Beware spoilers ahead!

Trigger Warning(s): Bullying, sexism, mentions of vomit, xenophobia, and sexual assault.

Rep: Nora is either Persian or Afghani, if someone could please specify in the comments that would be great. Hansani is Sri Lakan. Glory is half Filipino. Mariko is Chinese-Japanese. Izumi and her mother are Japanese American. The rest of the characters are Japanese.

My Thoughts Before Reading: I had seen this book floating around Twitter for sometime. I had initially no interest in reading. I had changed my mind after seeing someone comparing it to The Princess Diaries.

I am happy to say that I really enjoyed it!

What I Liked: The writing style was so good! I was sucked in from the first page. I also really enjoyed reading the various magazine articles.

I loved Izumi’s relationship with her mother! They were so close to each other. I could feel the love through reading their interactions.

I adored reading about the AGG! Jean did such a fabulous job bringing all of Izumi’s friends personalities to life. The back and forth that was in all of Glory and Noora’s conversations, Hansani’s quiet but supportive personality, and Mariko’s tough love. It’s always such a pleasure to read about supportive female friendships.

Akio and Izumi’s romance was entertaining to read about. I liked how they looked out for each other. I did enjoy reading about their relationship progression.

Izumi’s relationship with her father was the driving force of the novel. You see them try to communicate and find a common ground. And of course that was very difficult in the beginning as they didn’t know each other. Izumi was convinced that she would be thrown out for a mistake due to her background (not coming from a rich family). Her father also didn’t make any extra time to spend with Izumi. When they finally did make an effort to communicate it was lovely and so heartfelt. I grew to love reading their scenes together!

I loved reading about Izumi’s character development! How she came to terms with both her backgrounds, how she decided that she was enough. She really grew into herself with the help of those around her. Especially her friends and her mother.

My Criticism(s): I wasn’t that invested in the romance. I just found that I cared more about Izumi’s relationships with her friends and family more than the romance.

What I’m Looking Forward To: I’m so excited to read the sequel Tokyo Dreaming!

Conclusion: Overall I really liked Tokyo Ever After! I highly recommend it if you love The Princess Diaries and What a Girl Wants.