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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
This was a fantastic graphic novel - phenomenally written and phenomenally drawn. The characters, their struggles and relationships were all complex and compelling; I teared up a lot while reading this. And I adore the way language is treated here: the accents, the blurred-out "glitchy" spaces where gaps in your vocabulary in another language become painfully apparent, the choice to have dialogue written in kanji/hiragana/katakana or hangul first, with English subtitles second. Overall, I really loved this story about young women trying to figure out their lives and wants and becoming each other's family along the way. 10/10 would recommend.
hopeful
lighthearted
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
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
The second half of the book redeemed the first half, in my opinion. I found myself wondering what the point is, and if the accents would end up making sense. Read the authors note.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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
A really nice YA graphic novel about spending a year abroad in Japan. It was heartwarming and sweet and just what I needed. The art was also great, and it had some great writing.
4.5/5.
4.5/5.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Himawari House made me laugh and cry. It was amazing.
This is a graphic novel that follows three young women- Nao from the U.S., Hyejung from Korea, and Tina from Singapore- who are studying abroad in Japan. They all stay at Himawari House and this book is a slice-of-life novel that follows their day-to-day interactions as a result of living together. Each of the characters moved to Japan for different reasons and the book explores the lives of each of the three main characters very well. Tina, Nao, and Hyejung all deal with trying to figure who they are and what they want out of life.
The author has a really fluid art style that is able to represent a range of emotions throughout the book. The visual storytelling pulled this book together flawlessly.
In addition to everything I've previously mentioned, I really loved the way the author chose to represent characters with accents in the book. Here is a quote from the Author's Note in the back of the book:
Content Warnings: this book deals with disaporic identity, racism, cultural appropriation, academic burnout, family trauma, emotional abuse, parental abandonment, unwanted sexual attention, alcohol consumption & hangover, vomiting, and smoking cigarettes
This is a graphic novel that follows three young women- Nao from the U.S., Hyejung from Korea, and Tina from Singapore- who are studying abroad in Japan. They all stay at Himawari House and this book is a slice-of-life novel that follows their day-to-day interactions as a result of living together. Each of the characters moved to Japan for different reasons and the book explores the lives of each of the three main characters very well. Tina, Nao, and Hyejung all deal with trying to figure who they are and what they want out of life.
The author has a really fluid art style that is able to represent a range of emotions throughout the book. The visual storytelling pulled this book together flawlessly.
In addition to everything I've previously mentioned, I really loved the way the author chose to represent characters with accents in the book. Here is a quote from the Author's Note in the back of the book:
"Western media has a long history of portraying Asian people in offensive, one-dimensional ways. So often characters are written with thick accents for comic or exotic effect... This legacy has cemented the idea that to have an accent is to be laughable, to be stupid, to be 'other.' ...My intent with Himawari House was to allow characters who spoke with accents, who occasionallt stumbled over their grammar, to be fully actualized, three-dimesnional people."
Content Warnings: this book deals with disaporic identity, racism, cultural appropriation, academic burnout, family trauma, emotional abuse, parental abandonment, unwanted sexual attention, alcohol consumption & hangover, vomiting, and smoking cigarettes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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:
Complicated
It’s hard to put together something as complex as this and make it seem easy. This is a heartwarming and reflective comic about having a double culture identity, while also touching on themes like independence, self-love, young love and so much more. It’s was an amazing read from beginning to end and one I’ll be recommending to all my friends.
I loved this. I found it on a whim at the bookstore and thought the art looked lovely. The story perfectly captured the bubble-in-time feeling of being on study abroad, thrown into fast forged relationships with the few people experiencing the same slice of time and place that you are. This went deeper though, with a really lovely through line of language and the characters’ relationships to it. This added a richness and dimensionality to each of the characters. Also loved the focus on female friendships. Overall, just a perfect slice of life read with beautiful art.