Note: Thanks to Netgalley, Jessica Redland and Boldwood Books for providing me with a copy of Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café , in exchange for an honest review.
Name: Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café
Author: Jessica Redland
Genre: Modern Fiction
Book in One Sentence
Jessica Redland’s Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café is a modern romance story that showcases 2 people — Hollie and Jake — fighting their own demons and emerging victorious along the way.
Introduction
Jessica Redland’s Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café is about the lives of Hollie and Jake — two different people, navigating through their own lives. Scarred by their individual pasts, they have their own struggles. As they go through life, they find and help each other to overcome their own fears and reservations to live a more fulfilling life together.
Themes
Modern Fiction
The story is set in the contemporary world and focuses on the struggles of the people in this age. Not only does the author write about the lives of the two protagonists but also the side characters, shedding light on their day-to-day lives. This incorporates a hint of reality to the story as we might be the main characters in our own stories but that is the same for someone else too. The author also makes sure to create a sense of fraternity by acknowledging the struggles of other people and how they overcome them. Many times, this serves as an opportunity to encourage the protagonists to take a step forward and face their own fears.
Battling You Own Demons
Both Hollie and Jake have their own demons and struggles. Hollie comes from a loving and supportive family but a few years ago, it all crashed down when she lost her family in a series of mishaps. She lost her loved ones, her support system. Jake, on the other hand, lost his mother the day he was born. This gave rise to resentment in his sister’s mind, which haunted Jake till adulthood. Jake’s father died in an accident later and he was raised by his grandmother, who passed many years later due to old age. His struggles manifested as experiences in his life. Both Hollie and Jake managed to overcome their demons at the end of the story.
The Ending
The ending showed both Hollie and Jake battle their mental paranoias and emerge triumphant along the way. However, they didn’t achieve these all by themselves. They helped each other face their fears and battle them until the very end.
Significance of the Title
The title can be literal as we see at the end how they preferred forever to each other while the snow gathered outside. Sure, it wasn’t “dancing in the rain” for them, but it was definitely something similar.
Final Take
All in all, Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café is a great light-read. Sometimes I wished the story was more fast-paced. But if you are looking for something mature yet fun, this is for you.
With courage, nothing is impossible.
Jessica Redland (Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café)
My Ratings
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Anwesha RC 