Aisuru

A beautiful emotional read about love, death and the magic of life! I loved Sakura's and Kazumi's story as also the detailed descriptions if the daily school-life in Japan and the beautiful scenery as the background.

Protagonist/s: 4/5
Love Interest/s: 4/5
World Building: 5/5
Plot: 5/5

Overall score 18/20 which is 5 stars.

Generally if I read a book set in Japan then I expect the author to have at least visited the country a lot if they aren't Japanese themselves. That isn't the case with this novel but funnily enough, it actually integrates the style as well as the culture itself well.

Aisuru is about a 3rd year high school student called Sakura who is dying due to organ failure and a yokai prince who wants to look after her until the end. As well as this there's trouble brewing back in his own world and eventually this trouble comes for Sakura.

I liked the characters in this book. I have seen some people say that they're a little 2D and maybe they are a little but they still grab your heart and cling with all their might. I adored Karasu and I want him to be my brother and when Sakura mentioned him in the letter near the end I actually started tearing up. Akari and Hina were amazing friends and I loved them too. I loved most of the characters to be honest, just the side characters more than the mains.

Romance is important in this novel and it was maybe a little rushed. I get that Sakura is a dying teenager who has never experienced this before but I still found myself wanting to say slow down even knowing she didn't really have the time to. Still I supported them and I was glad they understood each other so well. Unlike other YA novels this does feature smut so if you read YA like me partly to avoid it then you're out of luck here. It is only one scene though and you can easily predict when it'll happen.

Predictability is the main issue I had with this. Even things you never get the answer to like who Akari's first kiss was with you just know and when it comes to knowing who the big bad is as soon as they appear, it's a shame as it spoils the reveal a little. That and the few typos were the only problems so I would say pick this up.

I would definitely suggest this novel to my friends who are into manga and light novels. Plot wise and stylistically this is a great fit for them and now I really need to go find out about the second book and those new characters.

I received Aisuru on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect of Aisuru. I haven’t seen many reviews on the internet, but I decided to go ahead and read it. What got me to read the book was the synopsis since it sounded like a blend of contemporary and fantasy. I was intrigued by the characters, especially Sakura. Aisuru reminded me a bit of Inuyasha and Kamisama Hajimemashita, just the whole human-yokai romantic relationship, but that’s just it.

What I was expecting was an action-paced book filled with a lot of magical scenarios and political drama. Now what I got was different than what I expected. It was good, but it wasn’t bad. I was a tad disappointed that most of the book focused on Hakodate, Japan rather than the magical kingdom of Throklana.

Alright, basic plot of the book is that Sakura is dying and has less than a year of life left. Sakura tries to be an ice queen to those around her. Most of her classmates have invented rumors about her due to her cold personality. Though Sakura puts on an act, she is actually sweet and caring. She has hidden her illness from everyone; she wants to be treated like a normal girl. She wants to do many things in her life, but knows she can’t achieve those goals. When I was reading Sakura’s pov, I did tear up. Sakura was very accepting of her fate in the beginning of the story. As chapters progressed, it became harder for her to accept her death. Though Sakura has little character growth in the book, she at least tried to live as a normal girl. She got to accomplish some of her goals on her bucket list. One of my favorite moments of the book was the introduction of Sakura’s classmates that eventually became her friends. I have to say that this book did really great when it came to friendship.

I was actually surprised that this book was a bit dark at some times. Sakura's past was extremely sad, especially what happened to her parents. Though she was adopted into a loving home after the traumatizing events of her childhood, she grew up mostly independent. That's one thing that I really liked about Sakura, she always did her best no matter her limitations.

Moving on to Kazuki, I felt okay about him. Kazuki is the yokai prince who is supposed to take over the kingdom while his father is on his pilgrimage. Kazuki never wanted to be king. He is the oldest sibling, but he knows that his younger brother is far more capable of being the next crown king. The author didn’t really give a great description of his features besides his long claws and white hair. So I imagined him like this that whole time:

Though Tomoe is a far more better character than Kazuki, just saying.
Kazuki was a good guy, but a horrible leader. Here’s the thing: his kingdom is in turmoil and his brother turned against him. What does Kazuki do? Reside in the human realm and leaves his kingdom in hands of his advisors. He abandoned the throne, and though his duty is to the kingdom, he never really does anything to contribute anything. I can see why he is fascinated with the human world, but it annoyed me that it wasn’t till 75% of the book that he decided to take action. As I’ve mentioned, he was a good guy...he did have some cute moments especially with Karasu. Now Karasu was one of my favorite characters in the story. He is a yokai as well and very devoted to his master. He initially hates Sakura and doesn't trust her whatsoever. I found Karasu to be an adorable jealous little brother. He had a sad backstory that I wish got expanded more!

Anyways, I thought that Aisuru was going have a lot of action, but I got more of a contemporary vibe. Most of the book was spent on Kazuki and Sakura doing normal errands such as cleaning, or cooking. It seemed that this was going to be a book filled with insta-love, but I am glad that the author tried to build up the romance. There wasn’t much tension between the two characters and the kiss happened out of nowhere.

As for the whole plot, I thought it could have been great if there was no conflict in the yokai realm. Since most of the book took place in the human realm, it felt a bit too much to have two conflicts because Sakura was the main focus throughout the book. The conflict in Kazuki's realm was ignored till the end!! But, despite Aisuru's flaws, I did find myself enjoying the book. The book did have a villain! Surprise, surprise it wasn't the brother. I assumed it was another character...since the villain didn't get introduced till 50% of the book. I won't give much away, but just wow.

What I liked:

Sakura's pov
Karasu
The ending was cute
I feel that Aisuru could have made a good graphic novel since the author is inspired by Japanese culture. I was mostly thinking of anime when reading this book!

Final Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5)

I am huge fan of japanese animes, dramas and mangas. So it would be an understatement if I say I didn't like it.

This book was a full to guide towards Japanese culture and customs. I would be damned if it ever have an anime or live action adaptation in future.
I liked the love triangle here though it was not exactly the case.

2.75. This Japanese high school girl and yokai prince romance is in the best of manga and anime tradition. The author has definitely done a boatload of research on Japanese culture and the city of Hakodate and it shows. Good research, used effectively, helps elevate average books into something more.

I really wanted to like Aisuru because it matches my tastes in many things. Romance, fantasy, and a lifelong interest in Japanese culture, history and language. I know little about Hakodate, but I'd like to learn more. The Meiji era, Japan's opening to the rest of the world in general, is incredibly intriguing.

Unfortunately, for me at least, the author's prose is too stark and workman-like. Because of this, I couldn't get into the story for the longest time and almost put it down. Additionally, it took her characters some time to develop their own voices. Even when they did, they were too often along the lines of anime/manga tropes. The energetic girl who likes food. The student council president who is studious and severe but really cares.

And, finally, unless the action was taking place actually out and about in Hakodate, I couldn't get a sense of place. I have little idea what Sakura's house looks like (other than there's a lovely cherry blossom tree in her yard), or Kazuki's palace, or the high school, even though most of the story was set in these locations.

It's easy to see that this author has enthusiasm for her subject and that she cares about her work. Perhaps future pieces will have that extra something I'm looking for.