There were times I rolled my eyes; times I realised I'm not the target of this book (I've already been through his, I've learnt these lessons already). But also times I understood that two years ago, this book would have struck me so hard I would have exploded with emotions.
Someone out there will read this and realise that, they too, deserve to shine.

I related to so many elements (or used to at some point in my life) like lack of confidence, social anxiety, reclusiveness, but also Kiko's relationships with people at school, with her one friend who is her rock, with that one parent, and with her siblings.
So many times I felt like the author was taking bits of my life and writing them out in someone else's lifestory. But they were mine.

I was scared this was going to be a girl-has-issues-but-the-guy-shows-her-how-to-live kind of story...but it wasn't. I'm so pleased about that.
This is a story about a girl who finally decides to take a break from her toxic family life to do something for herself for a change.
And it just so happens there's also a guy on the road. He's not the reason she takes off and he's not the glue holding her wings together... although he might have helped steer her in a nicer direction.

I felt like I could have loved Jaime. I say could have become ultimately, we don't get to know him much. Kiko already knew him, their love existed before this book, so their relationship doesn't evolve much in the writing. For that reason we don't get to fall over their relationship like we often do in other books. But at the same time it felt nice, not having a huge romance plot forced into a novel. This isn't about Jaime. It's not about Kiko and Jaime's relationship. So in the end I'm okay with his character not being as developed as Kiko's.

Kiko is finally deciding to spread her wings and see what the wind actually feels like. She's discovering the world and she's discovering herself. She's trying to unlearn how to feel the things she has been made to believe about herself, after having been told she's burden all her life.

This is a story about letting yourself shine. Realising you are worth the shine. Realising you can do it by yourself. You are worth it.

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Be aware that some earlier copies of this book, especially physical copies, may contain ableism. Kiko says/said that her abuser is 'a psycopath' or 'has a split-personality' when those are serious illnesses that the abuser doesn't actually have. The author is now aware that this is not right, has apologised, and has made sure that those parts of the book have been changed/removed.