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Shibuya Nemesis: A Journey Towards the Top of Tokyo
Super-guitarist and songwriter. The looks of a rock star. Josh, straight out of high school in Vancouver, has what it takes to make it. The only problem is that as an extreme introvert, he has only ever had the guts to play in front of his own brother.
As Josh struggles to find a path for himself as a musician, not knowing how to deal with his social anxiety, an opportunity arises to move to Japan, his mother’s native country. Josh gathers courage and plunges into the vibrant music scene in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, where he meets Miki, a passionate singer with a spellbinding voice. Soon a powerful chemistry is born between them that catapults Josh into a thrilling trajectory he had never imagined.
As Josh struggles to find a path for himself as a musician, not knowing how to deal with his social anxiety, an opportunity arises to move to Japan, his mother’s native country. Josh gathers courage and plunges into the vibrant music scene in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, where he meets Miki, a passionate singer with a spellbinding voice. Soon a powerful chemistry is born between them that catapults Josh into a thrilling trajectory he had never imagined.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 4, 2019
4 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
Alex Lund
3 books34 followersAlex Lund arrived in Japan from his native Scandinavia as a child, and has been based in Tokyo for over 30 years.
Running his own consulting business for many years in the retail and fashion industry, Alex spends most of his time pacing up and down the streets of Tokyo in a constant pursuit of exploring every corner of the urban jungle of shopping and entertainment districts in the world’s largest metropolis.
As an eager first-hand observer of how Tokyo continuously evolves as a reflection of the fast-paced changes in trends and sub-cultures, Alex uses his experience as a canvas and source of inspiration for his writing, trying to offer his readers insight into the fascinating city of modern Tokyo.
Running his own consulting business for many years in the retail and fashion industry, Alex spends most of his time pacing up and down the streets of Tokyo in a constant pursuit of exploring every corner of the urban jungle of shopping and entertainment districts in the world’s largest metropolis.
As an eager first-hand observer of how Tokyo continuously evolves as a reflection of the fast-paced changes in trends and sub-cultures, Alex uses his experience as a canvas and source of inspiration for his writing, trying to offer his readers insight into the fascinating city of modern Tokyo.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 11, 2020
Thank you to the author, Alex Lund for sending the free copy of Shibuya Nemesis: A Journey Towards the Top of Tokyo via BookTasters.
I was really intrigued by the premise of the book and the author’s back story as I have been a devotee of Japan since a long time ago. Also, Josh, the main character has an introverted nature and social anxiety, so, instantly relatable.
Josh relocates to Japan from Vancouver to pursue his dream of becoming a guitarist, and since he’s half-Japanese, it worked out in his favor. The book gave me so much more insight into Tokyo, namely the Shibuya city, a special ward in Tokyo, Japan, and I’m really grateful for the descriptive scenes; it was like I was right there, along with Josh. It’s an excellent book with the portrayal of Japanese life and culture, exploration of music, and the rise to fame of the main character. The story and the writing style are simple yet engaging.
The only downside for me was probably the fact that it was a bit slow-paced, but I am not complaining a lot since I usually read multiple books at a time (polygamist reader and all.)
Overall, it’s a really good book and deserves more recognition, and I’d recommend it to people who are interested in learning about the experiences of a musician in a strange city experimenting with both traditional and avant-garde music.
I was really intrigued by the premise of the book and the author’s back story as I have been a devotee of Japan since a long time ago. Also, Josh, the main character has an introverted nature and social anxiety, so, instantly relatable.
Josh relocates to Japan from Vancouver to pursue his dream of becoming a guitarist, and since he’s half-Japanese, it worked out in his favor. The book gave me so much more insight into Tokyo, namely the Shibuya city, a special ward in Tokyo, Japan, and I’m really grateful for the descriptive scenes; it was like I was right there, along with Josh. It’s an excellent book with the portrayal of Japanese life and culture, exploration of music, and the rise to fame of the main character. The story and the writing style are simple yet engaging.
The only downside for me was probably the fact that it was a bit slow-paced, but I am not complaining a lot since I usually read multiple books at a time (polygamist reader and all.)
Overall, it’s a really good book and deserves more recognition, and I’d recommend it to people who are interested in learning about the experiences of a musician in a strange city experimenting with both traditional and avant-garde music.
November 7, 2020
First of all, many thanks to Booktaters who led me to explore the book and to author Alex Lund for sending me a copy! First of all, I want to give you information about the subject of the book. Our main character Josh dreams of becoming a guitarist. To make this dream come true, he moves from Vancouver to Joponia. This gives him an advantage since he is half Japanese. Thanks to Scurvy, another guitarist, Josh gets a home and job in Shibuya. The book was very fluent and interesting. I turned the pages excitedly, I think more should be discovered! I really liked it!
October 18, 2020
Many thanks to Alex Lund and Booktasters for providing a copy of this book for an honest review. Shibuya Nemesis: A Journey Towards the Top of Tokyo is a heartwarming tale of a musician trying to make it in the musical scene of Shibuya.
Josh, an introvert, becomes obsessed with playing the guitar. With practice, he becomes a skilled guitarist. After conversing with another guitarist, Scurvy, he makes the decision to move from Vancouver to Japan to make a name for himself. With Scurvy's help, Josh finds employment and a place of residence in Shibuya.
He explores the music scene and meets Miki. Her powerful singing voice blows him away and inspires him to write songs with her in mind. He meets Shota, a bass player, and Tami, a drummer with a hyperactive personality. When Miki completes her gigs with her other band, she joins Josh's band.
After a bit of brainstorming, they give themselves the catchy name Shibuya Nemesis. Their reputation growing, the band is invited to play at The Barrack, a place most artists strive to have a gig with superstardom following soon after.
Shibuya Nemesis: A Journey Towards the Top of Tokyo was an enjoyable read. The vivid descriptions of the sights and sounds of Shibuya make me want to visit there to take it all in. With a steady pace and well-written characters, I give this story five stars and recommend adding it to your collection.
Josh, an introvert, becomes obsessed with playing the guitar. With practice, he becomes a skilled guitarist. After conversing with another guitarist, Scurvy, he makes the decision to move from Vancouver to Japan to make a name for himself. With Scurvy's help, Josh finds employment and a place of residence in Shibuya.
He explores the music scene and meets Miki. Her powerful singing voice blows him away and inspires him to write songs with her in mind. He meets Shota, a bass player, and Tami, a drummer with a hyperactive personality. When Miki completes her gigs with her other band, she joins Josh's band.
After a bit of brainstorming, they give themselves the catchy name Shibuya Nemesis. Their reputation growing, the band is invited to play at The Barrack, a place most artists strive to have a gig with superstardom following soon after.
Shibuya Nemesis: A Journey Towards the Top of Tokyo was an enjoyable read. The vivid descriptions of the sights and sounds of Shibuya make me want to visit there to take it all in. With a steady pace and well-written characters, I give this story five stars and recommend adding it to your collection.
December 31, 2020
I would like to begin by saying that I have read many books in my life but very few have made this impact on me. Saying this work I magnificent would be an understatement. It's more than excellent.
When I first read the title, Shibuya Nemesis, I thought it was an action novel but once I started it, I couldn't put it down. The book is about an introverted character, Josh who has a love for music, especially guitar. He has been working on a few songs and tunes on his own but he needs to get out there and have people other than his parents listen to his music. As time goes by, he meets Scurvy, Miki, Shota and Tami who help him with his craft and it's a masterpiece.
The book is about working on one's craft. It takes into account the troubles one goes through when developing such a craft. At first, you will be broke for a while, a very long while but with time, you begin to get the attention of consumers.
I like the book because the focus is on the craft and the author has given very much attention to the writing of the music and the guitarist. He has brought out challenges and solutions to certain problems.
As always, books by Alex Lund are easy reads and the characters are relatable and lovable. He has made Japan a future destination for me.
This is a book everyone should read. This and all other books by this author.
It is brilliant and excellent.
When I first read the title, Shibuya Nemesis, I thought it was an action novel but once I started it, I couldn't put it down. The book is about an introverted character, Josh who has a love for music, especially guitar. He has been working on a few songs and tunes on his own but he needs to get out there and have people other than his parents listen to his music. As time goes by, he meets Scurvy, Miki, Shota and Tami who help him with his craft and it's a masterpiece.
The book is about working on one's craft. It takes into account the troubles one goes through when developing such a craft. At first, you will be broke for a while, a very long while but with time, you begin to get the attention of consumers.
I like the book because the focus is on the craft and the author has given very much attention to the writing of the music and the guitarist. He has brought out challenges and solutions to certain problems.
As always, books by Alex Lund are easy reads and the characters are relatable and lovable. He has made Japan a future destination for me.
This is a book everyone should read. This and all other books by this author.
It is brilliant and excellent.
August 20, 2020
„Shibuya Nemesis“ by Alex Lund is a fine study on Japanese life and culture as seeing by the eyes of a young foreigner, recently arrived in the country in search of both a brand-new existence and his own heritage.
Josh who had decided to take a leap year before applying to university in Vancouver, takes a summer vacation to visit a friend and explore the music scene in LA, and comes thus in contact with some Japanese visiting students and begins to toy with the idea to relocating to Tokyo to pursuit his musician dreams, after all his own (Half-)Japanese heritage works in his favour. Embedded in the Shibuya artistic scene, Josh would have to navigate through culture, eccentricity, new friendships and personal growth in search of a way for self-expression and fulfillment. Josh journey through Shibuya allows the reader to discover a captivating scene that intermixes year-old traditions with some of the most avant-garde cultural phenomena in the world.
Alex Lund firsthand knowledge of Japan, as a Scandinavian expat, who has been living in the country for the vast majority of his adult life confers the story a level of authenticity difficult to find in any book which describes Japan from a westerner point of view.
Josh who had decided to take a leap year before applying to university in Vancouver, takes a summer vacation to visit a friend and explore the music scene in LA, and comes thus in contact with some Japanese visiting students and begins to toy with the idea to relocating to Tokyo to pursuit his musician dreams, after all his own (Half-)Japanese heritage works in his favour. Embedded in the Shibuya artistic scene, Josh would have to navigate through culture, eccentricity, new friendships and personal growth in search of a way for self-expression and fulfillment. Josh journey through Shibuya allows the reader to discover a captivating scene that intermixes year-old traditions with some of the most avant-garde cultural phenomena in the world.
Alex Lund firsthand knowledge of Japan, as a Scandinavian expat, who has been living in the country for the vast majority of his adult life confers the story a level of authenticity difficult to find in any book which describes Japan from a westerner point of view.
October 14, 2020
3.5 stars for this book, I wish Goodreads allowed in-between rating...
I picked it because it promised an epic music adventure and a quest to Japan. And I was not disappointed.
Shibuya Nemesis is a very atmospheric book to me. Its descriptions are useful to imagine and visualize what Shibuya might look like. To me, the testimony of the Shibuya ambiance through our main character is true to life. It makes the reader travel easily to Japan and the energetic energy of Shibuya. We feel lost in there as much as Josh is at the beginning of the book. We slowly navigate through it just like him and that's great.
Characters wise, they are all very likeable and the reader is able to connect with them in an instant. And as a character-driven reader, it's perfect. I also liked Josh's development and his relationship with Scurvy who's such a cute character !!
All in all, I quite liked this book even though I was not a massive fan of the slow pace. I liked the depiction of Shibuya and what life is there, I recommend it to anyone interested in music and Japan (as I am).
Thanks again to the author of the book for sending me a copy of his work, I truly appreciated it !!
I picked it because it promised an epic music adventure and a quest to Japan. And I was not disappointed.
Shibuya Nemesis is a very atmospheric book to me. Its descriptions are useful to imagine and visualize what Shibuya might look like. To me, the testimony of the Shibuya ambiance through our main character is true to life. It makes the reader travel easily to Japan and the energetic energy of Shibuya. We feel lost in there as much as Josh is at the beginning of the book. We slowly navigate through it just like him and that's great.
Characters wise, they are all very likeable and the reader is able to connect with them in an instant. And as a character-driven reader, it's perfect. I also liked Josh's development and his relationship with Scurvy who's such a cute character !!
All in all, I quite liked this book even though I was not a massive fan of the slow pace. I liked the depiction of Shibuya and what life is there, I recommend it to anyone interested in music and Japan (as I am).
Thanks again to the author of the book for sending me a copy of his work, I truly appreciated it !!
October 4, 2021
Shibuya Nemesis
Author: Alex Lund
Published: 2019
Pages: 232
Fiction
This was a story about Josh, an introvert yet had a passion that would later exposed him on the stage as a guitarist.
Josh was a "half", whose mother was a Japanese. He was going to be 20 years old, yet got no idea of what he might want to major in the university.
By then he stayed in a holiday with his brother and then met Naomi, Emi, Keita, and the path was then going on into his exterior as well as interior journey.
This isn't a book for whomever wants an adrenaline rush. Reading this book, you may get to know a bit about how an introvert living his life, how he has to adapt to the outside world and its challenge. You might also enjoy here and there the depiction of Japanese stuffs: actually, I enjoyed this better than when reading about the characters.
Another you'd get would be some insight into how a band was created.
I wish the potential conflicts among the band members got more space. I also wish the story could be more twisted some chapters before it ended.
Anyway, this book has had me want to have my own band :)
Author: Alex Lund
Published: 2019
Pages: 232
Fiction
This was a story about Josh, an introvert yet had a passion that would later exposed him on the stage as a guitarist.
Josh was a "half", whose mother was a Japanese. He was going to be 20 years old, yet got no idea of what he might want to major in the university.
By then he stayed in a holiday with his brother and then met Naomi, Emi, Keita, and the path was then going on into his exterior as well as interior journey.
This isn't a book for whomever wants an adrenaline rush. Reading this book, you may get to know a bit about how an introvert living his life, how he has to adapt to the outside world and its challenge. You might also enjoy here and there the depiction of Japanese stuffs: actually, I enjoyed this better than when reading about the characters.
Another you'd get would be some insight into how a band was created.
I wish the potential conflicts among the band members got more space. I also wish the story could be more twisted some chapters before it ended.
Anyway, this book has had me want to have my own band :)
August 18, 2020
From the first page,you get hooked.You wanna know what's gonna happen next,how is Josh going to handle what's right infront of him.It is engaging,simple,relatable kinda everyday things.It's life and we are doing it with Josh.The author doesn't want us to miss a single step in Josh's journey to the top.The hurdles along the way that were surmountable.The passion that he and Scurvy had,brought and kept them together.It was written in the stars that the Top of Tokyo is where he belongs.
August 12, 2020
The book has a fluid, easy and engaging narrative. Even For a non-english speaker
The strong point is certainly the development of the main character - Josh. The commitment to character is impressive and drive the reader into an amazing journey through world of Shibuya.
A good book and the best I read this year. Really surprising.
The strong point is certainly the development of the main character - Josh. The commitment to character is impressive and drive the reader into an amazing journey through world of Shibuya.
A good book and the best I read this year. Really surprising.
August 6, 2020
As soon as I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down. I love how descriptive the scenes were, it was like I was really there. I loved the journey it took me with the rise to fame of the main character. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.
May 13, 2020
Excellent book!!!
October 12, 2020
It was a really great book. And the characters and their relationships are good too. I really want to visit Shibuya after reading it.
November 27, 2020
Many thanks to booktasters and Alex Lund for providing me with a copy of his amazing work. The author's talent for descriptive writing made it easy for me to see Shibuya in my mind as if I've actually been there. He has successfully fueled my long time interest to visit Japan.
The main character (Josh) whose rise to greatness is seen in the book makes me wish all aspiring artists with exceptional talent can find someone like Scurvy as a mentor and a helper.
The main character (Josh) whose rise to greatness is seen in the book makes me wish all aspiring artists with exceptional talent can find someone like Scurvy as a mentor and a helper.
October 6, 2020
I really liked this book. It really didn't have much of a plot but there was a really interesting read here anyway. The description of life in modern day Tokyo and the contemporary music culture was absorbing. This isn't my usual sort of story but I have to say that I really enjoyed it and it gave me the itch to visit there when I can one day. Looking forward to reading another by this author.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews