Emiko, Chieri Uegaki
Emiko, Chieri Uegaki
List: $12.99 | Sale: $9.10
Club: $6.49

Emiko

Author: Chieri Uegaki

Narrator: Emily Shelton

Unabridged: 9 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tundra Books

Published: 06/10/2025


Synopsis

A sweet and savory YA romance, this modern-day Japanese-Canadian twist on Emma is just the recipe for fans of Jenny Han, Jane Austen and Gilmore Girls. A busybody foodie avoids questions of her own future as she meddles in the love lives of those around her. Has this matcha-maker met her match?

Self-declared matchmaking GENIUS Emiko Kimori has already found success by helping her aunt find true love, so when the new girl in town becomes her new BFF, it's only natural for Emiko to help set her up for social success with a suitable love match.

Emiko lives with her Ojiichan in a small town on BC's West Coast surrounded by friends and neighbors, including her childhood friend Kenzo Sanada, who wishes she’d spend less time playing matchmaker. But Emiko can so clearly see who belongs together, even when her targets don't know it themselves. She simply has to meddle — for the sake of true love!

As for her own romantic life though . . . who has time for that? Emiko is far too busy with her matchmaking schemes, her brunch recipes, volunteering, her bustling social life, keeping up her grades, eating said brunch recipes and making plans for after graduation. Plans she will absolutely decide on soon. Definitely. Maybe? But when Emiko ends up falling for the last person she expects, she finds herself caught in the tangled web of her own love matches. For the first time, instead of arranging from afar, Emiko has to figure out what it means to be in love herself, and that friendship and romance are more complicated than she ever imagined . . .

About The Author

CHIERI UEGAKI is a second-generation Japanese Canadian, award-winning author. Her beloved picture books include Suki’s Kimono; Rosie and Buttercup; Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin, which won the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Illustration; and Ojiichan’s Gift, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Award winner. Emiko marks her YA debut. She lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ava ౨ৎ on July 20, 2025

Dnf at 35 pages 🎀🧸🫧 I’m not going to do a full review, but this was… terrible. I’ll start with what I didn’t like about it. ⤷ The writing style felt like a middle grade books trying to be YA while still being extremely boring. The dialogue was so unnatural and he characters acted like characters in tho......more

Goodreads review by Lauren | Wordsbetweenlines on July 06, 2025

This was a slower paced, meandering romance. I loved all the Japanese references, the food, the language, the culture and the diverse representation. I found the story slow and the plot left me wanting more. It has lots of little storylines with friend and family and matchmaking and coming of age de......more

Goodreads review by Arisha on May 23, 2025

I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review I’m excited to write this review because I have quite a few thoughts. Ok so first, I need to talk about the romance aspect. I found the entire book really cute (friends to lovers is so underrated) but to be......more

Goodreads review by Literary on March 09, 2025

A charming retelling of Jane Austen's Emma, geared to MG/teen readers. I absolutely loved it and Janeites of all ages will adore it too!......more

Goodreads review by Chasing on April 25, 2025

4.5🌟 A sweet and endearing YA/teen contemporary romance novel that explores a girl's relationships with friends, herself, and her grandfather. Emiko, a senior in high school, isn't quite sure what she wants to do once she graduates. What she does know is that she is one heck of a matchmaker! Just ask......more


Quotes

A Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Book for Kids and Teens, Fall 2025