A Reader’s perspective of a novel written by Dustin Thao
While I am used to books and television series that on display white, black and Hispanic races, or the entertainment norm, I have found myself looking East of the USA for new sources of entertainment and cultural diversity. I find myself glued to the TV, watching series from Asian countries like Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and so forth. As personal preference, besides watching Gilmore Girls daily [something I’ve done for the past twenty years], Asian series have found their way into my heart. Their perspectives on love, friendship, and fashion mesmerize my Western mind.
I recently found a book on Instagram named When Haru Was Here that quickly caught my eye due to the hue of colors used in the front-page cover of the book. A mix of violet, pink and other colors that span to shades of orange, all the colors that melt together to create a beautiful sunset, those sunsets in every famous romance film to date. On the cover are two young men of Asian descent whose faces radiate with the innocence of youth, and in the depths of their eyes lay a vast ocean filled with complex emotions. Let’s talk about the excitement that bubbled up inside of me to find a book that has Asian representation paired with a fresh storyline. I find my reading life static from time to time due to my inability to find a good book and stick with it. I knew instantly, the current lull I had been experiencing was over. I pulled the description of the novel from Penguin’s Bookshop and it goes as follows:
After the death of his best friend, Eric Ly creates imaginary scenarios in his head to deal with his grief. Until one of them becomes real when a boy he met last summer in Japan finds his way back into his life. When he least expects it, Haru Tanaka walks into the coffee shop and sits down next to him. The only thing is, nobody else can see him.
In a magical turn of events, Eric suddenly has someone to connect with, making him feel less alone in the world. But as they spend more and more time together, he begins to question what is real. When he starts losing control of the very thing that is holding him together, Eric must finally confront his reality. Even if it means losing Haru forever.
The difficulty I experienced writing this review was in organizing my thoughts and feelings—because there were so many after finishing this novel. So, without giving away the whole book, I think three words could summarize it. Letting Go Heals. This novel pushed out the dust from my tear ducts that have been somewhat out of commission for a while. Have you ever cried so much because of things going on in life that you just can’t seem to cry anymore? I had arrived at that point when I found this novel. So, my first hundred thoughts while reading chapter after chapter was that tears are not going to happen. I had watched several of the videos of readers crying after finishing the book, and my mind is telling me that it’s not possible to cry when I already know some sort of emotional roller coaster will play out in the book. Like if you know a person is hiding in the closet, no matter how they try to scare you it’s not going to work given the foreknowledge. And yet, here I am, late being the hour, preparing myself to die when I wake up with minimum hours of sleep, riveted, feeling emotions starting to take over my body as if one could imagine how it feels to jump off a mountain and feel the air brush past every part of your body.
So let me give you a short character insight into this novel. Eric, the main character, is living his life like any other young person, learning about himself, love, friendship and ultimately, what it means to find his way— what he wants in life. Without giving direct biographical information of the characters and their connection to Eric’s story, I will describe them as persons that make up Eric’s “circle of important people,” and the imprint of their life left on his. Eric’s best friend Daniel, who blurs the lines between friendship and first love, his sister Jasmine, one of the most influential potter’s hand who molds him profoundly throughout his life, and Haru, a boy he met in Japan, that in my opinion, is a representation how human souls can be so connected that distance, imperfect timing, no mountain high, no valley low, nothing can separate what is meant to be. Like any person in the universe, life throws many hard balls. Eric finds himself dealing with difficulties of romantic love, self-love, finding his niche and juggling disappointments along the way. Most importantly, he deals with loss. Loss of family, friends, and romantic relationships Eric finds himself in a situation where his grief left him in a stage of “purgatory” until he was finally able to accepts his pain and what it means to move forward after loss. And the universe rewarded him.
Dustin Thao was able to deliver a story unlike any I’ve read to date. It made me yearn for Haru, to feel the feelings of new beginnings, chasing after your dreams, and it stirred up thoughts about how important a simple lesson in letting go can change everything. I did a quick Google search on letting go because I was curious about what timeless authors and important writers thought of the subject, because I felt like this is one of the central themes of this story. The first information to come up was an AI overview that stated: “Letting go so you can experience simply means releasing attachments to past thoughts, emotions, or situations to fully engage with and appreciate the present moment.” And I think this is what Eric’s challenge was from beginning to end. Perhaps many of the tears the ran down my cheeks and dropped onto the pages were from a subconscious thought or feeling about being able to relate to tragedy—any tragedy. Because tragedy comes in all shapes and sizes, and empathizing with Eric while reading, I am connected to him through my own experienced tragedies and disappointments that must be overcome to move on to the next chapter in life.
This was a difficult book to review. I did not want to share details about the story because I felt it’s just too beautiful of a jewel to not grab a copy and read it yourself. What I was able to convey, however, was how it made me feel. It made me feel human. It turned on my emotions that have been drained from past stresses and events that have taken place in my life. It left me feeling supported, like I’m not the only one that deals with heartbreak and disappointment, and that we all have our own way of dealing. This novel cannot be recommended enough. The writing, the characters, the emotions, and the element of surprise were unmatched from other novels I read. From my mouth to print, “It was a thirteen out of ten.”
Delta Trevor
Find the book here: When Haru Was Here
Writings by Delta 
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