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A review by rakoerose
My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life by Rachel Cohn
3.0
This book was fairly average for me. Not too bad, but nothing outstanding. This definitely felt more like a guide to Japan and less like a story with any meat to it. Elle and the plot felt very flat and, in some moments, a little abrasive and unpleasant. Her personality is something you have to get used to but I still stand by my statement that it feels like she doesn’t act her age.
However, the setting is definitely very rich. As someone who’s been interested in Japan for a while, I could picture a lot of what this book portrays due to having watched a lot of Japan videos before! If you’re interested in Japan, this might appeal to you just on that front and I’d say go for it.
The romance was cute, if predictable. Elle’s new friends are a bit cliché. Kenji was the most interesting and we see him the least. Honestly I’d read a whole book with a character like him at the forefront - it’d be a look into Japan I’ve never seen before that could really hammer some of this book’s themes home a lot stronger.
A quick aside: a book like this should have taken me two days, tops, to read. If you look at my log - it took me four. I think it says a lot about Elle’s personality in this book that I was actively avoiding reading it for a while. But that might just be me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
However, the setting is definitely very rich. As someone who’s been interested in Japan for a while, I could picture a lot of what this book portrays due to having watched a lot of Japan videos before! If you’re interested in Japan, this might appeal to you just on that front and I’d say go for it.
The romance was cute, if predictable. Elle’s new friends are a bit cliché. Kenji was the most interesting and we see him the least. Honestly I’d read a whole book with a character like him at the forefront - it’d be a look into Japan I’ve never seen before that could really hammer some of this book’s themes home a lot stronger.
A quick aside: a book like this should have taken me two days, tops, to read. If you look at my log - it took me four. I think it says a lot about Elle’s personality in this book that I was actively avoiding reading it for a while. But that might just be me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯