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A review by smartie_chan
Meet You By Hachiko by Loren Greene
4.0
3.5 / 5 Stars
I've finished this a few days ago and yet, I'm still unsure about how to rate this.
There was a lot of stuff that I liked, which is why, I was practically binge reading this in one setting. I couldn't because I had to do other human stuff, but I think you get what I'm trying to say.
This is obviously contemporary, so it's not like I was expecting a kidnapping to happen or for one of them to commit die. And yet, the reason for as to why the plot happens and how everything is resolved left me feeling not quiet satisfied. There is a lot of good stuff in the book, but a lot feels rushed towards the end, because we spend a long time introducing conflicts and sub plots, that aren't all resolved at the end of the book.
I'd even say, that only 1 of our 2 MC's got a full, finished and complete character arc, where as the other one was left hanging. Even though the other one seemed like the one that was in more need of a completed character arc. This is especially sad, if you consider, that those two and their struggles were the main focus of the book.
Which brings me to the characters. I loved them. All of them. Simon was such a sweet heart. Grace was someone that I could see a lot of myself in, and Kana and Daisuke were great as well. I love how we got to know Daisuke, because I - same as Kana - was being like 'o.O Stranger Danger!' although Daisuke is nothing even close to stranger danger. I didn't expect to ship them, but here I am.
The main fokus wasn't on Kana & Daisuke or Grace & Simon though - on that later more - but rather on Kana & Grace. There were some sub plots around both of their bffs - especially around Grace and hers - but the focus was still on the slowly building relationship of Kana & Grace. The way those to slowly became friends was believable and sweet. I also thought that you could see a difference in english skill - especially in the written e-mails - and how that differnece started to slowly become smaller. Great detail. So anyways, when because the relationship was done so well, I could totally see and believe why Grace did what she did. HOWEVER after she arrives in Japan the point of 'OK, I see and understand your actions' beginns to fall apart. Yes, she wasn't really thinking this through BUT if she was really believing that Kana could have commited die - which was heavily implied - she should and would have acted differently. She should have tried to find Daisuke or Kanas parents. What she did instead was just walking around believing Kana - who she thought was either dead or missing - would just randomly appear somewhere in town.
And her actions after that point are also kinda questionable. Not in a moral sense but more in a 'what are you doing????' kind of way.
There was also an aro ace sub plot going on that I DID pick up apon and that I DID like, especially if you look at how it affected her and Simons relationship. Never seen this done before in fiction and I thought it was really great. Which is why I think that it was absolutly sad, that we didn't spend more time in and with this sub plot. I felt like it was really important! For Grace as a person but also - considering the ending of the sub plot - for the ace aro rep in books.
The sub plot around Grace's bff was also not as great as it could have been. Was a lot of it only happening in Grace head? Was her anxiety to blame? I don't think so. I really don't. And yet I feel like actions didn't really have as many consequences as they should have. There seemed to be a lack of communication happening. I'm not saying she should have ended that friendship, but if you look at Kana's bff and compare her to Grace's, - even though Rumi can be stubborn too - she still seems like the healthier and better friend.
Apart from those two sub plots, I also felt like Grace's search for self love and acceptance was still left open. Yes, those are hard things to tackle and yes you won't change your ways and views that fast, but I still felt like Grace got the shorter end of the stick in regards to development.
So this leaves me with a book that was not bad, but rather fluffy. A book that had great characters and an interesting take on aroness. And a story, that taught me a lot about Japan and its culture.
Great stuff.
And yet it could have been more.
I've finished this a few days ago and yet, I'm still unsure about how to rate this.
There was a lot of stuff that I liked, which is why, I was practically binge reading this in one setting. I couldn't because I had to do other human stuff, but I think you get what I'm trying to say.
This is obviously contemporary, so it's not like I was expecting a kidnapping to happen or for one of them to commit die. And yet, the reason for as to why the plot happens and how everything is resolved left me feeling not quiet satisfied. There is a lot of good stuff in the book, but a lot feels rushed towards the end, because we spend a long time introducing conflicts and sub plots, that aren't all resolved at the end of the book.
I'd even say, that only 1 of our 2 MC's got a full, finished and complete character arc, where as the other one was left hanging. Even though the other one seemed like the one that was in more need of a completed character arc. This is especially sad, if you consider, that those two and their struggles were the main focus of the book.
Which brings me to the characters. I loved them. All of them. Simon was such a sweet heart. Grace was someone that I could see a lot of myself in, and Kana and Daisuke were great as well. I love how we got to know Daisuke, because I - same as Kana - was being like 'o.O Stranger Danger!' although Daisuke is nothing even close to stranger danger. I didn't expect to ship them, but here I am.
The main fokus wasn't on Kana & Daisuke or Grace & Simon though - on that later more - but rather on Kana & Grace. There were some sub plots around both of their bffs - especially around Grace and hers - but the focus was still on the slowly building relationship of Kana & Grace. The way those to slowly became friends was believable and sweet. I also thought that you could see a difference in english skill - especially in the written e-mails - and how that differnece started to slowly become smaller. Great detail. So anyways, when because the relationship was done so well, I could totally see and believe why Grace did what she did. HOWEVER after she arrives in Japan the point of 'OK, I see and understand your actions' beginns to fall apart. Yes, she wasn't really thinking this through BUT if she was really believing that Kana could have commited die - which was heavily implied - she should and would have acted differently. She should have tried to find Daisuke or Kanas parents. What she did instead was just walking around believing Kana - who she thought was either dead or missing - would just randomly appear somewhere in town.
And her actions after that point are also kinda questionable. Not in a moral sense but more in a 'what are you doing????' kind of way.
There was also an aro ace sub plot going on that I DID pick up apon and that I DID like, especially if you look at how it affected her and Simons relationship. Never seen this done before in fiction and I thought it was really great. Which is why I think that it was absolutly sad, that we didn't spend more time in and with this sub plot. I felt like it was really important! For Grace as a person but also - considering the ending of the sub plot - for the ace aro rep in books.
The sub plot around Grace's bff was also not as great as it could have been. Was a lot of it only happening in Grace head? Was her anxiety to blame? I don't think so. I really don't. And yet I feel like actions didn't really have as many consequences as they should have. There seemed to be a lack of communication happening. I'm not saying she should have ended that friendship, but if you look at Kana's bff and compare her to Grace's, - even though Rumi can be stubborn too - she still seems like the healthier and better friend.
Apart from those two sub plots, I also felt like Grace's search for self love and acceptance was still left open. Yes, those are hard things to tackle and yes you won't change your ways and views that fast, but I still felt like Grace got the shorter end of the stick in regards to development.
So this leaves me with a book that was not bad, but rather fluffy. A book that had great characters and an interesting take on aroness. And a story, that taught me a lot about Japan and its culture.
Great stuff.
And yet it could have been more.