Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn
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| Picture Credit - http://www.dianarenn.net/tokyo.html |
I had borrowed this book on a whim when I was at the library looking for some novels (as opposed to graphic novels), and this one caught my attention (probably because the word Tokyo was in it).
Here's a summary -
"Sixteen-year-old Violet is thrilled when her father's new painting commission means a summer trip to Japan. But what starts as an exotic vacation quickly turns sour when a priceless sketch by van Gogh is stolen from her father's client and held ransom for a painting by the artist. The problem is that nobody knows where the painting is hidden, and until they find it, all their lives are in danger.
Joined by her friend Reika, Violet searches for the missing van Gogh in a quest that takes her from the Seattle Art Museum to the yakuza-infested streets of Tokyo to a secluded inn in Kyoto. As the mystery deepens, Violet's not sure whom she can trust. But she knows one thing: she has to find the painting and the criminals--before it's too late." (http://www.dianarenn.net/tokyo.html)
I started off really enjoying the main character Violet, probably because I could connect with her in a few ways. Mainly our shared interest in manga. The story continues and I felt things began to get slightly cliche. Within the first fifty pages of the book we are introduced to Violet's heartthrob and her newfound rival - who is already someone she despises. I feel that this love-triangle was more of a side show. Something placed into the book to give Violet a more 'sixteen-year old girl' vibe. The love triangle didn't come up very often and while it was integrated nicely, it almost seemed out of place.
There was also lots of cultural parts of Japan that found their way into the book, baka, yakuza, kimono, chikuso, chikara, and ganbatte, to name a few. I found it confusing how at some points the author would explain what the words meant, but in other places the Japanese word was placed with only vague context clues to decipher the meaning. Another part is when Violet tells a Japanese character how thankful she is to him, he replies with douzo, which according to my Japanese class translate to 'here you go'. This confused me greatly. Another part that irked me to a huge extent is how Violet would often be referred to as 'Violet-chan'. The word chan is typically used for girls the age of 10 and under. Not for a sixteen year old girl.
On the other hand, I felt that the author had done a nice job incorporating Japanese culture. The presence of kimonos, yukatas, and even a festival were flawlessly inserted (though, I'm not sure how accurate this is considering that I have yet to travel to Japan). The author even included Pocari Sweat which I thought was a nice addition to the Japanese experience Violet is experiencing. I especially like the 'bridge' theme that was subtly present throughout the book, which was seen in more ways than one. Especially when it came to bridging two cultures together.
This author also had a large presence of time skips, which I found to be surprising the first time I had encountered it, since I hadn't seen a clear time skip like that in a published book. Now, I wouldn't be all too affected by the time skips if they didn't keep changing format. Sometimes the time skip was determined by an pretty swirl, other times it was determined by three skipped lines and the next three words in all caps. I did not appreciate that. The caps lock was both slightly harsh on the eye and also difficult to maneuver. I had to do a double take the first time I saw that time skip, since it was not a flawless transition.
Minute details aside, I found this to be an intriguing book. I am not a mystery reader and ended up being just as confused as Violet (though, she is less confused about it than I am). The characters were complex, from the bad guys, to the good guys, the neutral guys, and then the people who just can't seem to make a decision. This book definitely kept me hooked, I had finished reading it in 24 hours, but I think I did skim over the parts I didn't understand without trying to put an effort into understanding it. There also were places where so much information was piled onto the reader, it made a confusing story.
The resolution was rushed. The main part was solved, but then the real problem was set into place. While the rest of the book was relatively slow (but not slow enough to lose the reader), the resolution was fast-paced with lots of information coming and leaving within a couple pages. The concept in itself was intriguing in itself. I found it really cool, and the story subtly within a story was a cool touch.
Overall, I found it to be a cool book. Concept was great even though the execution was lacking. It'd be four out of five stars. It definitely inspired me though. Both to draw my own stuff, and I think it gave me some more excitement for my upcoming trip to Japan.
