Scan barcode
A review by bottomofthebookshelf
Tokyo Love by Diana Jean
4.0
*Thank you to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for giving me this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Wow, what a cute read! Some reviews said this book is addicting, and they’re not wrong. The first night I started reading this I stayed up until 1am reading half of the book; it just had me hooked. The writing style is pretty simple so I breezed through the whole book in 2 sittings. This book follows and American woman named Kathleen living in Tokyo in the near future who works on synthetic love companions that are perfectly designed to be everything an individual could want in a partner. But when Kathleen gets a beta version of the robot for testing, she’s shocked to find it’s identical to her neighbour Yuriko. Now Kathleen finds herself questioning her sexuality and trying to figure out who she truly is is this foreign city.
This is a beautiful tale of friendship, personal growth, and self discovery rich in Japanese culture. From city life in Tokyo to temples on the countryside, I loved reading about all of the places the characters visit in the story. I also really felt for all of the characters and their struggles, including the robot named Ai. I just wanted the best for everything at the end of the story. I also enjoyed reading from both Kathleen and Yuriko’s perspective in order to get more insight into how each person was feeling.
I didn’t give this book 5 stars because I felt like some scenes were breezed over and explained after the fact instead of being fully fleshed out. There was one scene in particular involving Ai that I would have loved to read, but it was just glossed over briefly in the book. Overall, I loved this book and will actually be purchasing a copy once it’s published on March 10, 2020. It’s a book I can see myself rereading time and time again, and I’d recommend it to any LGBTQ+ romance readers out there.
Wow, what a cute read! Some reviews said this book is addicting, and they’re not wrong. The first night I started reading this I stayed up until 1am reading half of the book; it just had me hooked. The writing style is pretty simple so I breezed through the whole book in 2 sittings. This book follows and American woman named Kathleen living in Tokyo in the near future who works on synthetic love companions that are perfectly designed to be everything an individual could want in a partner. But when Kathleen gets a beta version of the robot for testing, she’s shocked to find it’s identical to her neighbour Yuriko. Now Kathleen finds herself questioning her sexuality and trying to figure out who she truly is is this foreign city.
This is a beautiful tale of friendship, personal growth, and self discovery rich in Japanese culture. From city life in Tokyo to temples on the countryside, I loved reading about all of the places the characters visit in the story. I also really felt for all of the characters and their struggles, including the robot named Ai. I just wanted the best for everything at the end of the story. I also enjoyed reading from both Kathleen and Yuriko’s perspective in order to get more insight into how each person was feeling.
I didn’t give this book 5 stars because I felt like some scenes were breezed over and explained after the fact instead of being fully fleshed out. There was one scene in particular involving Ai that I would have loved to read, but it was just glossed over briefly in the book. Overall, I loved this book and will actually be purchasing a copy once it’s published on March 10, 2020. It’s a book I can see myself rereading time and time again, and I’d recommend it to any LGBTQ+ romance readers out there.