Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

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Hello for the first time in 2023! One of my new years resolutions is to put more focus on my blog, (which with exams season - I haven't been able to get to yet) so if all goes well you should be seeing posts from me a lot more often :) 

For the first review of the year (which is also coincidentally the first book I read this year) I wanted it to be something happy and fun - starting off on a pleasant note. Which is great because I was pleasantly surprised  by Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean. This book has been on my tbr for ages and I am very happy to report that it did not disappoint!

We follow our protagonist Izumi as she finds out her father, whom she has never met, is the Crown Prince of Japan - which makes her a princess (basically a more diverse version of The Princess Diaries). She goes to stay with him in Japan and is introduced to society and her new family members. Having lived her entire life in America with her mom and struggles with what she feels is an almost split identity - never really fitting in one place, torn between America and Japan. Izumi deals with the unforgiving press, meddling cousins, the intense scrutiny that comes with being in the public eye, love from the citizens, being trained to be a proper royal by her dry lady-in-waiting, and a possible love affair with her stern body guard, Akio.

I think my favourite part was probably how I felt like I was experiencing and discovering things as Izumi herself did. Learning about the culture (which I loved - I felt like I was on vacation in Japan) was so cool and got completely lost in this world.

With the way the book is pitched, it makes it seem like the romance is a big plot-line in the book. And while it is definitely present, it is basically a sub-plot with the main focus being on Izumi's journey of self discovery. This did not bother me at all, since I absolutely fell in love with Izumi as a character - she is hilarious and incredibly relatable - and loved seeing her focus on herself and find her place almost. The romance was cute though (albeit a little insta-lovey) but if you're going to pick this up go into it with the intention of finding an incredible coming of age story. 

There are also so many other characters that you can't help but love - from Izumi's incredibly supportive, hilarious, loving friend group, her incredibly caring mom and ultimately her dad as well.

While there isn't a ton of conflict, there is definitely enough to keep the plot going (some of which I didn't enjoy). Though throughout it all there is a focus on the emotional and it somehow still manages to be an incredibly funny, joyful read. 

While it was not spectacular by any means it was still very well written and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, heartwarming YA book. 

Pros - character development, learning about a new culture, loveable characters, a cute friend-group + romance, funny, faced-paced yet emotional writing

Cons - annoying conflicts which aren't the best for the story, not much relationship development, also did we really need a physically present antagonist on top of everything else?

More info: 

Pages - 336 pages

Age range - 12+

Publisher - Flatiron Books

https://www.flatironbooks.com/

Author - https://www.emikojean.com/

Buy the book - https://www.amazon.in/Tokyo-Ever-After-Emiko-Jean/dp/1509899995/ref=sr_1_1?crid=31EOUWKAQJI9A&keywords=tokyo+ever+after&qid=1676166289&sprefix=tokyo+ever+afte%2Caps%2C199&sr=8-1

Download the book - https://oceanofpdf.com/authors/emiko-jean/pdf-epub-tokyo-ever-after-tokyo-ever-after-1-download/

My rating - 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thankyou so much for reading this if you got this far :) and Happy Reading đź“šđź’–


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