When You Were Here

This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.

This book was both sad and beautiful, but it felt different than most of the other grief books I’ve read.

I was surprised by how much I liked Danny as a narrator. At the beginning, he’s quite angry, and while I understand why, it’s hard to sympathize with someone who can do things like hit cars and get away with it because the insurance and money can just take care of it all. At the beginning of the story, Danny is parent-less soon after turning eighteen, legally an adult, but because of his family’s moderate wealth he doesn’t have to worry about the type of things a lot of teenagers in his situation would. I thought this would alienate me from the story, but this plot line is show more handled well. Danny realizes his unique position, even when he’s being a jerk at times, so while I can’t say I always liked him, I definitely felt him.

And as the story went on, I did grow to like Danny a lot. I felt a lot of his pain in my own experience, and I understood the feeling of wanting to get away. I liked that there was actually a reason for Danny to go to Japan–it was impulsive, yes, but it had a reasoning behind it. And I really loved the Japan setting. Whitney really utilized the setting of most of this book to it’s fullest potential.

This book was just filled with little things that made me love it even more. When You Were Here just had such heart behind it, which is the kind of thing that’s hard to pinpoint in books but also can really make a book special. Once again, the setting was so well-done, and I loved the mutual friendship in this book. Also, Sandy Koufax, the dog in this book, just made me so happy. I love when main characters are pet owners.

As much as I loved this book, there was one subplot I thought really distracted from the main story. It deals with Holland, Danny’s ex-girlfriend, who comes back into his life after his mother dies. Throughout the book, Danny learns the truth, and why I understand why this subplot was included, I just felt it wrapped up too quickly and either needed to be completely cut or explored better. There’s more to the story than that, but it’s quite spoilery. show less

"When You Were Here" is a gentle, touching book dealing with death, grief, forgiveness and moving forward. When the reader first meets Danny he is an angry, bitter seventeen year old, struggling with his mother's recent passing. It was only when he moves to Tokyo, to learn more about his mother, that I really started to empathise with him. For me, the Japanese setting of the novel is an added bonus, I just loved being immersed in this culture as I moved through the book with Danny and Kana.

Even though I grew to really like Danny and enjoyed his narration, my favourite character, other than Danny's dog, was Kana. She is funny, eccentric, outgoing and a wonderful friend. It was so nice to have a platonic relationship between a boy and show more girl, without a hint of romance in sight, so rare in YA novels. Although, I must confess, I found myself secretly hoping Danny would transfer his feelings for Holland, his ex girlfriend, to Kana. The one character I didn't like at times was Holland, I thought she treated Danny horribly, even though I could partially understand her reasoning.

"When You Were Here" is an emotional, uplifting book that makes you realise the importance of enjoying, and making the most, of every day. show less

My goodness. There are very few books that make me cry just within the first few chapters. And this one…this one hit me in the heart fast.

Plot: As a parent of a little boy, I can’t imagine dying right before his graduation. But this plot…this plot grabs the reader right away. The range of emotions thrown at the reader along with the twist of death, you can’t resist it. I read this book in under a few hours. And let me tell you, it stuck in my mind afterwards.

Death: I think I related to this book so much because I’m a parent. Now, I’m not trying to be morbid but I do think how would my son take it if I were to die early. Would he understand? Would he be angry? And all of questions were answered through the mind of Danny. show more Danny, a wonderful teenage by faced with an onslaught of bad karma. I felt his emotions and thoughts come in clearly. I could see, feel and hear every emotion that rocked through him. The anger that coursed through his veins when he thought of everything that he experienced. Hell, even I was angry. This author did a fantastic job, capturing the voice of teenage boy facing hard times.

Love: Even though this book is full of bad events, I felt like this little tidbit in Danny’s life is important. It gave the reader that small chance of hope. That there can be peace for this character even in the midst of all the trouble.

Ending: The ending I felt was fitting. Everything felt completed yet the reader knows that it is not the end for Danny. Life sucks, yet we can move on.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed this book. I loved reading it and feeling my heart flutter in my chest with every turn of the chapter. When You Were Here is a great mix of edgy plot and lots of emotions. A wonderful tale with a journey that is sure to bring you to tears, When You Were Here is superb. show less

Fieldnotes:
Tokyo, Japan, Contemporary (p.2013)

1 Self-Absorbed Entitled Grieving Boy
1 Devastating Loss to Cancer
1 Adopted Sister Coming to Terms with Her Identity
1 Sudden Miserable Break-up (Past)
1 Unnecessarily Dramatic Secret

Grieving Through Rage and Destruction (Self- and Otherwise)
Belief that Having Lost a Parent Gives You a Free Pass
Entitled Conviction that His Mother's Friend Should Fix Everything He Screws Up Because...She Can?

Japan
Utter Disregard for Visa and Other Laws
1 Manic Pixie Not Harajuku Girl
1 Mystical Tea House

1 Blonde California Ex Desperate to Rekindle Their Friendship For Inexplicable Reasons
3 Keepsakes that Provoke Temper Tantrums

1 Very Good Dog
Hachiko

The Short Version
All the reviewers seemed to love the "raw show more emotion" in this. And the main character is grieving the devastating loss of his mother right before his graduation from high school. I understand that. But can we please be honest? A lot of times when people are grieving - they're self-absorbed assholes to other people (including others who are grieving).

So, first off, Danny acts like a self-absorbed asshole - he destroys his sister's stuff because he thinks she "quit the family", he rams a neighbors car because the bumper protruded into his driveway. He takes painkillers and shags a woman probably a decade his senior (ew, ew, ew) and holds loud, irritating parties at his house all the time. He expects his mom's best friend to take care of him - fix any fall-out from his self-destructive (or just destructive) behavior while he sulks and lashes out at anyone and everyone. Is this realistic? Quite possibly. Is an entitled, miserable, raging, destructive teenage boy someone I want to spend 250 pages with? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

On an impulse, Danny decides to go to Japan - run away from his problems and his memories, learn some more stories about his mom, throw a temper tantrum at her doctor because she chose to stop taking meds...

He apparently has no fixed return flight (which drew me up short because I'm pretty sure immigration in Japan needs proof of a return/onward flight), but ok. He does have a family apartment in Shibuya that has caretakers. He meets with the teenage daughter of the caretaker who Manic Pixie Friend Girl teaches him how to not be Sad Boi (thank goodness this isn't a romantic arc), but all his time in Japan, we're also getting him sulking about his ex-girlfriend he's still hung up on but is angry at because they broke up when she left for college even though they said they wouldn't... right...
But instead of it just being a case of them breaking up because Holland discovered the wild world of college and realized a bratty high school student wasn't her best option even if they had a nice summer, there's a DRAMATIC SECRET REASON just in case we needed additional trauma to pile on the main character.

I didn't like this. I didn't like the main character who never did get any reality check that the world doesn't owe him just because his mom died and that in much of the world most people won't pat him on the head when he throws a temper tantrum like a toddler because his life has been hard and/or other people have emotions and make decisions NOT centered around how HE feels. I had no interest in Holland getting back together with him and I got angry in what was meant to be the happy end when once again everyone decided to circumvent immigration laws so he could spend the summer with his dog without quarantine... UGH. show less

In short: When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney was a wonderfully moving read with a fantastic cast of dynamic characters.

When You Were Here is a novel about death, but it's also about moving forward after dealing with so much grief and reconnecting with life. Danny is three weeks away from graduation when his mother dies after a long battle with cancer. As he has already lost his father years previously and has broken up with the love of his life, he is left alone, despondent in his grief. With nothing left, Danny decides to take a trip to Tokyo where his mother spent much of her last few months to try to come to terms with his grief and the secrets his mother was keeping from him. When You Were Here is a novel that will strip you down show more with grief and then rebuild your spirit whole again in a beautifully effective way.

When You Were Here gave me an urge to see Tokyo in a BIG, BAD way. I've always wanted to visit Japan, but never before with quite the same fervour as this book made me feel. Tokyo's mix of flashy sites and more traditional Japanese culture was described so well and presented so vividly by author Daisy Whitney. The setting was like a character unto itself, which is my favourite kind of setting.

The characters were great and dynamic, as well. I've never personally had to deal with the death of a parent - thankfully - but I still found it easy to relate with Danny. It was so inspiring to see Danny regain his spirit after so much grief. I also love how a few of the characters remained something of an enigma for much of the novel, only to have their stories finally come together in a moment of true enlightenment at the end. Standout characters include Danny's dog, Sandy Koufax, - because dogs are THE BEST - and Danny's new Japanese BFF, Kana, - who, okay, was a bit of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG), but I still liked her a lot and I think she had a lot more depth than your standard MPDG.

The only thing that stops When You Were Here from being a 5 Star read for me is that I don't believe I felt the full emotional impact that I could have felt from the story. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely a lovely read, definitely a poignant story. But I wanted MORE. I wanted to feel more emotional investment with the characters and storyline. I wanted to be hit hard by THE FEELS. But this is a relatively small complaint because When You Were Here was still definitely a wonderful and moving story. This was my first Daisy Whitney read, but it won't be my last. show less

I thought when I wrote this review I'd be an emotional wreck. I actually just lost my aunt in the same fashion he lost his mom, so I was thinking I might not even have a review for this because I wouldn't be able to see through the tears. To be frank, I was wrong.
Te entire time I didn't understand Danny. In my head I was screaming "Don't do that, your mom just died. She would not appreciate that!" I felt like he wasn't in mourning, just acting out. Don't get me wrong, everyone mourns in their own way, but really the graduation thing was a bit much. Where I'm from, they would have with held his diploma for a stunt like that, I'm just saying. And Kate should have strangled him for that. And really I just couldn't understand what a woman show more who was already in her residency wanted with a dude that was barely graduating high school... I'm not one to judge, but that definitely isn't for me. As far as the Holland situation, I just didn't like hw she handled it. She should not have done that by herself. She should have let him know so she wouldn't have to be alone. Maybe with him there and that extra help she wouldn't have been as stressed and saved the situation completely. But that's just me.
With that being said, I just couldn't connect with the characters. And because of that, I was turned away from the emotional aspect of this book as well. As stated, I expected to be crying my eyes ut. Especially for this to be such an emotional story and to feature so much loss. Me and Danny shared something kind of deep, but even in that aspect I couldn't handle that. Because of this, I barely felt anything while reading this. I just felt mad. And disappointed.
The one thing I did like about the story was the visions of Tokyo I received while reading this. Whitney gave enough descriptions that I felt like I was looking at everything with my own eyes. I learned all Japan, from its legends to its fashion.
I really feel like the black sheep since everyone else loved this, but in my honest opinion the delivery of the emotion and the characters was poorly executed. Thank goodness I was able to learn a little something about a foreign culture or I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it at all. show less

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 show more 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. show less