crystaltran 's review for:

When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao

4.75

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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wow. this was such a beautifully written story of grief and loss and navigating those feelings along with the growing pains of adolescence. it was heartbreaking. it was tragic. it was messy. but through it all, it was intensely poignant and relatable. 

we follow Eric, who has lost his best friend, Daniel as he experiences his grief and tries to deal with that while the rest of the world goes on. he’s deferred from college, trying to find a stable job, and isolating himself from friends and family but trying to dig himself out of this hole to little success. to cope with this, he begins imagining a different life for himself where he’s more bold and still has Daniel. that is when one day, he stumbles across an imaginary but seemingly real version of this boy Haru, whom he had an unforgettable day with in Japan a year ago. 

i wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, but i really adore how Dustin Thao wrote this. to cope, we see Eric throw himself more and more into his imaginary world and when he can go longer lose himself in this fictional place, he begins to throw himself to unhealthier aspects of life. is Eric messy and sometimes frustrating for isolating those around him and not dealing with him problems? is he sometimes a bad friend, brother, and son for doing this? yeah, absolutely, but the point is that he’s a 19 year old boy, riddled with grief who feels like he has no one in the world but his imaginary friend, you really can’t help but want to cry for him. i appreciate how Dustin has able to capture the complicated and twisted nature of grief while also keeping the characters rooted in relatable and authenticity. 

and the reveal we find out in the end… oh it just twisted the knife even more. it really put all of the pieces together. and the way Eric learns from everything and is able to process his trauma is so beautifully done, it made up for any disjointedness and misdirection in the story prior for me.