José Daniel Alvior’s Seven Days in Tokyo is a delicate, emotionally intelligent novel that explores the ephemeral beauty of a chance romance set against the enchanting backdrop of a Tokyo spring. With prose as soft and wistful as cherry blossoms falling in the wind, this is a debut that leans into mood and atmosphere over plot, offering an immersive and melancholic meditation on desire, belonging, and impermanence.

Where the novel truly shines is in its sensory detail and lyricism. Alvior renders Tokyo with a dreamlike precision, from the scent of rain on pavement to the warmth of sunlit ramen shops. There’s a poetic stillness to the storytelling, as if each scene is a Polaroid that Louie clings to before it fades.

That said, the pacing can be languid, and readers craving a stronger narrative arc or deeper character development may feel slightly underfed. Louie’s emotional descent into idealisation and the blurred lines between hope and fantasy are convincingly drawn, but Landon remains somewhat opaque. This imbalance occasionally dulls the emotional payoff, leaving their relationship just out of full reach.

Still, Seven Days in Tokyo is a tender, gracefully written debut that captures the universal longing for connection, especially in liminal spaces, between countries, between relationships, between past and future. Like its setting, it’s both grounded and fleeting, a quiet romance that lingers in the heart long after the last page.

Perfect for fans of: Call Me By Your Name, Before Sunrise, or lovers of atmospheric, emotionally resonant travel romances.

Tokyo being on my bucket list of places to go was what drew me to this book. I enjoyed the writing making me feel like I was there.
I struggled to get into the romance of the book but once I did I throughly enjoyed it.

DNF at around 50%. For a book so short I should really finish it, but I sadly have no interest.

This wasn't quite what I expected, I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters didn't like the romance. Some of the descriptions of the setting were beautiful, but I found myself disappointed by the overall story.

May be for some, just not one for me.

so much depth and messiness packed into such a small book wow

thank you so so much to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book!

i’ve decided after reading lots of other readers’ thoughts about this book that what didn’t work for some was exactly what made me love this as much as i did. landon and louie are drenched with nuance and complexity and i found it easy to become entirely absorbed into their dynamic and indecent desires

beyond that, this felt like a love letter to tokyo, coffee, food, and the double edged sword that is feeling a sense of belonging. thought this is an overdone comparison, testimonials hit the nail on the head by comparing their bond with one another and those that surround them as sally rooney-esque. there were so many absolutely stunning lines and passages to mark and revisit

i thoroughly enjoyed this!! will be looking out for any future works from josé daniel alvior

This was a beautiful book—but definitely not your standard romance. It leans way more into literary fiction territory, and it’s less about falling in love than it is about the quiet ache of wanting more than someone is willing (or able) to give. If you’ve ever found yourself way too emotionally invested in a situationship that left you spiraling over every text message—yeah, this one will hit.

Our main character, Louie, is stuck—stuck in a long-term relationship that doesn’t light him up anymore, and haunted by a fleeting, emotionally-charged one-night stand with a British expat named Landon. Instead of letting it go (as one probably should), Louie does what the heart sometimes stupidly demands: he follows Landon all the way to Japan, under the very thin excuse of “well, my visa status is uncertain anyway, might as well travel.” Chaos? Maybe. Relatable? Worryingly so.

What unfolds is less a love story and more a beautifully written meditation on loneliness, disconnection, and the fragile hope that someone else might fill in the blanks you can’t seem to fill yourself. Louie spends seven days sightseeing, yearning, and slowly coming to terms with the fact that to Landon, he was just a moment—but to Louie, that moment felt like everything.

So no, not much happens. There are no big plot twists or sweeping romantic gestures. Just a man wandering foreign streets, searching for meaning in subway stations, coffee shops, and half-conversations. And yet, it works. The descriptions of Japan are lush and intimate—I genuinely felt like I was walking those city streets alongside Louie, half in love, half falling apart.

I also really resonated with the quieter emotional undercurrent, especially as someone who’s done the expat thing. There’s something about being in a place where you don’t quite belong—physically or emotionally—that this book captures with painful accuracy.

That said, one slightly odd detail: the repeated commentary about face masks. Louie seems baffled by them in a way that’s a little jarring now, post-COVID. I assume the book was written before the pandemic, but it did feel a bit dated—especially for readers now used to masks being part of daily life.

Ultimately, this is a sad story with a sad ending—but also a beautiful one. It’s not about happily-ever-afters, but about what it means to reach for love when you’re unsure of your own footing. It explores the spaces between romantic connection and emotional survival, and the bittersweet reality that sometimes the people who make us feel most alive are never really ours.

Come for the longing. Stay for the prose. Maybe cry a little.

Seven Days in Tokyo by José Daniel Alvior is a quiet, emotional story about love, longing, and figuring things out while in a new place. I liked the writing—it’s poetic without trying too hard—and the way Tokyo is almost like a character itself.

Some parts felt slow, and the romance didn’t always click for me, but overall it’s a thoughtful, beautifully written read that stayed with me.

🌸 BOOK REVIEW 🌸

Synopsis: Landon's living alone in Tokyo as a British 'expat', Louie's visiting while he anxiously waits for approval on his US visa. Against the backdrop of a misty Tokyo Spring, their precious time together is spent wandering into side streets and coffee shops, sharing unmade beds and plates of food. But as the days tick by, Louie's expectations start to overtake reality and he falls too deeply for a life that's not yet his.


Review: Wow, what an incredible debut! Easily one of my favourite reads of the year so far. Character-based story with an unlikeable MC who has travelled internationally to meet up with a former one night stand. I agree that it is a lyrical, immersive portrait of how some things, however beautiful and profound, are destined to be as short-lived as the cherry blossoms.

5/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. This was a lot in a short(ish) book.

This is just the tiniest slice of the life of Louie’s life, but we follow him as he explores Tokyo, reconnects with his one-night stand, Landon, the charming English teacher who has made Tokyo home, and searches for the most magical of artisanal flat whites. Louie is such a well fleshed out person, and we see more of him with each connection he makes, from his friend the former hairdresser, to his messy, besotted, not entirely well thought out, longings for Landon.

So we start with Cherry Blossom season, and how beautiful and brief it is, and that is echoed in all of the rest of the story. There is an amazing sense of impermanence, and transience in belonging and relationship and place. Louie is originally from Manilla, but lives and works in New York, and sees it as a distinct place he belongs separate to the rest of the US. There is an ache of waiting for official permission to be in the place you call home. And this is more resonant now than it might have been when this book was being written. While the love interest seems to be the focus of most of the blurbs, what really struck me was some of the more subtle uncertainty and inequality in moving and living internationally.

Tokyo features as a major character, with comparisons made to similarities in New York. It creates a translation between the two big cities to help Tokyo feel more alive and understandable to people familiar with New York, but it worked in reverse for me, as I have a lot more familiarity with Tokyo than New York. While the love interest is the reason for the trip to Tokyo, this book gives so much more.

i wasn’t too sure about this one going into it & based on other reviews but i actually really liked it! quite a short & both sweet and bitter story, i read it quite quickly

if you’re looking for a love story with a happy ending, this is not it - what it is, is a heartbreaking and relatable story of the life’s what ifs, the potential loves of your life you meet along the way and the issues that expats / immigrants face trying to obtain visas for a place that is already their home!

definitely unlike anything i’ve read before but i enjoyed it! the only thing that kind of gave me a bit of an ick is the fact that pretty much every character in this book was either cheating/being cheated on or in an open relationship but feeling guilty about it?? dunno, just thought it was kind of odd and definitely not the way that i’ve read those relationships in other books before!

thanks to unbound & netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review ahead of the book’s publication date!

Seven Days in Tokyo is a dreamy love story about a brief fling that leaves a lasting impact. Set against the vibrant city of Tokyo, the book follows Louie as he reconnects with Landon after one perfect night. The writing tries to be poetic and emotional, but the constant switches between past and present can be confusing. The romance itself doesn’t fully land since Landon isn’t very likeable and it’s hard to understand why Louie is so drawn to him. Still, there are some beautiful lines and a few touching moments about love, loss, and the feeling of being in the right place at the wrong time. A mixed read, but it may speak to anyone who’s ever held onto a short but powerful connection.

Japan has always been high on my list of places to visit and this novel has certainly backed up that desire. The sense of place is perhaps the most striking thing about the novel – the author makes us feel like we are walking the streets with Louie and Landon.
The novel follows Louie as he visits Landon, a man he shared a night with in New York, in Tokyo where Landon lives and works. Both men are immigrants – Landon, a Brit working in Japan; Louie, Filipino working in New York and visiting Japan while his work visa is sorted out.
I was quite interested actually in the visa aspect of the story as I have gone through similar matters in the past. I also think it served well to juxtapose onto Louie’s life that sense of the ‘temporary’. His affair with Landon is temporary, his status in the USA is temporary, even his long-term partner seems somewhat temporary. There is a feeling that everything in his life has that temporary quality and perhaps it’s why he reaches for something more with Landon.
The relationship between Landon and Louie unravels across the course of the seven days, and Alvior is very clever in how he incorporates the cherry blossom season into the novel – they bloom for a couple of days and then suddenly they are gone. It’s very much a metaphor for the relationship which, in the early stages of the novel, is characterised by a kind of halcyon lust and infatuation.
The novel brilliantly captures the concept of fleeting moments versus the budding seeds of something. Louie is clearly more enamoured with Landon than vice-versa, and it is the casual cruelty of Landon that keeps the book grounded in reality. In amongst all of the idyllic location descriptions, and the nostalgic meet-ups with old friends, there is the uber-real exploration of a relationship, or lack thereof.
While we may not like Landon in particular, he does feel real, as do all of the characters and this is less a narrative and more of a character study of two people seeing very different things in the person standing opposite them. I don’t think there’s a person on earth who hasn’t had the exact same experience at some point in their life.
In honesty, I can’t say what I disliked about the book, but I also couldn’t strictly say that it was an incredible read that I couldn’t put down. Like Landon and Louie’s relationship, it felt temporary in a way where people will either love it or feel largely disinterested. I fall somewhere in the middle.

My thanks to Unbound Firsts, via NetGalley for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest reivew.

Seven Days in Tokyo is a captivating and heartwarming journey through the vibrant streets of Japan’s capital. The author paints Tokyo with vivid detail, blending culture, romance, and self-discovery into a beautifully paced narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters’ emotional depth and the subtle humor that lightened even the more poignant moments. A delightful read that left me wanting more.

Thanks to Unbound for this e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion! Seven Days in Tokyo was pitched as a romance, but it really wasn't - it was more literary fiction and very introspective so I feel like my expectations for what I was getting into might not have been aligned correctly. That said, the storytelling felt a little choppy. There were some interesting moments and elements about the story we were following - the promise and let down of going to Tokyo, underscored by our main character's visa challenges, but I didn't feel like they ever really paid off because we never got quite deep enough with them. I did really enjoy getting to experience wandering Tokyo through the eyes of this character!

Seven Days in Tokyo is a quiet and introspective romance that sings with longing and shyness and human connection. In their debut, José Daniel Alvior bestows the story of Louie, a Filipino man awaiting his visa renewal in Tokyo, and Landan, a British expat with a coffee connoisseur tendency from his storied past. In just seven days (duh), their reunion shines with naïve love, hope, yearning, and a slowly unfolding love story. Alvior's light-handed touch to prose and dialogue perfectly suits Louie and Landan's tender, burgeoning love. It is lyrical and simple at the same time, a lovely mirror to the lyrical simplicity of Tokyo, which becomes a character of its own here.

However, I feel like a little 'oomph' was required in the pace just to develop the pair's relationship a little quicker. I found myself yearning for more, although perhaps that was the author's MO all along. I also thought there was perhaps a little too much of Tokyo embedded in here – it may exclude those who haven't visited the city, as the references are rather niche. Also, I had to knock a star off because I hated the random mention of how terrible a Chinese-American character was for no reason aside from their accent? Weird flex.

I really enjoyed the Tokyo setting in this story having recently been there, but unfortunately struggled with the story more broadly. I didn't feel the characters and their romance was believable - perhaps not enough development for them – and I didn't think the narrative arc was particularly strong. It's an easy read, and I like his writing style but sadly it just didn't deliver for me. I usually love a story with a quiet plot, but with these types of books, I need to be invested in the characters.

Slow, languid, emotive, descriptive, I could feel myself sinking into this book, time stilling.
Having been lucky enough to have visited both New York and Tokyo I enjoyed the descriptions of both of them.
It reminded me of a winding road with a junction at the end, and I was left to decide which way to turn.
Unusually but compelling 8nnits own way.

This was such a beautiful and unique read, it had me immersed right away with its vivid scenery and characters.

happy belated pub day!

seven days in tokyo is a gentle, introspective novel that explores the quiet ache of longing and the complexity of human connection. josé daniel alvior tells the story of louie, a filipino man passing time in tokyo while waiting for a visa renewal, and landon, a british expat from his past. over the course of a week, their brief reunion becomes a slow unraveling of hopes, misalignments, and unspoken truths.

the writing is subtle, with tokyo not just as a setting but as a mirror to the characters’ inner worlds—beautiful, distant, and full of quiet possibility. alvior’s style is delicate, favouring mood and character over plot, making this a thoughtful read for anyone drawn to stories of identity, memory, and what remains unsaid.

that said, it hurt to see how easy it is to chase someone even when they’re clearly not right for you and louie was no exception.

*thank you to netgalley for providing an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

It was decent but not as intriguing or impactful as I imagined it might be. Still solid, though. I'm sure some people will be more into it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (4/5)
Lush, reflective, and immersive. This story unfolds slowly, like a walk through the city itself—full of discovery, longing, and quiet magic. José Daniel Alvior evokes Tokyo vividly, creating a love letter to place, time, and unexpected connection.