The Adventures of Raven Darling

Lessons learned in Tokyo

Fiction - Womens
128 Pages
Reviewed on 04/22/2019
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Deanna R Sweeney for Readers' Favorite

The Adventures of Raven Darling by Lára Dawn Michelsen is a story about a young girl who left her life behind after high school in order to travel the world. She lives as a free spirit, exploring one country after another and earning money for her travels by writing about her adventures. She meets people on her travels but is hesitant to get attached. She knows she will have to say goodbye once it is time to move on to the next destination and goodbyes are difficult. She is very much at war with herself. On the one hand, she wants to be a free spirit and travel the world. On the other hand, she feels lonely and finds herself missing her friends, family, and the possibility of a long-term romantic relationship.

As someone who has always dreamed of dropping everything and traveling the world, I found this story to be very interesting. It sounds like a romantic idea but Raven’s experiences shed a light on the difficulties that accompany the dream. Despite the carefree life she seems to live, I can’t help but feel sorry for Raven. The storyline was fluid and easy to follow. The characters all had their own unique quirks which made them believable. The character interactions were engaging with occasional bits of humor which made them entertaining. Overall, The Adventures of Raven Darling by Lára Dawn Michelsen is a well written and enjoyable read.

Deborah Lloyd

Raven Darling has always had a dream of traveling around the world. A few days after her college graduation, she announced she was leaving in three days for a year-long adventure. This story begins three years later, as she is still traveling and now has arrived in Tokyo. Her desire to learn Japanese was strong and her plan to stay in the city for three months made it a viable goal. Upon her arrival at the near-empty hostel, she received a message from her ex-fiance, Ian, who lived in London. Although filled with mixed emotions, she forged ahead with her plans to study the language, make new friends and enjoy her time in the large city. In The Adventures of Raven Darling: Lessons Learned in Tokyo, written by Lára Dawn Michelsen, Raven’s problems multiply as she makes some misguided decisions.

This book is a quick read and engages the reader from the first page to the last. It illustrates the challenges for young people who decide to have a traveling adventure. The emotional side of Raven’s dream is varied and rich in detail, as she makes decisions damaging to her lifelong friendships back home, walking away from an engagement and making temporary relationships. There are many other characters in the story, including her family members, her ex-fiance and new friends, of both sexes, found in Tokyo. Each character is well described and can easily be pictured by the reader. Author Lára Dawn Michelsen has written an interesting novel in The Adventures of Raven Darling: Lessons Learned in Tokyo – an intriguing read.