This was a charming and heartfelt middle-grade novel that beautifully blends contemporary life with Japanese folklore. The story follows Melony, a relatable and spirited protagonist, as she makes a wish that has unforeseen consequences, leading her into an enchanting yet perilous adventure.

At its core, the novel is a tale about identity, family, and learning to appreciate the complexities of one’s heritage. Brown expertly weaves in elements of traditional Japanese mythology, giving the story a magical quality while still grounding it in the real-world struggles of growing up and navigating friendships. The fantasy elements are whimsical but carry deeper emotional stakes, as Melony must confront the consequences of her choices.

Brown’s writing is vibrant and accessible, making it perfect for young readers, while also offering deeper layers for older readers to appreciate. The humor is well-timed, balancing out the more serious themes of self-discovery and the desire to fit in.

Overall, “The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura” is a delightful, culturally rich story that will captivate readers with its blend of magic, humor, and heart. It’s a perfect read for anyone who loves tales of folklore and the timeless lessons they carry.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC and allowing me to provide my honest review

It took me a long time to actually finish The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura that I really didn't have any strong opinions on it other than I was finished reading it. However, I added it to our silent reading shelf last school year and a lot of my middle schoolers are pulling it to read. It seems to be very popular, especially the art work.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Overall a decent read with a unique premise, and a sweet reimagining, but once it picked up it felt somewhat rushed. The characters were a little flat so I just ultimately wished everything had been a little better fleshed out!

A retelling of the Japanese folktale “The Melon princess and the Amanjaku”! Uriko. “Melony” is a twelve year old girl who wants nothing more than to have some more freedom and adventure but suddenly she finds that the Amanjaku has appeared and it’s determined to be friends with Melony with its ability to shapeshift, grant wishes, and understand her desires for independence. Melony is going to find out there are sinister consequences to having everything she wants granted.

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I thought that the premise of this book was pretty interesting and the artwork is so beautiful. I thought that the storyline was very unique. It's a spooky one, but not scary enough to turn readers off.

The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura is a retelling of the Japanese Folktale "The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku." I have not read/heard of this folktale, but I really enjoyed this middle grade story.

Our main character is Melony, a 12 year old girl with helicopter parents who immigrated from Japan to the US. They have warned her for years of a demonic spirit called Amanjaku that corrupted an old friend of theirs. However, when Amanjaku appears in her life and begins to give her all the things she thought she wanted, she cannot resist his allure.

This is a middle grade book and I find that MG books almost always center a moral lesson - even more than I find in children's books. The lesson in this book was hammered in VERY hard which made it feel a bit cheesy and summoned a few eye rolls on my part, but also I'm not the intended audience by any means!!

I went back and forth from the audiobook to the digital version and I really loved the audiobook. The narrator did a great job bringing the story to life and holding my attention. I read this book in a day and found myself really eager to go back to it each time I set it down.

I definitely recommend for a middle grade audience or anyone looking for a playful but eerie story.

*Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This was a spooky yet wholesome story that would be great for lower middle grade readers - it provides scary moments while also having a good moral lesson AND includes diverse representation of Japanese folklore. It's a quick read and one that I think middle school readers of all genres can enjoy!

Thanks to the publishers at Quill Tree books for a chance to read “The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura”!

A retelling of the Japanese folktale, “the Melon Princess and Amanajaku,” this book follows 12 year old Melony Yoshimura as she finds out to be careful what she wishes for… the hard way. In many ways, it isn’t fair to compare it to Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline” because it’s a deeply Japanese-American story, one where our protagonist deals with being in translation between her American daily life and Japanese home life in addition to the Amanajaku being a distinct entity from Japanese folklore that doesn’t translate to other folktale traditions.

It’s a sweet tale that never overstays its welcome while also including body switching, demon magic, and more in a Japanese American household. “The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura” manages to strike the balance between creepiness and whimsy, make its very clear point that the grass is always greener while never talking down to its middle grade audience or feeling stale. It’s a book I wish I would have had when I was younger, and I’m so glad the middle grade horror nerds of today can add this book to a trove of great children’s horror novels.

Well structured and lovable characters! I really appreciated the characterization and prose and the pacing was very well done.

This was a great retelling of "The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku" with a modern day twist. Melony is a young twelve year old girl that seems to always be comparing herself to those around her and focusing on the things that she's lacking due to her overprotective parents. Soon she realizes that she should really be-careful of what she wishes for because not everything is what it seems. Overall the writing was amazing with a great lesson to be learned.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

The cover of this book is absolutely stunning. And I absolutely love that this book involves Japanese folklore.
This book is technically labeled as a "middle grade" book, but I feel like it tackled such .. mature and important topics that that was easily overlooked for me.

The MC Melony will be relatable for many. The author did a fabulous job at capturing her struggles and experiences at her age. Melony feels misunderstood by the people around her, especially her family.
The author's world building was great & descriptive.
The storyline was interesting and unique.
The book moved a little slower than I would have liked for the first half, but the remainder of the book was perfectly paced & easily kept my interest.

First off, thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book! In addition to its lovely cover, I picked it up because of its interesting premise and for incorporating the Japanese folklore “The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku”. And I must say, this book was such a pleasant one to read! Even though it is categorized as a middle-grade book, I loved how the book tackled deeper themes of culture and identity. Melony’s character, albeit sometimes annoying, is really relatable; and while oftentimes I feel like it’s difficult to write about characters who are much younger than your actual age — who don’t have as many experiences or perspectives of the world yet — the author did an incredible job in capturing what a child as old as Melony may think and feel about her status at school and relationship with her family. She finds herself out of place at school due to her background, and at the same time she also finds her relationship with her parents strained after she feels that they cannot understand her and vice versa.

The Amanjaku, who initially appeared to be an ally, turned out to not be an ally after all. The gradual buildup made for an exciting, and even rather creepy and horror-like story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. My only contention is that the pacing of the story at the beginning was on the slower side. As a book that’s 180-ish pages, spending more than a third of it on establishing the context made it a bit hard to get into at first, but I loved the rest of the book. It was such a whirlwind of an adventure and I found it hard to put down until the end.

Overall, a really great book that I would recommend to readers of any age! It’s funny, creepy, relatable, and heartwarming; all while giving readers the exposure to Japanese culture in a way that is palatable and relatable.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

This book was very moving and well-written and I loved the candid aspect of the overall story. I absolutely love Japanese folktale and mythology so I had a great time going on a journey with Melody. The story is whimsical, funny, and witty and I just adored all the elements that made it a great fairytale to enjoy during my free time.

This is my first contact with this author's work and I've become a fan. I grew up immersed in Japanese culture, sports (Kendo), and pop-culture, and anime, and I have a passion for their folklore and legends, but I'm not Japanese. I just always felt drawn to it. I can never refuse a good novel focused on these elements.

This is a very well-written story as a modern retelling (or inspired) by an old Japanese folktale “The Melon Princess and the Amanjaku" about an oni (demon) who grants wishes in a wicked way, leading people astray but also can be a shapeshifter taking their place.

Told in the first person, we follow Melony who is a first-generation American-Japanese 12-year-old child who is struggling to belong, caught between two different cultures. She is ashamed of her parents' heritage and overprotective rules. She even refuses to use her real name (Uriko) because she wants to fit in the "American" standards and be accepted by her peers instead of being bullied and made fun of. Although many kids (Japanese or not) who are bullies or made fun of their names (me included) will relate to her tribulations. This brought me close to Melony.
On top of this, her parents are overprotective and have too many rules constantly comparing American life/routines/what is acceptable or not to Japanese life. Melony's anger, frustration, and feeling suffocated by her parents leads her to make a birthday wish inviting an evil spirit without realizing it.

In school, there is a new girl and this gives Melony an opportunity for new friendships, with relatable interests and their background culture. Chloë is also from a Japanese family but being another generation this family is more integrated and Americanized.

The book has the perfect progression from self-centered Melony to the community. We start with her reactions to injustices until she hits the bottom. Bad things happen like lying, hiding, and stealing to achieve goals... Then the story becomes more and we even get insight into other characters' lives (situations) and understand better their action.

I like the end, I wasn't expecting the small twist that suddenly makes everything worse and tense and we're rooting for Melony in this "one last chance race" against time to make it all right again, not just for her but for the entire community.

Close to my heart because...There is something the author points out in her notes that is very important. We are not always the victim (the princess of the folktale) influenced by the "evil spirit" who makes us do our worst, we are also that "one" who shapeshifts to fit, to please, and be accepted. I relate to Melony a lot when I change myself to belong to my new culture, but I also relate a lot to her parents constantly making comparisons In my country we didn't (...) in my country we used to..." When in Rome be Romans right? And sometimes that tires and overwhelmed.
I think the author showed that very well with Melony's actions and redemption.

Themes such as Asian family culture in conflict with American culture, helicopter parents, anger, frustration, sense of being wronged, outgrowing selfishness, recognizing good from bad, regret, learning to see that we're part of different community cores (such as family, friendship, school, neighborhood...), facing fears, accepting responsibility, making new friends with relatable interests, respecting friendships, giving others a chance, being honest with others, express feelings but learning to be reasonable by communicating well.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC NetGalley and Publisher. My opinions are my own and are honest.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books. All opinions are my own, and I'm voluntarily leaving this review.

Genre: Middle Grade Magical Realism, Contemporary Fiction, Fairy Tale Retelling, Japanese Mythology, Dark Fantasy
Scare Factor: Low—it's perfect for kids 8-12

I adore reading middle grade books to see what they're up to. In THE VERY UNFORTUNATE WISH OF MELONY YOSHIMURA, I was blown away with how much this short novel did with a deft hand.

The author delves into a Japanese myth that she always loved (or maybe was haunted by) and brings it to life with modern twists. It covers themes like beware of strangers, but also greater depth with the importance of family, friendship, honesty, and being who you are. It's so beautiful! And these themes are pretty subtle so kids won't get put off by them.

Melony is a typical American 12 year-old: she wants independence while still needing her parents, she desperately wants to fit in. This is so relatable! But her parents are immigrants from Japan and have a different cultural climate in their home and what they expect out of Melony. You can just feel the friction and tension from this situation.

When the Amanjaku, a Japanese demon, arrives, I felt so worried for Melony and her family! Having the reader recognize the danger is great for middle graders. And the Amanjaku is charming, even fun and funny—at first. Oh the trouble it brings!

I will not spoil it, but I will tell you I was thrilled to see how this novel played out. Especially how Melony worked so hard to try and solve her problems—and they weren't easy ones.

I highly recommend this book! It's wonderful!

Happy reading!

Twisted, exciting, dark story to lose yourself in this year.
Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

I absolutely adored Waka T. Brown's novel. I fell in love with the characters and the story line. I'm usually a quick reader, but I took my time with "The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura" simply because I wanted to absorb all of it.

There was so much that was happening and going on, from the complexities of the adults around her, to her fellow classmates and herself. What a marvelous book.

Wonderful! Brisk, vivid, funny, and truly scary without being gory. I loved all of the characters and the entire premise.

What a powerful story incorporating a Japanese folktale. It leaves much food for thought— how our actions affect others, cherish others’ care, be careful what you wish for.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review “The Very Unfortunate Wish of Melony Yoshimura” prior to publication.I did enjoy the book, however, feltthe reading style often was difficult to collow. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.