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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
Moving to a new place can be hard but acceptance can be even harder. Nao is such a great character and one that readers will connect with. She is so multi-faceted and depth. Her search for acceptance from within her heritage is one that many will connect to. By allowing other characters to tell their story and take center stage, the book allows for many voices to rise and add to the dynamics of the plot. While I struggled to make out some of the text, I imagine that was intentional to have the reader feel the pressure and uneasy ness of not knowing a language fully.
Such a beautiful book that really did surprise me with its excellence. I picked it up as a fun and relatable Asian slice of life read based in Japan, and got hit with the most deep and heartfelt stories of feeling too American but too Asian, not living up to parental expectations, struggling with where you are in life, fear of wasting your youth, the complexities in language, and accepting your successes and downfalls.
“My mother, who could weave complex tapestries, rich with nuance and humor, in Japanese... reduced to stringing simple words together like flimsy plastic beads on a necklace. How could she stand it when there was always so much to say?”
The art was magnificent and really breathed even more life into the story. The main three girls we follow including our main character are so lovable and I think just for me they were so relatable and cute from the k-dramas to the love of food. It dealt with so many troubles that we might also feel in our day to day lives and how these characters dealt with them in the best way they could. I just loved slowly getting to know everyone from the point of view of our main character, Nao. Funny at times, emotional at times, and so cute in others, a 4.5 for me but I rounded it up!!
“My mother, who could weave complex tapestries, rich with nuance and humor, in Japanese... reduced to stringing simple words together like flimsy plastic beads on a necklace. How could she stand it when there was always so much to say?”
The art was magnificent and really breathed even more life into the story. The main three girls we follow including our main character are so lovable and I think just for me they were so relatable and cute from the k-dramas to the love of food. It dealt with so many troubles that we might also feel in our day to day lives and how these characters dealt with them in the best way they could. I just loved slowly getting to know everyone from the point of view of our main character, Nao. Funny at times, emotional at times, and so cute in others, a 4.5 for me but I rounded it up!!
Today I read Himawari House and I’m OBSESSED. Literally cried because it was over.
This graphic novel tells the beautiful story of the people who live at Himawari House. It focuses primarily on three college-aged girls, Nao, Hyejung, and Tina, as they are learn about life, love, and themselves in Tokyo over the course of a year. Gosh this made me feel. HH reminded me of the bonds of friendship and sisterhood I found with my college friends (love yous!
This graphic novel tells the beautiful story of the people who live at Himawari House. It focuses primarily on three college-aged girls, Nao, Hyejung, and Tina, as they are learn about life, love, and themselves in Tokyo over the course of a year. Gosh this made me feel. HH reminded me of the bonds of friendship and sisterhood I found with my college friends (love yous!
( 5 stars )
this book is so stunning. i love the characters so much—the love that nao, hyejung, and tina had for each other was so tangible. it’s a moving coming of age story in every sense, so i’m not surprised it resonated with me so much. i would looooove to see this adapted into a movie someday.
this book is so stunning. i love the characters so much—the love that nao, hyejung, and tina had for each other was so tangible. it’s a moving coming of age story in every sense, so i’m not surprised it resonated with me so much. i would looooove to see this adapted into a movie someday.
Nao was born in Japan, but she has lived in the USA for so long that she's forgotten her mother tongue. At 19, she takes a year out before college, and stays in Himawari House in Tokyo. She takes Japanese classes and attempts to reconnect with her memories of Japan. She is lucky to find two kind and loving housemates when she arrives: Hyejung, from Korea, and Tina, from Singapore, are also learning Japanese, and have come to Japan to make sense of their own lives. The book is full of Japanese dialogue with English translations, and both Hyejung and Tina bring their own dialects of English. This book gives a real sense of what it's like to learn another language, and of how communication works through different languages. The strongest part of this graphic novel is the emphasis on language learning and friendship. It's lovely to see how the three girls connect with one another and rely on each other. But I found other parts lacklustre: the romances felt tacked-on to a plot that didn't need them, and though we begin the story from Nao's perspective, I didn't feel that she had a proper emotional arc in this story, and I was left feeling like I never really got to know her.
This graphic novel is beautifully crafted. Great characters, a lot of comedy, really pulls at your heart strings. The whole nine yards. I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve think I’ve read a single fiction book with a Singaporean character so this was a fascinating introduction to Singlish and other Singaporean cultural norms.
I was not expecting the emotional gut-punch this book provided. The vignettes from the different characters lend a richness and depth to their different cultural perspectives and internal journeys. Pick this one up if you love graphic novels and learning about different cultures.