Hi all my bookworms,
I hope you are all well on this fine Thursday. I have a book I have been excited to tell you all about for a few weeks now. Hopefully I will be getting into a better habit of writing at the moment.
Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean
Tokyo Ever After book 1
Goodreads | Waterstones | Trigger Warnings
I really enjoyed this book. The pretence of the book reminded me a lot of princess diaries, which takes me back to being about 8 years old a falling in love with my first non-fantasy book. Admittedly it not the same, but it was the hook that got me caught.
The story follows Izumi, daughter of single mum, who has struggled to fit-in in a mostly white town an longs to find out where she comes from. So she and her friend start searching, with a little reluctant help from her mum and her mum’s old friend she finds out who her father is and passes on a message to get in contact with him. It blows up and suddenly secret service, international security and members of her father’s royal entourage are on her doorstep. Her next step ends up being a trip to Japan, staying in the royal palace, with a hot body guard, a lady-in-waiting, a chamberlain and not a clue about Japanese culture or language.
It’s the sort of story where you can criticise the characters to death. But I always think that is what makes them human. I wish I could shout at the characters to communicate better, to learn about the country you’re going to before you go there, or even read the nicely prepared dossier that someone has spent a lot of time making for you.
I found the writing brilliant and engaging. I didn’t want to put the book down, from the moment I picked it up I couldn’t stop. Izumi is not at all like me but she tried her best and for that I found her relatable.
I’ll admit that I’m not the most knowledgeable about Japanese culture, but I learned a lot through the book, just as our character did.
Jean could have really left this at one book. Our characters are happy, trying to be better people, they’ve connected and you know that the characters are going to live happily ever after. But I know there is a second book, one I am so excited to read.
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts on it? If you haven’t would you consider picking it up? Please leave a like and a comment down below, let me know.
Bookworms Anonymous 