Home

Home is one those novels that I hoped to fall in love with but I didn’t. I’m a sucker for cute Japanese guys so this automatically went to my wish list. One of my friends from TFG gave this to me and I immediately read it last December.

Home by Kat Santos

Kindle Edition, Flipside Publishing, 122 pages
Chick Lit, Romance

Read from December 18 to 19, 2012

When 23-year-old Maya got herself a one-way ticket to Japan, she had only one thought in mind: Gemini. Never mind her family’s disapproval, the low-paying job she had just accepted, the cramped apartment she was going to live in, all the bowls of instant ramen she would subsist on; she had to meet her favorite band, see them play live. Most of all, she wanted to see him. The lead guitarist. Shin.

Three months later, she is penniless, still friendless, and haunted by the comforts of home. Then she meets him, swathed in the smoke of his menthol Luckies, thrumming an imaginary guitar. In the empty parking lot of a little club in Shibuya—this is where the aftermath of a dream begins.

 

Home‘s story is promising. However, I feel like I really didn’t know the characters because their backstories are very vague. I’m a Chick Lit girl but romance is not enough to sweep me off my feet. Character build up is important for me and that had been a factor why I had trouble loving Home. Everything in the story seems like in a bubble. It focused more in how they had a relationship and didn’t touch any of the character’s personal lives. The personalities of the characters are just the surface and they’re a bit two-dimensional.

I find it hard to relate with Maya because even after reading the novel I still don’t know her. Fine, she’s maybe a Filipina though it was never confirmed in the novel, she refuses to give specifics whenever Shin asks her personal questions. I never knew the “Maya” before she came to Japan. She doesn’t call her family and in the months Shin and her are together, she didn’t even once mentioned them. Yes, there are bits and pieces but nothing concrete. She’s a mystery to me from start to finish.

In all honesty, Home has a potential. It could have been more. Adding Shin’s POV in the story is okay (it’s nice getting in the head of the guy at times) but it would have been better if the author stick with Maya’s POV or a split POV in every chapter. In addition, it would have worked if Kat added depth to the story.

I don’t know if it’s just me but I find the writing patterned after shojou and josei mangas. Even the one-sentence dialogues, the development of their relationship, the problems and the situation. I’ve read my fair share of mangas, often times shojou and josei, so I can’t shake off the similarities. There’s nothing wrong with it. My only sentiment is that Santos should have owned it. It was a nice idea but if she injected her own style and mixed it with a few chick lit formula, Home would have rocked.

In general, it was okay. I was having a Rorouni Kenshin hangover when I read Home. Seriously, I’ve been wanting to read this because I’m utterly fascinated with drop-dead gorgeous Japanese Rock Stars. Thanks to Tina, I finally laid hands on it.

Mediocre: I can tolerate it but I want more!

Other Reviews:
Clara In Cubao
Coffee, Books & Me

Challenges:

Book # 195 of 2012

Blurb and Cover Photo: Goodreads
Book Copy: Owned (Gift from Tina)