aunt and her neighbours, a carefree teenager named Kai and eighty-year old Mr. Watanabe, Rumi tries to find her way and to honour her sister’s last wish: to finish the song they started and never got to finish.

I really have no idea how to talk about how incredible this book is. It’s heartbreaking and intricate. An engaging, honest portrayal of dealing with loss in death and finding a new path in the life that remains. It’s angry and sorrowful, but also hopeful and bright with the beauty of the world. There’s so much darkness and light and the balance of both is dealt with in a way that is so realistic to the ups and downs of life. The writing is simply beautiful and inspiring, capturing so many struggles in life with a thoughtfulness that amazed me.

Besides Akemi Dawn Bowman’s exquisite writing, this book is most alive with its characters. Following Rumi throughout the whole book, I felt her anger and sadness and her moments of happiness like they could’ve been my own. She was painted with so many different shades and every step of her journey was so complicated by her dark tunnels of thoughts about Lea’s death, feeling abandoned by her mum, her desire to find music again, her feeling like she didn’t deserve to be alive. Sometimes her thoughts were a little repetitive, but I thought that worked as part of the story as it represented how we all can go over the same things many times before we ever reach any kind of understanding. Some of Rumi’s feelings, especially in relation to making the most of life and feeling anxious about choices for the future, were things I could really relate to. Her struggles with Lea’s death and her mum were absolutely heartbreaking and made me really remind myself to love the life I have and not take anyone I love for granted. Rumi is a wonderfully intricate and unique character. I loved the journey she went on throughout the book and I loved her personality, too. There were times she made my heart hurt but there were other times she made me laugh out loud. Seriously, she has some incredibly funny lines at times.

Rumi’s relationships with the other characters is most definitely the highlight of this book, so much so that I have no idea which set of relationships I loved the most. Lea and Rumi are most definitely one of the best sister/best friend relationships I’ve ever read. There are many beautiful snippets in the book of memories between them, and they really gave an incredible insight into how they’d been together when Lea was alive and how Rumi got through everything with Lea’s spirit in her heart. The relationship between Rumi and her mum is very different, as Rumi spends most of the novel only feeling anger towards her mum, but the way it develops was perfect and a realistic depiction of a family trying do deal with the loss of one of their own. I loved Aunt Ani and her constant presence in Rumi’s life for the summer, even when Rumi wanted to be left alone or was hitting her with so much anger. She was strength and wisdom and one of the people Rumi needed by her side to get through everything.

I absolutely loved Kai, and in connection, his other friends that Rumi eventually connects with, too. Kai and Rumi’s friendship was complicated at times, but Kai was such a forgiving and understanding soul, so kind to Rumi and there was something in him that she really needed to find her way again. I loved every single scene with them together and how they ended up being so important to the other. It really was a delight to read. Rumi’s friendship with Mr. Watanabe, and also his dog Poi, was another incredible part of the story. Honestly, Mr. Watanabe’s dialogue might just be my favourite thing about this novel. He was a funny, angry old man who sometimes said things with a lot of feeling that gave Rumi the perspective she needed. I loved how they connected and helped each other. I’d read a side-story about Mr. Watanabe today if I could. Also one about Kai. They were both such great characters and it warmed my heart to see how they connected with Rumi and put some light in her life again.

I really can’t say enough how much I loved this book. I wanted to keep living in it forever. I can’t wait to own it and put it on my shelf next to my other favourites. In fact, my fiance just pre-ordered me a copy so in April I will have it! I absolutely recommend it to every reader out there, it’s a book you shouldn’t miss.

This is a crucial look at loss and grief, written in a beautiful way. I was so happy for the great aro-ace representation in Rumi, which is something not seen enough. This is a raw, real and deeply hopeful book.

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.

Rumi and her younger sister Lea are best friends and share a passion for music. They plan to spend their lives writing music together but these plans are cut short when Lea is tragically killed in a car accident. Lost, confused, and grieving, Rumi is sent by her mother to stay with Aunty Ani in Hawaii. Feeling abandoned by her mother, Rumi must navigate her way through her grief and find her way back to her music without her sister beside her.

This is a beautifully written book. It can be a little difficult to read at times as it deals heavily with grief, but I also found it very quick to read with the flow of the writing pulling me onwards.

Rumi feels incredibly real; she is full of flaws even before tragedy strikes. She is jealous, confused, angry, frustrated, just like so many teenagers (and adults). As the story is told from Rumi’s point of view, her circles of grief sometimes seem a little repetitive, but this mirrors the nature of many people’s grief.

Rumi befriends two very different neighbours; handsome teenage surfer Kai, and elderly and cantankerous Mr. Watanabe. These two very different people help Rumi through her frustrations and grief and back to her music. These contrasting characters are interesting and delightfully written.

To add to Rumi’s confusion of feelings, she also struggles with her identity and sexual orientation. I thought this important aspect of identity was sensitively explored.

I enjoyed the setting of Hawaii, and how the happy images of sunshine and sea contrasted with Rumi’s dark feelings. I thought that Rumi’s journey through grief was explored incredibly well and I liked how she came out the other side a kinder and more understanding person; of other people, and herself.

Summer Bird Blue is a wonderfully-written, heart-breaking and heart-mending story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ink Road for the opportunity to read and review this title.

‘Summer Bird Blue’ is about Rumi, a girl whose beloved sister has just died. Rumi is sent to stay with her aunt in Hawaii for the summer, and the story follows her progress in dealing with her loss.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is tenderly written in the first person, and parts of it are very sad. The characters that Rumi meets in Hawaii are interesting, if a little one-dimensional. The setting is rich and I really got a flavour of Hawaii through the descriptions of the places Rumi visits.

I liked that Rumi had to deal with the complexity of her grief. She had so many emotions around losing her sister, which I found very believable. Rumi works through these feelings with the help of music, which she loved sharing with her sister.

I would recommend the novel to readers who enjoy well-written and realistic young adult fiction.