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A review by gayathiri_rajendran
This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura
3.0
This is a 3.5 out of 5 for me. I bought this book solely for the cover. I had no idea what the book was about. I saw the cover and I had to get it. Just look at this beauty!
Coming to the actual book,the story is pretty good. this story is more relatable to teenagers and young people who are active in their own communities. This story is about a high schooler, CJ Katsuyama of Japanese ethnicity who works at her aunt's flower shop part time and lives with her mom and aunt. She does not know what to do with her life. The flower shop isn't running that great and the family who bought the flower shop from the Katsuyamas during the World War 2 is willing to buy it again for a good sum of money. The first time was before CJ's ancestors were sent to the internment camps during the war. Now faced with this dilemma, CJ wants to fight for what she believes in.
The author's writing is great and we get to see teenagers deal with their messy lives in a realistic manner. The story is good but I felt that it jumped all over the place. The focus of the story kept shifting to different issues. The beginning of the story is mainly about the failing flower shop and how the school is also named after the family who bought the flower shop during the war. We see a bunch of school kids trying to change the name of the school to the person who rightfully owned their land and suddenly in the end it takes a detour about a girl dealing with boy problems. There were a lot of social issues discussed such as racism,sexism,being an ally etc.
I would have liked to see more information about the internment camps and how it personally affected CJ and her family and made them what they are in the present day. At times,I was a bit annoyed with CJ with her immature behaviour but I realise that I'm too old right now while reading this book.
Fans of YA contemporaries will love this book. It has a good story with many social issues being discussed and how even a small group of people can bring a change which could snowball into something big and everlasting. However the lack of focus on a single theme allows the story to meander without a taut plot.
Overall,an enjoyable read!
Coming to the actual book,the story is pretty good. this story is more relatable to teenagers and young people who are active in their own communities. This story is about a high schooler, CJ Katsuyama of Japanese ethnicity who works at her aunt's flower shop part time and lives with her mom and aunt. She does not know what to do with her life. The flower shop isn't running that great and the family who bought the flower shop from the Katsuyamas during the World War 2 is willing to buy it again for a good sum of money. The first time was before CJ's ancestors were sent to the internment camps during the war. Now faced with this dilemma, CJ wants to fight for what she believes in.
The author's writing is great and we get to see teenagers deal with their messy lives in a realistic manner. The story is good but I felt that it jumped all over the place. The focus of the story kept shifting to different issues. The beginning of the story is mainly about the failing flower shop and how the school is also named after the family who bought the flower shop during the war. We see a bunch of school kids trying to change the name of the school to the person who rightfully owned their land and suddenly in the end it takes a detour about a girl dealing with boy problems. There were a lot of social issues discussed such as racism,sexism,being an ally etc.
I would have liked to see more information about the internment camps and how it personally affected CJ and her family and made them what they are in the present day. At times,I was a bit annoyed with CJ with her immature behaviour but I realise that I'm too old right now while reading this book.
Fans of YA contemporaries will love this book. It has a good story with many social issues being discussed and how even a small group of people can bring a change which could snowball into something big and everlasting. However the lack of focus on a single theme allows the story to meander without a taut plot.
Overall,an enjoyable read!