"The Little Teashop in Tokyo" by Julie Caplin, Review

A while back, my friend and I headed into Valletta to watch Disney's live action "The Little Mermaid". We had some time to kill before the film started so us, being two book lovers, decided to look around Agenda Book Shop. The book "The Little Teashop in Tokyo" immediately caught my attention because I enjoy tea and am very intrigued by Japanese culture. However, the book was very expensive so when I got back home I looked it up on awesomebooks.com (this website is my actual saviour) and found it for €3 (The Link: https://www.awesomebooks.com/book/9780008393090/the-little-teashop-in-tokyo/used)

The books arrived just before our holiday to Sicily, so I took this book with me and finished it on the 4th day of our holiday :)

This book had quite a simple plot. It follows the journey of Fiona, a British photographer as she explores Tokyo to take a series of 10 photos to be featured at an exhibition, under the guidance of her mentor (Gabe) who she ends up falling in love with. We also see scenes of the traditional tea shop and tea ceremonies.

This book was sweet, however I'd criticize that the descriptions were a bit superficial and surface level - and I found it difficult to connect with the characters since the writing style was frankly, quite basic. Vocabulary was often repeated, to be honest it felt more like a wattpad story. The writing style really did not resonate with me - the characters did not feel realistic at all.

The romantic subplot was quite wholesome, however, and the conclusion (though predictable) was very cute and I was left with a satisfied taste.

Overall I'd give this book a 5.5/10. I think it lacked a certain sense of relatability, but the story overall was quite endearing.

- Ann ❤️