Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reviewed by Julia W., 10th Grade
Rating: 9/10
Tokyo Ever After is a modern day fairy tale full of surprises. Izumi Tanaka is a normal teenager finishing up her last year of high school in Mount Shasta, a small town in Northern California. She lives with her mom and her beloved dog, Tamagotchi. She doesn’t know much about her dad until she and her best friend, Noora, come across his name in a letter he wrote to Izumi’s mother. Turns out, her dad is nothing short of being the Crown Prince of Japan. This also means Izumi is a real life princess. Wanting to know more about her roots and her dad, Izumi travels to Japan to seek answers and learn. Izumi soon realizes that this won’t be an easy trip. She has to deal with dresses, the press, meeting her family members, and trying to keep up with the customs that are quite literally foreign to her. Not to mention that there’s a bodyguard that she may have feelings for. Izumi is making mistakes left and right. She feels like the Izumi of America and the Izumi of Japan are two different people. Which one is she supposed to be?
This novel definitely has that princess feel but with it taking place in the present day world, it doesn’t have that sense of perfectness. Soon after arriving in Japan, Izumi has to use the bathroom while still at the airport. When she asks to go her bodyguards aren’t happy with her as they hadn’t planned for a visit to the bathroom. Izumi winds up having to use a kitchen bathroom so as to not be bombarded by people now that she has become somewhat of a celebrity. This isn’t something you would see in a regular fairy tale, but it makes this one special. Izumi is far from being the perfect princess and she doesn’t enjoy the things the other princesses seem to. Shopping, wearing fancy clothes and playing difficult instruments are all things Izumi never really cared about. Rather, her love lies with food, her friends, and of course her dog!
This novel definitely has that princess feel but with it taking place in the present day world, it doesn’t have that sense of perfectness. Soon after arriving in Japan, Izumi has to use the bathroom while still at the airport. When she asks to go her bodyguards aren’t happy with her as they hadn’t planned for a visit to the bathroom. Izumi winds up having to use a kitchen bathroom so as to not be bombarded by people now that she has become somewhat of a celebrity. This isn’t something you would see in a regular fairy tale, but it makes this one special. Izumi is far from being the perfect princess and she doesn’t enjoy the things the other princesses seem to. Shopping, wearing fancy clothes and playing difficult instruments are all things Izumi never really cared about. Rather, her love lies with food, her friends, and of course her dog!
The novel’s storyline makes it an intriguing read. How many other books have princesses who have never even been to the country their family calls home? As Izumi has never met her dad or been to Japan she has to learn everything from scratch. Things that are second nature to her royal cousins (who Izumi likes to call the Shining Twins due to their evil personalities) have Izumi asking herself a million questions. What fork do I eat this with? How do I say this in Japanese? Should I speak with this person? Should I smile or keep a straight face? While Izumi does have a personal lady-in-waiting to ask these questions to, she can’t ask her in the midst of an event. Having never been to events like these ones she attends as a royal family member, Izumi can’t always anticipate what questions she should be asking beforehand. This makes Izumi have to rely on and watch those around her, which doesn’t always work out in her favor. It is a whirlwind reading about Izumi trying all of these new things. I was certainly stressed whenever I knew Izumi was about to make a mistake. I was actually so invested that the same day I finished reading it I ran over to the library to pick up the sequel, Tokyo Dreaming, which was just as amazing.
This book has many ups and downs and features events that I have never read about before. I think Tokyo Ever After has a very fresh take on some age old problems.