An insightful and thought provoking novel. Well written, the author captures the transition of a young woman into a grown up. Lucy lives in a small town and has a restricted view of life until Owen joins the college where she is a student. He is exotic, foreign and fascinating and Lucy is smitten. Then he disappears and her journey into adulthood begins taking her to Japan. I very much enjoyed this novel and the authors experience as a reporter gives her writing authenticity. It provides a fascinating insight into the island of Okinawa and the US presence among the locals, the tensions and problems which surface are explored with the measured detachment of a reporters eye.

“But, I’m a gaijin. People look at me funny because I’m a foreigner.”

“Gaijin” by Sarah Z. Sleeper.

Fascinating story about acceptance of other people and culture. There was a lot of moments when this book slightly reminded me of Murakami writing, maybe it’s the Japanese spirit, with it’s outstanding culture.

Lucy is a student in Illinois, she meets Owen a Japanese boy and fells in love. He calls her to visit Japan with him, and then disappears. Lucy starts to study Japanese culture, graduates and becomes a reporter. She gets accepted for the job in Okinawa ( the least Japanese place in Japan). Once she gets there she discovers all sorts of differences between Okinawans and Americans, between Japanese and Okinawans. She starts working for the media agency, where Owens brother works as a photographer. She slowly discovers the reasons why Owen felt like gaijin in his own family and country.


It was a good read, however I felt that it was a bit too vague at moments, I wanted more explaining, description of places, people, culture.

Having been to Japan recently, I was able to experience the culture and beauty of the country first hand, and it was one of the most amazing experiences I ever had. When I read the description of this story, I had to try it, just so I could relive and experience it all over again.

And I did, but on a very basic level.

The biggest compliment I can give this book is also it’s biggest con: the writing. The author knows how to write. There were descriptions of places that made me feel like I was there, and the emotion portrayed were raw and powerful. However, it was also clear the writing was a substitute for the actual story.

The plot was paper thin. I know a few people who can read books just for the wonderful prose, but I need more substance. There were moments where I began to lose interest, and there was a development in the story that felt more like padding to keep up the word count. That’s a shame because it could’ve been a wonderful to read about Lucy’s self discovery, but it took too many detours for me to truly connect with her.

This story wasn’t for me, but I can see the for those who want to experience a little bit of Japan, and indulge in some lovely writing. If the story had been stronger, I would’ve loved this a bit more.

Apparently the author normally writes non-fiction and perhaps that is her better genre. I found this story to have too many unbelievable events and coincidences and rather trite. The author's knowledge of Japan and Okinawa is very surface level and though she did latch on to some interesting topics, most of this story is too insipid to intrigue the reader. It would have been better written and researched as non-fiction or as something along the lines of a biography since apparently some of it is based on her own experiences.

Thank you to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this book in advance.