The Last Cherry Blossom Review

Hey look! Another all time favorite! And that bookmark that matches the book was signed by the author herself. 

The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw is a historical fiction book about Yuriko Ishikawa, a 12-year old girl living in Hiroshima, Japan during WW2. The story follows her daily life and other surprises before the city gets bombed, and the aftermath of said bombing.

A lot of the "daily life" stuff in this book mostly centers around Yuriko and her family. She grew up living with her single father, and then one day her single aunt Kimiko and cousin Genji start living with them, shaking up the house dynamic, which Yuriko doesn't like. She also doesn't get along with with aunt Kimiko and Genji. Yuriko's father also starts dating another woman named Sumiyo. Aunt Kimiko also starts dating a guy named Akira. The adults then get engaged and have a double wedding. Luckily, Yuriko gets along well with her new stepmom and step-uncle. 

Yuriko is also not popular at school, but luckily she does have one friend: a girl named Machiko who is also one of her neighbors. Machiko is very good with kids since she has a younger brother, and sometimes she helps Yuriko with babysitting Genji. Machiko is also kind of rebellious. She kept a jazz record that her father asked her to throw out, and she and Yuriko secretly bond over jazz music. 

Well, that's one surprising thing. But the biggest surprising thing of this story is that there is a giant twist regarding Yuriko's own family. I can't tell you what it is. You have to read the book to find out!

Since the book features the bombing of Hiroshima, some scenes towards the end might be uncomfortable and sad to read about. You've been warned. But the aftermath of Yuriko's own story does have a happy ending.

This book was inspired by the author's own mother's life. Mrs. Burkinshaw's mother was also a victim of the Hiroshima bombing. Some aspects of Yuriko's life were inspired by her mother, too. One of the major reasons Mrs. Burkinshaw wrote this book was to educate more people on how tragic events like bombs can effect everyday people. She was also inspired to write it after she went to her daughter's middle school and told her daughter's class the story of her mother. The school loved her story so much they included it as part of their curriculum, and then Mrs. Burkinshaw wrote The Last Cherry Blossom so that parts of her mother's story could be read by a wider audience.

I found out about this book because I went to an anime convention near where I live called Animazement, way back in 2018. One of the panels they had was of the author talking about her book. I got the bookmark that you see in the picture above, and it was signed by the author. I also got a picture with the author afterwards! Here it is: 

I am on the left. That's not my real hair. I was cosplaying Russia from Hetalia. 

Anyway, I ADORED this book. A pure 5 out of 5 star book. Thank you Kathleen Burkinshaw for your wonderful book!

Have you met any of your favorite authors before? Are there any you want to meet?