First Contact

Tokyo Academy #1

by Karin De Havin

She’s about to enter a world she never knew existed

Seventeen-year-old artist, Erin Van Horn, accepts a dare from her best friend, Tori, and wins a coveted spot as an exchange student at a prestigious Tokyo academy.

Once in Japan, Erin struggles to learn the culture and deal with her quirky host family, whose son is an Elvis impersonator. To make things even more challenging, Tori snuck a crazy to-do list in her backpack.

All she has to do is find a rock star boyfriend, apprentice under a famous Japanese artist, and visit Tori's long-lost relatives to find out what's hidden in the family closet.

But Erin has a much bigger problem than her host family or Tori’s to-do list. From the very first day she set foot in Japan, a ghost has been following her. It repeatedly whispers a message, “Stop it!” But what is she supposed to stop? The ghost won’t tell her.

Now what is she supposed to do?

Find out if Erin can learn how to juggle life in Japan with a ghost in book one of An Urban Fantasy Series by author Karin De Havin

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

118 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 21, 2020

Reviews

[Jess Frankel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a DNF job for me. I got about halfway through before giving up. Poor formatting, punctuation, and misuse of Japanese in romaji--she writes 'hanshimasu' instead of "hanashimasu' (the verb meaning 'to speak/talk')--as well as other mistakes, cultural errors--Kenzo takes our heroine's hand the first time he rescues her at a kiosk...and the list goes on.

Physical contact really doesn't happen on a first meeting unless it's at a nightclub (and even then, it's pretty rare) but because Kenzo is considered cute by our heroine--a stereotypical blonde--well, sure thing.

The novel's premise is good enough--enjoy life in Tokyo, fulfill a living bucket list of sorts, and our heroine--Erin van Horn, a preppy, whitebread name if ever there was one--is clued out. Then there's a ghost chasing her, more preppy girls, Valley Girl speak, and...I gave up. It isn't totally terrible, but it seems to draw upon other, better work that used better dialogue and a better narrative. This novel didn't.

Can't be bothered to start the sequel.

[Scarolet Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tokyo Academy-First Contact Book One by Karin De Havin is such a wonderful story to read. This is book number one in this wonderful start to a brand new series written by a brand new author for me to read. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about fantasy and paranormal romance.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erin wins a scholarship to Seda Academy in Japan for a year. She ends up with a very unusual host family and many weird things that happen in her first term there. This first book is mainly about the people she meets and her school life. I did laugh out loud when she washes her clothes. I received an arc and the views and opinions are my own

[Gen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I NEED MORE BACKGROUND

I received this ebook for free after signing up for the Author's Newsletter. I'm still trying to figure out why a blond teenage girl from Ohio USA who moved to Tokyo to attend an Academy started to hear the Ancestors of people in a country on which she's a guest.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost in translation.

Not much paranormal. The story revolves around an Idaho girl getting a scholarship to a Japanese academy. She is quite unprepared.