If you love royal rom coms or books about finding out you’re actually (!!) a princess, Tokyo Ever After must be on your radar. What did I think of the book? Check out my review of Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean!
What is Tokyo Ever After About?
Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean. Published by Flatiron Books on May 18, 2021. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.
Plot Summary for Tokyo Ever After
Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in—it isn’t easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. But then Izzy discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity… he’s the Crown Prince of Japan. In a whirlwind, Izzy travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight. Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself—back home, she was never “American” enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese” enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairytale, happily ever after?
Review of Tokyo Ever After
I am a fan of YA books about royals, as evidenced by my ongoing lists of YA Fantasy Royal Books, YA Historical Fiction about Royals, and YA Contemporary Books About Royals (to which this book has been added.)
YA Contemporary books about royalty are often wish fulfillment-type stories that feature an ordinary person who learns she’s a secret princess OR falls in love with someone who who turns out to be royal. Improbable but fun, these books typically follow a familiar pattern: 1) girl either learns she’s royal or that her love interest is royal , girl travels to another country for princess lessons, girl messes up and/or is plotted against and is humiliated, girl successfully integrates her royal self with her old self.
Tokyo Ever After definitely fit the pattern: a little bit Princess Diaries (awkward girl learns she’s actually a princess) a little bit What a Girl Wants (girl learns her mystery father is actually a member of British nobility and travels to London to meet him) and a little bit Crazy Rich Asians.
What I really liked: Izzy is a fun character. She’s relatable and real, close to her mom and her friends, and an outspoken feminist. Tokyo Ever After lets you live our all your princess fantasies, complete with a forbidden romance. But the story isn’t all fluff and fantasy. The book addressed the issue of growing up feeling different in a mainly white community, of being raised outside your cultural heritage, of the elitism of royalty, and of royal succession laws in Japan.
I didn’t know that, while Japan had female Empresses in the past, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 formalized a male dominated system of government and barred women from the throne. However, according to this article, 68 percent of Japanese citizens are fine with a female ruler.
This might not be for you if: you want an element of surprise in your stories. The plot is pretty similar to What a Girl Wants. But I’m not complaining as I love that movie!
Looking for a fun summer read? Look no further. Tokyo Ever After is a great travelogue that lets you see the sights in Tokyo and Kyoto, vicariously enjoy amazing Japanese food, and live out all your royal fantasies. This is something I rarely say about YA contemporary fiction, but I am happy to see that this is going to be a series, because there were many plot lines that didn’t seem completely resolved.
Random aside: I just realized that Emiko Jean is also the author of We’ll Never Be Apart, which is a creepy story about twins and about as far from a royal romance as you can get. I love an author with that much range! Also both We’ll Never Be Apart and Tokyo Ever After feature characters who are twins.
Going to read this? Have you read it? Tell me what you think in comments!
You pretty much convinced me with that paragraph about What a Girl Wants and Princess Diaries. This sounds like good fun to me
I know you will love it!