This was such an adorable and cute book! I loved how the book delved into the MC's anger issue which I don't think is a topic that is widely discussed about in YA literature especially from a female's POV. Since at the end of the day, everyone gets angry and learning how to deal with it properly is important.

Another important issue that was discussed was the MC's ethnic identity and how she was half Japanese and half white and learning how to identify with both especially since she was living in Little Tokyo where she was surrounded by "full" Japanese people.

There was also this adorable romance and honestly everything was just super cute.

i enjoyed this. it was deeply a love letter to LA and Little Tokyo and the exploration of familial bonds, first loves, and exploration of identity made it such a great. true-YA coming-of-age contemporary.

This book was a nice YA rom com. I enjoyed it and felt that the characters were quite realistic and relatable. Some parts of the story did not always keep me hooked, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Sarah Kuhn's FROM LITTLE TOKYO, WITH LOVE is as beautiful as the cover design! A classic YA rom-com with depth and charm. Can't wait to read more from this lovely author.

A escrita da autora é fluida e divertida, trazendo uma mocinha que esconde seus sentimentos e um mocinho que vai apoiá-la mesmo que ela não queira. A autora conseguiu trabalhar o preconceito contra a comunidade asiática na América e o conservadorismo da mesma. Nika coloca a família acima de si mesma, mesmo que a comunidade a rejeite por ser uma filha fora do casamento e por sua mãe ter engravidado na adolescência, a garota vai enfrentar a todos para proteger a família. Henry também tem suas próprias questões, por ser considerado mestiço, ele também sofre preconceito e mesmo assim foge aos esteriótipos.

O romance dos dois não é o foco principal desse livro, eles se apaixonam em meio aos conflitos familiares que são a prioridade na vida dos dois. É legal como a autora conseguiu trabalhar isso tão bem e manter o foco nos dramas familiares. Recomendo para quem quer uma história divertida, com representatividade e um pouco da cultura asiática.

I wanted to enjoy this story but it just didn’t vibe with me. I didn’t feel like it flowed and a lot of stuff felt very forced.

This was a sweet story, but a bit long-winded. This was an interesting story of self-discovery and self-acceptance, but the quest to find Rika's mother just seemed to take extra long since the other aspects of the story took a fair amount of time too. The romance was lovely, and I enjoyed the relationship between Rika and Henry as they were able to truly be themselves and were with a person who accepted them for who they are from the beginning.

A good choice for readers of diverse romances. 3.5/5

Rika struggles to find her place in this fantastic teen drama. She has never felt like she belonged.

Its wonderful to watch her not only.doscover herself but also get to uncover some mystery.

She and Henry also have their own issues that arise from them being different races.

I like that we are able to have a fairytale-esque romance while still getting a family drama. This is sure to please many!

Thank you Penguin group for the review copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

From Little Tokyo, with Love by Sarah Kuhn had all of the ingredients necessary to make for the perfect read; however, the execution of those ingredients led to a story that simply was not for me, at this moment in time. The main character, Rika, never captured my attention, despite being an orphan who begins to experience a whirlwind Cinderella-type fairy tale, after discovering that her mom may be alive, living her life as a famous actress. From Little Tokyo, with Love contains all the tropes of a traditional fairy tale, with some slight alterations. To be completely honest, however, the characters and the dialogue were simply not enough for me to enjoy this retelling, despite Rika’s family (aunties, cousins, etc.) and her friends, new and old. I also did not appreciate that the resolution of the story, with Rika meeting her mom, did not happen until 97% of the story had already been completed. I also felt that the romance sometimes sidetracked the overall focus and plot of the story. On the other hand, I did appreciate the focus on what it can be like to be biracial in a Japanese-American family, and also, how anger and rage were highlighted within the text through its healing conclusion. All in all, From Little Tokyo, with Love, is a good contemporary princess rags-to-riches fairy tale, but it still was not the story that I wanted it to be or that I expected. I do believe that a lot of young-adult readers would appreciate Rika’s story and also her romance with Henry (Hank), despite my own desire for more focus on Rika’s relationships with her family, particularly her mom.

From Little Tokyo, With Love was my first foray into Sarah Kuhn’s work, and it certainly won’t be my last! It’s a modern-day fairytale set against the backdrop of Los Angeles, with a large part happening within the boundaries of Little Tokyo. The main character is Rika, who has never really felt like she belonged with her family or among her neighbors; she often likens herself to the monsters and not the princesses in a fairytale. But when Hollywood actress Grace Kimura indicates that she knows Rika and just might be the mother she never knew before disappearing without a trace, Rika is determined to track her down to get the truth with the aid of one of Grace’s recent costars.

Truthfully, I expected From Little Tokyo, With Love to be a lighthearted fluff read. But I wound up getting much more than I’d bargained for as it was a surprisingly emotional read! While it does have lighter moments that made me laugh and swoon, it also tugs on the heartstrings. Readers eventually realize that what Rika is searching for throughout the story is a place to belong, for someone to belong with, and that’s the kind of journey that I feel like any reader could relate to. Throw in a dash of movie magic (what I call those moments in films where everything aligns so that the plot moves forward), a hint of romance and an ending that feels like what “happily ever after” could look like in real life, and you’ve got this book. I absolutely loved reading this one, and look forward to checking out more stories from this author!

This fun rom-com in a picturesque setting will be gobbled up by the teens I know. Of course, it isn't without drama as Rika and Henry struggle with the complications that being of mixed race brings to them individually and as a couple.

Unfortunately From Little Tokyo With Love did not really resonate with me liked I had hoped. While I enjoyed some of it, a lot of it felt like so many other YA books out there lately. Same story different scenery. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Rika is a half Japanese half American teen growing up in Little Tokyo, a Japanese division in LA. Her mom passed away in child birth and her 2 Aunties, one by blood one by marriage are raising her with her 2 cousins. Rika’s always felt like she’s an outsider not enough Japanese but can’t pass for Caucasian either. She definitely never feels like she’s enough for her aunties or her community. Because of this Rika has an anger (kaiju-temper) inside of her that she can’t keep down and to protect herself from all the people that look down on her she channels the nure-onna inside of herself. A fierce mythological monster who can defeat all of her enemies. ⁣⁣
Rika is assigned at the last minute to drive her cousin Belle, this years Nikkei Week Queen, in the big parade to celebrate. Grace Nakamura, a famous Japanese RomCom star is the main attraction. And when Rika and Grace literally run into each other, she notices something familiar about her and knows there is something weird about her. Especially noticing the fear on Grace’s face when coming in to contact with Rika. It seemed to be the cause of her to taking off and running away from the parade. And then vanishing, completely off the grid.⁣⁣
Rika has to find out what the heck is going on and why she looks so much like the girl in the pictures with Auntie Suzy from long ago.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐬:⁣⁣
-I loved learning more about Japanese culture, including the food, the language, and the community within LA itself⁣⁣
-It was nice to see a diverse teen dealing with anger issues⁣⁣
-The LGBTQ representation with Rika’s Aunties was a especially interesting within a “traditional” Japanese family. ⁣⁣
-The Last 1/4 or so picked up for me⁣⁣
⁣⁣
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬:⁣⁣
-It was lacking in romance. I really didn’t see a whole lot of chemistry between Rika and Henry⁣⁣
-So darn slow. This should have had like 1/3 or more chopped off.⁣⁣
-It was anticlimactic. I can’t really go into detail without spoilers. ⁣⁣
-The book was supposed to be about Rika finding out if Grace was her mom but somewhere along the way detoured to the difficulties of the acting world for Bi-Racial Asian actors.⁣⁣
-I just didn’t feel much of a connection to any of the characters.⁣⁣
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For me this was a bit too wholesome of a YA read. I think that was a lot of my problem while reading From Little Tokyo With Love. So I encourage those of you who like a syrupy sweet story to give this a try. Don’t let my jaded thoughts stop you! ⁣⁣
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𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

Starting off by saying thanks to Penguin Teen for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Writing this review makes me feel like a grinch, because several of my friends really enjoyed this book and it just didn't work for me! There were plenty of individual elements that I liked, but I didn't think they fit into a cohesive narrative. Rika's temper and her complicated feelings about being biracial are important for YA readers to see. She also had great relationships with her friends and cousins, and I loved the sapphic representation and love story of her aunts. Also, I really want to visit Little Tokyo now, since I live in LA!

Although I thought Rika and Henry were really cute together and brought out the best in each other, I'm not sure why they had to profess their love by the end of the book when they'd only known each other a week. I guess it fit the fairytale theme? Anyway, this really paled in comparison to my biggest problem here, which was that Rika's aunts' reason for telling her that her mother was dead for 17 years did not hold up to scrutiny. Pretending someone is an orphan when they're not is such a huge betrayal of trust, and it was hard for me to get past this fact and enjoy the happy ending. Again, this book had a lot of good qualities, so if you take these kinds of things less seriously than I do, you'll probably like it!

From Little Tokyo, with Love has a wonderful premise and begins with a lot of excitement. I loved how the author explored identity and belongingness from a mixed-race lens. I also appreciated how it tried to shed light on anger issues and anxiety. Lastly, its descriptions of Little Tokyo and the rest of LA were a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, the book kind of lost steam for me halfway through. Perhaps it's the protagonist's constant mention of legendary temper. I understand that it's a big part of her character, but it popping every time kind of made the story drag a bit for me.

Overall, I found this to be an okay read.

I really love Japan and would love to visit it one day. The book had a magical touch to it and almost made me feel as if I was really there. Will be looking forward to the author's next book.

this contemporary story had me completely invested! i'm not usually a modern day romance reader, but this was one of the few exceptions! once again, Asian voices take the lead and when this happens, i'll always run to get my hands on such a book. the romance was so sweet, kept me on the edges for the right amount of time, and the ending got me in my feels.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I ended up DNFing this book. I can’t say I found anything wrong with it, it just wasn’t for me right now! Would recommend to someone who’s looking for POC and LGBTQ+ representation in young adult romance!

The anger rep in the book was well done, but I found myself annoyed with the main character. The almost constant description of her answer being like a Kaiju drove me insane.

Huge thanks to Penguin Teen for this ARC!

I’ve heard such great things about Sarah Kuhn’s other book, I LOVE YOU SO MOCHI, so I was super excited to dive into this book.

I ended up reading the E-ARC on a plane ride from Boston to San Francisco , and I could not. put. it. down. I literally just sat in my seat for 4 hours straight and did not stop reading. It was such a cute story, and my favorite aspect was the fact that the emphasis wasn’t on the romance, but on the character development and journey of the main character, Rika. As someone who is also half white and half Asian, it was so easy to relate to the racial struggles that Rika goes through, and it was beautiful to see how she grew to embrace both parts of her identity. There were so many points throughout the story where I found myself tearing up, thinking, “oh my god, that’s exactly how I feel!”

Rika was such an amazing main character, and although she occasionally came off as “I’m not like other girls”, it was refreshing to see a protagonist with a strong temper. She and Henry also had an adorable love story as well as a meet-cute that had me smiling under my mask. Henry was also very enjoyable to read about, especially since Kuhn really to the time to really develop his character. At first, he seemed to embody the Hollywood prince charming stereotype, but he turned out to be so lovable and real.

I loved this book so much, especially since it got me out of my month-long reading slump. It was definitely cheesy at times, like when it came to how quickly Rika and Henry’s relationship progressed, but it was a good type of cheese, like brie. Beautiful characters, beautiful plot, and you should definitely pick it up when it hits shelves this week!

A huge thank you to the publisher for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I first heard about this book, I was super excited to get my hands on it. I had already seen so many great reviews around so that made me have pretty high hopes. I ended up being a little disappointed though. I managed to make it to the end of the book and wanted to love it so bad but (unfortunately) I wasn't able to connect with it the way I wanted to, and it just didn't live up to my expectations.

The first half of the story dragged and the second half had a mix and mash of random events happening that seemed kinda pointless? (to me at least). The overall message is great but something just fell flat somewhere.

I loved that the MCs were BIPOC and I enjoyed the chemistry between them. Loved the side characters more though. They were quite interesting and made the whole experience better. There was so much more I wanted to know but the story was just so heavily focused on the romance and the other important parts of the MCs' lives kinda took a backseat.

I would definitely recommend this book though since I'm just in the minority and a lot of people did connect with the story and enjoy it. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't for me.