*This is a sequel book.*
Currently living in Japan, Japanese-American and
overnight-princess Izumi Tanaka is at a crossroads. Some parts are great. Her
once-bodyguard-turned-boyfriend is amazing (Akio Kobayashi), and she’s got her
stinky dog, Tamagotchi, living with her. She’s overcome imperial scandal,
salacious press and the “Shining Twins,” her conniving cousins Akiko and Noriko.
It doesn’t ease the amount on her mind, though. Should she take a gap year
or attend university right away? If university is the route, how will she
decide which tame, apolitical major to pursue? Is her relationship with Akio the relationship?
If that’s not enough, the Imperial Household Council does not approve
of her parents’ engagement. Her mother’s background isn’t classy enough, her
job not reputable enough, and the press continues to paint Izumi in a
less-than-desirable light. Izumi wants her parents’ engagement to lead to a
wedding that the council approves of, and she’s ready to become the perfect
princess to win the council over. This includes obtaining a tutor to prepare
for the EJU (The Examination for Japanese
University Admission) and improve her Japanese language skills, both
written and spoken. Is it a coincidence that her tutor, Eriku Nakamura, is
something of a prodigy and only scion to a shipping magnate? Can Izumi rise
above royal expectations while maintaining the person that she is?
It doesn’t
take being a royal to know what it is to be pulled in different directions.
Follow your heart and your mind or conform to expectations that make you
feel like you’re missing pieces of yourself? The way in which Jean
presents Izumi’s conundrum never feels forced, and the word pictures she
creates for us - of Japan and bits of history, but also a teenager trying to
figure things out - are woven together so well that detritus doesn’t sneak
through. Relationships are a theme to the story, those of family, friends, new
friends and romantic bonds. (There is a love
scene, but it’s easily overlooked for those who prefer to avert their reading
eyes.) The plot is evenly-paced and does not read as muddled or all over the
place. “Tokyo Dreaming” isn’t only a sometimes cheesy, sometimes cringey, royal
teen romance, but a story with substance in which you watch a young woman
navigate her path between her actual self and her royal self. And that kind of
growth in anyone is pretty momentous.
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