"Gate to Kagoshima" by Poppy Kuroki is an enthralling blend of historical fiction, romance, and time travel. Isla Mackenzie, a Scottish woman researching her ancestry in Japan, is transported back to the dawn of the Satsuma Rebellion by a typhoon. In this fascinating era, she meets her samurai ancestors and a captivating warrior, Kei, sparking a romance that defies time. As she grapples with the knowledge of history’s course and her love for Kei, Isla faces an impossible choice: change the past or return to her life. Rich in historical detail and emotional depth, this novel is a compelling journey of love and duty.

I really enjoyed this book. It was nicely written and I enjoyed the characters and their interactions with one another. The setting was also great.

I really enjoy historical fiction, and Gate to Kagoshima made me want to learn more about the Satsuma Rebellion and the history of the samurai in Japan. However, Isla came off as very immature and also quite flat - her romance with Kei never felt fleshed out or real, and the sexual content didn't pair well with the YA story or dialogue. The historical information was also included as info-dumps, which created a choppy narrative that was difficult to get through at times.
Overall, I found the premise of this book really interesting and I learned a lot about the samurai rebellion and the historical figures whose legacies still live on in Japan.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the eARC!

This was such a fresh concept and a beautiful integration of 2 cultures that are so so different. I devoured every page and flew through it(even with my final exams, so it has to be good 😊). Just a really fun time from start to finish. One issue that I did have is that the writing style felt a bit disjointed and simplistic for the story hence the 2 stars I cut off.

I enjoyed the story. Isla going to Japan to find information about her great-great grandfather for her recently departed grandfather was honorable.. Boy, did she more than she bargained for. I received an advanced copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki is a third person multi-POV speculative historical in the vein of Outlander. Isla is a Scottish woman whose grandfather was Japanese and her ancestors were samurai. When she goes to Japan to learn more about her grandfather’s culture and language and to get confirmation of her family’s history as samurai, she accidentally goes back in time to several months before the Satsuma Rebellion. She meets Keiichirō, a young samurai-in-training who serves under the famous Saigō Takamori.

What I really liked was how the lead-up to the Satsuma Rebellion focuses on the daily life of the lower class, such as the farmers and merchants. Isla works with the women, doing laundry and training to defend herself and her temporary home. Through Keiichirō taking her in, we see some of the family dynamics that did exist in that time, such as Keiichirō taking care of his sister and her daughter after the death of their father. We do get some time with Saigō Takamori, but not a lot and I’m fine with that as there is a lot of material on him out there and the scope of the book wasn’t so much on the courts or how the samurai class operated.

There is Japanese written in romaji throughout the book that might not be to some readers’ tastes. I’m used to it from being in anime fandoms in the 2000s and sometimes short Japanese phrases appear in older translations of Japanese classics, so, for me it doesn’t detract from the text but could pull a different reader out of their immersion.

The romance is more of a slowburn that starts as a friendship and ends in a passionate romance. Keiichirō does initially put some distance between him and Isla despite his attraction to her while Isla has a bit of a harder time staying away. Isla is also getting over a fairly recent break-up with someone she was considering marrying, which adds a bit of internal conflict that pops up when she realizes she is attracted to Keiichirō.

Content warning for mentions of sexual assault

I would recommend this to fans of Outlander who want something similar but taking place in Japan, readers looking for a historical with a light sci-fi element, and those looking for an interracial romance set in the age of the samurai

Thank you to HarperCollins and Netgalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

Gate to Kagoshima, while not an entirely original plot idea, was a really interesting story. It will appeal to lovers of historical fiction especially, I think, to learn about the Satsuma rebellion from a different angle. Kuroki has done some excellent research and presented it with likeable characters and clear prose.

I'm not entirely sure who the intended audience is; from the heavy-handed exposition to the very simplistic prose (such as repeatedly explaining the surname/given name order in Japanese), it really felt like an early YA. Then of course, the later material and explicit sex scene veered towards adult. It felt quite jarring to me - although I felt the same way about Fourth Wing, and we've all seen how that worked out, so I'm likely in a minority.

I did really take issue with the Kana reveal scene. The fact that Keiichiro immediately believed his rival rather than his sister is perhaps culturally appropriate in 1800s Japan, but still struck me as inconsistent with his character. What I cannot explain away is how he then left this highly traumatic conversation to immediately have sex with Isla. I felt like I had set this book down and picked up another one. I did not at all feel the way the author intended me to feel during that romantic scene. I just felt... confused. And kind of icky.

The ending, as well, felt random, with Keisuke's dreams making him and Isla spiritually connected or something. It didn't have enough build up or explanation to really make sense contextually. I would have just preferred the tragic ending, and I usually hate those. 🙃

I still want to give the book two stars though, for the solid historical research and the vivid depiction of the rebellion. Perhaps it's just the romance that fell flat for me; everything else that I can think of was enjoyable, especially if I think of it as a YA. I would have eaten that up as a teenager. I hope the book finds its audience and does well!

Like many people who study history for a living, I harbor a secret desire to see the past in real time. Of course, knowing that said past was far less romantic and appealing than the legends about it, I like a good time-travel story even better—especially if it visits places a little off the beaten path in terms of fictional stopping points.

By these criteria, Poppy Kuroki’s “Gate to Kagoshima” is the perfect read. The heroine, who bears a British passport and the very Celtic name of Isla Mackenzie, has traveled to Tokyo in part to escape an unfortunate romance and in part to track down information about her Japanese third-great-grandfather, whom family tradition portrays as one of the last samurai. On a trip to the former Satsuma province, where her ancestor reportedly lived, Isla gets caught in an ancient temple that transports her from 2005 to the 1870s. Despite her sketchy Japanese, which includes none of the local dialect, Isla manages to convince the people of Kagoshima that she is human, not a demon. Still, her red hair and her strange name mark her as an obvious foreigner, and that’s not much better in the eyes of a society in the midst of simultaneously adopting and resisting Western incursion.

Although Isla’s tendency to tumble into love with one man after another made me wonder how much she had really learned from her breakup, the rest of the story kept me enthralled. The rich detail, the emotional development, the drama of the samurais’ last stand, the fast pace, and the unfamiliar setting combine to make this a novel well worth reading.

I will be interviewing this author on my blog (link below) around the time of the book’s release in late January 2025.

This book was magnificent. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this arc for an honest review!
I absolutely adore any sort of Japanese literature, and A Gate to Kagoshima transported me back to the era where Samurai existed and roamed free.
The romance in this story was mild and well written. It did not feel overdone and i was able to concentrate on the overall plot without feeling overwhelmed by the romance.
The storytelling and descriptions were really vivid. I felt as though I was part of every battle and skirmish. The emotions were real and very raw.
At the end if this book, I cried for the plight if the samurai.
In all honesty, any book that makes me cry for fictional characters is a really good one in my eyes. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to step out if the usual fluffy romances and step into something unusual and unexpectedly good!

Poppy Kuroki does a great job in writing this historical fiction romance novel. It had that element that I was expecting and hoping for from the description. I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this and enjoyed the what if in this type of book. I enjoyed the time-travel element and how it was used in this world.

While in Japan researching her family’s history, a vicious typhoon sends Isla Mackenzie 128 years back in time, to the dawn of the Satsuma Rebellion. There she meets her ancestors, and a charismatic samurai, Kei, with whom she unexpectedly finds romance. Should she tell them what is going to happen or change fate ? Beautifully written, and a easy read.