I started reading this novel with high hopes that it was going to be an interesting, clever read. Unfortunately, I was not impressed and felt that I could not relate to the novel. The Sushi Prophecies was trying too hard to fit into this hipster niche. It was like those coffee shops that call themselves hipster, but they try too hard and it is not very authentic. That is what reading this novel felt like. The characters were underdeveloped and it was difficult to finish this book. The author himself, August Hill, sounds like an interesting person and I would much rather read about his travels and experiences with people. It was as if he tried to hard to write a novel that everyone else would write. I hope that his next novel will be more sincere and maybe even about his life. He has good potential as a writer, but this book might be more of a stepping stone to that masterful novel.