I said it last time out, but Emiko Jean does have a talent for writing books where you know the direction we’re going, and precisely what will be said next. Some dialogue is easy to skim over as you’ve read it a few times before, then there’s fake dating, and what ensues from thereon. The tropes embed themselves rather quickly. Good or bad, it is present to encourage more friction than it possibly should, like real tabloids. That said, the persistent butting of heads that comes from the press, feels more like a device to catch us up or exposit something outside of Izumi’s perspective.

However, this time around, the three young princesses finally have that spark for reasonable contention. To say I found it eye-rolling at times in Tokyo Ever After would be an understatement. I’ll admit conflict between Izumi and the twins, Akiko and Noriko, wasn’t surprising initially. On a personal note, I’ve always found teenage conflict to be a touch pedant, trivial if you will.

Questions arise about who she is, where her priorities lie, and most importantly for a young princess with evil twin fashionista cousins sitting in the wings, what to wear? Of course, this is where a large portion of the conflict arises.

Despite being similar to its predecessor, Tokyo Dreaming allows Zoom-Zoom to grow a little into herself while surrounded by chamberlins and her family. This is the inevitable jumping-off point for the often light-hearted drama that would ensue and we’re on a sometimes trope-heavy yet enjoyable ride of chapters.īetween imperial rules and personal struggles of a young woman finding herself as everyone tells her who to be, the book discusses what attempts to change will re-form in its original mold. Continuing where we left off: The young princess is joined in Japan by her mother, as the parents rekindle their flame that sparked nearly two decades prior. Lately, I’ve been reading Tokyo Dreaming. I quite enjoyed the first book in what is officially a series with the upcoming release of Jean’s Tokyo Dreaming. The sometimes fabulous, sometimes embarrassing, and often dramatic life of Her Imperial Highness Princess Izumi Tanaka is a story that formed in Emiko Jean’s Tokyo Ever After.

Tokyo dreaming book review