Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher HarperCollins, and the writer illustrator Sunmi for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. There were high hopes for this graphic novel. A wlw/queer As-Am love story set in the Bay Area/SF sign me up. The execution though, hits hard to the ground as the story fails to deliver on specificity and unique language, imagery, plot, and characters. The plot and characters are familiar beats and the language and imagery are too broad. The backstory of the character's family should have played more of a role within the plot. While a story doesn't need conflict, the story should at least explore themes and ideas. The most interesting imagery comes through the chapters/title cards/intermissions. The graphic novel does explore a bit on the idea of being nonbinary/trans which it should have leaned more into. So while a lackluster start, Sunmi has a lot of room to grow as an illustrator and writer, here's hoping for more of Sunmi's work in the future.
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Sunmi’s Firebird follows Caroline, a Korean-American high school sophomore who struggles to balance her own sense of identity with the expectations of her mother and community. Caroline begins tutoring Kim, a senior girl, and finds herself attracted to Kim as well as wishing her life were as seemingly effortlessly easy as Kim’s. Sunmi alternates perspectives to show how much Kim takes on in order to try to meet all the expectations her friends, family, co-workers, and others place upon her. Together, Kim and Caroline find some solace in each other and the ability to share their concerns as well as their hopes. The title references a mystical firebird, which Caroline envisions amid her hope and desire to be able to “feel openly, and passionately.” Sunmi’s art beautifully brings their characters’ internal and external lives to vivid reality while the story will resonate with anyone struggle to balance the person they feel they should be with the person they are. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/45j0qSrh8rk

Enjoy! ( )

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. Content warning for transphobia.)

-- 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 --

If her father is a 'goose dad' - "a father who migrates back and forth from Korea while the rest of the family lives in a Western country" - then that makes Caroline a goose child. But she'd much rather be a firebird: a completely new creature, a thing of beauty and fire, unafraid and filled with passion.

A sophomore in high school, Caroline feels trapped by her mom's expectations. She gets good grades, plays flute in the band, attends church - but it never seems to be enough. She's too frumpy, eschews feminine clothing, and spends too much time with her friends, Minnie and Sal. When Caroline volunteers as a math tutor to pad her college applications, mom insists that she should be using that time to study for the SATs.

But tutoring is how she meets Kimberley Park-Ocampo, a popular senior who's just as comfortable congregating with the cool kids as the punks and skaters. She seems to transcend social class - and she's an out and proud lesbian! When Kim texts her outside of class, Caroline is plagued by self-doubt: surely this must be a prank, right? But texts turn into late night snack runs and star gazing and, before she knows it, Caroline is cutting her hair short and agreeing to be Kim's prom date - in matching tuxes, no less.

Much to the girls' surprise, they share more in common than not. The question isn't if their budding relationship will change the course of heir lives, but how.

If I had to choose just one word to describe FIREBIRD, it would be "understated." It doesn't feel like a whole lot happens, but the story is arresting nonetheless. The romance between Caroline and Kim is a very slow burn, and its direction remains unclear at story's end. (Idk, I got some subtle ace vibes from Caroline.)

I really related to Caroline, especially vis-à-vis her relationship with her mother. My mom and I got into more than a few knock-down, drag-out fights over my penchant for wearing men's clothing, and some of those panels hit a little too close to home.

I enjoyed how Sunmi drew parallels between Caroline and Kim, two seemingly opposite Korean-American teenagers, even extending this into a chapter devoted to their de facto single mother immigrant moms. ( )