A review by lookingforwonder
I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 “I Love You So Mochi” by Sarah Kuhn (2019). This book follows Kimi, a high school senior who takes a trip to Japan to escape her mother’s disappointment that she no longer wants to become a Great Asian-American Artist. Hoping to discover who she is, Kimi meets a cute Japanese boy names Akira, explores Kyoto, and bonds with her estranged maternal grandparents.

I was in the mood to read something sweet, and “I Love You So Mochi” definitely fit that bill. My favorite parts of the book were with Kimi and her grandparents. Kimi’s mother disappointed her parents by choosing a future they hadn’t envisioned for her. There’s still a lingering disappointment and sadness, and the parallels are clear between Kimi, Kimi’s mother, and her grandparents. Her Ojiisan (grandfather) was so adorable and funny; her Obaasan (grandmother) had greater baggage and hurt to unpack from twenty years earlier when a rift formed between her and her only child. The development of her relationship with Kimi was very natural and real. The romance in the book was cute. Akira had his own personality, but he felt mostly like a plot device than a fully-fleshed out character. The romance didn’t have too much tension, and the tension that did appear was resolved fairly quickly.

Kimi is attempting to find herself, her future, in Japan, but it was obvious from the first chapter what that was. That made the main conflict not very difficult to overcome, even though it took about three-fourths of the novel to get there. In the end, I liked this book more as a family saga than a romance. It was light and sweet, just like the treat in its title.

Quote of the book:  “If you want something, you have to say it out loud and to the correct person.”
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