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Gaijin
The Japanese word gaijin means "unwelcome foreigner." It's not profanity, but is sometimes a slur directed at non-Japanese people in Japan. My novel is called Gaijin...======
242 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2021
4 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Z. Sleeper
1 book11 followersSarah Z. Sleeper is an ex-journalist with an MFA in creative writing. Gaijin is her first novel. Her short story, “A Few Innocuous Lines,” won an award from Writer’s Digest. Her non-fiction essay, “On Getting Vivian,” was published in The Shanghai Literary Review. Her poetry was published in A Year in Ink, San Diego Poetry Annual and Painters & Poets, and exhibited at the Bellarmine Museum. In the recent past she was an editor at New Rivers Press, and editor-in-chief of the literary journal Mason’s Road. She completed her MFA at Fairfield University in 2012. Prior to that she had a twenty-five-year career as a business writer and technology reporter and won three journalism awards and a fellowship at the National Press Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
September 5, 2020
This book was interesting in showing the history of Okinawa to the rest of Japan but this isn't a history or travel book it's a supposed novel. The book read slowly once you get to the 30% mark and you find out the main character, Lucy is a huge flake which makes the story unbearable.
August 3, 2020
The prologue of this novel opens with a promising lure which is backed up by the first few chapters. The writing is crisp and fast paced and the initial setting up of the story grabbed my interest. Unfortunately, this wasn’t sustained and a small portion of the blame can be attributed to the blurb not matching the story, to the point of leaving me wondering what book I was actually reading.
I’ll address the location first, where the blurb states that the character embarks on a three-month quest across Japan. In actuality, she moves to Okinawa, which is a Japanese prefecture comprising more than 150 islands in the East China Sea between Taiwan and Japan’s mainland. This distinction matters because Okinawa is not just another part of Japan and the cultural experience is vastly different. Indeed, upon her arrival in Okinawa, tensions are at boiling point between local Okinawans and the Americans who live there on the military bases. A teenager from Tokyo has accused an American serviceman of rape and this has in turn activated protests about the ongoing American military presence on the island. Lucy, the main character, as a journalist working at an Okinawa newspaper (not trekking about Japan as inferred, nor is she a budding journalist straight from university, but rather she was a graduate who had been working as a journalist in Chicago) becomes privy to the case. Lucy’s experiences in Okinawa from the outset are not positive, and she is constantly reminded by those around her that Okinawa offers the most un-Japanese Japanese experience. We, as readers, are then given reason after reason to find this place abhorrent. The anti-Japanese sentiment that seeps through these parts of the story is uncomfortable and almost gave me cause to abandon the novel. As the story continues, it swings from being anti-Japanese to anti-American without ever settling on a stance. In a novel set in a place that is seething with racial discord, I felt like it never really revealed its position, which is to its detriment as there was a lot of potential for digging into these relations and the history of the island, which in all honesty, would have done much to raise my interest levels in the story.
The blurb also states that Lucy’s Japanese ‘lover’ Owen disappears, and this provides the motivation for her relocation to Okinawa. Far from her lover, Owen is a young man Lucy developed an obsessive crush on, with the exchange of an awkward kiss, a Japanese tea ceremony, and a penned Haiku all that actually lay between them. Hardly the basis for an international move. Frankly, I thought it a rather baseless springboard for a plot. The more we learn about Owen, via Lucy insensitively ingratiating herself with his brother, the more bizarre Lucy’s obsession is revealed to be. Her realising that for herself later on offered no real redemption for the plot and the ‘twist’ about Owen fell flat. A plot driven by love is never my favourite, but it’s a whole lot more credible than a plot driven by a made-up one-sided relationship.
But wait, there’s more. Moving on from the misrepresentations in the blurb, it’s in these next two points that my real issues with the book lie. I wasn’t aware that the US had a present-day military presence in Okinawa, but they do and there is a myriad of problems that come from it. In particular, the high rate of sexual assaults perpetrated by American servicemen against local women. Take a quick read of this:
‘She went on to say that eighteen percent of Okinawa’s land was in use by military bases, cordoned off by fences, where U.S. soldiers lived and worked. Anyone associated with U.S. forces can go in and out of the gates freely.
“Okinawans must stay outside the gates. If you look at it this way, you can see that all of Okinawa has essentially been handed to the U.S. military.”
“Handed to them?” I wanted clarification.
She took her time in responding. “Okinawa is an open target for those with evil intent. We are off the radar of many Japanese, who prefer to forget about us. We are off the world radar because we are so small and powerless.”
To my surprise, Hisashi spoke up. “She’s right, Lucy. Okinawa is exploited and ignored.”’
With an issue such as this, which is based on facts (you don’t have to dig deep into the research to uncover a lot on this topic), there was so much potential for this novel to be a real platform for raising awareness and valid discussion, yet this section quoted is at the 88% mark of the book. Everything to do with this issue is mentioned and glossed over in favour of concentrating on Lucy’s, quite frankly, very boring and delayed coming of age. The rape allegation at the beginning of the novel and the ramifications extending through to the court case just seemed to take a sidebar. Instead of being a political and social narrative, the novel seemed determined to drive itself into a very different and much less substantial pigeon hole. Clearly, the author had some interest in this issue as it provides the seeds of the story. I just can’t understand why those seeds weren’t given the chance to fully flourish.
And now we are at my final point of contention, although this last one is honestly the real reason behind my low rating. So, Lucy finds out that Owen, her imaginary lover, after leaving Chicago and returning to Tokyo, took himself to a place called ‘Suicide Forest’, an actual place located on the north-western flank of Japan’s Mount Fuji, and attempted suicide.
‘The rumour, he said, is that the forest is infected with sorrow down to the tree roots and the dirt. Some say the forest itself has taken on the pain of the people left there to die and that it holds their misery captive somehow, so a depressed person finds it easier to kill himself there.’
Similar to her obsession with Owen, she becomes obsessed with visiting the place, so much so, she pushes his brother to take her there. I will freely admit that this is a case of my own personal life experiences shadowing my opinions of a book, but the insensitivity of a person being pressed into a journey to the place where their sibling attempted suicide, like some pilgrimage, is so abhorrent, it beggars belief that anyone would even think of such thing, much less work it into the plot of a book. This entire section of the novel, where they actually hike into Suicide Forest, only to make a grisly discovery within, was nothing more than gratuitous macabre sensationalism. That this place exists is utterly tragic; it should not be used as a backdrop for entertainment.
I am so disappointed in this book which had the potential to be so much, yet delivered so little.
Thanks is extended to Running Wild Press for providing me with a copy of Gaijin for review.
I’ll address the location first, where the blurb states that the character embarks on a three-month quest across Japan. In actuality, she moves to Okinawa, which is a Japanese prefecture comprising more than 150 islands in the East China Sea between Taiwan and Japan’s mainland. This distinction matters because Okinawa is not just another part of Japan and the cultural experience is vastly different. Indeed, upon her arrival in Okinawa, tensions are at boiling point between local Okinawans and the Americans who live there on the military bases. A teenager from Tokyo has accused an American serviceman of rape and this has in turn activated protests about the ongoing American military presence on the island. Lucy, the main character, as a journalist working at an Okinawa newspaper (not trekking about Japan as inferred, nor is she a budding journalist straight from university, but rather she was a graduate who had been working as a journalist in Chicago) becomes privy to the case. Lucy’s experiences in Okinawa from the outset are not positive, and she is constantly reminded by those around her that Okinawa offers the most un-Japanese Japanese experience. We, as readers, are then given reason after reason to find this place abhorrent. The anti-Japanese sentiment that seeps through these parts of the story is uncomfortable and almost gave me cause to abandon the novel. As the story continues, it swings from being anti-Japanese to anti-American without ever settling on a stance. In a novel set in a place that is seething with racial discord, I felt like it never really revealed its position, which is to its detriment as there was a lot of potential for digging into these relations and the history of the island, which in all honesty, would have done much to raise my interest levels in the story.
The blurb also states that Lucy’s Japanese ‘lover’ Owen disappears, and this provides the motivation for her relocation to Okinawa. Far from her lover, Owen is a young man Lucy developed an obsessive crush on, with the exchange of an awkward kiss, a Japanese tea ceremony, and a penned Haiku all that actually lay between them. Hardly the basis for an international move. Frankly, I thought it a rather baseless springboard for a plot. The more we learn about Owen, via Lucy insensitively ingratiating herself with his brother, the more bizarre Lucy’s obsession is revealed to be. Her realising that for herself later on offered no real redemption for the plot and the ‘twist’ about Owen fell flat. A plot driven by love is never my favourite, but it’s a whole lot more credible than a plot driven by a made-up one-sided relationship.
But wait, there’s more. Moving on from the misrepresentations in the blurb, it’s in these next two points that my real issues with the book lie. I wasn’t aware that the US had a present-day military presence in Okinawa, but they do and there is a myriad of problems that come from it. In particular, the high rate of sexual assaults perpetrated by American servicemen against local women. Take a quick read of this:
‘She went on to say that eighteen percent of Okinawa’s land was in use by military bases, cordoned off by fences, where U.S. soldiers lived and worked. Anyone associated with U.S. forces can go in and out of the gates freely.
“Okinawans must stay outside the gates. If you look at it this way, you can see that all of Okinawa has essentially been handed to the U.S. military.”
“Handed to them?” I wanted clarification.
She took her time in responding. “Okinawa is an open target for those with evil intent. We are off the radar of many Japanese, who prefer to forget about us. We are off the world radar because we are so small and powerless.”
To my surprise, Hisashi spoke up. “She’s right, Lucy. Okinawa is exploited and ignored.”’
With an issue such as this, which is based on facts (you don’t have to dig deep into the research to uncover a lot on this topic), there was so much potential for this novel to be a real platform for raising awareness and valid discussion, yet this section quoted is at the 88% mark of the book. Everything to do with this issue is mentioned and glossed over in favour of concentrating on Lucy’s, quite frankly, very boring and delayed coming of age. The rape allegation at the beginning of the novel and the ramifications extending through to the court case just seemed to take a sidebar. Instead of being a political and social narrative, the novel seemed determined to drive itself into a very different and much less substantial pigeon hole. Clearly, the author had some interest in this issue as it provides the seeds of the story. I just can’t understand why those seeds weren’t given the chance to fully flourish.
And now we are at my final point of contention, although this last one is honestly the real reason behind my low rating. So, Lucy finds out that Owen, her imaginary lover, after leaving Chicago and returning to Tokyo, took himself to a place called ‘Suicide Forest’, an actual place located on the north-western flank of Japan’s Mount Fuji, and attempted suicide.
‘The rumour, he said, is that the forest is infected with sorrow down to the tree roots and the dirt. Some say the forest itself has taken on the pain of the people left there to die and that it holds their misery captive somehow, so a depressed person finds it easier to kill himself there.’
Similar to her obsession with Owen, she becomes obsessed with visiting the place, so much so, she pushes his brother to take her there. I will freely admit that this is a case of my own personal life experiences shadowing my opinions of a book, but the insensitivity of a person being pressed into a journey to the place where their sibling attempted suicide, like some pilgrimage, is so abhorrent, it beggars belief that anyone would even think of such thing, much less work it into the plot of a book. This entire section of the novel, where they actually hike into Suicide Forest, only to make a grisly discovery within, was nothing more than gratuitous macabre sensationalism. That this place exists is utterly tragic; it should not be used as a backdrop for entertainment.
I am so disappointed in this book which had the potential to be so much, yet delivered so little.
Thanks is extended to Running Wild Press for providing me with a copy of Gaijin for review.
August 22, 2020
Gaijin is about a young woman in a three month quest to Okinawa Japan.
As a promising journalism student at Northwestern University, she is determined to solve the mystery behind her lover’s disappearance.
What she finds in Okinawa is not the welcome she was expecting. Written in beautiful prose, in the backdrop of the beautiful land of the rising sun, your heart will break as we journey with Lucy to learn about the sentiments of the Japanese people.
This was an exquisite read sprinkled with charming metaphors, delicate poetry and haikus - a fabulous debut!
As a promising journalism student at Northwestern University, she is determined to solve the mystery behind her lover’s disappearance.
What she finds in Okinawa is not the welcome she was expecting. Written in beautiful prose, in the backdrop of the beautiful land of the rising sun, your heart will break as we journey with Lucy to learn about the sentiments of the Japanese people.
This was an exquisite read sprinkled with charming metaphors, delicate poetry and haikus - a fabulous debut!
July 31, 2020
‘You don't have to think about someone for him to be part of you. A person or memory just sits inside you and you have no choice about it.’
:
Lucy is studying Journalism, when she meets the handsome Owen Ota ,a new student from Japan. Their relationship soon flourishes into something beyond just friends. But when Owen disappears without a word or trace, heartbroken Lucy embarks on a quest to track him down across Japan.
When Lucy lands a job in Okinawa, she is soon faced with the reality that the Japan she thought she knew, was nothing like she had dreamt. She experiences first hand the barriers of being a gaijin, a Japanese slur, a foreigner in a country that is so culturally different. The odds are stacked against her. She soon learns that she can not just speak her mind, that honour and loyalty is as strong in the modern world as it was during the samurai era.
She witnesses the racial protests against the American military, and the sexism women still face.
While following Lucy on her Journey to Okinawa, we clearly see her transformation. Lucy starts off being naive but her experiences in Japan allow her to grow into a young lady that knows her own mind and finds her true calling.
Okinawa to the Aokigahara, the suicide forest of Mt Fuji.
I didn't know much about Okinawa before reading the book, but it made me curious, so I read up about the history of Okinawa and of Aokigahara. There are some loose facts that the author uses to build her story around. There is definitely scope here to delve deeper, especially with the events that transpire in the book and real life. But this would make this particular story completely different. It’s a light but enjoyable read.
:
Lucy is studying Journalism, when she meets the handsome Owen Ota ,a new student from Japan. Their relationship soon flourishes into something beyond just friends. But when Owen disappears without a word or trace, heartbroken Lucy embarks on a quest to track him down across Japan.
When Lucy lands a job in Okinawa, she is soon faced with the reality that the Japan she thought she knew, was nothing like she had dreamt. She experiences first hand the barriers of being a gaijin, a Japanese slur, a foreigner in a country that is so culturally different. The odds are stacked against her. She soon learns that she can not just speak her mind, that honour and loyalty is as strong in the modern world as it was during the samurai era.
She witnesses the racial protests against the American military, and the sexism women still face.
While following Lucy on her Journey to Okinawa, we clearly see her transformation. Lucy starts off being naive but her experiences in Japan allow her to grow into a young lady that knows her own mind and finds her true calling.
Okinawa to the Aokigahara, the suicide forest of Mt Fuji.
I didn't know much about Okinawa before reading the book, but it made me curious, so I read up about the history of Okinawa and of Aokigahara. There are some loose facts that the author uses to build her story around. There is definitely scope here to delve deeper, especially with the events that transpire in the book and real life. But this would make this particular story completely different. It’s a light but enjoyable read.
August 23, 2020
Lucy wanted to find a job at Japan. Then she got a job at Okinawa where Owen's brother work. She wanted to work there to find Owen, her 'lover' who left with no explanation. It was exhausting reading this story. From the start lot of things happening in a short time. Lucy was exposed to rape, sexual assault, sexism and racism against American. Goshh It's pretty scary to read this!
When I found out why Owen did that, I was like what the hell did I just read? I'm pissed off!! But this make me wanted to finish this book ASAP!
Japan is a beautiful place and I love their culture. I wanted to visit Japan one fine day.
Thank you Netgalley, publisher and author for Gaijin ARC!
When I found out why Owen did that, I was like what the hell did I just read? I'm pissed off!! But this make me wanted to finish this book ASAP!
Japan is a beautiful place and I love their culture. I wanted to visit Japan one fine day.
Thank you Netgalley, publisher and author for Gaijin ARC!
June 20, 2020
“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’s a story about people not accepting who you are and that sometimes cultural differences and society acceptance means too much. Especially in Japan, where person can be ashamed and dishonoured by the small things. It’s easy to find an enemy in those that are not like you, if the have different ethnicity, skin colour or orientation.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARCin exchange for my honest review.
“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’s a story about people not accepting who you are and that sometimes cultural differences and society acceptance means too much. Especially in Japan, where person can be ashamed and dishonoured by the small things. It’s easy to find an enemy in those that are not like you, if the have different ethnicity, skin colour or orientation.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARCin exchange for my honest review.
August 6, 2020
Lucy Tosch has returned to Northwestern after a year away, a break to recover from the sudden death of her beloved father, when she meets the magnetic and charming Owen Ota, a Japanese student with whom she falls deeply in love, her first real passion. Although Owen is demonstrably affectionate, he avoids intimacy, and after only two months at the university, he flies home.
Entranced by her lost love, Lucy alters her academic path to include a minor in Japanese studies, and as she covers education at the Chicago Sun-Times, she applies for countless jobs in Japan, finally landing one at Okinawa Week, where Owen’s brother, Hisashi, is the sole photographer. She’s sure working with him will provide a path back to Owen and renewing their relationship.
However, Okinawa is nothing like the Japan she expected – it’s hot, humid, crowded, noisy, and filled with people who are openly hostile to Americans. She and her hotel driver are caught in a protest on the way to her first day at the paper, and she realizes that perhaps she should just quietly resign and go home.
“I was miserable and scared and overwhelmed, but I wasn’t a quitter and after all, I was in the country I’d longed for.”
Nor is Hisashi a romantic prospect. After their first sake-soaked dinner, he asks her:
“Would you date a Japanese man?”
“I already have dated a Japanese man.”
Hisashi realizes Lucy is referring to Owen, and he graciously accepts that their relationship will stay firmly in the friend zone. He becomes her travel partner, ally, and on the few occasions she needs a defender, Hisashi is there — and later, his parents, who are fond of Lucy and welcome her to their home with genuine warmth.
Although she decides to stay and honor her commitment to Okinawa, she has a hard time adjusting to what an American calls “Divorce Rock” and spends her first weeks in a depressed, alcohol-infused haze, listening to Leonard Cohen and wondering how she ended upon the other side of the world. Her mother hen and coworker, Amista, repeatedly reminds her about “spouting off,” her American habit of expressing her thoughts automatically, and again Lucy wonders how she’ll adjust to this strange island.
But adjust she does. She reacts calmly when an interview subject expresses his deep hatred of Americans, including her, and she manages to keep her cool when a stranger is arrested for using a camera strapped to his shoe to film upskirt footage as she’s walking to a restaurant. However, when she “spouts off” in court, an observer screams that ultimate insult: “Gaijin!”
Sarah Sleeper has written a wondrous tale of a woman just starting to emerge from her cocoon and spreading her wings halfway across the world. As she grows accustomed to life in Okinawa and travels the country with Hisashi — especially when they visit Aokigahara, the Suicide Forest, which has touched both of them — she broadens her views of the world, of life and death, the meaning of family, coming to terms with one’s identity, finding your true cause, and listening for her father’s encouraging whispers in the winds. Initially a broken young woman grieving her father’s death, her mother’s withdrawal, and the sudden departure of the man she loves, she summons the courage to face her fears, defying all sensible advice, and embracing the truth when it comes her way. In these revelatory moments, Lucy finds herself not on Divorce Rock, but the beautiful subtropical island where she creates a family of her own, filled with friends who love her, and devotes herself to a cause that strikes deep in her heart. Her story is a tale of bravery, recovery, renewal, and life, and readers are privileged to travel alongside her.
Entranced by her lost love, Lucy alters her academic path to include a minor in Japanese studies, and as she covers education at the Chicago Sun-Times, she applies for countless jobs in Japan, finally landing one at Okinawa Week, where Owen’s brother, Hisashi, is the sole photographer. She’s sure working with him will provide a path back to Owen and renewing their relationship.
However, Okinawa is nothing like the Japan she expected – it’s hot, humid, crowded, noisy, and filled with people who are openly hostile to Americans. She and her hotel driver are caught in a protest on the way to her first day at the paper, and she realizes that perhaps she should just quietly resign and go home.
“I was miserable and scared and overwhelmed, but I wasn’t a quitter and after all, I was in the country I’d longed for.”
Nor is Hisashi a romantic prospect. After their first sake-soaked dinner, he asks her:
“Would you date a Japanese man?”
“I already have dated a Japanese man.”
Hisashi realizes Lucy is referring to Owen, and he graciously accepts that their relationship will stay firmly in the friend zone. He becomes her travel partner, ally, and on the few occasions she needs a defender, Hisashi is there — and later, his parents, who are fond of Lucy and welcome her to their home with genuine warmth.
Although she decides to stay and honor her commitment to Okinawa, she has a hard time adjusting to what an American calls “Divorce Rock” and spends her first weeks in a depressed, alcohol-infused haze, listening to Leonard Cohen and wondering how she ended upon the other side of the world. Her mother hen and coworker, Amista, repeatedly reminds her about “spouting off,” her American habit of expressing her thoughts automatically, and again Lucy wonders how she’ll adjust to this strange island.
But adjust she does. She reacts calmly when an interview subject expresses his deep hatred of Americans, including her, and she manages to keep her cool when a stranger is arrested for using a camera strapped to his shoe to film upskirt footage as she’s walking to a restaurant. However, when she “spouts off” in court, an observer screams that ultimate insult: “Gaijin!”
Sarah Sleeper has written a wondrous tale of a woman just starting to emerge from her cocoon and spreading her wings halfway across the world. As she grows accustomed to life in Okinawa and travels the country with Hisashi — especially when they visit Aokigahara, the Suicide Forest, which has touched both of them — she broadens her views of the world, of life and death, the meaning of family, coming to terms with one’s identity, finding your true cause, and listening for her father’s encouraging whispers in the winds. Initially a broken young woman grieving her father’s death, her mother’s withdrawal, and the sudden departure of the man she loves, she summons the courage to face her fears, defying all sensible advice, and embracing the truth when it comes her way. In these revelatory moments, Lucy finds herself not on Divorce Rock, but the beautiful subtropical island where she creates a family of her own, filled with friends who love her, and devotes herself to a cause that strikes deep in her heart. Her story is a tale of bravery, recovery, renewal, and life, and readers are privileged to travel alongside her.
August 3, 2020
Thank you so much to Running Wild Press for the copy of this lyrical debut from ex-journalist Sarah Sleeper! The plot, when looked at for the first time, seems like a fantastical journey that would take a lot of effort to relate to. However, even though the novel is mostly set in Japan and is rife with other customs and lifestyles that readers may not be familiar with, it is, at its core, a story about finding your way in this thing we call life. Who among us can’t relate to that struggle of thinking you’ve found your path, only to end up drowning on dry land? Sarah’s protagonist, Lucy, shows us, in an incredibly creative way, how it is a human trait we all share.
Lucy decides to search for Owen, a man of Japanese descent that she had been teaching who disappeared from her life. She uproots everything to move to Okinawa, which is in the middle of a crisis. Between this stress and find out some possibly horrific news about Owen himself, Lucy is crushed. Nothing is turning out as she planned, and it’s up to her to figure out what she’s really doing in Japan. Is she only trying to solve the mystery that is this man she thinks she loves, or is she on a greater quest to understanding that perhaps other cultures are not as mystifying or different as some would have us believe. She ends up learning that maybe we’re all gaijin in a way; muddling our way through life and never truly connecting with others, just passing like ships in the night.
This book was beautifully written, and you could clearly tell that Sarah has been practicing her craft for most of her life. It flows incredibly well and makes this story a very quick read, and an insightful one. It shows the strength and intensity of first love. It explores the pain and the beauty of growth and change. It holds the term ‘outsider’ close and turns it into something to be celebrated. It reminds you to keep going and to follow your heart, even when all seems lost. This novel is a sad but uplifting tale, and it was very fun to see a side of the world that I may never experience first hand.
Lucy decides to search for Owen, a man of Japanese descent that she had been teaching who disappeared from her life. She uproots everything to move to Okinawa, which is in the middle of a crisis. Between this stress and find out some possibly horrific news about Owen himself, Lucy is crushed. Nothing is turning out as she planned, and it’s up to her to figure out what she’s really doing in Japan. Is she only trying to solve the mystery that is this man she thinks she loves, or is she on a greater quest to understanding that perhaps other cultures are not as mystifying or different as some would have us believe. She ends up learning that maybe we’re all gaijin in a way; muddling our way through life and never truly connecting with others, just passing like ships in the night.
This book was beautifully written, and you could clearly tell that Sarah has been practicing her craft for most of her life. It flows incredibly well and makes this story a very quick read, and an insightful one. It shows the strength and intensity of first love. It explores the pain and the beauty of growth and change. It holds the term ‘outsider’ close and turns it into something to be celebrated. It reminds you to keep going and to follow your heart, even when all seems lost. This novel is a sad but uplifting tale, and it was very fun to see a side of the world that I may never experience first hand.
August 5, 2020
I had never heard the term, gaijin, before and it is used in two different ways in this story. By Owen, the mysterious boy that our story is centred around, who feels like a gaijin with his family and not really fitting in with society and family standards, and by the people that Lucy meets that describes the way they feel against the Americans (and any foreigners that live in Okinawa).
Lucy seems to be a cautious, reserved person who loves her studies. She falls hard for Owen – who seems full of life, with a kind heart and a beautiful smile. She imagines her whole life with this young man and you can imagine how devastated she was when he just up and leaves her with no explanation. Lucy struggles with this lack of closure, something that her friends and Mother does not understand. She makes a huge decision to travel as close to Japan and Owen as she could get – Okinawa. She is desperate for answers and closure.
I was not familiar with the history of Okinawa, which we are exposed to in this story. I did look up myself some of the history while reading this story as I had no idea how many American soldiers call this ‘home’ and the struggles the people have had that we are introduced into the novel. Lucy is exposed to rape, sexism, protests and anger against the Americans as she begins her career in journalism. Lucy arrives in Okinawa as a naive, innocent young woman who is determined to find Owen. She quickly grows emotionally, mentally as she is exposed to the culture and politics of Okinawa and the impact that the army has had on these people.
This was an excellent story from start to finish. While I had my suspicions of why Owen left, it was the growth of Lucy that I loved the most. She first left for superficial reasons (finding her lost love) but instead we see this great growth in her character. I loved every moment!
Lucy seems to be a cautious, reserved person who loves her studies. She falls hard for Owen – who seems full of life, with a kind heart and a beautiful smile. She imagines her whole life with this young man and you can imagine how devastated she was when he just up and leaves her with no explanation. Lucy struggles with this lack of closure, something that her friends and Mother does not understand. She makes a huge decision to travel as close to Japan and Owen as she could get – Okinawa. She is desperate for answers and closure.
I was not familiar with the history of Okinawa, which we are exposed to in this story. I did look up myself some of the history while reading this story as I had no idea how many American soldiers call this ‘home’ and the struggles the people have had that we are introduced into the novel. Lucy is exposed to rape, sexism, protests and anger against the Americans as she begins her career in journalism. Lucy arrives in Okinawa as a naive, innocent young woman who is determined to find Owen. She quickly grows emotionally, mentally as she is exposed to the culture and politics of Okinawa and the impact that the army has had on these people.
This was an excellent story from start to finish. While I had my suspicions of why Owen left, it was the growth of Lucy that I loved the most. She first left for superficial reasons (finding her lost love) but instead we see this great growth in her character. I loved every moment!
August 26, 2020
“𝙄 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙛𝙖𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚.”
This book was about a girl who moves to Okinawa, Japan to search for her lost love. She was thrilled to see Japan because of the beautiful things she knows about the country and the promising details her boyfriend have told her. Quite a turn of events when she realized there was more to it than cherry blossoms.
I really wanted to love this book because of the great potential it possessed, but sad to say it did not pull through. When i read the synopsis, it said it was just going to be a “quest” but once you start reading, it will immediately tell you that she actually moves to another country and not just visiting or going on a long trip.
Also, i was surprised with the outcome of this one and also disappointed because Japan is tainted in my brain now. This book not only talks about love but also talks about racial discriminations, social issues, and all other stuff with the said Asian country. Not to mention that the story started drifting off from the synopsis of this book. It felt like i was going into another story without actually changing the book. It could have been better.
It could still be okay for you, but definitely not for me. Anyway, happy reading, bookworms!
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙎𝘽 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.
This book was about a girl who moves to Okinawa, Japan to search for her lost love. She was thrilled to see Japan because of the beautiful things she knows about the country and the promising details her boyfriend have told her. Quite a turn of events when she realized there was more to it than cherry blossoms.
I really wanted to love this book because of the great potential it possessed, but sad to say it did not pull through. When i read the synopsis, it said it was just going to be a “quest” but once you start reading, it will immediately tell you that she actually moves to another country and not just visiting or going on a long trip.
Also, i was surprised with the outcome of this one and also disappointed because Japan is tainted in my brain now. This book not only talks about love but also talks about racial discriminations, social issues, and all other stuff with the said Asian country. Not to mention that the story started drifting off from the synopsis of this book. It felt like i was going into another story without actually changing the book. It could have been better.
It could still be okay for you, but definitely not for me. Anyway, happy reading, bookworms!
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙁𝙎𝘽 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.
August 6, 2020
Gaijin is someone who is foreign or an outsider. Lucy Tosch is a university student when heartthrob Owen Ota walks into the room. He is from Japan and becomes a bright star in Lucy’s life although he feels like a gaijin both at home and in the US. They date for about a month before Owen and his mother are called back to Japan and the communication with Owen basically stops. Lucy becomes obsessed with the Japanese culture and even changes her major. She eventually ends up working for a newspaper in Okanawa.
Okanawa is not what Lucy expected. There are protests against the US military being on the island, she has an event where her safety is compromised, and she knows Owen had something tragic happen in his life. She feels like the gaijin now.
Throughout the story, I was rooting for Lucy to run into Owen somewhere in her travels or to make a connection. We see Lucy grow in her understanding of differences in culture and in relationships. At first she wants to give up, but we also see her adjusting to a different way of life. The story also broadened my knowledge of Japanese culture.
Thank you to Running Wild Press and FSB Associates for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Okanawa is not what Lucy expected. There are protests against the US military being on the island, she has an event where her safety is compromised, and she knows Owen had something tragic happen in his life. She feels like the gaijin now.
Throughout the story, I was rooting for Lucy to run into Owen somewhere in her travels or to make a connection. We see Lucy grow in her understanding of differences in culture and in relationships. At first she wants to give up, but we also see her adjusting to a different way of life. The story also broadened my knowledge of Japanese culture.
Thank you to Running Wild Press and FSB Associates for the copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
July 15, 2020
Thank you to Running Wild Press and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
Available August 6th 2020
Set in modern day Okinawa, Japan, 20 something year old blonde haired wide eyed Lucy is taken for the adventure of her lifetime when she sets off to be a foreign correspondent and uncover the mystery behind her ephemeral love affair with Owen Ota, a rich Japanese exchange student at NorthWestern. When she arrives in Japan, however, Lucy is in for a rude awakening as the people of Okinawa are in the middle of a protest against a US Solider accused of brutally raping a local Okinawan resident. Unwittingly thrust into the middle of racial tensions in her small town, Lucy starts to question her own motives in coming to Japan.
What strikes me the most is Lucy's constant claim to victimhood. She is always "misunderstood" by the Ota family, by her peers at the local newspaper, by the general public. She inherently believes that as an American citizen, she would be welcomed anywhere with open arms and cannot believe it when she isn't.
I did more reading on the history of sexually violent crimes by US military in Okinawa. In the 1950s, when occupation of Okinawa just began, conservative Japanese historians estimates that there were 330 sexual assault incidents per day by US military forces in the Far East. Since 2015, 65 US Marines have been charged with sexual assault crimes, though many more go unreported. 46 of those targeted children. In most of these trials, the US military members are given significant considerations due to their status. In light of these facts, Sleeper's portrayal of the court case seems almost superficial and pallid.
What is disappointing about this book is that Sleeper had a real chance at creating a cohesive work that explores the underside of US military occupation, that creates solidarity between Okinawans and the US. But she instead chooses to focus on the plight and naivety of a single, class and racially privileged white woman.
Available August 6th 2020
Set in modern day Okinawa, Japan, 20 something year old blonde haired wide eyed Lucy is taken for the adventure of her lifetime when she sets off to be a foreign correspondent and uncover the mystery behind her ephemeral love affair with Owen Ota, a rich Japanese exchange student at NorthWestern. When she arrives in Japan, however, Lucy is in for a rude awakening as the people of Okinawa are in the middle of a protest against a US Solider accused of brutally raping a local Okinawan resident. Unwittingly thrust into the middle of racial tensions in her small town, Lucy starts to question her own motives in coming to Japan.
What strikes me the most is Lucy's constant claim to victimhood. She is always "misunderstood" by the Ota family, by her peers at the local newspaper, by the general public. She inherently believes that as an American citizen, she would be welcomed anywhere with open arms and cannot believe it when she isn't.
I did more reading on the history of sexually violent crimes by US military in Okinawa. In the 1950s, when occupation of Okinawa just began, conservative Japanese historians estimates that there were 330 sexual assault incidents per day by US military forces in the Far East. Since 2015, 65 US Marines have been charged with sexual assault crimes, though many more go unreported. 46 of those targeted children. In most of these trials, the US military members are given significant considerations due to their status. In light of these facts, Sleeper's portrayal of the court case seems almost superficial and pallid.
What is disappointing about this book is that Sleeper had a real chance at creating a cohesive work that explores the underside of US military occupation, that creates solidarity between Okinawans and the US. But she instead chooses to focus on the plight and naivety of a single, class and racially privileged white woman.
July 31, 2020
Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...
Here is a brief summary of Gaijin by Sarah Z. Sleeper.
The Japanese word gaijin means "unwelcome foreigner." It's not profanity, but is sometimes a slur directed at non-Japanese people in Japan.
Lucy is a budding journalist at Northwestern University and she's obsessed with an exotic new student, Owen Ota, who becomes her romantic interest and her sensei. When he disappears without explanation, she's devastated and sets out to find him. On her three-month quest across Japan and Okinawa, she finds only snippets of the elegant culture Owen had described. Instead she faces anti-U.S. protests, menacing street thugs and sexist treatment, and she winds up at the base of Mt. Fuji, in the terrifying Suicide Forest. Will she ever find Owen? Will she be driven back to the U.S.? Gaijin is a coming-of-age story about a woman who solves a heartbreaking mystery that has altered the trajectory of her life.
When we think of Japan, we often think of grace and beauty, and Sleeper has represented that culture in a very poetic way. Gaijin is a coming of age story, perfectly appropriate for the adult reader as well as the young adult audience. Lucy is naïve as she sets out to Japan to find Owen, whom she considers to be her true love. She muses, “I clung to the notion that my dreams of the person and the place would match the reality.” As she begins her journey, she concedes, “I didn’t put it together then, the folly of searching for someone who didn’t want to be found, moving to a country I didn’t understand.” It is all a romantic dream. Luckily she has found a job and some fellow employees to aid her in her search—including Owen’s brother Hisashi.
She discovers thing about Owen that she wishes she had not known, including the idea that he might have committed suicide in the Aokigahara Forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. It is sometimes called the “suicide forest” because thousands of Japanese people go there to commit suicide every year. Luckily, he is still alive, but to tell more would be to spoil the plot. I first read about the suicide forest in the book The Three by Sarah Lotz.
The reader comes to a deeper understanding of the difference between realism and idealism when reading Gaijin. The plot is slender, but it enhances our understanding of a young woman who has a dream that she is unable to fulfill. Many of us have dreams that are unrealistic, and we come to admire how Lucy grows toward a more realistic understanding of herself as well as her understanding of Owen.
Gaijin is author Sarah Sleeper’s first novel after a career as a journalist. Here is her website. Like many writers, art imitates life, and she worked at a magazine in Okinawa, much like Lucy in the book. She says that she based her novel on the four years she spent in Japan, and on the challenges she faced in that country, including racism, sexism, and xenophobia.
This is a lovely little book, a quick but satisfying read.
Here is a brief summary of Gaijin by Sarah Z. Sleeper.
The Japanese word gaijin means "unwelcome foreigner." It's not profanity, but is sometimes a slur directed at non-Japanese people in Japan.
Lucy is a budding journalist at Northwestern University and she's obsessed with an exotic new student, Owen Ota, who becomes her romantic interest and her sensei. When he disappears without explanation, she's devastated and sets out to find him. On her three-month quest across Japan and Okinawa, she finds only snippets of the elegant culture Owen had described. Instead she faces anti-U.S. protests, menacing street thugs and sexist treatment, and she winds up at the base of Mt. Fuji, in the terrifying Suicide Forest. Will she ever find Owen? Will she be driven back to the U.S.? Gaijin is a coming-of-age story about a woman who solves a heartbreaking mystery that has altered the trajectory of her life.
When we think of Japan, we often think of grace and beauty, and Sleeper has represented that culture in a very poetic way. Gaijin is a coming of age story, perfectly appropriate for the adult reader as well as the young adult audience. Lucy is naïve as she sets out to Japan to find Owen, whom she considers to be her true love. She muses, “I clung to the notion that my dreams of the person and the place would match the reality.” As she begins her journey, she concedes, “I didn’t put it together then, the folly of searching for someone who didn’t want to be found, moving to a country I didn’t understand.” It is all a romantic dream. Luckily she has found a job and some fellow employees to aid her in her search—including Owen’s brother Hisashi.
She discovers thing about Owen that she wishes she had not known, including the idea that he might have committed suicide in the Aokigahara Forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. It is sometimes called the “suicide forest” because thousands of Japanese people go there to commit suicide every year. Luckily, he is still alive, but to tell more would be to spoil the plot. I first read about the suicide forest in the book The Three by Sarah Lotz.
The reader comes to a deeper understanding of the difference between realism and idealism when reading Gaijin. The plot is slender, but it enhances our understanding of a young woman who has a dream that she is unable to fulfill. Many of us have dreams that are unrealistic, and we come to admire how Lucy grows toward a more realistic understanding of herself as well as her understanding of Owen.
Gaijin is author Sarah Sleeper’s first novel after a career as a journalist. Here is her website. Like many writers, art imitates life, and she worked at a magazine in Okinawa, much like Lucy in the book. She says that she based her novel on the four years she spent in Japan, and on the challenges she faced in that country, including racism, sexism, and xenophobia.
This is a lovely little book, a quick but satisfying read.
January 29, 2022
This excellent novel by Sarah Z. Sleeper starts as a romance novel and becomes an exploration of moving to a new world that defies all expectations.
Lucy is a successful college student deeply affected by her father's death. When she meets Owen, a Japanese student with magnetic appeal, Lucy pursues her interests in all things Japanese...and Owen. But, she is proud and introverted, so her quiet, modest explorations of the young man are careful and caring. He and his mother suddenly return to Japan, and Lucy decides to follow.
She secures work with a newspaper on Okinawa and is struck to find how different contemporary Japan is from her vision. Although she continues to search for Owen, who is far more troubled than Lucy had imagined, she also comes to explore the actual Japan, where violence and sexual assault, the unwelcome military presence of American troops and protests against it, plague her days and mind. She slowly acclimatizes herself to the world as it is, not as she had imagined.
This delicate but powerful presentation of coming to terms with reality is what makes Gaijin so readable. This wonderful novel depends upon that familiar structure from romances and lets that kind of story bloom and uncovers how love and friendship depend upon risking everything to find out what is really there, who is really there. Lucy does this & is accompanied by Owen's brother. Her choice allows her to enhance her wisdom and the reader's about love, Japan, and being at home where one will never belong easily.
I loved this book and recommend it to people who like romances, and I also recommend it to people who want to live in places that would be new to them. The novel appeals to those who have been expatriates determined to make a foreign place a home.
Lucy is a successful college student deeply affected by her father's death. When she meets Owen, a Japanese student with magnetic appeal, Lucy pursues her interests in all things Japanese...and Owen. But, she is proud and introverted, so her quiet, modest explorations of the young man are careful and caring. He and his mother suddenly return to Japan, and Lucy decides to follow.
She secures work with a newspaper on Okinawa and is struck to find how different contemporary Japan is from her vision. Although she continues to search for Owen, who is far more troubled than Lucy had imagined, she also comes to explore the actual Japan, where violence and sexual assault, the unwelcome military presence of American troops and protests against it, plague her days and mind. She slowly acclimatizes herself to the world as it is, not as she had imagined.
This delicate but powerful presentation of coming to terms with reality is what makes Gaijin so readable. This wonderful novel depends upon that familiar structure from romances and lets that kind of story bloom and uncovers how love and friendship depend upon risking everything to find out what is really there, who is really there. Lucy does this & is accompanied by Owen's brother. Her choice allows her to enhance her wisdom and the reader's about love, Japan, and being at home where one will never belong easily.
I loved this book and recommend it to people who like romances, and I also recommend it to people who want to live in places that would be new to them. The novel appeals to those who have been expatriates determined to make a foreign place a home.
June 13, 2020
Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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.
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.
September 21, 2020
Review first published here: https://joyfulantidotes.com/2020/08/1...
To be honest, based on the blurb of Gaijin, I was expecting a simple love story. What I got instead was a book filled with depth and beauty. That includes the story of Lucy and Owen, the descriptions of Japan, and a quest to find the truth.
However, as I already mentioned, this book has dark elements. As much as I was intrigued by haiku and tea ceremonies, I also learned how difficult it is to be a foreigner in certain parts of Japan and the contempt toward the American army. This delve into Japanese culture also showed me how certain traditions can ensure that areas of the population are not accepted, and how sexism is still rife. However, these themes were all touched upon in a respectful way, bringing no disrespect to Japan and its people.
Gaijin is the perfect balance between telling an intriguing story but staying true to real-life situations.
To be honest, based on the blurb of Gaijin, I was expecting a simple love story. What I got instead was a book filled with depth and beauty. That includes the story of Lucy and Owen, the descriptions of Japan, and a quest to find the truth.
However, as I already mentioned, this book has dark elements. As much as I was intrigued by haiku and tea ceremonies, I also learned how difficult it is to be a foreigner in certain parts of Japan and the contempt toward the American army. This delve into Japanese culture also showed me how certain traditions can ensure that areas of the population are not accepted, and how sexism is still rife. However, these themes were all touched upon in a respectful way, bringing no disrespect to Japan and its people.
Gaijin is the perfect balance between telling an intriguing story but staying true to real-life situations.
July 10, 2020
Lucy, a student from Illinois falls for a Japanese man, Owen.
Lucy moves to Japan. In Japan, you stand out if you have blond hair. This book begins with a child's curiosity and focuses strongly on cultural perceptions and social rejection.
The story has themes such as obsession, sexual assault, suicide, and the cluelessness of military life.
Overall, I enjoyed the writing, especially, where the judge was startled and the courtroom silent.
It's easy to see how this young woman, Lucy, chose to escape the subtropical heat to sit along a seawall- a place of quiet contemplation.
It seems throughout life we react to the energy we put forth and we are often just scratching the surface.
I received this book through the generosity of Anna Sacca, Senior Publicity Manager with FSB Associates.
Lucy moves to Japan. In Japan, you stand out if you have blond hair. This book begins with a child's curiosity and focuses strongly on cultural perceptions and social rejection.
The story has themes such as obsession, sexual assault, suicide, and the cluelessness of military life.
Overall, I enjoyed the writing, especially, where the judge was startled and the courtroom silent.
It's easy to see how this young woman, Lucy, chose to escape the subtropical heat to sit along a seawall- a place of quiet contemplation.
It seems throughout life we react to the energy we put forth and we are often just scratching the surface.
I received this book through the generosity of Anna Sacca, Senior Publicity Manager with FSB Associates.
June 29, 2020
This was an enjoyable read, light in terms of speed to read it but not in terms of content. It touches upon themes like shame, suicide, sexual assault in an unusually gentle manner. The writer was quite adept at transporting the reader to the sweltering heat of Okinawa and portraying the cultural differences between the US and Japan.
It’s the story of an Illinois teenager who falls in love with a Japanese student and is inspired to move to Japan a few years later to experience the country he has brought to life for her. She finds more than just a culture shock when she arrives.
All in all, it is well written and engaging. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with copy in exchange for an honest review.
It’s the story of an Illinois teenager who falls in love with a Japanese student and is inspired to move to Japan a few years later to experience the country he has brought to life for her. She finds more than just a culture shock when she arrives.
All in all, it is well written and engaging. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with copy in exchange for an honest review.
July 23, 2020
𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐧 by Sarah Z. Sleeper thank you to @FSB Associates for the gifted copy
When Lucy goes on a trip to Japan, it’s with the intentions to find her lost lover, Owen. Instead she finds herself unwelcome and in difficult situations. This is a coming of age and discovery novel, while learning about ones self and a new country.
The author certainly knows how to write. The book is full of beautiful language that flows. You feel transported to Japan yourself. This is definitely a great read for anyone who is interested in Japanese culture. The writing is poetic, beautiful prose. It was difficult for me to get completely into the novel and I felt myself skimming at times. I am not a poetry fan because I always will choose an exciting plot over lovely language. This was also an interesting introspection in cultural assimilation and visiting an unfamiliar landscape and culture.
Gaijin comes out 8/1.
When Lucy goes on a trip to Japan, it’s with the intentions to find her lost lover, Owen. Instead she finds herself unwelcome and in difficult situations. This is a coming of age and discovery novel, while learning about ones self and a new country.
The author certainly knows how to write. The book is full of beautiful language that flows. You feel transported to Japan yourself. This is definitely a great read for anyone who is interested in Japanese culture. The writing is poetic, beautiful prose. It was difficult for me to get completely into the novel and I felt myself skimming at times. I am not a poetry fan because I always will choose an exciting plot over lovely language. This was also an interesting introspection in cultural assimilation and visiting an unfamiliar landscape and culture.
Gaijin comes out 8/1.
August 1, 2020
Lucy meets a Japanese student, Owen Ota while studying journalism. Their relationship grows until one day, Owen just disappears.
So, Lucy is determined to find him and travels to Japan. She finds a job in Okinawa and begins her search.
It’s here she finds the real Japan and its culture but she is a gaijin, a foreigner.
Gaijin is a beautifully written tale of cultural and racial differences, but it’s also about acceptance and history (sometimes brutal) too. In Japan, Lucy grows, she finds who she really is. It’s full of emotion and stunning descriptions of Japan itself. A thoughtful and thought provoking read.
Thank you to Anna at FSB Associates for an eARC of Gaijin. This is my honest and unbiased review.
So, Lucy is determined to find him and travels to Japan. She finds a job in Okinawa and begins her search.
It’s here she finds the real Japan and its culture but she is a gaijin, a foreigner.
Gaijin is a beautifully written tale of cultural and racial differences, but it’s also about acceptance and history (sometimes brutal) too. In Japan, Lucy grows, she finds who she really is. It’s full of emotion and stunning descriptions of Japan itself. A thoughtful and thought provoking read.
Thank you to Anna at FSB Associates for an eARC of Gaijin. This is my honest and unbiased review.
August 7, 2020
Gaijin reads like the diary or personal journal of an American woman who’d fallen in love with a Japanese and went looking for him in Japan when he suddenly disappeared.
I was looking forward to reading about the wonderful culture and places of Japan from an American’s creative point of view. I was disappointed therefore when the first two things to be mentioned were the suicide forest and the rape of a young Japanese girl. I’ve seen a documentary about the suicide forest and it’s real and utterly depressing.
The writing is good but this book is just not for me at the present time.
Thank you NetGalley and The publisher for the review copy. This is my honest opinion.
I was looking forward to reading about the wonderful culture and places of Japan from an American’s creative point of view. I was disappointed therefore when the first two things to be mentioned were the suicide forest and the rape of a young Japanese girl. I’ve seen a documentary about the suicide forest and it’s real and utterly depressing.
The writing is good but this book is just not for me at the present time.
Thank you NetGalley and The publisher for the review copy. This is my honest opinion.
October 13, 2023
I found this book to be intriguing. Lucy is a complex individual in that she comes off weak yet has strong opinions.
I think this book would make a great discussion whether in a book club or a class. Gaijin to me, meant one who does not fit in. Lucy definitely felt this through out the book. Another topic for discussion would be the “personality” of Lucy. At one moment she is weak and needs male protection and the next she is bold with questions and boarders on rude in the Japanese way.
I really liked this book. Well done Sarah Z. Sleeper!!!😁
I think this book would make a great discussion whether in a book club or a class. Gaijin to me, meant one who does not fit in. Lucy definitely felt this through out the book. Another topic for discussion would be the “personality” of Lucy. At one moment she is weak and needs male protection and the next she is bold with questions and boarders on rude in the Japanese way.
I really liked this book. Well done Sarah Z. Sleeper!!!😁
October 2, 2020
WARNING The synopsis of this book mentions Suicide Forest - this could be a trigger for many people.
This started like so many first time novels - simplistic and over metaphored but it did improve. I did not like the main character who was such a typical annoying American.
I'm guessing this is a small independent press but there were some annoying formatting and homonym errors that should have been picked up.
This started like so many first time novels - simplistic and over metaphored but it did improve. I did not like the main character who was such a typical annoying American.
I'm guessing this is a small independent press but there were some annoying formatting and homonym errors that should have been picked up.
January 19, 2022
Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Gaijin by Sarah Z. Sleeper. I have always wanted to go to Japan and have taken classes learning the language and about the culture and history. My cousin was even stationed in Okinawa and I questioned him all about it and what it was like. I really thought this was a beautiful book and we'll written.
January 19, 2022
Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Gaijin by Sarah Z. Sleeper. I have always wanted to go to Japan and have taken classes learning the language and about the culture and history. My cousin was even stationed in Okinawa and I questioned him all about it and what it was like. I really thought this was a beautiful book and we'll written.
July 27, 2020
This title will be out on Saturday August 1. If you're a fan of Japanese culture and enjoy a good coming of age story, give it a try. It's a small book, easy read, probably a summer beach read.
My Review
My Review
August 7, 2020
I really liked the angle of this novel, focusing on Okinawa as less an island paradise and more a place fraught with real social problems. The story itself was also intriguing and the writing expressive without being overbearing. Great book for anyone interested in Japan too.
September 20, 2020
3.5 stars really, but just because I wanted to smack some sense into the main character for most of the book. I guess we were all young and stupid once. It was a sweet sad story overall.
May 18, 2021
Good read! I loved the lyrical language and appreciated how seamlessly the author wove the tidbits about Japanese culture into the narrative.
December 2, 2022
Heart-wrenching at times. A view of Asian culture that I did not expect. The characters bloomed as the story developed.
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