Seven Days in Tokyo by José Daniel Alvior is a poignant and evocative debut that explores fleeting connections, unrequited love, and the quiet beauty of self-discovery. Through Louie’s week-long journey in Tokyo, the novel paints an intricate portrait of longing and belonging, set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most vibrant cities.

Louie, a Filipino man awaiting his U.S. visa, ventures to Tokyo in hopes of rekindling a spark with Landon, a British expat English teacher he met during a magical night in New York. What follows is not a love story but an intimate reflection on the ephemeral nature of relationships and the yearning to find meaning in fleeting moments.

Alvior’s prose is lyrical and immersive, capturing the bustling streets of Tokyo with vivid precision. From ramen shops to serene cherry blossoms, the city itself becomes a living, breathing character in the story, embodying the theme of impermanence that echoes throughout Louie’s emotional journey. This rich imagery, however, occasionally veers into territory that feels more like a travelogue than a narrative, slowing the pacing at times.

While the setting and introspection shine, the central relationship between Louie and Landon falls short. Landon’s cold demeanor and dismissive treatment of Louie make it challenging to understand the protagonist’s devotion. Yet, this dynamic may resonate with readers who have experienced the complexities of unreciprocated affection. Louie’s growth and eventual closure provide a satisfying arc, even if the romance itself lacks chemistry.

The nonlinear storytelling—punctuated by flashbacks and side anecdotes—adds depth but occasionally disrupts the flow of the narrative. Some readers may find these interludes enriching, while others might feel they detract from the central plot.

Ultimately, Seven Days in Tokyo is a reflective and beautifully written exploration of love, identity, and the spaces in between. Despite its imperfections, Alvior’s debut showcases a remarkable talent for capturing human emotions and the transient beauty of life. It’s a book that lingers, leaving readers with both questions and quiet revelations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Unbound for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to seeing what Alvior crafts next

Beautiful descriptions of Tokyo, but I felt there could have been more chemistry and connections between the two MCs.

I expected a little more from this one to be completely honest. The blurb read as something quite exploratory, both in character and concept, but it often felt like it was rattling over points in the story and focusing on a surface level romance plot instead.

Glad to have read it but just not my personal favourite kind of read!

Somewhat mixed feelings on this one.

On one hand, the prose is lovely and quite readable. I enjoyed the descriptions of places and people, and Alvior seems to have a way to draw emotion out of the reader through most mundane of observations. On the other hand, the romance fell flat for me. It held a lot of promise and yet, though all the flashbacks and locations, I failed to feel the chemistry between the two characters.

The atmosphere throughout the book is painted beautifully, tying back to my previous comments on the strong prose and descriptions, and I think Alvior does a good job of creating a sense of temporality.

Ultimately, it felt like everything in the book was filled with emotion aside from the relationship which might work for some but left me a tad disappointed. This perhaps also comes down to my expectations of the book. Maybe if I came in with a different set of expectations, I would have had a different reading experience. Either way, I will be on the lookout for whatever Alvior writes next!

I was truly blown away by this book. The complicated characters were extremely intriguing and I loved the complexity of their relationship. The vivid descriptions of Tokyo were an added bonus. Excellent read!

i honestly struggled a bit with this one. alvior’s view of japan is sweet but also somewhat orientalistic, and i don’t think it was anything other than a mere backdrop for the main characters’ somewhat dull relationship. i don’t know, it just failed to grab my attention altogether.

We follow Louie as he visits Tokyo while waiting for the approval on his US visa. Living alone in Tokyo is Landon, an English teacher whom Louie shared a dreamlike perfect night with in NYC a couple of months prior.
While painting a vivid picture of the people, scenery and cityscape of Tokyo, the author tells an intimate and fleeting story of desire, belonging, and attempting to recreate the magic of something that had once been.

The dynamic between our main character Louie and Landon did confuse me throughout the entirety of this book. I found Landon to be rather unlikeable and extremely blunt and rude toward Louie, which made me question why Louie persisted during his time in Tokyo to try and have something which to me didn't seem worth it. I felt at times I just wanted to jump into the story and slap some sense into him! But this was probably the author's intent, and if so I guess he succeeded 😅

The premise of this book had me really intrigued as it could've produced a little gem. However, where I think this fell flat for me was the approach to the storytelling. The flashbacks provided context which to me felt unnecessary for the overall plot and interrupted the flow of the story being told in the present; the relationship between our main characters could've been fleshed out a lot more; and while the author did a wonderful job translating the imagery of Tokyo, it felt at times I was reading a travel guide or a "how to" of getting around the city, which isn't something I was here for.

Overall, it's a nice read and I was able to attach myself to the main character at times, however, the execution lacked for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Unbound for the eARC.

I have to start by saying that I love the beautiful way that this book is written. The detail of emotions, people and places really captured my heart.

The characters are all so interesting and most of them are so easy to fall in love with. For me, though I think there's a little too many of them.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the way non-linear time line. I feel like it'd really benefit from chapter titles to say when or where that chapter takes place. As it is now, I found it a little confusing trying to fit the pieces together of what happened and when.

I feel like José Daniel Alvior created a beautiful but melancholy atmosphere throughout this book. The sense of how things are temporary and that even when you find someone you love deeply, life is still complicated and busy and far from perfect.

Overall, I'd say this is great if you're looking for a short read and maybe a little cry.

2.5
I think the writing is beautiful and really immersive I felt like I was really there and I feel like the book had a lot of potential but me personally I had no interest in the characters or if their relationship developed or not. I was expecting a lot more emotions and most of felt to drag for me. I feel like Louie was trying so hard and I just feel for him. I think this is just a different style book than what I typically would read so maybe that’s why I didn’t care for it as much. Again though, the actual writing I feel like is very beautiful and atmospheric

I had high hopes because of the setting but I could not relate to the characters or underdeveloped writing style

Oh wow!!! "Seven Days in Tokyo" by Jose Daniel Alvior is such a richly captivating story that explores personal challenges and self-discovery against the backdrop of Tokyo. I could envisage every detail. Love it.

For a short read, this sure dragged on. There's nothing particularly wrong with the writing or the premise itself, It reminded me of Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park, and even in translation, that book provides oodles of texture around queer men living and loving in a big city in Asia. In this one, you have TWO central characters, from TWO major big cities, and yet, the dream like quality the prose clearly tried to evoke didn't quite hit the mark emotionally. With wandering slice of life and time narratives like this with a hyper focus on two characters, I could not care less about them and my favorite parts were the glimpses of the cities they inhabited. That said, points for effort and intersectionality.

7 days I Tokyo. What first drew me to this story was the location! There are some many places I want to visit and this is one of them. What I liked about this book: the setting, the heavy focus on coffee (as an avid coffee drinker I was obsessed with this) I also really connected with the immigrant plot line- as a daca recipient there are many time I’ve felt that feeling of being afraid of my application being rejected, my paperwork being question etc. I felt like that was really relatable.

Cons: unlikeable characters. I didn’t think Louie was making any choices to root for him. Landon was awful- aside from being “hot” I can’t imagine what would move Louie to lower himself to that point? And be willing traveling thousands of miles? Very confusing. While I understand that when dating we dont always the best choices there is something to be said about finding your way through it- this book didn’t do that, I’m not sure our MC came out the other side knowing better .

Huge points for minority representation and lgtbq character driven story. Unfortunately a little under developed for me and found the wandering and train stations very repetitive- like I was reading the same thing over and over again,

Seven Days in Tokyo is a novel about Louie, a Filipino man who travels to Japan for seven days to reconnect with Landon, the British expat English teacher, who he met in New York for one night several months prior.

The novel is not linear, featuring several flashbacks to earlier times in Louie’s life, as well as somewhat disjointed or seemingly unrelated stories that have led him to becoming who he is. At times these felt like side quests that didn’t really add to the story but were almost short stories themselves.

Hearing Louie go through the mental battles about his feelings, fears and desires is so… reassuring in some ways. We get an intimate look into his stream of consciousness (at times it almost feels wrong to know his inner most thoughts), but it’s almost comforting to know that we are not alone in our challenges in understanding others and their motivations.

That being said, I struggled to understand the relationship between him and Landon, and I struggled to grasp what the allure of him was. He seemed to spend so much time treating Louie like an afterthought and I found him quite unlikable. Not to mention, if the characters learned how to use their words, I feel like Louie wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.

The prose was so beautiful and I enjoyed the way the author captured parts of Tokyo, and it made me nostalgic. This was the main strength of the novel and it helped to balance the weaker story elements.

All in all, it was an interesting and enjoyable read, but it probably left me with more questions than answers.

Thank you to Jose Daniel Alvior, Unbound and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this book to review!

Thank you to Netgalley, Unbound and Jose Daniel Alvior for the digital ARC! <3

For me, the plot left a bit to be desired. It can't really be described any more than "guy goes on a week-long trip to see someone he hooked up with and accidentally caught feelings for, only to realise he's a bit of a knob". The main conflict that happens seems to be nearer the end of the book, which was a little puzzling to me. I think it could have been interesting to see it slightly earlier to see how the characters deal with that resentment and if the extra time could have changed how they felt.

Despite characters backstories being in the book, it felt as though apart from Landon I could not be able to picture what any of the characters would look like. Whether intentional or not, I think the other characters could have been expanded on just a little more.

The writing is admittedly the best part of the whole book. The prose is absolutely stunning, and is incredibly vivid in terms of describing places.

I really wanted to like Seven Days in Tokyo because the writing is wonderful, but it just felt a little underdeveloped in places.

2⭐️

Unfortunately, I struggled to get into the story.
I didn’t feel much attachment to the characters, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about their relationship.

That said, I did enjoy the descriptions of Japan and the discussions around the visa struggles.

Thank you NetGalley and Unbound for the ARC.

i had a privilege of reading this book before the release and can i say how poetic this story is? i don't know whether to laugh, cry or be angry after i finished it. all i know is i was full of emotions.

it started with two people, Louie and Landon. Louie finds himself falling for Landon after a one night stand in NYC. 5 months go by, Louie finds himself in Tokyo where Landon lives looking to maybe further their relationship & give it a chance. sadly, Landon does not feel the same way for him which this leads through Louie's emotional heart-wrenching experience exploring Tokyo, Japan for seven days.

the way the author described Tokyo is perfection. it made me miss visiting Japan like i used to. i miss the ramen shops, the cute coffee shops, the peaceful streets and the cold chilly nights and all you wanna do it grab something to eat to warm yourself up. the cherry blossoms in March that the locals go to and the tourist visits just to see how gorgeous they are.

unfortunately the book didn't speak to me as much as i want to that is why i gave an average rating. why? cause i was yearning for more chemistry. the couple did not have it, but Louie our protagonist felt like a real person to me—he is super relatable and i saw myself relating to every thought he has and stuff he does. i feel so bad for him because he is that kind of person that just loves deeply and wants to be loved the same way, suck to suck Landon cannot offer that for him but you will find Louie finding himself and growing from this unrequited love they have.

3.75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
the writing felt like poetry it was really beautiful. i will definitely read more books from this author. it felt like i traveled through the pages.

A magical escape into the beautiful city scapes of Tokyo ! I will be adding Tokyo to my travel list, along with a copy of seven days in Tokyo!

This was genuine feel-good queer love story that reminded me so much of some of my favorite films. It was atmospheric and joyful in so many parts. I loved it.

2.5. This book is about Louie who finds himself infatuated with Landon after a night spent together in NYC. Several months later he decides to go visit Landon in Tokyo to rekindle their spark. But things end up going in in a different direction and we end up following him through Tokyo while he tries to find himself.

The book was really well written, and with the authors writing, it became really atmospheric, and it felt like I was really visiting Tokyo with Louie.

Everything else wasn't just for me. I didn't really like the relationship, there wasn't any chemistry between them. And it was really frustrating because Louie was trying so hard, and I just wanted to shake him and tell him that it was not worth it.

I feel like this book had a lot of potential and reading it it frlt like it came from real experience by the author so i kind of feel bad for not liking it as much as I hope I would. But maybe if the romance had been explored in a more in-depth and different way, it would have been the perfect book for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.