Wow!

I don't know what I was expecting when I started to read this but it wasn't a book so full of feelings.

Mika Suzuki is 35 years old. She is single, a disappointment to her very traditional Japanese parents and has literally just lost her job.

Then she get a phone call from Penny. Penny is the daughter that Mika gave up for adoption 16 years ago. Penny is desperate to have a relationship with Mika and Mika wants to be someone that Penny can be proud of - which leads to her. . .enhancing a few details.

Will Mika's fibs be found out and if they are, what will that do to her new relationship with her daughter?

Mika is a 30-something woman who has just been fired, is still living with her best friend, and letting life pass her by when the daughter she gave up 16 years ago calls her and asks to meet.

This book did a beautiful job investigating mother-daughter relationships and the way culture and generational differences play a part in how we communicate, carry shame and guilt, and navigate love.

There were so many moments where I laughed, gasped, and almost cried. I really rooted for the characters and Emiko Jean does a great job at really fleshing them all out and making them all complex and three-dimensional.

While it did take me about 20% into the book to get into it, I'm so happy I stuck with it. This book is definitely in my top 10 of the best books of 2022 thus far.

Remarkable concept and impeccable execution from start to the end. Every single page gives a full-throttle effect. The story moved marvellously. I finished the book overnight. The book supercharged me. That’s says something. For one, I am motivated enough to read this authors other books. The entire read was a heart-pounding impact on me.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found this one really hard to get in, slow, and messy. The main character, Mika, was getting on my nerves! Once you read more you kind of understand why she is the way she is but I found that the plot is all over the place.

I thought it was going to be a funny book, it does have funny bits and good banter but then it has lots of trauma (including rape) on it and the mood goes down. I didn't enjoy the love story behind it, I found it not only predictable but so weird at the same time.

It seems there are lots of books now about messy women in their 30s with mother issues.

In general, I enjoyed it as you can see how Mika evolves, somehow finds her way and fixes bits of her life.

Thank you to Emiko Jean and NetGalley for a copy of Mika in Real Life in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVED IT! From the start I was drawn to Mika and wanted to find out more about her and what her story is. Similarly, I really enjoyed reading about Thomas and Penny who I felt were developed wonderfully and I could see how their actions all made sense.

I couldn't put the book down and loved the pace of it as I enjoyed we straight away find out about Mika's and Penny's relationship and then afterwards about Mika more in general.

I highly recommend the book!

I found this book really hard to get into, as it is very slow. I think it’s probably aimed at a younger audience than me, with adopted teenager Penny, and her immature, messy, chaotic birth mother Mika, who is in her 30s. I just got impatient with the character of Mika.
There seem to be so many contemporary books around with the immature, messed up thirty- something protagonist, who is at war with her mother, for any number of reasons.
I’m bored with this trope now, I’m sorry to say.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

This was a really great read about Japanese American Mika whose life went off track sixteen years ago when she became pregnant and gave her baby daughter Penny up for adoption. She’s single, living in her best friend’s house and just lost her job when she’s unexpectedly contacted by her daughter but the few pictures that Penny has seen on Mika’s instagram paint a different picture and Mika doesn’t know how to own up to her reality. I took a while to get into this but although it might seem lighthearted on the surface there’s a lot of depth to it as we gradually start to understand Mika more and I really took to her character as the story progressed. It’s ultimately a really thoughtful book but told in a very engaging style.

At 35, Mika Suzuki is nowhere near where her younger self had hoped she would be. Single, recently fired, living with her best friend slash possible hoarder, and an ongoing disappointment to her traditional Japanese parents, Mika can’t seem to put out one fire before another begins.
When Penny, the daughter she placed for adoption 16 years ago, reaches out, Mika believes that the only path forward is a semi-fictionalized one, giving the facade of her life a facelift while keeping her hopes, dreams, and heritage intact. But it doesn’t take long before Mika learns that you can’t build bonds with half-truths, and that maybe motherhood isn’t as straightforward as she originally thought.
In her adult debut, young adult author Emiko Jean uses a timeless trope to create something fresh and new. Jean gently balances the comedy of Mika juggling her fabrications with the complicated nature of adoption, ultimately offering readers a book that’s sure to make them laugh, cry, and hug when it’s over. Mika in Real Life is a moving blend of humour and heart.

Beyond excited and honored to read/review this book!
Full review to follow both here and on the blog.
I was such a fan of Emikos novels for young adults so I am beyond excited to
read her adult work as well. Looks like a wonderful heartwarming mother/daughter story.

I was gripped by Mika’s story. If you think about how much Mika missed out on with Penny, with her art, it’s really desperately sad. But, the way she finally manages to make peace with her (frankly awful) mother and manages to turn her life around us just inspiring. Her blossoming relationship with both Penny and Thomas is so heart warming and I just loved the whole thing.
Her dedicated friendship with Hama was equally inspiring- who needs family with a best friend like her in your court.
I’m rambling, but it was just such a wonderful story and I was sad when it ended (which it did, too soon, because I couldn’t put it down).

This is a great book about messy family connections. One of my favourite tropes in literature. Mixed in with someone in their teens and someone in their thirties trying to make life work.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of "Mika In Real Life" by Emiko Jean.

When I started this book, I expected to love it - but not as much as I did. Mika was such an amazing protagonist that I truly rooted for. She had some gritty and flawed aspects to her nature but also she genuinely just wanted the best for Penny. I think we can all find aspects of this story that we relate to.

Emiko Jean knows how to write but I must say, I think this is her best yet. Thank you Emiko Jean for this beautiful work of literature, I feel honoured to have read it.

A quick and easy read that I couldn't put down. There was humour and there was heartache and amost of all it was real and relatable. the title of the book is very apt. A book I would recommend, I really enjoyed it.