Tokyo dreaming by Emiko Jean

Izumi Tanaka is a princess - she's found a place where she belongs. She's in Japan, living in the Imperial Palace, has the perfect boyfriend (previously her bodyguard, see book 1), her mum has come from America and brought their dog too - so her mum and dad are reconnecting too! Life is basically perfect... until Izumi's dad proposes to her mum, which should be the best thing ever, but the council may not approve it. Her boyfriend makes a shocking decision about their relationship, and the pressure to attend university in Tokyo is extreme. It looks like everything is falling apart, but Izumi vows to do whatever it takes to get life back on track.

Following on from the first book Tokyo Ever After, Tokyo Dreaming concludes Izumi Tanaka's coming of age story in a well written, evenly paced book. While the novel does tie up all loose ends in neat bows in an almost expected way, it's still a really lovely book that is very enjoyable. Some readers may wish that the author had chosen a different ending for the main character, but the majority of readers will find comfort in the safe way the book ends. To add variety to the book, there are a different formats used through it such as newspaper articles, text messages and the standard novel format, providing readers that slight shift while not being too jarring in the story. Perfect for fans of the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot or even the Loveboat, Taipei book by Abigail Hing Wen.

Themes: YA, Romance, Tokyo, Coming of Age, Relationships, Expectations, Japan, America.

Melanie Pages