Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean- BOOK REVIEW

Synopsis  

Izumi Tanaka has lived an uneventful seventeen years in her small town, keenly aware of all the ways in which her family is different from most of her classmates’. But then Izumi discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity . . . and he’s none other than the Crown Prince of Japan.
Soon she’s traveling overseas to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she's only dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight. Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself—back home, she was never “American” enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s "Japanese" enough. 

⭐️ 4.75 stars ⭐️ 

I want to just start off directly by saying I LOVE this book!! (If it wasn’t already clear from my rating lol) All of my friends who read it had enjoyed it a lot so I obviously had lots of expectations and I’m so happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed even in the least bit! 

Izumi was so funny, quick witted and charming in her own way that there really was no choice left but to love her and root for her the moment she was introduced! I listened to the audiobook and there were so many moments where I was full on clutching-my-belly laughing! Izzy’s inner monologues were so funny and then there were all the conversations between her and her best friends. They were honestly such an amazing group of friends that I’d give anything  to join them! Noora was my most favourite of all her friends because 1. Her suggestions were ridiculous. 2. She was absolutely hilarious. 3. Her driving was the worst. 4. She was the best cheerleader/best friend one could ask for!!

I really enjoyed reading about Izzy’s relationship with her mother. I loved how they communicated with each other and loved each other so much! For someone who’s always considered her mother her best-est friend, I was so happy to witness this endearing mother-daughter relationship in a YA book when it is usually shown that parents and their teen children never get along.

I also really loved seeing how Izzy’s relationship with her dad developed! I loved the fact that they didn’t have a rocky start and both of them were willing to give their relationship a chance wholeheartedly.

Btw, I’m 100% shipping Izzy’s parents together because they were soooo adorable!!! I NEED more of them in the next book! Totally keeping my fingers crossed for their happy ending!

Now comes the handsome, grumpy love interest! It looks like those are all I’m reading about these days but it’s okay, I’m not at all complaining. When Akio Kobayashi was introduced, I instantly knew I would love him. He was just so grumpy but good looking and then there was his dry sense of humor to go with the look. How could I not love him? Also, all of Izzy’s internal thoughts when they first met were giving me LIFE. Their romance was kind of a mixture of both Enemies to Lovers and Insta Love. I’m not usually a fan of Insta love but whatever combination this was, it definitely worked for me! I just knew I wanted this ship to sail. (And I’m so grateful that it did because I LIVE for happily ever-afters!!)

There were also some side characters that I really liked (Mariko, Reina and another person whom I won’t name because things went badly with them) and some I really didn’t like (the shining twins).

But what I most loved about this book was how it felt like we were there with Izumi on her journey to Japan, discovering herself, learning about her past, developing new relationships and facing all the obstacles. There were so many emotions in this book but it still had this very unique vibe to it:  lighthearted and happy with a story easy to get lost into.
I especially loved how much we got to know about the Japanese culture on this journey with Izume. It is always so nice to read about someone’s culture and everything was explained so well. It felt like I was learning something new about this wonderful culture in every chapter along with Izzy.

“I used to think the world belonged to me. But I was wrong. I belong to the world. And sometimes … I guess sometimes, our choices have to reflect that.”

I want to conclude this review by saying this book was super entertaining, positive, light, fluffy and just all around joyful! Definitely one of my new favourites!

I absolutely cannot wait for the next book to come out so that I can continue with Izumi’s story!