Superficial and boring. Disingenuous sex of all kinds. Also, drug induced hallucinations and kidnapping. Some of the downfall may be due to a poor translation, but the underlying premise of the story is trite. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Despair is a toxic human emotion that appears to be increasingly prevalent in our modern culture. Understandably it can be found amid those who are struggling, barely able to survive. Remarkably it is also pervasive among those who have so much, but always want more.

Brazilian Giovana Madalosso’s English language debut novel, “The Tokyo Suite” is a portrait of society in various states of despair and disrepair. As dramatic and disquieting as “The Tokyo Suite” can be, it is often loving, beautiful, and even hopeful. Urban frenzy and squalor, rural isolation and beauty are all brought to life through beautiful language, image, and tone. The characters are drawn with care and insight.

Madalosso’s screenwriting skills are easy to note. Tension and pacing, dialog and emotions are clearly rendered.

A special shoutout to Bruna Dantas Lobato for a lovely translation.

Thank you to (the wonderful) Europa Editions and NetGalley for the eARC.

Slow start, but nice read. The characters were interesting and had rich backstories. Overall, I enjoyed the plot and would recommend.

I love when I pick up a book on a whim, barely remembering the synopsis, and end up completely hooked, unable to stop reading. That’s exactly what happened with The Tokyo Suite. Just a few pages in, I was already recommending it to my friends.

For me, the most precious part of a book is when you can sympathize with every character, no matter what. Except for Cora, who’s a child, all the characters in The Tokyo Suite make mistakes. You know that much of what they do is undeniably wrong, but it’s still wonderful. You still empathize with them, put yourself in their shoes, and find yourself obsessing over what they’re going to do next—especially during the parts narrated by Maju.

I absolutely loved Giovana’s writing. It flows so naturally, everything fits perfectly, and now I’ve added all her other books to my reading list. Genius. Brilliant. Our literature is incredible; it feels like home. The Tokyo Suite is top-tier entertainment, from start to finish. There’s no way I could give it anything less than 5 stars.

interesting deeply interesting literary work filled with emotion and a deep analysis of the characters' lives. tysm for the arc

I chose to read this book based on its cover and the fact that it is written by a Brazilian author. I'm so glad I did! It is a very unique story written from alternating viewpoints about the lengths we will go to when grieving a life we wanted, dealing with pressures of an unhappy life, and finding oneself along the way. All characters were grey, and although their choices were very bad at some points, the characters were so well written that the motivations were understandable. I don't usually read books like this and I was very happy that I branched out!

This was a very entertaining read! It was about a kidnapping and also about family dynamics. It was very quick paced and it kept me hooked from the first sentence which I love when books are able to do that. It keep me interested and I liked the writing style of this author, I would read more of their books!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

“I’m kidnapping a child”. . . . is the first sentence we read in
“Tokyo Suite”. We continue to take a wild ride to the end (208 pages).
I admit to losing sleep last night. I couldn’t put it down.

Giovanna Madalosso is a Brazilian writer and screenwriter. This is her “English-language” debut.
It was translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato.

“The Tokyo Suite” renders complex, difficult situations and emotions with skillful brushstrokes. . . giving us a story about the unpredictable ways in which the characters transcend what happens in their lives.

Until the kidnapping…
Maju was just another ‘white-army-nanny’—
—a moniker term made up by Mrs. Fernanda, whom Maju worked for. . . caring for Cora-(the only child of Mr. Caca and Mrs. Fernanda)

On any given morning in the piazza… one could see the white nanny uniforms, babies, and children and tow, chatting as they pushed the babies and children on strollers and swings.
Maju was part of this ‘nanny’ world for three years ….
….until she wasn’t any longer.

Mrs. Fernanda, (feeling a little guilty about leaving her daughter and asking Maju to move in full time), had recently fixed up Maju’s bedroom with extra comfort amenities—a T.V., a mini refrigerator. It looked like a lovely Japanese hotel. So she named the room, ‘Tokyo Suite’.
Mrs. Fernanda had just received an offer from the TV channel where she worked to leave her role as content director and become the executive producer…the highest-ranking position in the company in Brazil.
She increased Maju’s salary.

Not only was Mrs. Fernanda seldom around much for her child Cora …. (a husband she pretty put out to pasture too)…
but Mrs. Fernanda was distracted with a woman named Yara — having a “hoka-hoka” steamy affair.

*hoka-hoka* is a phrased used in many different ways.
….In Japanese, it means warm.
….In Hawaii, it means to thwart or disappoint.
….As a Native American phrase it means, “Let’s go men”.
…Hoka— itself means “to fly”.
…. The definition I found to be most fitting to ‘this’ story …
Between Mrs. Fernanda and Yara is:
— “female bonobo apes rubbing their genitals against one another. Someone in North Africa decided on this name, which is kind of funny, kind of musical”.

Soooo….
For me … from here on … it’s tricky of what to say - and what not to say — as far as content …
I don’t want to leave spoilers … but I also don’t want to say this was a comfortable subject to read about … a few scenes ‘are’ yucky. (well-written: but sickening/yucky).
….There is the kidnapping journey (my own thoughts were somersaulting the ‘why’ of it all)…..
….There is a brutal experience of rape ….
….There was a malaria endemic area
….drugs: ayahuasca (a tropical vine native to the Amazon region, noted for its hallucinogenic properties)….
….There is neglect …
….There are emotional detachments … as well as humiliating seduction….
….There is a marriage and Motherhood …
….There are the feelings of unworthiness and insecurities from ‘all’ of the characters …
….There is cruelty of a child …
….There are yearnings and desires ….
….There is powerful passion-a new possibility for oneself.
….There is the depth and beautiful setting of São Paulo …. and Mandaguacu….
….Southern Brazil and the many beautiful beaches.

I believe there was loneliness… day dreaming … and trying to survive a little bit longer …

At this point … I’ll leave a few ‘varied’ excerpts …..

Little Cora says:
“Maju, how are my eyes so small if I see the world so big?”

Mrs. Fernanda:
“My phone rings again. I glanced at it. It’s my husband. I put it on silent. I go back to rubbing my genitals against Yata’s, while outside hundreds of other primates are driving, with their hairy tails on the driver’s seat and opposable thumbs on the horn, causing an uproar in the jungle around us. When we lie back again, I have seven missed calls on my phone”.

“Even if we don’t know everything, we always know everything”.

“I discovered something: we can save tears the way we save coins. I saved a whole two weeks’ worth of tears, and opened the safe on my Sundays off. The key was the Elton John album. I lied down in the living room with the curtains drawn, put on ‘Blue Eyes’, and sobbed so loud I woke the neighbors”.

“Chickadee starts to pout, and I start to lose my patience too, because things have changed. I don’t carry Mrs. Fernanda’s bottomless money bags in my pockets anymore. It’s hard, but I need to explain this to Cora. I squat down and look at my girl with warmth. When Maju gets money, she’ll give you this whole store. But today Maju doesn’t have any, I say, and I show her my wallet, empty because I keep all my money in my bra.”

“Having a child was a strong punch that sent each of us to the corner of the ring, stars spinning around our heads. Not knowing who we were anymore, we slipped into extremes. We either lost our sexual identity or our desire came back stronger. We either dove into work or didn’t know what to do with our lives, leaving our careers to try new things or falling into existential crises that could last for years. We were so insecure in our role as mothers that we needed to put down our peers”.
“Undermining other mothers helps lessen the constant feeling that we’re doing a terrible job”.

With much insight and honesty — genuinely affecting —
Giovana Madalosso gave us an emotionally wrenching, yet intellectually rigorous suspense story with indelible characters.
Her writing is engrossing, bold, fragile, brittle, sharp and pulsing.
The voices of the characters are created so real that they are etched in our thoughts long after finishing the last page. The last sentence.
This story felt totally alive…. with its own beating heartbeat.

This was a beautifully done novel, I thought it was a great translation and enjoyed the complexity of family. The characters had that realistic charm that families have. I was glad I was able to get to know the characters in this universe and had that suspenseful feel that I was looking for.