Reviews - Himawari House | The StoryGraph

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Oh, I love, love, LOVED this. This graphic novel was tender, sweet, hilarious, and heartbreaking, sometimes in the span of a single chapter. It has the look and feel of a manga, but really expands upon what could have easily been a single coming-of-age story into the perfectly balanced stories of three young women: Nao, Hyejung, and Tina, during a single year in a shared house in Japan. All three have their own motivations for coming to Japan, and their individual journeys were so wonderfully laid out and interwoven. I loved how it was just the more common "American student studies abroad narrative," but shows how exchange students from different countries live and interact in Japan, and by having Nao be Japanese but at odds with how out-of-place she feels, both in the country and with the language, it added a whole new dimension and layer to the story. This is ostensibly YA but the characters are actually a bit older, ranging from 18-19 to 25...but it still has all the hallmarks of the category and serves to tell a story of people at a crucial juncture in their journey to finding out who they are.

Language is such a vital part of this story — the way it bridges between the characters, the way it causes deep anxiety, the joy of breaking through to the other side of understanding — and Becker handles it beautifully. Her descriptions of how different languages feel to the characters, her care with how she writes the accented English that Hyejung, Tina, and Masaki speak (and her specific call-out to how accents have been weaponized in media in the past, and her desire to break that cycle), all of it was so well done. Even when she doesn't use language, she is able to communicate so effectively just with images.

On that note, Becker's art is stunning and so dynamic — she seamlessly transitions between lush scenes and intense faces to incredibly goofy, hilarious chibis, all with the goal of really showing theses characters' emotions writ large. She knows exactly when to use a silly face to cut the narrative tension, but allows an uncanny kind of depth into her characters through their expressions. Whether they're falling in love, feeling heartache, dealing with rejection or confusion, or otherwise, she always nailed the perfect look that immediately cuts straight through to the reader.

I loved all these characters and all their stories and I would read volumes upon volumes about them and the Himawari House, but I'll settle for reading whatever Becker comes up with next. I'm definitely a fan!

piyali's review against another edition

5.0

One could literally write a paper on this book and all the issues that it explores - sense of belonging for first generation immigrants, immigrant experience, parental expectations, friendship, love, family. What I loved the most was the author's afterword about the use of accent in this book. Accents of Asian people have been long used for comic relief. Harmony Becker gives her characters authentic accents because she loves accents. She thinks "they add depth and character to one's speech - a sense of place." She writes, "What is an accent but proof of the ability to speak more than one language?"

dayray's review

4.5

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted 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: Yes

sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny 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: Complicated

i'm so so so glad i blindly picked up this as my first 2025 read, because words can't explain how much i loved it.

it is a slice of life book (and a graphic novel) so, sure, there wasn't much "on-screen" character development but i ended up laughing, crying and loving the three main characters. each one of them was so different, however i could find parts of myself in each one of them.

nao is a immigrant who left japan as a kid to go live in usa but who went back to japan for a year just to reconnect with her japanese side. if you're an immigrant or a child of one, you know how it feels: you're never enough for any of the sides. you'll always be an outsider to both of them, no matter how hard you try to adapt yourself to fit in. some people, especially your closest family and friends will understand and believe you're enough. others won't. but you just have to learn to live with that and keep making changes that will make you happy.

another thing i genuinely loved and that actually brought me to tears is looking up and trying to watch the events unfold by your parents' point of view. it's so gut-wreching to think of how it must feel to see your kid turn into a stranger, refuse to get involved with cultural traits from your country, for whatever reason they might have and still staying strong in front of them.

hyejung had always been the perfect daughter for her parents, a girl who "fitted herself into whatever mold you wanted if that made you want her." she studied and studied so hard just to make her parents happy, at seeing how she could break the ceiling glass they had always been under. however, she never really stopped to think of what she really wanted to do (i felt so seen by all of that lmao). when she decided to study art

she had a huge fallout with her parents which led up to her moving to another country to try to figure out herself. and why she always missed every little comfortable thing that happened at home, she never kept in touch with her parents, until her mother came visit a year and a half later. (her father still refused to talk to her. i felt seen by that too because if i ever find myself in that scenario, i know for certain that's how it will develop.) hyejung saying she loved her home but hated how she felt at home will never not be heartbreaking to me.

i think tina is definitely the one who stole most of my heart. the literal definition of remaining gentle despite the horrors (or failures). she is a hopeless romantic, with a huge heart filled of love for her friends. she deserves so much better.

despite relating a lot to her when she just said that she didn't have any dream (me) and maybe she just wanted to be an ordinary person enjoying every day of her life, i genuinely hope she finds the love that exists inside of her. i'm also glad that, despite her and her mom not being the most communicative (me, again) she could also catch up with her.

but i think what i loved the most about these characters is their friendship and how, despite facing their hardships on their own, had always each other's backs. female friendships are just so beautiful and i'm glad that this book wasn't all centered in the romantic side plot but more on the girls' growth over a year.

i didn't mind stuff such as the accents, the translations under the kanjis and hangul or the humor in such a "serious" story (i actually loved all of that). but i do think the pace was a bit off-ish? during hyejung's storyline it was so hard for me to distinguish between present and past, at some points. and whenever a new chapter started i was expecting a bigger time jump but some of them started the day after the last chapter finished.

i can't deny this has kinda became a bit of a comfort book for me, however i think the effects of this story can only work with people who can relate to it and won't mind its peculiarities. so, i would only recommend it if you're one of those people!

affronted_trex's review against another edition

4.0

was initially thrown by the lack of a linear/singular narrative but quickly grew to really appreciate it! this felt a lot like some of my favorite slice of life japanese manga while embracing all the multicultural beauty and diasporic joy i love to see in american media. made me cry with the reflections on parental love :') smth especially hard hitting about capturing that feeling of fleeting happiness and enjoying it for what it is as strongly as you can in the moment... also just trying to figure out your life in your early 20's <3

haleyshealy's review against another edition

5.0

This was so cute and so wholesome and still had so much depth to themes of language and displacement waaaahhhh I loved it

transfuga's review against another edition

5.0

As someone that moved to another country and struggles with language and culture.. I felt this comic to be a fantastic depiction of reality. It covered different background stories graciously. They felt so real and human. I loved the detail of conversations with words blurred because the character did not understand, that is exactly how it feels. All the doubts about belonging, about what is home… I loved it and I also found it very painfully close to home :)

geer81's review

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing 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: Yes

This book made me reflect on my own thoughts and experiences about being black and wanting to connect with Africa. I learned a lot about different Asian cultures as well.