As a fan of Jenny Han’s The Summer I Turned Pretty and the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Netflix series, I knew Emiko Jean was one of those authors people keep recommending, so I was very excited to read her new book, Love Me Tomorrow.
The book follows seventeen-year-old Emma Nakamura-Thatcher who doesn’t believe in love, especially not after her parents’ bitter divorce. So when she attends the festival of Tanabata, her wish is simple: proof that love is real and can last.
Emma thinks little of her wish. . . . until she finds a note from someone claiming to be her greatest love writing to her from the future. It has to be a prank, right? But as the notes pour in, each revealing secrets only she knows, Emma is forced to accept the impossible: this is really happening. Someone is actually reaching out to her from across time.
But who? Ezra, the musical prodigy who makes her pulse race? Theo, the literal boy next door who’s known her since childhood? Or Colin, the overly confident, overly handsome, overly rich kid she meets while cleaning his mega-mansion? As Emma races to uncover the identity of the letter writer, she’ll discover that love is more than real—it’s the most powerful force in the universe. And it’s been waiting for her all along.
When I opened the book, I immediately drew a little heart next to the dedication: “For all the girls who don’t believe love can last.” It was clear from the handwritten love letters and this dedication that Jean was tailoring this book to her known rom-com lover demographic. Personally, I think finding a rom-com, whether a movie or a binge-read, is quite easy. It’s having the reader’s attention throughout that’s difficult, as was the case for me for Love Me Tomorrow.
Jean has a knack for writing authentic characters who are more than book characters, which is a precious trait to have as an author. I really enjoyed seeing how she captured Emma’s POV with her stream of consciousness writing to mimic what a 16-year-old would actually think. From the awkwardness of teen friendships to first crushes, Jean captures the rom-com lightheartedness that most romcom lovers look for when trying to escape reality.
I thought the time-travel in this book was intriguing, as we see Emma try to figure out who her secret admirer is. However, the stakes weren’t high enough for me to really care about who the secret admirer was or cheer for one character in particular. I thought I would be picking a team, but I gravitated more towards the female friendships and relationships Emma has, instead of cheering for her love story. As a letter writer myself, I felt the transition of classic love letters to emails was interesting. It felt like Jean was trying to accomplish something, and I got lost in this transition.
Regardless, Love Me Tomorrow satisfies the rom-com craving and is somewhat of a binge read, especially for those seeking to try something new, like a new author or trope. Love Me Tomorrow can be read on its own, but for those who want more of Emma, they’ll be excited to hear this is a duology with the sequel tentatively scheduled for Spring 2027. Happy reading!
Love Me Tomorrow is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up Love Me Tomorrow? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of Tokyo Ever After comes “an endearing, lightly magical romantic comedy” (Kirkus Reviews) about a girl who starts receiving letters from the love of her life—writing to her from years in the future.
What if your true love could write to you from the future?
Seventeen-year-old Emma Nakamura-Thatcher doesn’t believe in love, not after her parents’ bitter divorce. So when she attends the festival of Tanabata, her wish is simple: proof that love is real and can last.
Emma thinks little of her wish. . . . until she finds a note from someone claiming to be her greatest love writing to her from the future. It has to be a prank, right? But as the notes pour in, each revealing secrets only she knows, Emma is forced to accept the impossible: This is really happening. Someone is actually reaching out to her from across time.
But who? Ezra, the musical prodigy who makes her pulse race? Theo, the literal boy next door who’s known her since childhood? Or Colin, the overly confident, overly handsome, overly rich kid she meets while cleaning his mega-mansion?
As Emma races to uncover the identity of the letter writer, she’ll discover that love is more than real—it’s the most powerful force in the universe. And it’s been waiting for her all along.
