Smada's Book Smack : Blog Tour & Giveaway: My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life by Rachel Cohn

Book Blurb:

MY ALMOST FLAWLESS TOKYO DREAM LIFE by Rachel Cohn
Pub. Date: December 18, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Formats: Hardcover, eBook

"I'm here to take you to live with your father. In Tokyo, Japan! Happy birthday!"

In the Land of the Rising Sun, where high culture meets high kitsch, and fashion and technology are at the forefront of the First World's future, the foreign-born teen elite attend ICS-the International Collegiate School of Tokyo. Their accents are fluid. Their homes are ridiculously posh. Their sports games often involve a (private) plane trip to another country. They miss school because of jet lag and visa issues. When they get in trouble, they seek diplomatic immunity.

Enter foster-kid-out-of-water Elle Zoellner, who, on her sixteenth birthday discovers that her long-lost father, Kenji Takahari, is actually a Japanese hotel mogul and wants her to come live with him. Um, yes, please! Elle jets off first class from Washington D.C. to Tokyo, which seems like a dream come true. Until she meets her enigmatic father, her way-too-fab aunt, and her hyper-critical grandmother, who seems to wish Elle didn't exist. In an effort to please her new family, Elle falls in with the Ex-Brats, a troupe of uber-cool international kids who spend money like it's air. But when she starts to crush on a boy named Ryuu, who's frozen out by the Brats and despised by her new family, her already tenuous living situation just might implode.

My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life is about learning what it is to be a family, and finding the inner strength to be yourself, even in the most extreme circumstances.

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks | TBD

My Review:

4 Out Of 5 Stars

Genre: Teen--

Elle has had a very rough few years once her mom became addicted to drugs, eventually ending up in foster care after her mom was arrested. When a person from her past shows up on her completely unremarkable seeming birthday and says she will be moving to Japan to live with the father she has never met, Elle has no idea what to think. After taking the leap and going to Japan, Elle is thrown head first into a situation unlike anything she could have ever imagined- and she may not be prepared for any of it.

I processed those words: penthouse apartment on the forty-ninth floor. I'd never been in a building so tall, much less lived in one. What if I had vertigo? On the other hand, I'd just survived a fourteen-hour flight and time-traveled to two days in the future, so maybe I had superpowers I'd not been aware of previously.

I hate to confess this, but My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life is my first read from Rachel. I have picked up many of her other books, saw the movie adaptation for Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, even met Rachel at a book signing for her last book, Kill All Happies, but this is the first time I have read a book written by her. I was really happy with this story, it was everything I did not even know I was hoping for when I picked up the title.

Elle was such a cute, charming (without any trying on her part) character that I instantly connected to her. She has spent the last few years of her life in a terrible situation that was not her own making, yet she staid an upbeat kid who was truly appreciative for any opportunity or niceness bestowed on her. Not only that, but she was tough, determined, hard working, reslient and inherently sweet. I appreciated her sense of snarky humor and her internal dialogue made me laugh- hey, anyone who references her newly discovered parent as "this handsome father person thingie" instantly gets brownie points from me.

I feel like this was the perfect YA contemporary read, dealing more with the main character's developing personality, school drama and family conflicts, with just a touch of romance. I enjoyed seeing all the complicated relationship dynamics unfold on the pages, like how to magically have a father- especially one she barely sees and doesn't really connect with. Oh, and the drama of an elite boarding school was intriguing! I also loved learning about all the Japanese customs right along with Elle, I never expected to be educated while reading a YA fiction novel, so that was a pleasant surprise. My Almost Tokyo Dream Life ended up being a cute feel good read- which was surprising while there were some heavy topics such as drug addiction, alcoholism, abandonment, foster care, abuse, and not belonging. I have no idea how Rachel managed to make those topics into a lighthearted read, but she did- while still making them important. I will for sure check out another book from Rachel in the near future.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this title.

Author Bio: