Tokyo Ever After

I think it's more of a 3.5.

This was a very impulsive read for me which I picked up after reading a lovely review of the sequel Tokyo Dreaming. It's YA contemporary which is so not my thing anymore, so I didn't have much expectations. It turned out to be cute and fun, emotional at places, a tad bit predictable but overall enjoyable just like The Princess Diaries. I definitely liked the parts about Izumi wanting to belong somewhere and trying to reconcile her American upbringing with a more conservative Japanese imperial culture, and all the narrative about her learning to speak Japanese, write Kanji and learn the etiquette was very nicely written. The romance is probably a bit of instalove but it's kinda a staple of the genre at this point and I won't begrudge it. Overall, I had fun and I wouldn't mind picking up the sequel.

“You make me wish for all the things I shouldn't.”

I have been wanting to read this for so long and I am so happy I finally picked it up.

The idea of going your whole life without knowing who your father is only to find out that he is actually royalty and you're a princess who now has to learn to adjust to this new, extravagant life? I am obsessed.

This was such a fairytale romance and I loved every minute of it. I absolutely squealed and kicked my feet like a high school girl whose crush just asked me out. I am not afraid to admit that!

I have the biggest crush on both Izumi and Akio. I am sickeningly in love with him that it's not funny.

I loved being able to read how the relationship between Izumi and her father developed. It was so beautiful watching them learn how to love and accept one another as who they are.

Sometimes predictable and cliche rom-coms are a necessary read and this is one of them.

I didn't expect to enjoy this book so much! A lost princess finding where she belongs, a forbidden romance, hilarious quippy exchanges and misunderstandings--this book is fresh and effervescent. Just ride the frothy, sweet wave that is this rom-com and learn more about Japanese culture than you ever expected to learn from a contemporary romance. If you liked Crazy Rich Asians, you'll love this one.

Ah a light, fluffy asian romance? Sign me in. Did it meet my expectation? Nope.
Izumi is annoying and does only improve for a few sentences for then to go back to stupid behavior. The romance wad very flat and the cultural references where sadly very basic (I hoped for more out there references or more discourse about tradional vs modern japan).
Even for a fast language learner, Kanji is not the way to start.

Princess Diaries Asian version x Crazy Rich Asian

I feel like going to Japan alongside Izumi during her journey to Tokyo. All of my memories about Japan help me mentally picture everything in the book. It was like having a movie played in my head while reading.
The story was cute, from the father-daughter relationship between the Crown Prince & Izumi, to the fluffy romance between Izumi & the Imperial Guard... There were some LOL moments with the word choices in the book. Another plus point is that I was a bit surprised about who the real villain was. (It's a shame since I was kinda fond of that character. Felt a bit backstabbed, just like Izumi I guess)
This book just has a bit of everything for me: rich in Japanese culture & scenery, cute romance, relatable gaijin feeling when in Japan, funny banters sometimes, heartwarming family moments,...
Can't wait for book 2❤️

My younger self was swooning over this Princess Diaries like novel. So glad I got to read it. This book was very cute and definitely young adult.

I feel the way she went about contacting her father was super weird. If my dad were a Prince who I'd never met there is no way I'd contact some random dude he used to be friends with and announce that to him prior to getting in touch with my father unless I absolutely had to. Just tacky to me.

I also felt like her friends characters could have been developed a lot better. The girls seemed like a group of average girsl so when Noora was giving the valedictorian speech towards the end it seemed out of the blue. At times, the younger kind lingo seemed a little overdone. I don't know if it was necessary for the feel of the book as sometimes it didn't seem to have any of that feel at all.

The reveal for who ousted her also seemed a little odd. Only motivation was money? Really? Seemed kind of lame. A deep hatred for her while pretending to be her bff would have been more interesting.

Overall though, I did enjoy this book. I wanted more of the Tokyo Tattler articles since they added a deeper perspective and maybe more about the mom and dad love story. Either way, I'm excited to see what the next book brings with Akio and Izumi's love story.

I'm not the target demographic for this book, but I do love YA romance novels. Unfortunately, a lot of this just didn't hit the parts of the genre that I just love. A lot of this book was spent on exploring how out of depth Izumi was in Japan and in another culture, and while I did appreciate that and especially from a youth's POV, I was actually hoping a lot more of it was going to be about forging the relationships with those she met abroad. One thing I was especially disappointed with was the lack of the mother and father's relationship growth–while I understand they were not the focal point, Izumi made a really great case for me to want to see their dynamic more and I was sad it wasn't explored very much. In the end, I didn't hate reading this, it just wasn't the exact cup of tea I wanted it to be! It was cute and entertaining and I also admit the twists within were pretty exciting at points!