A review by girlonbooks
Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

🎵🎵🎵🎵 (four stars as rated in a song played on loop from a cell phone while two people dance in an otherwise empty room)

Izumi Tanaka has big plans for her senior summer and most of them consist of being generally ridiculous with her friends in their home town of Mount Shasta, California. But when Izzy stumbles on a love note to her mom from the dad she's never known, Izzy's whole life changes. Izzy uncovers that her father is none other than the crown prince of Japan, making Izzy a princess herself. Catapulted almost overnight from American anonymity to Japanese royalty would make anybody's head spin. Throw in some conniving cousins, an unrelenting paparazzi, a scrupulous lady in waiting and a unshakable body guard (who is really nailing that sexy brooding thing, by the way) and suddenly Izzy's summer is nothing like what she'd envisioned. Does Izzy have it in her to commit to this princess thing forever?

“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.”

This book really is aaaaall of the fluffy, teen romance feels. Izumi is such a fun character and one with whom it is very easy to empathize. Her romance with Akio made me very giggly at times and her blunders were just magnificently cringey. While the romance is obviously a primary plot point of the story, let us not overlook just how fantastically loyal and dependable Izumi's friends are. Protagonists are so often left dangling without the structure that a good cast of well developed friends provides. To give us that without a bunch of needless drama surrounding their respective relationships says a lot about the sophistication of Emiko Jean. Would 10/10 recommend this book, especially if you're looking for a quick weekend book/audiobook that will have you squealing while you listen in the car. I could not tear myself away!!

✨ Rep in this book: Japanese-American MC, diverse cast of friends, Japanese and Japanese-American supporting characters

✨ Content warnings for this book: vomit, medical stuff, bullying, alcohol use

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