Reviews - When Haru Was Here

1.05k reviews for:

When Haru Was Here

Dustin Thao

3.75 AVERAGE

mimi_mynd's review against another edition

3.0

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

karaleecupcake's review against another edition

4.0

When Haru Was Here follows Eric who creates imaginary scenarios in his head to deal with his grief after the death of his best friend. Then one of the scenarios becomes real when Haru Tanaka, a boy he met last summer in Japan, walks into a coffee shop and sits next to him. However, no one else can see Haru. Eric feels less alone, but he then begins to question what is real and he must confront his reality.
Eric is struggling after his best friend’s death, and you cannot help but feel for him because he is going through a lot. He is taking a gap year to figure things out and he gets a job working at a theater. He then meets Haru, but the problem is no one else can see him. I did feel that Eric is naive though because even when he realizes Haru is not actually there, Eric still wants to see him. That said, I did find the ending emotional and I did like the book.

mrsfrost2024's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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: No

I so wish I could give more stars. This is my favorite book so far this year. I don’t cry easily, with books, but I was sobbing at the end.

mallorya213's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful sad

starliot's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

teereadsbooks's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful reflective 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: N/A

Don't mind me, I'm just over here crying.

whosfernn's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional 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

There's a reason this book took me 7 months to finish. It broke my heart. As someone who lost a friend to suicide, it hit incredibly close to home and I couldn't stomach reading more of it for a long time. But when I finally sat down and finished it, it was incredible. Thank you Dustin Thao for writing this.

Content Warnings