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A review by maggiemaggio
When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney
5.0
Re-read in February 2018 and I enjoyed it was much as I did 4.5 years ago. Definitely holds the test of time and I hope it's a book that people are still discovering and getting to read.
I am on a five-star rating role lately and there is nothing wrong with that! When You Were Here wasn’t a book I originally thought I’d give five stars to, I was thinking four or four-and-a-half, but after I finished, while I was reading the acknowledgements, I was hit with this sudden realization that the book was over and I couldn’t stay with the characters and I just started crying. It was weird. But it made me realize how much I loved this book.
I didn’t necessarily connect with Danny at the start of the book. I liked him, but he was kind of all over the place. He’s throwing massive parties, he’s the valedictorian of his class, he’s hooking up with a doctor (?!?), he’s still in love with his ex-girlfriend who broke up with him, and he misses his mom. It was a lot to process, but I did immediately like Danny’s voice.
As the book went on I came to really like Danny. I liked the brief glimpses we saw of his weird friends, I liked that he hooked up with a much older medical resident he met while accompanying his mom to the hospital, and I loved his dog, Sandy Koufax. I was not a fan of his ex-girlfriend, Holland, at the beginning. I didn’t necessarily blame her for breaking up with him, she went away to college, he was stuck back in high school, that’s a big thing to overcome, but I hated how she wouldn’t just let Danny move on. And that even though they weren’t dating she abandoned a friend she had since childhood as his mom was dying.
Once Danny went to Tokyo I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved Kana, the daughter of Danny’s mother’s apartment’s caretaker, and the energy she brought to Danny and the story. I also really loved Danny in Tokyo. By distancing himself from his mother’s best friend (and Holland’s mom), Kate, I think he really had to step up and grow up. And the fact that he was in a city that he knew and loved, but removed from his partying friends and his much older hook up, really allowed him to come into his own.
Somehow the story wasn’t as sad as I thought it would be. I think the fact that we already know that Danny’s mother is dead and that Danny is dealing with it helped. There were moments were I teared up, mostly when Danny was in Tokyo visiting places his mom frequented and learning about how his mom lived, but I never really cried (except when it was over).
Bottom Line: I don’t make a habit of reading books with male protagonists, but this one really blew me away. I not only loved Danny, but I cared about the supporting characters, particularly Kana and Sandy Koufax. The dual settings of LA and Tokyo worked perfectly together and I really felt like I was in Tokyo seeing and experiencing all the things Danny was seeing and experiencing. It’s a sad book, but it has an uplifting message about living life on your own terms and really treasuring every day. I couldn’t be happier to recommend it.
This review first appeared on my blog.
I am on a five-star rating role lately and there is nothing wrong with that! When You Were Here wasn’t a book I originally thought I’d give five stars to, I was thinking four or four-and-a-half, but after I finished, while I was reading the acknowledgements, I was hit with this sudden realization that the book was over and I couldn’t stay with the characters and I just started crying. It was weird. But it made me realize how much I loved this book.
I didn’t necessarily connect with Danny at the start of the book. I liked him, but he was kind of all over the place. He’s throwing massive parties, he’s the valedictorian of his class, he’s hooking up with a doctor (?!?), he’s still in love with his ex-girlfriend who broke up with him, and he misses his mom. It was a lot to process, but I did immediately like Danny’s voice.
As the book went on I came to really like Danny. I liked the brief glimpses we saw of his weird friends, I liked that he hooked up with a much older medical resident he met while accompanying his mom to the hospital, and I loved his dog, Sandy Koufax. I was not a fan of his ex-girlfriend, Holland, at the beginning. I didn’t necessarily blame her for breaking up with him, she went away to college, he was stuck back in high school, that’s a big thing to overcome, but I hated how she wouldn’t just let Danny move on. And that even though they weren’t dating she abandoned a friend she had since childhood as his mom was dying.
Once Danny went to Tokyo I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved Kana, the daughter of Danny’s mother’s apartment’s caretaker, and the energy she brought to Danny and the story. I also really loved Danny in Tokyo. By distancing himself from his mother’s best friend (and Holland’s mom), Kate, I think he really had to step up and grow up. And the fact that he was in a city that he knew and loved, but removed from his partying friends and his much older hook up, really allowed him to come into his own.
Somehow the story wasn’t as sad as I thought it would be. I think the fact that we already know that Danny’s mother is dead and that Danny is dealing with it helped. There were moments were I teared up, mostly when Danny was in Tokyo visiting places his mom frequented and learning about how his mom lived, but I never really cried (except when it was over).
Bottom Line: I don’t make a habit of reading books with male protagonists, but this one really blew me away. I not only loved Danny, but I cared about the supporting characters, particularly Kana and Sandy Koufax. The dual settings of LA and Tokyo worked perfectly together and I really felt like I was in Tokyo seeing and experiencing all the things Danny was seeing and experiencing. It’s a sad book, but it has an uplifting message about living life on your own terms and really treasuring every day. I couldn’t be happier to recommend it.
This review first appeared on my blog.