3.5/5 stars
Harlequin Teen, 2013
350 pages
YA Paranormal Contemporary
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
On the one hand, I feel bad for this book because it might have been a victim of my feeling sick, which made me a little impatient with books. On the other hand, it has earned a wide variety of reviews from the very negative to the very enthusiastic so maybe the way I physically felt doesn't really affect anything. My general impression of this book is pretty meh. I didn't fall in love but nothing left me outraged. It just was.
This book has a lot of positives in its favor: it is set in Japan and cultural differences are conveniently noticed by American-born and raised Katie who initially feels like she will never adapt to her new life. Of course she does though, attending Tea Ceremony practices, learning kendo, making friends, and meeting a boy Tomohiro, who plays a pretty big role in changing her mind. After accidentally spying on Tomo breaking up with his girlfriend and seeing one of his drawings move, Katie becomes very curious to learn more, finding herself drawn to him despite the potential danger he represents.
Like I said, I wasn't really feeling this book. There was nothing to make me angry but I never found myself passionately drawn into it. I liked Katie well enough and strongly empathized with her feeling out of place especially as she had only a few months of frantically studying Japanese before her full immersion. The other characters were also fine although as she meets Tomo pretty early on in the book, he soon comes to pretty much dominate everything about her world. I would have liked more about her platonic friendships (also more descriptions of the food, which sounded amazing!)
The paranormal concept is really cool-Tomo has the ability to bring his ink illustrations to life, which is dangerous to him and those around him (like the friend who was once attacked by one of his drawings) as well as the fact that there are those who would use this power for evil. I'm a little unclear on the best way to harness the power as it seems more likely to hurt the drawer than anyone else. I also really loved that illustrations were included-this would probably be a beautiful book to own in hardcover.
One note about this e-copy: I was pleased to discovery that it did have a glossary at the end after struggling with some Japanese words throughout the text. If you pick this up, be sure to utilize the glossary as I was really wanting one before I stumbled upon it. That's the difficulty with e-books-it's hard to flip to the end!
Overall: An average read that takes advantage of its atypical setting.
Other Opinions:
A Reader of Fictions
Finding Bliss in Books
Great Imaginations
My Shelf Confessions
Young Adult Book Haven
Hmm... I really want to read this, to see where I end up on the spectrum of REALLY loving or being meh about it. I kinda dislike it when the whole book turns into being about the love interest when there are so many interesting aspects to the story!
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting to see the wide range-everybody seems to have a different opinion, which is part of what intrigued me.
DeleteI've read the full gamut of reviews -- from love to hate -- for this book and I'm curious to find out what I think about it. I do love the idea of bringing drawings to life and, holy cow, that cover! Plus, Japanese culture is fascinating to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, the concept, cover, and culture are amazing but it's the characters who I think either really make or break it for me and they didn't quite measure up.
DeleteFascinating. I see this book everywhere, although I'm not sure it would interest me. I'm glad at least the setting is well used. I've never read of Japanese culture so maybe I'd enjoy that. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDelete-P.E.
I have read a few books with a Japanese setting and I think this was one of the better ones, for that aspect at least.
DeleteDitto what Daisy, Mary, and P.E./Mari have already said, haha. It's so hard to decide whether or not to read a book when everyone seems to be netting out "meh." But that cover! And maybe it's worth it just to support the unusual culture featured in the story. How else will publishers know to keep putting out books like that, eh?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good reason to buy! I wish to encourage more diversity but I just can't love every book.
DeleteI definitely hate flipping to the end in ebooks. They need to work on a way to do inline notes or something. (Like on TVTropes, where you click the asterisk and the note appears right there.)
ReplyDeleteYes-more like TVTropes would be super helpful. If this had been a paper copy, I would have definitely used the glossary and been more clear on the terms.
DeleteI enjoy books that have the Japanese culture in them (partly because I'm part Japanese) and this one sounds really interesting. I've heard so-so reviews on this one though, so maybe I'll just borrow it from the library or something. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDelete-Danna
I would love to know what you think, since you have some actual knowledge. I have only limited exposure, which is part of the reason I seek out fictional books like this: to expand my knowledge.
DeleteI've been wary of picking up this book for the reason of the language - so glad you mentioned about the glossary at the ending. Since I often read on an ereader and would've read a NetGalley copy on a Kindle, this would've been a problem for me just like it was with Jay Kristoff's book in the past, which I couldn't even finish because of the language even though I really, really wanted to. I just have a hard time with non-American lingo and am one to REALLY utilize these tools when they are available and it is unfortunate when they are at the back most times. I've seen such mixed reviews for this one, I may just sit it out for the time being. Great, honest thoughts - thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe terms were used so frequently and I really wish I had known about the glossary-I kept thinking I'd start to understand the language but it never happened.
DeleteYou're right, this one has reviews all over the place. One day a raving review has me dying to read it, the next a more negative review has me thinking I'll wait. I want to read it much for the setting, I admit. But so much of it sounds intriguing to me. I think it's one I'll have to read to see, but I'll hold off for now since I already have plenty to read.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to read and review to get it off my Netgalley queue but I can definitely see others exercising caution just because of the wildly differing views out there.
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