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lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Lovely quick read, but really not much more unless you are a K-Pop Fan i think.
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Like a k-drama episode that goes down easily
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Cute characters, but overall, it felt very high school and cliché. Fun at times, but not super memorable.
Characters: 3⭐
Characters: 3⭐
Setting: 4 ⭐
Plot: 2 ⭐
Emotional impact: 2 ⭐
Overall enjoyment : 2,5 ⭐
= 2,7
Bonus - Reread potential: no
= 2,5 ⭐
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I could rave about this book for paragraph after paragraph! ASAP surpassed my expectations, I loved it even more than XOXO. Second chance romances have recently taken the top spot for my favorite tropes, ASAP being a huge reason for this. From the first chapter, there is so much tension and chemistry between the two main characters—and of course there is, after their devastating break up, which we see the effects of on Sori as early as in XOXO.
The romance between Sori and Nathaniel is written extremely well, their story is full of pining and yearning for one another—despite how much they try to hold back, they can't help but be pulled to each other. Every moment we see between them, even small interactions, shows exactly why they love each other and how good of a match they are. No one knows them better than each other and you don't doubt it for a second.
One of the things I love the most about ASAP is how well-rounded the story is without feeling like it's too much or too little information. Axie Oh manages to balance equal focus on Sori's character development, the importance of her friendships, her relationship with her mother, and her decision to follow a career that feels right for her. My only complaint of XOXO was that this balance felt a little off when it came to her relationship with her mother or friendship with Sori.
Her unwavering love for her mother is so important to me. Sori is unbelievably strong and has gone through so much, but not once does she ever express resentment towards her mother—especially for asking her to break up with Nathaniel. She expresses how bad she feels for her, how much she misses her, how much she respects and reveres her. She tries everything she can to make her mother's life easier, to support and care for her, even when it's breaking her own heart.
I wish I could just write about every single detail of this book, but I have to at least mention how Axie Oh wrote Sori's trauma after being attacked and chased by paparazzi. It's such a real depiction of PTSD, and we see her relive it everytime she has an encounter with cameras and flashes. It's a thoughtful touch to her character, really showing how much effort Oh put into her novel.
ASAP can be read as a standalone if you're only interested in Sori and Nathaniel's story, but I highly, highly recommend reading XOXO first as it sets up the story and Sori's character arc in ASAP. You also get a huge insight into her when she was going through the worst of the breakup and how she healed & made the friends we see in the second book.
The romance between Sori and Nathaniel is written extremely well, their story is full of pining and yearning for one another—despite how much they try to hold back, they can't help but be pulled to each other. Every moment we see between them, even small interactions, shows exactly why they love each other and how good of a match they are. No one knows them better than each other and you don't doubt it for a second.
One of the things I love the most about ASAP is how well-rounded the story is without feeling like it's too much or too little information. Axie Oh manages to balance equal focus on Sori's character development, the importance of her friendships, her relationship with her mother, and her decision to follow a career that feels right for her. My only complaint of XOXO was that this balance felt a little off when it came to her relationship with her mother or friendship with Sori.
Her unwavering love for her mother is so important to me. Sori is unbelievably strong and has gone through so much, but not once does she ever express resentment towards her mother—especially for asking her to break up with Nathaniel. She expresses how bad she feels for her, how much she misses her, how much she respects and reveres her. She tries everything she can to make her mother's life easier, to support and care for her, even when it's breaking her own heart.
I wish I could just write about every single detail of this book, but I have to at least mention how Axie Oh wrote Sori's trauma after being attacked and chased by paparazzi. It's such a real depiction of PTSD, and we see her relive it everytime she has an encounter with cameras and flashes. It's a thoughtful touch to her character, really showing how much effort Oh put into her novel.
ASAP can be read as a standalone if you're only interested in Sori and Nathaniel's story, but I highly, highly recommend reading XOXO first as it sets up the story and Sori's character arc in ASAP. You also get a huge insight into her when she was going through the worst of the breakup and how she healed & made the friends we see in the second book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders
3.75
the marketing team wasn’t joking when they said this was a literally a k-drama romance on the trope list at the back of the proof they gifted me. this book somehow perfectly encapsulated everything you’d watch in a k-drama centring end of high school/start of college age kids. i felt every second of the second hand embarrassment, the tension between sori and nathaniel, the angst and just crazy mishaps. this book is perfect for those who love k-dramas (or even those who haven’t) and ya contemporary romances. sori and nathaniel had so much chemistry i didn’t expect it. there was definitely a degree of the found family trope and i really liked how this was a continuation of XOXO (i haven’t read it but i might depending on my mood this year). there was such a massive cast of characters that it was so easy to find favourites among them (Sun was such a fun character, i do wonder if axie plans to write him his own book and if it would be more of an upper-ya book because of his being 21). the relationship between sori and her mother was one that i related to a lot, not the wealth of course but the ways in which being essentially a single mother means that you end up depending on each other. it can definitely feel like it’s you two against the world a lot of the time.
however, the writing did feel too young for my personal preferences which is why i can’t rate this a 4 star. the tone and writing style is definitely targeted more towards 14-16 year olds as a ya novel but that doesn’t mean older readers, such as myself who definitely wasn’t the target audience in terms of age, can’t read this book and enjoy it. i found that both the main and sub-plots were tied up in a slightly rushed manner and back-to-back at the end, so i do wish we had gotten to see a proper sorting out of them individually as we got closer to the end but they weren’t dealt with in a horrible way which would’ve made me enjoy it a lot less.
whilst there were times were i didn’t feel the desperate urge to stop everything i was doing to read it, once i did pick up where i left off, i would end up binge reading. in fact, i ended up reading this book in a total of 3 sittings over the span of two days so you definitely can’t say it’s not engaging book.
the marketing team wasn’t joking when they said this was a literally a k-drama romance on the trope list at the back of the proof they gifted me. this book somehow perfectly encapsulated everything you’d watch in a k-drama centring end of high school/start of college age kids. i felt every second of the second hand embarrassment, the tension between sori and nathaniel, the angst and just crazy mishaps. this book is perfect for those who love k-dramas (or even those who haven’t) and ya contemporary romances. sori and nathaniel had so much chemistry i didn’t expect it. there was definitely a degree of the found family trope and i really liked how this was a continuation of XOXO (i haven’t read it but i might depending on my mood this year). there was such a massive cast of characters that it was so easy to find favourites among them (Sun was such a fun character, i do wonder if axie plans to write him his own book and if it would be more of an upper-ya book because of his being 21). the relationship between sori and her mother was one that i related to a lot, not the wealth of course but the ways in which being essentially a single mother means that you end up depending on each other. it can definitely feel like it’s you two against the world a lot of the time.
however, the writing did feel too young for my personal preferences which is why i can’t rate this a 4 star. the tone and writing style is definitely targeted more towards 14-16 year olds as a ya novel but that doesn’t mean older readers, such as myself who definitely wasn’t the target audience in terms of age, can’t read this book and enjoy it. i found that both the main and sub-plots were tied up in a slightly rushed manner and back-to-back at the end, so i do wish we had gotten to see a proper sorting out of them individually as we got closer to the end but they weren’t dealt with in a horrible way which would’ve made me enjoy it a lot less.
whilst there were times were i didn’t feel the desperate urge to stop everything i was doing to read it, once i did pick up where i left off, i would end up binge reading. in fact, i ended up reading this book in a total of 3 sittings over the span of two days so you definitely can’t say it’s not engaging book.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
FADE TO BLACK - SECOND CHANCE
this was a very cute sequel! I'm ready for the rest of the books for the XOXO boys!!! This series is very enjoyable and low maintenance lol
this was a very cute sequel! I'm ready for the rest of the books for the XOXO boys!!! This series is very enjoyable and low maintenance lol