Es interesante ver como un yankee quiere tener una cultura que no sea propia. A ver, yo entiendo, queres conocer la cultura de tu familia, queres sentirte parte de una comunidad, queres aprender, pero el libro no me llegó porque la protagonísta esta queriendo ser alguien que no es.

My maternal grandmother was Japanese. I never met her and didn’t learn much about her family or my Japanese heritage. I throughly enjoyed this memoir about a half Japanese American woman embracing her culture, attempting to learn the language that was not taught to her as a child, and traveling to Japan. I don’t read many graphic novels, but I could appreciate the way the story was told, and found many of the illustrations to be funny and informative. I would like to learn more about these bars that she worked at. Overall I recommend reading this.

i really really loved the drawing style!!! even though the story is autobiographical, it's relatable in many ways. i guess all wasians face the same kind of experiences :,) overall quick and fun read! thank you netgalley for the early access.

I was attracted to this book because of my years spent in Japanese but also because I’m raising third culture kids myself and I found media on the subject interesting.

Unfortunately this book didn’t really do it for me: I didn’t feel anything for the characters and the very simple art didn’t convey much emotions in my opinion (which is not a critic against simple mono colour art like that, I’ve read other books in a similar style that could show a lot)

There was absolutely 0 chemistry between the author and her boyfriend from the beginning which didn’t help care for their journey together. I understand the need to know more about her culture but working as a hostess in the US with barely any Japanese skill seems like a strange choice. And going to live there even more with those limited skills. I couldn’t understand why her boyfriend didn’t bother to learn a word of Japanese if they had planned this move ahead…and I admit it annoyed me.

I’m sure the author is nice and talented but this was not the book for me. Maybe it’s for you though :)

I would read any work by MariNaomi based on this author's past work. The visual style, use of graphic weight, and personal storytelling is wonderful -- a graphic novel to enjoy, whether it is the first introduction to this author's work or a revisit.