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Izumi has grown up in the small town of Mount Shasta, California. She loves it, but she has stuck out because of her Japanese heritage. But Izzy, as she has most people call her, does fine with the love of her single mom. She also has the support of her bestie group, made up of three other Asian-proximate girls.
It’s the middle of her senior year when she and her friends find a book in her mom’s room that has a note inside. The signature leads them to figure out who her father is (information her mother had not shared). That’s a big enough discovery as it is — but to make it even bigger, she learns he is the crown prince of Japan. (!!!)
Within a few weeks, she heads to Tokyo to meet her father and the rest of the imperial family. It’s a whirlwind. She comes to love many things about Japan and is happy to know more of her family. But being a princess, always in the public eye, is definitely a challenge. She doesn’t know how to speak Japanese, either, and she is unfamiliar with many customs. Now Izumi is now surrounded by people who look like her. But she still feels she stands out because she doesn’t seem Japanese enough.
Complicating all of what she’s experiencing are twin “mean girl” cousins and a very hot young bodyguard she can’t help but be attracted to. Life has certainly gotten interesting. But can she make a real place for herself in Japan, and stay true to who she is?
Tokyo Ever After is a good young adult romance book. It’s essentially Princess Diaries with a Japanese-American teen as the heroine. Not that Princess Diaries was completely original, either, but it’s perfectly satisfactory to have tropes and retreads when the story is a pleasure. It’s relatable for any teen because Izumi is a teen trying to find her place in the world. Plus, it’s valuable for readers to experience through this character what it’s like to be Asian in white America.
Izumi has great chemistry with her bodyguard love interest, and she and her friends are entertaining, whether through their interactions in person or through group text. And not only do readers get to live a posh lifestyle vicariously through Izumi, but they get to travel to a foreign land and be introduced to its history, culture and food. It seems both exciting and beautiful. This is the first in a series, so I’ll enjoy continuing this delightful young adult romance story with the second book.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 2 uses of strong language, as well as maybe 5 twists on it, around a dozen instances of moderate profanity, less than 10 uses of mild language, and about 25 instances of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes kissing and some vulgar but funny illustrations the main character draws on the photo of someone who annoys her.
