Get Up Offa That Slump: A Blogging Extravangza 4 - Reviewing My Favorite Book

Today's theme will be -

Reviewing Your Favorite Book 

How is this possible? A bookish person, who reads tons of books, having one favorite book? How did you narrow down your choices? Why is this your favorite book?

You will find this out all in this post! This will not be your average review, because I can't really give stars to my favorite book. And while I have said Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray are some of my favorites, this one particular book stands out in memory to me, because a lot of it is so close to home and rereading it brings back fond memories! And I don't reread books often... I think I read this two years ago? So to have it bring back more emotions (and I own it this time - THANK YOU AGAIN YILING <3) makes it my favorite book.

Which book am I talking about? I talk about it so often. A quote from it was even in my HS yearbook. It's Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto! 

This book and I go way back - actually, to be correct, this story of friendship and passion and remaining true to yourself, connected with me in the form of a movie in my HS anime club. Flashback, freshman year, when I didn't have many friends. And I was the only freshman to go to anime club. One week, they showed Kamikaze Girls, and for the next hour and thirty minutes, I was entranced. I didn't finish this weird movie in club, but at home, I promptly found it online and watched the rest of it. It. was. amazing. 

I found out it was in book form several years later, and borrowed it from the library. Let me tell you, it's rare for me to love both the movie and book version, so when I review this, expect a lot of movie gifs/photos. 

The premise of this book is the story of an unlikely friendship between Momoko, a sassy and blunt Lolita, and Ichigo, a tough and brash Yanki (biker). The two of them are so opposite each other, but circumstance draws them together. And despite their differences, they have a lot in common, and become the best of friends. 

The message of this book is clear - remain true to who you are and no one can change that; and don't you dare let anyone take it away from you, your love and your passion! 

This message resonates with me. 

Kamikaze Girls has everything. Love, loss, friendship, laughs. It makes me think of how I became friends with all of my friends. We're all so different, yet we're drawn together. 

There are a billion reasons why everyone should read this book. 

1. Hilarious narrator. Momoko is downright funny. Despite her seemingly innocent appearance as a Lolita, she is devoted to her life goal to live just as the French did in the Rococo period, with sweetness and never unpleasantness. She doesn't believe in needing a friend, because of her whole "you'll die alone, so enjoy your life as you please" attitude, until Ichigo butts into her life. Initially, Momoko thinks quite lowly of her new "friend".

Ichigo: "Hey Momoko. What am I to you?" 

Momoko: "A hicktown Yanki with bad taste." 

Another funny scene:

M: There's nothing to think about. I will never become a Yanki, or ride a motorcycle, or fight anybody, or join a group of any kind, or take off what you call my frilly-ass clothes."
I: "Why not?"
M: "Because Yanki are so uncool."
I: "Did you just dis my entire life?"
M: "Well, yeah." 

Momoko is blunt, but never mean. She's simply voicing her opinion, with a lot of hilarity ensuing when she starts going on adventures with Ichigo.

She isn't afraid to admit to who she is!

2. Badass female characters. Momoko and Ichigo, badass in their own ways. You don't need to be tough or powerful to be badass. They remain true to themselves through and through! The Yanki spirit and the Lolita spirit, flows within them! By the end of the story, they are even a little bit of each other, with such a strong friendship.

3. The prose is relatable and gives you feels. I dog eared all of my favorite quotes (in this case, most of the book), but let me pick out a few of my favorites.

"When you find something precious, you have to hold on to it with all your might and never let it go, whatever else you may lose. After all, there are lots of people who die without ever finding something that's really precious to them." - HS yearbook quote 

"I'm not sure I want to turn things I love into work."
"Why not?"
"Because if I turned it into work, I'd probably have to see things i don't enjoy doing as well, and I'd see things I loved from the other side. And I wouldn't want that."

"We aren't into any of the same things, and I totally don't understand you at all, but we can talk for hours and it never gets to be a pain. I guess it's because you've got your own policies that you stick to, even if I don't get them."

"Wish I was grown up. Man, when and how am I ever gonna be a real grown-up?"
"After you've gone through a lot of pain, and a lot of grief, and laughed a lot, and lost a lot, and felt a lot of anger, and a lot of sorrow, and cried a whole lot."

4. Finally.... The story. You don't get a lot of simple friendship stories like this anymore. You connect to the characters, no matter what age, I believe. And the message is timeless. That's all I'm going to say.

I think I just wrote my long-awaited love letter to this book. If you ever do read it, let me know!

Aka find it on Goodreads here!