Emiko by Chieri Uegaki Review

 Good Morning Sweet Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I'm so thankful you've taken the time to drop om by The Preppy Book Princess today for another book review.

I'm Kirby, and I always look forward to getting to welcome you to my little bookish corner of the internet.

It's Monday, and I hope your week is off to a wonderful start.

Unfortunately, I've had to be a little more absent from my blog in the last couple of weeks as there's been a few things going on with me personally which has been taking up a lot of my free time.

This week will be more of the same, and I can't promise when I will be able to get back to my regular three posts a week.

That being said, I'm definitely still going to be sticking around, it may just be a little less frequently than normal for awhile until things settle down.

Today's review is going to be for a bit different of a title than I normally share on my blog.

I decided to give this upcoming release a try from NetGalley, and today I'm going to tell you whether or not stepping out of my comfort zone was a positive or negative experience. I hope you'll all keep on reading down below and join me for today's full review.

Emiko by Chieri Uegaki:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Tundra Books

Publication Date: June 10th, 2025

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary/Retelling

Synopsis:

A sweet and savory YA romance, this modern-day Japanese-Canadian twist on Emma is just the recipe for fans of Jenny Han, Jane Austen and Gilmore Girls. A busybody foodie avoids questions of her own future as she meddles in the love lives of those around her. Has this matcha-maker met her match?

Self-declared matchmaking GENIUS Emiko Kimori has already found success by helping her aunt find true love, so when the new girl in town becomes her new BFF, it's only natural for Emiko to help set her up for social success with a suitable love match.

Emiko lives with her Ojiichan in a small town on BC's West Coast surrounded by friends and neighbors, including her childhood friend Kenzo Sanada, who wants her to spend less time meddling in every else’s love lives. But Emiko can so clearly see who belongs together, even when her targets don't know it themselves. She simply has to meddle — for the sake of true love!

As for her own romantic life though . . . who has time for that? Emiko is far too busy with her matchmaking schemes, her brunch recipes, volunteering, her bustling social life, keeping up her grades, eating said brunch recipes and making plans for after graduation. Plans she will absolutely decide on soon. Definitely. Maybe? But when Emiko ends up falling for the very last person she expects, she finds herself caught in the tangled web of her own love matches. For the first time, instead of arranging from afar, Emiko has to figure out what it means to be in love herself, and that friendship and romance are more complicated than she ever imagined . . .

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

I was drawn to this title after hearing that it was both a Jane Austen Emma retelling, and set on the west coast of British Columbia. I don't often get to read books set within my own country, and I love Jane Austen and usually enjoy when authors approach her stories from a unique perspective. I went into this one fully expecting to love it.

If you're looking for a title that is basically a love letter to the west coast of British Columbia, including many vivid and colorful descriptions of the beautiful landscapes, then this might just be the book you've been looking for. I also loved getting to learn more about Japanese Canadian traditions, especially the festivals and the food, and the reasons why they celebrate the way they do and when they do. Those bits and pieces ended up being my favorite, and I enjoyed the vivid imagery the author used to bring the descriptions to life.

That being said, if you're looking for a more of a fun loving, well written, young adult contemporary, well then this might not be the book you're looking for. The pacing and style of the novel was hard to follow, and it felt more like reading a girl's diary where nothing really happens, and many important circumstances are skipped right over. This wasn't an epistolary style novel (which I love by the way), but instead was just written in a bit of a different way, and it didn't work for me.

As well, as someone who loves Emma, I thought I would enjoy Emiko's character, but that wasn't the case. She was hard to root for, and honestly, was an extremely unlikeable character. Her family seemed to think she could do no wrong, and she pushes and pushes all of her friends to the point of almost bullying to get exactly what she wants, even when it's not what they want for themselves. I don't feel we saw much growth in her character throughout the story, and that also made the romance completely unbelievable for me as I don't understand what he possibly could have seen in her to be interested enough to want to be with her. 

I thought the ending was a bit rushed and didn't wrap up the story in a way I was happy with, and ended up feeling a bit letdown when I finished this one.

Final Rating: 2.5/5

I'm glad I took a try on a book that's a bit different than something I'd normally read, but it's not one I would rush back to reread, and I don't think I'd recommend it if you're a person, like me, who enjoys more plot driven stories. 

I do have to mention though how much I love the cover! It's stunning, and truly drew me to wanting to give this title a try. 

Thanks so much to Tundra Books for allowing me to advance read and review this title!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher (Tundra Books) via NetGalley. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review. 

Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week :)