Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean Review
Rated 4/5
Izumi Tanaka has never felt like she was at home. Being a Japanese American, Izumi always had difficulty knowing who she was and where to belong. Being raised by a single mom in America, Izumi always had a curiosity about who her father was. Her mother would barely speak about him and disclosed a lot of information that Izumi was looking to find. One day, Izumi finds the answers to her curiosity and discovers that her father is the Crown Prince of Japan! Finally having a way to connect to her Japanese side, she takes the chance to go meet her father and enters an intimidating world of royalty. Izumi doesn’t worry though and is ecstatic as she finally feels like she will be able to belong somewhere. But once she arrives in Japan, she faces many challenges in becoming a princess and troubles fitting into her own culture. Facing the pressure of the tabloids, cruel family members, and fitting in with her culture, will Izumi be able to persevere through it all or will she fall under the pressure?
Tokyo Ever After” by Emiko Jean is a fantastic book that I highly relate to! Although I’m not Japanese, I am an Asian Canadian and I deeply resonate with this novel. It’s hard knowing where I belong as I had difficulty with not knowing much about my culture but also knowing enough about it that I didn’t feel like I fit in at school. I’m still trying to figure out how to be comfortable with myself and from Izumi’s point of view, it helps a lot. Seeing a character go through similar problems which I have gone have through is amazing. It was also nice to learn a bit of Japanese culture in the book. The drama and romance involved as well made it highly interesting. Overall, I would recommend this book to people who love romance, royalty, learning about a new culture, and especially one who relates to what Izumi is going through with fitting in.