Book Review | I Love You So Mochi

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: I Love You So Mochi

Author: Sarah Juhn

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 308

Categories: Coming of Age, Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Kimi Nakamura loves a good fashion statement. She’s obsessed with transforming everyday ephemera into Kimi Originals: bold outfits that make her and her friends feel brave, fabulous, and like the Ultimate versions of themselves. But her mother sees this as a distraction from working on her portfolio paintings for the prestigious fine art academy where she’s been accepted for college. So when a surprise letter comes in the mail from Kimi’s estranged grandparents, inviting her to Kyoto for spring break, she seizes the opportunity to get away from the disaster of her life.

When she arrives in Japan, she loses herself in Kyoto’s outdoor markets, art installations, and cherry blossom festival–and meets Akira, a cute med student who moonlights as a costumed mochi mascot. What begins as a trip to escape her problems quickly becomes a way for Kimi to learn more about the mother she left behind, and to figure out where her own heart lies.

First things first, I’m in love with the book cover because of the cherry blossoms and just the overall color palette. I’m in a ballet pink mode, maybe because of my daughter. But yes, this cover is super cute.

I Love You So Mochi is as sweet as the cover portrays. It’s about a teenager named Kimi, who is a talented artist following in her mother’s footsteps but is it what she really wants? She finds herself wondering what makes her happy, what does she want to pursue after high school and is art still the thing that she is meant to do? Her grandparents invite her to Japan for Spring Break right when she has an argument with her mother and Kimi takes this time to go on the trip and find out what she wants.

• The setting of Kyoto, Japan is fantastic. So many people I know love visiting Japan and this book gives the reader a tour of amazing places in Kyoto. I enjoyed seeing it through Kimi’s artistic eyes.
• It’s a quick and easy read, the whole vibe of the book is light and happy. Kimi herself is a happy girl who giggles a lot and even when she has some family problems she doesn’t seem to let it get her totally down.
• I like seeing Kimi bonding with her grandparents, that was sweet. Kimi meeting her grandparents brought up the issue of parents trying to control the direction of their children’s lives and the consequences that could arise from that. Being asian myself, I understand the family obligation thing, but it was nice to see Kimi bridge that gap and helping mend broken family ties.
• Kimi has awesome, supportive best friends – that’s always a plus!

• There is a romance in this book and it is insta-love because Kimi is only in Japan for spring break. She makes a connection with Akira right away and I thought their friendship to be believable, but I don’t know about falling in love so fast. Haha, but that’s just me.
• This is a quick and light read, so light I felt like these wasn’t much of a conflict to resolve. Basically Kimi needed to find out if painting was what she still loved and she came to the conclusion of what she wanted to do pretty quick, she just had to accept it and realize it was a direction she could go. Even the family drama didn’t seem so bad? But maybe that’s just me reading heavy topic books lately haha. I should say it’s too light for me! 🤷🏻‍♀️

I Love You Mochi is sweet like the mochi dessert it features in the book. If you like some light reading, and insta-love, you will definitely love this book. It may also make you hungry for mochi. You know what is awesome? Green tea mochi ice cream, YUM. 😋