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sandyd's review
5.0
Starts out sad, but this story of a just-graduated high school student from LA keeps getting better and better. Lots of family dynamics, boyfriend-girlfriend stuff, grief and loss, and dealing with death. And life, especially in Tokyo.
reader_fictions's review
2.0
First of all, I need to start with an explanation as to why it took me over a month to read a book that weighs in at less than 300 pages, since that is totally not the norm for me. This is a perfect example of why I prefer physical galleys. With e-galleys, I stick them on my Nook and read them whenever I'm away from home and have some free time for reading, but that doesn't necessarily happen to me all that often, really, so then it takes me about a month to read a single, short book. I mention this solely to say that it likely did have a negative impact on my reading experience. Perhaps, had I read this in a sitting or two, I would have liked it more than I actually did, and come closer to the feelings I expected to have.
I do think When You Were Here is an excellent book, well-written and meaningful. Daisy Whitney considers cancer in a way I've not encountered before. The focus is less on the disease itself but how Danny's mom lived with the disease. Whitney brings When You Were Here to a sweet, uplifting conclusion, but one that does not feel overly optimistic, rather real and hopeful.
My favorite parts were after Danny went to Japan to find out about his mom's life when she was there, after receiving a note from the caretaker of the family's apartment in Japan about the disposal of her almost unused medications. Curious about why she wasn't taking them, angry that she may not have been trying her hardest to live until his graduation like she always promised, he decides to fly to Japan spur of the moment. Those chapters where he explores Tokyo were beautiful and made me want to go there even more.
In Tokyo, he meets the caretaker's daughter, Kana, a couple years older than he is (just graduated from high school). Kana is the best, so unapologetically herself. She dresses as crazy as our stereotypes of Japan, wearing boots a drag queen would envy and things like that. If anyone gives her a hard time, she gives it back, even to hissing at them on the streets. Immediately, she befriends Danny, determines to help him find happiness and to find more of it herself, since she no longer loves Tokyo and he does. Their friendship grows quickly and its strong and delightful. He needs her, and meeting her is like a gift his mom left for him. I also just love that this is one of the only examples of a strong male-female friendship in fiction. There's no sexual tension or chance that they'll date. They love each other as friends and nothing more, even though both are single.
What kept me from loving this book were the main characters, Danny and Holland. Not only did I not connect with them, but I feel an active dislike for them. Whitney does a good job of establishing their flaws, but I'm not nearly as forgiving as the average person. When the reader meets Danny, he's as angsty as Nastya and Josh from The Sea of Tranquility, which, in case you haven't read that, means angsty as fuck. Now, he does have good reason to feel this angst: father years dead, adopted sister estranged from the family, dumped by the girlfriend he loves, and mother recently dead, not having lasted to his graduation. I do feel bad for him, but the self-destructive way he reacts to it in no way endears me to him. The only times I like Danny are when he is with or thinking about his dog, Sandy Koufax. His love for her is what keeps me from hating him entirely, proving that he's a good person.
Holland, on the other hand, has a whole subplot going on about her, but I can't go into details because they would be spoilery. Suffice it to say that I think she treated Danny abominably and stupidly. Again, it makes sense why she did, but I still think it was messed up and I can't just forgive her for that. I found her hugely irritating besides. Except for that one plot point, she's a total manicpixiedreamgirl, made of perfection. Adding a sappy plot to make her not perfect didn't fix that for me. Also, that plot is something I intentionally avoid; had I known about it, I never would have read When You Were Here, so much do I not like that subject matter. That's totally a personal thing, however, and don't let my own distaste scare you off, since trusted friends have been loving this.
All in all, When You Were Here is a beautiful novel, but one that I am not the ideal reader for. Though I do love darker contemporaries, I was not ready for another incredibly angsty character and I also feel distaste some of the subject matter. As I said, trusted friends have loved this, so don't write it off based solely on my opinions and my own personal biases.
I do think When You Were Here is an excellent book, well-written and meaningful. Daisy Whitney considers cancer in a way I've not encountered before. The focus is less on the disease itself but how Danny's mom lived with the disease. Whitney brings When You Were Here to a sweet, uplifting conclusion, but one that does not feel overly optimistic, rather real and hopeful.
My favorite parts were after Danny went to Japan to find out about his mom's life when she was there, after receiving a note from the caretaker of the family's apartment in Japan about the disposal of her almost unused medications. Curious about why she wasn't taking them, angry that she may not have been trying her hardest to live until his graduation like she always promised, he decides to fly to Japan spur of the moment. Those chapters where he explores Tokyo were beautiful and made me want to go there even more.
In Tokyo, he meets the caretaker's daughter, Kana, a couple years older than he is (just graduated from high school). Kana is the best, so unapologetically herself. She dresses as crazy as our stereotypes of Japan, wearing boots a drag queen would envy and things like that. If anyone gives her a hard time, she gives it back, even to hissing at them on the streets. Immediately, she befriends Danny, determines to help him find happiness and to find more of it herself, since she no longer loves Tokyo and he does. Their friendship grows quickly and its strong and delightful. He needs her, and meeting her is like a gift his mom left for him. I also just love that this is one of the only examples of a strong male-female friendship in fiction. There's no sexual tension or chance that they'll date. They love each other as friends and nothing more, even though both are single.
What kept me from loving this book were the main characters, Danny and Holland. Not only did I not connect with them, but I feel an active dislike for them. Whitney does a good job of establishing their flaws, but I'm not nearly as forgiving as the average person. When the reader meets Danny, he's as angsty as Nastya and Josh from The Sea of Tranquility, which, in case you haven't read that, means angsty as fuck. Now, he does have good reason to feel this angst: father years dead, adopted sister estranged from the family, dumped by the girlfriend he loves, and mother recently dead, not having lasted to his graduation. I do feel bad for him, but the self-destructive way he reacts to it in no way endears me to him. The only times I like Danny are when he is with or thinking about his dog, Sandy Koufax. His love for her is what keeps me from hating him entirely, proving that he's a good person.
Holland, on the other hand, has a whole subplot going on about her, but I can't go into details because they would be spoilery. Suffice it to say that I think she treated Danny abominably and stupidly. Again, it makes sense why she did, but I still think it was messed up and I can't just forgive her for that. I found her hugely irritating besides. Except for that one plot point, she's a total manicpixiedreamgirl, made of perfection. Adding a sappy plot to make her not perfect didn't fix that for me. Also, that plot is something I intentionally avoid; had I known about it, I never would have read When You Were Here, so much do I not like that subject matter. That's totally a personal thing, however, and don't let my own distaste scare you off, since trusted friends have been loving this.
All in all, When You Were Here is a beautiful novel, but one that I am not the ideal reader for. Though I do love darker contemporaries, I was not ready for another incredibly angsty character and I also feel distaste some of the subject matter. As I said, trusted friends have loved this, so don't write it off based solely on my opinions and my own personal biases.
ceruleanjen's review
5.0
I'm a huge fan of Daisy Whitney. I couldn't put her first book, The Mockingbirds, down. It took me about four days to read this book, and while it wasn't one of those I-can't-stop-reading stories, I still loved it.
When You Were Here is a beautiful and raw story about a teenage boy who has lost his mother to cancer. Poor Danny is also still reeling from the fact that she didn't live long enough to attend his high school graduation as well as dealing with his ex-girlfriend, who he is still head over heels for. When graduation ends, Danny makes a decision to venture out to Tokoyo, where his family, particularly his mother, loved to travel. She had spent a lot of her last times there searching for a cure and now Danny wants to know what happened there.
While the story itself is original, it's really the characters that make this book. Daisy did an amazing job with Danny, the main character. Sometimes female authors have trouble making a male POV sound realistic, but I didn't feel this was the case in this book. Danny was an easy character to like, even when he was troubled. Having lost family members to different cancers, it was easy to emphasize with him. There were times where I wanted to hug the poor boy.
I also really liked his ex-girlfriend, Holland and it was easy to tell why Danny had fallen for her. While I didn't "love" her mother, who also happened to be Danny's mother's best friend, I admired her for her strength and compassion. Through the flashbacks and memories, I also grew to adore Danny's parents, particularly his mother. Kana was simply adorable, and I loved every scene that she and Danny were in. They had the kind of "friend" relationship that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. And obviously, the same can be said for Sandy Koufax and her relationship with Danny.
The second thing I adored about this book was the setting. I have never traveled outside of the US, but the settings of Tokoyo were so well described that I practically felt like I was there. It sounds like an amazing place to visit. The setting of L.A. was also described well.
The book took me on some surprising adventures and spilled some heartbreaking revelations. The characters and plot caught me completely by surprise. When I started this, I knew that I would like it based on the writing style and POV of Danny alone, but I never imagined how awesome this book would be. If there were flaws, I don't recall them.
I cannot wait to read the next book Whitney has to offer (Starry Nights!).
When You Were Here is a beautiful and raw story about a teenage boy who has lost his mother to cancer. Poor Danny is also still reeling from the fact that she didn't live long enough to attend his high school graduation as well as dealing with his ex-girlfriend, who he is still head over heels for. When graduation ends, Danny makes a decision to venture out to Tokoyo, where his family, particularly his mother, loved to travel. She had spent a lot of her last times there searching for a cure and now Danny wants to know what happened there.
While the story itself is original, it's really the characters that make this book. Daisy did an amazing job with Danny, the main character. Sometimes female authors have trouble making a male POV sound realistic, but I didn't feel this was the case in this book. Danny was an easy character to like, even when he was troubled. Having lost family members to different cancers, it was easy to emphasize with him. There were times where I wanted to hug the poor boy.
I also really liked his ex-girlfriend, Holland and it was easy to tell why Danny had fallen for her. While I didn't "love" her mother, who also happened to be Danny's mother's best friend, I admired her for her strength and compassion. Through the flashbacks and memories, I also grew to adore Danny's parents, particularly his mother. Kana was simply adorable, and I loved every scene that she and Danny were in. They had the kind of "friend" relationship that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. And obviously, the same can be said for Sandy Koufax and her relationship with Danny.
The second thing I adored about this book was the setting. I have never traveled outside of the US, but the settings of Tokoyo were so well described that I practically felt like I was there. It sounds like an amazing place to visit. The setting of L.A. was also described well.
The book took me on some surprising adventures and spilled some heartbreaking revelations. The characters and plot caught me completely by surprise. When I started this, I knew that I would like it based on the writing style and POV of Danny alone, but I never imagined how awesome this book would be. If there were flaws, I don't recall them.
I cannot wait to read the next book Whitney has to offer (Starry Nights!).
themaddiest's review
4.0
Danny’s mom died after a years-long battle with cancer right before he graduated from high school. It was the event that she was hanging on to see. Now he’s left alone, in a big house with his faithful dog and memories of the way his family used to be. He’s unsure what to do with the estate his mom has left, and then he gets a letter from the property manager in Tokyo, and Danny is stunned by the letter’s revelations about how happy his mother was in her final days while in Tokyo. Danny decides to go to Tokyo and try to find peace in his mother’s death, as well as answer the lingering questions he has about how she lived her life.
Daisy Whitney’s moving, authentic novel about the loss of a parent is a standout of a novel. Contemplative, and often quite quiet, the novel tackles all sorts of issues, including death, loss, grief, transracial adoption, drug abuse, and growing up. If this sounds like too much, rest assured that it’s handled gracefully, and the issues never overwhelm the narrative, which stays strongly focused on Danny’s attempts to heal. There’s some expert balance here, and it pays off...
Read my full review here: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/book-review-when-you-were-here-by-daisy-whitney/
Daisy Whitney’s moving, authentic novel about the loss of a parent is a standout of a novel. Contemplative, and often quite quiet, the novel tackles all sorts of issues, including death, loss, grief, transracial adoption, drug abuse, and growing up. If this sounds like too much, rest assured that it’s handled gracefully, and the issues never overwhelm the narrative, which stays strongly focused on Danny’s attempts to heal. There’s some expert balance here, and it pays off...
Read my full review here: http://earlynerdspecial.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/book-review-when-you-were-here-by-daisy-whitney/
kellyhager's review
5.0
Holy crap, this book. As backstory, Daisy Whitney's been one of my favorite authors since I snagged an ARC of her first book, The Mockingbirds, at my first BEA. I also adored its sequel, The Rivals, and waited impatiently for the release of her third novel (this one). I knew I'd want to read it no matter what, but when you throw in the fact that it's a dead parent book, I began to anticipate it and dread it in equal measure.
Ever since my dad died when I was in high school, I started seeking out dead parent books. It was like poking a bruise but it was also a little bit reassuring that other people were going through what I was and that they were managing to be okay (eventually). It was a light at the end of the tunnel. Now, 15 years later, I'm still seeking out those books.
And honestly with this, it was like Daisy Whitney had read my high school diary. (DID SHE?!) There were so many unsettling parallels that it was almost like living through it again.
But this isn't a hideously sad, depressing book. It's amazing and will make you want to go to Tokyo---even if you never had any desire to go before.
Highly recommended.
Ever since my dad died when I was in high school, I started seeking out dead parent books. It was like poking a bruise but it was also a little bit reassuring that other people were going through what I was and that they were managing to be okay (eventually). It was a light at the end of the tunnel. Now, 15 years later, I'm still seeking out those books.
And honestly with this, it was like Daisy Whitney had read my high school diary. (DID SHE?!) There were so many unsettling parallels that it was almost like living through it again.
But this isn't a hideously sad, depressing book. It's amazing and will make you want to go to Tokyo---even if you never had any desire to go before.
Highly recommended.
melissayabookshelf's review
4.0
Beautifully-written novel about loss from a male POV, which incorporates travel to Tokyo and a brief trip to Kyoto, Japan. There are some twists and turns along the way that make it even more heart-breaking, but this wasn't a book that made me cry. In a way, I'd say it's more about celebrating life and the memories that one has of the deceased than a book solely about grief, though of course, there is the expected anger, numbness, sadness, etc. that one would associate with a teen boy who has just lost his mom.
ireadbooksnotminds's review
3.0
I mean, this would've worked a whole lot better if Whitney just made Danny half-Japanese.
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