Reviews

This was a great read. The writing was so digestible and felt very in character for Izumi. It was the perfect mix of Princess Diaries and The Crown. Seeing how an ordinary Japanese American would deal with this was great. Although I can't relate to Izumi's racial experience, it was insightful. I am so glad I read this.

carsonelainee's review against another edition

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3.0

*3.5 - it was like the princess diaries meets what a girl wants

saraelizabetha's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

allenfarm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely adored this book! The writing style was super easy and flowed well. The author wrote a believable 17 year old girl going through an extreme coming-of-age-transition. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was flawless and sounded just like you'd think Izumi would sound. (They kept the narrator for the second book and I am so glad they did so!) "Princess Diaries" meets "Crazy Rich Asians" with a little bit of "What a Girl Wants" thrown in. Definitely pegged the Princess Diaries. Izumi was raised in California never knowing who her father was. Her grandparents wanted to assimilate into American culture and stopped speaking Japanese, so Izumi had no history of her culture, and yet always felt like she didn't belong - not looking American enough, but not being enough Japanese. When she discovers who her dad is and sets out to meet him, it has an unexpected result that she is a Japanese Princess! Her father brings her to Japan and Izumi is quickly mired into centuries of Japanese culture and traditions, language tutors, public engagements, and news media training. Izumi bumbles through, making mistake after mistake as she learns how to be a Princess, and she does it with grace and the right amount of self deprecation. In Japan, she may look like everyone else, but maybe she is too American to ever fit in after all. The romance is kind of an enemies to friends to lovers deal and it was a lot of fun to read. As her body guard, I enjoyed watching Akio go from stiff and cold to big cinnamon roll of a hero. I also liked how loyal he was, not just to Izumi, but to his job and country as well. I absolutely loved the ending, and was so excited that book 2 was just released so that I can keep the story going! I already know I am going to be jonesing for book 3 by the end of it.

sage_runner's review against another edition

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Just not quite my type of book, got pretty boring.

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