I really enjoyed this, even though Tim travel/back in time aren’t always my go to read (please note Diana Gabaldon isn’t the first author nor will she be the last to write about characters travelling in time for those comparisons!) I was drawn in largely because I love Japanese history andi thought it sounded so interesting, I wasn’t disappointed. It’s really interesting and shows the authors Kuroki's in their field and how samurai philosophy doesn’t gel well with western sensibilities

Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now, a proper review will follow
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Outlander goes to Japan! Same sort of idea with a modern woman passing through a portal into the past. Love, war, cold winters, strange people and food... so very similar.

Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki is a refreshing time-slip that follows
Scottish student Isla who travels to Japan to get over a breakup. However, a voracious typhoon sends her back through time to the tumultuous end of the Samurai era, just prior to the Meiji restoration (I was thrilled to see this premise as there are so few contemporary novels about this era)

I really enjoyed this book in that it was well thought out and researched, especialy in respect of how Isla had to quickly adapt to the sensibilities of the era. I have to admit, that for me, this meant the romance took a back seat, but that is not to say it wasn't a strong storyline, it was my own personal prefernce of focus

Very well written and researched, a good read


Thank you to NetGalley, Oneworld Publications | Magpie Books and the author Poppy Kuroki for this ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

This is fantasy. Our female main character travels to Japan to try and find out more about her family's ancestry. And then finds herself transported back in time to 1877. She's struggling to find a way back, trying not to fall for this guy and is very aware that a battle is looming and all these people are going to die in a few months.

This is extremely like Outlander and I think it might be more enjoyable if you're not familiar with those books/TV show as it's difficult not to compare. It's very stripped back and tries to cover the same scope (running up through this devastating battle) in 300 pages vs almost 2000. Which doesn't give it enough time to develop these relationships and make you believe she might choose to giver up her modern day life and stay in the past.

The honor system of the samurai (win, die in battle or kill themselves) also really does not lend itself to any kind of romance you want to invest in!

3 stars, it was maybe a bit too ambitious for the page count.

Isla experiences a classic timeslip from 2005 to late 19th century Kagoshima, encountering Samurai warrior Keiichiro. Amid survival and suspicions of espionage, she finds herself drawn to Keiichiro

I loved reading this, i was completed absorbed into the plot and the love story although this book does have some fairly grusome scenes so be warned!

I enjoyed this book up to a point, it features Isla a modern Scottish student who is descended from Japanese forebears. The first few chapters detail her background and set the premise for the story.
Taking a run through the streets she finds herself at a temple which she discovered during that day. It is pouring rain and she seeks shelter in this old building. Suddenly she finds herself in a very different environment to the streetscape she left. Thus begins her journey. The story focuses on the last great battle between the samurai and the new Japanese army. It is by turns scary, so sad and heart-warming. Isla finds love here in the past but she knows the outcome of this fated battle, what can she do? Save the life of her lover or risk changing history? A great read with a well deserved 4 stars. My only niggle is , like other reviewers, the changing around of Japanese names was irritating. Use traditional nomenclature or modern- not both. Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for a advance copy of Gate to Kagoshima.

An interesting premise: Isla is sent back in time to 19th century Japan, and must learn to adapt to this new life having no obvious means to returning back to her time period. I struggled a little with the book flip-flopping POVs as sometimes that felt a bit like a jarring change for little reason. But overall an interesting read which utilises Kuroki's knowledge of history during the Satsuma Rebellion and the harshness of samurai philosophy.

Thank you Netgalley & OneWorld for the e-ARC.

4.5 stars
Gate to Kagoshima had me in absolute tears and it is one I find myself thinking about often. If you've followed my reviews for a while time-slip novels are something I throughly enjoy. There is just something about a character being thrown into a different world/time and having to adapt to their new surroundings all the while learning how to act and behave. Poppy Kuroki does a fantastic job of this and I loved watching Isla come to terms and attempt to fit in despite her looks and Scottish heritage.

Isla was an amazing main character who I instantly wanted to protect at all costs. Her whole life is changed when she is transported and there is only so much she can do. Does she change the past and disrupt the future or does she watch the people she's grown to care for and love meet their untimely demise? I can't imagine what I would do in this situation,  especially when her feelings for Keiichiro develop.

Honestly this was such a gripping and emotional read that I found myself devouring. I cannot wait to read whatever Poppy writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had really high hopes for this one as I love outlander/time slip novels and historical romance. I was also intrigued by the setting and premise but sadly it didn’t work for me and I DNFd at the 50% mark. Let’s start with what I liked enough to read that far:
-The book got better once Isla time travels, with the setting descriptions! I enjoyed the cultural descriptions and learning about Japan/Samurai culture
-Like the switching POVs between Isla and Keiichiro but occasionally switches mid chapter which caused some whiplash. I did prefer Keiichiro’s chapters to Isla’s.

Now what made me decide to DNF:
-Some of the writing is a bit meh with telling over showing
-I hated the pop culture references of MySpace and the type of cell phone Isla had. I don’t enjoy this in books and it gives me secondhand embarrassment but that’s a personal thing and maybe only bugs me
-The dialogue also felt stilted and cheesy at times
-Could be confusing the way the names were written. In Japan the surname comes first and the author did that most of the time but sometimes she’d switch to the English way and it made no sense!! It ended up being confusing, just stick to one way or the other and be consistent.
-Another inconsistency was a scene with Isla and Nene. They had met a couple chapters before so then why did they later act as if they were meeting for the first time? This book could’ve used a heavy round of edits because it was all over the place in some areas. Being rushed in some places (like a battle scene) but then dragged out painfully in others so the pacing wasn’t great.

It fell flat in a lot of areas and wasn’t entertaining enough to continue, after the first half I still just didn’t care about the characters or story. Others may enjoy this more than me and I’d be willing to try to read the author again in the future.

Thank you to Oneworld Publications, Magpie Books, and Poppy Kuroki for granting me the opportunity to receive a digital arc of Gate to Kagoshima. I was so excited to read this book – it combined my love of romance novels, family ancestry, history, and Japanese culture all in one story.

An epic historical romance full of emotive and rich descriptions brings to life Japanese culture, ancient honoured traditions, and the beauty of the landscape. Poppy Kuroki writes across the spectrum from gory, graphic depictions of battle to sweet, intimate romantic moments. The writing engrosses you, transporting you into 19th-century Japan and the cultural conflict upheaval of the time when the present and the past are at war against one another. All the characters of this book are richly defined; you can feel the dedication and a sense of honour to the core of all the Samurai characters as they battle to survive in the conflict for Japan’s soul as modern and ancient ways clash.

The characters leaped off the page for me, especially Isla. I felt like I stepped in her shoes, breathing in step with her throughout the story. Her journey felt familiar as it is one I’ve taken – not the time travel part – but the longing to solve mysteries about your family history and learn your family’s story. Her journey of self-discovery in knowing her family’s history was incredibly realistic – while Isla got to meet her ancestors and discovered mine on paper – you find a part of yourself in the history - a part you never knew was missing.

Gate To Kagoshima reads like two of my favourite historical authors let their books have a baby, born with the gritty realism, battle, and blood from the Outlander series and the timeslip/time travel historical heart-warming, sweet romance elements from Christina Courtenay. A lot of big emotions evolved around this story. My heart was in my mouth at times, and tears were running down my cheeks at others. I can’t wait to read more about this author in the future.

Isla has been transported back in time to Japan in 1877 which no idea how or why. Life is completely different to how she lives and she wants to get home but has no idea how to do that. This was an interesting read for me, waiting to find the answers to her why questions

I was really looking forward to this book. It was very descriptive and a storyline that had me turning the pages. An enjoyable read.

Running away from a painful break full, Isla ends up in Japan seeking her great-great-great-grandfather. As he was involved in the Satsuma Rebellion, she heads down to the very south of the island of Kyushu and wanders around Kagoshima, taking in the museums and seeing if she can find any trace of him. Then, during rain, she takes shelter in an old rickety shrine and stumbles through a mysterious torii gate into said Satsuma Rebellion. After falling into a pit, she’s rescued by Maeda Keiichiro. The pair of them very gradually fall for each other over the course of the utterly doomed rebellion.

Part 1 of the novel is about Isla’s arrival into 1877 Kagoshima and the hard life that they eked out. The staple food being sweet potatoes rather than rice was a nice touch to emphasise that Japan isn’t a homogenous country as were the uses of some Satsuma dialect (which looks to an outsider like a completely different language from “Tokyo/Edo” Japanese). After being provoked, Part 2 of the novel is about the Rebellion itself and the fact that it’s an unmitigated disaster. The troops never make it further than half way up Kyushu, let alone onto the main island of Honshu. The samurai are also destroyed by their own hubris: guns don’t care about samurai spirit, they’ll kill anyone they can spew a bullet into. Part 3 concludes the rebellion and life back in 2005 Japan.

Having recently read a couple of works on the Japanese and WW2, this novel again brought out the harshness of Tokugawan samurai philosophy: make a mistake and you must die to make atonement (and thus preserve your family) - there’s no possibility of forgiveness or second chances. It doesn’t permit you to convert to another worldview as that would be shameful. The tragedy of the Satsuma Rebellion is that so, so, so many died when they didn’t need to. Kuroki brings out that there’s no glory here for anyone in these battles and that death is not glorious. Outclassed, outgunned, outnumbered and starving, the samurai couldn’t win yet still chose to carry on because they were so utterly trapped in their system. Surrender or suing for peace just weren’t options available to them in their worldview (despite being the most sensible options from a contemporary western perspective). One of the tragedies of WW2 is that this philosophy was imposed on the entire Japanese military so thousands of Japanese soldiers died utterly pointlessly.

One small thing I found confusing: character names vary depending on who’s narrating. Sometimes its Saigo Takamori and other times its Takamori Saigo. For future books in the series, I’d pick one way round and stick to it. If Isla’s done 2 years of a Japanese BA, she’ll already know about Japanese names being surname first name.

Recommended and we need more Japanese historical fiction! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I had really high hopes for this, and whilst I did enjoy the premise and the characters, it fell a bit short for me. The blurb really drew me in. I love romance and I love Japan. And this just didn't quite reach my expectation. Parts felt rushed, parts felt dragged out and the ending frustrated me.

3.5 stars. This was an interesting read and I liked experiencing a new culture through the eyes of our main character.

This is a classic timeslip - Isla goes from 2005 to the late 19th Century Kagoshima, in the days before the last days of the Samurai. There she meets Keiichiro - a Samurai warrior. Initially, Isla is preoccupied with surviving (when the people in the village think she's a spy) and finding her ancestor, but she's soon distracted by her growing feelings for Keiichiro.

Despite the billing as 'fun and romantic' this book has some fairly graphic and gory battle scenes. This is not a criticism - war is horrible and should be depicted as such - but if you're looking for a low angst fun romance, just be warned that there are dark scenes.

I enjoyed this book a lot and I learned a lot about life in rural Japan as well as the Satsuma Revolution and the last days of the Samurai. The setting was vividly described and I could feel the cold and hunger of the characters. I genuinely felt transported to 19th Century Japan. When I finished reading the book, it felt like I'd been on holiday.
Highly recommended.

I received an ARC from Netgalley. Thank you.