Jobless, single and living in a chaotic flat share, she can't bear her daughter knowing her life is a mess. So, when Penny gets in touch, Mika tells a few white lies, pretending to have it all - a career, partner and money. Mika’s character was beautiful and flawed. I loved how relatable she was and how we delved into her guilt, longing, sadness, regret and finding happiness. I really enjoyed the letters about Penny and how it gave the book almost a diary/memoir kind of feel. I also loved Mika’s friendship with Hana. I feel like everyone needs a Hana in their life and it really was bright spot in the story.

So when Penny reveals to Mika that she's headed to Portland (adopted father, protective-yet-hunky Thomas, in tow) to meet her...Mika panics. Enlisting the help of her best friend and roommate Hana, can she find a way to meld her fantasy life with her real one? Or is Mika truly doomed to disappoint the most precious person in her world...and lose ALL of her remaining dreams in one fell swoop?Mika is a bit unmoored. The daughter of strict, traditional Japanese parents, she has never really lived up to anyone’s expectations, least of all her own. She has been single for a year, her last relationship ending in a fiery dispute with no solid resolution. She has a ride-or-die best friend, Hana, who she lives with, but their home is not tidy or cozy thanks to Hana’s late-night QVC binges. And she just got fired…again. Mika is drowning her sorrows in the brightly lit aisles of Target when her cell phone rings and changes everything. The voice on the other end is new to her but familiar to her heart: Penny, the daughter she gave up for adoption 16 years ago when she was only a freshman in college.

My body had a purpose, and it was you. In the span of a single breath, I was unmade and made again." Author Emiko Jean, who penned the best-selling YA novels Tokyo Ever After and Tokyo Dreaming , examines the sometimes fraught reality of mother-daughter relationships and how a delightful, lovable character learns to stop running away from the truth about herself. I loved the Japanese culture in this book. And the POV of Mika was an interesting one that we don’t see a lot of in books. I was hoping for some emotional damage from this book, and that did not happen, but it was a great work of fiction about life, love, loss and motherhood. EMIKO JEAN: I remember actually really well. It happened while Tokyo Ever After was coming out. It was about a month before Tokyo Ever After was published, and I needed to take some promotional photos for social media. And it was the height of the pandemic. So, that had just started.

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Mika hasn't ever lived up to anyone's expectations...least of all, her own. After getting let go from (yet another) job, she heads to Target, pondering how much cheese and wine she can buy with the last bit of free-flowing cash from her bank account when she gets an unexpected phone call...a VERY unexpected call. No, it's not Randy from Chase Visa, but rather her daughter Penny...the same daughter that Mika gave up for adoption 16 years ago, during her college years. Would recommend if you’re into a life-affirming theme like this, a story of healing and second chances; one that would juggle your heart making you cry and smile at the same time. I go for 5 stars to this; shelved it as my fav too! Her world changes when Mika receives a phone call from Penny, the daughter she placed for adoption 16 years ago. Penny wants to start a relationship with Mika and Mika desperately wants to be someone Penny can be proud of. What begins as an embellishment of the truth becomes a full-blown fake reality -- one where Mika's alter-ego is put-together and successful at work and in her love life. For the end note, I just have no other things to say that I really like this book and this is a really great book. I recommend to you guys who enjoy family dynamic relationship and a journey of finding one true self. Her phone rang again. Sometimes Hiromi called two, three times in a row, inducing panic. Last time Mika answered breathless, reaching for her keys, ready to head to the hospital. What's the matter?