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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An unreliable narrator that doesn't clearly differentiate delusions and reality until afterward. I understand why that choice was made but it caused me to read with hesitance to the point I fully guessed the plot twist well before the reveal .
The final scenes, however, were almost enough to salvage the whole thing for me.
The final scenes, however, were almost enough to salvage the whole thing for me.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To be fair with this review I'm not the biggest contemporary fiction person. I figured with it being queer and ghost like that would be enough for me to stay interested. And it was mostly? It was an intriguing journey through grief and trauma. I loved the gayness and Vietnamese and Japanese culture incorporated throughout.
The writing definitely left more to be desired. I found myself cycling through being bored with the characters and annoyed with the constant abandonment that Eric had to deal with. It felt kind of fucked up the way Haru manifested and disappeared in his life over and over. As well as everyone else around Eric abandoning him (parents, sister, coworkers, etc). I know some of that was a metaphor for the grief after Daniel but oof. My last issue was the magical elements were not nearly explored enough, that's what drew me to the book. But learning it could've just been vaguely Eric's imagination made it weird that Haru was his source of comfort - a total stranger that he met once for an afternoon and was kind of rude to Eric in Japan. It would've hit different if Haru was actually a ghost and was finally able to find Eric after that summer and become friends to lovers despite Haru being a ghost. Hot take maybe?
Almost DNF but tried to power through just to see how it wraps up.
The writing definitely left more to be desired. I found myself cycling through being bored with the characters and annoyed with the constant abandonment that Eric had to deal with. It felt kind of fucked up the way Haru manifested and disappeared in his life over and over. As well as everyone else around Eric abandoning him (parents, sister, coworkers, etc). I know some of that was a metaphor for the grief after Daniel but oof. My last issue was the magical elements were not nearly explored enough, that's what drew me to the book. But learning it could've just been vaguely Eric's imagination made it weird that Haru was his source of comfort - a total stranger that he met once for an afternoon and was kind of rude to Eric in Japan. It would've hit different if Haru was actually a ghost and was finally able to find Eric after that summer and become friends to lovers despite Haru being a ghost. Hot take maybe?
Almost DNF but tried to power through just to see how it wraps up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This one got me. Classic example of misdirection. Terry and Terri of Oozma Kappa would be proud.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was going to get at maximum 4 stars throughout most of the book, the concept was good, plot was okay, but the main character annoyed me slightly, made idiotic choices and I found myself almost angry with them at times. Then the last third of the book absolutely tripped me up and then punched me in the heart on the way down just to make sure it really broke me. I finished the book in tears and it's definitely one I'll think back on often, both for the content and the emotions it rung from me, but also for how much this book managed to fool me.
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated