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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
Bought this a long time ago and just got around to listening - not that great on audio, prob would have been better on paper
Eek, this one started off on really shaky ground: popstar Lucky takes sedatives and quickly/accidentally falls in with Jack on a whirlwind tour of Hong Kong. That felt uncomfortable to watch as a reader! In the end, it turned out to be an okay teen romance that capitalizes on K-Pop. Nothing spectacular. I felt Jack was borderline exploitative; felt sorry for Lucky, but glad she got a taste of normal life for a day. The ending felt too pat. It was cute. Fine. And I'm sad thinking about how different Hong Kong must be just a year after this was published.
Look, I would’ve read Maurene’s book regardless of what it was about. I remember when Maurene’s first book came out years ago and how unknown she was at first and then as soon as people realized that she’s just an absolute standout at contemporary romance. Every book that she releases just gets better and better than the one before. That is absolutely true of this one. The synopsis is so vague but as soon as I read it, I knew exactly what it was based on, one of my absolute favorite movies of all time, Roman Holiday.
Because I like RH so much, I think that attributed a lot to why I absolutely LOVED this novel. I recognized different pieces of the original movie retold in this fantastic book. I loved that it started in a similar way, that Lucky was so similar to Audrey Hepburn’s character, Ann, and Jack is so similar to Gregory Peck’s Joe but they also stand on their own. Its a fantastic twist on a movie that came out over 50 years ago and still remains a favorite, still remains a classic.
One big thing that I loved about the book was how its not just a love story between the two characters but a love story to the characters. I love a book that has the setting come to life, shows me places to visit and places to eat and makes me think that the person writing the book loves this place and the book distinctly feels like that. I felt like I was there and I’ve never ever been out of the country, besides Mexico, so it is a testament to Maurene’s writing. She makes China jump off the page and if I ever get to China, I want to plan it around Lucky and Jack’s adventures.
I’m also a sucker for a good romance, especially one built over an adventure like that. I think days like that are perfect for chemistry blooming. I also like fictional celebrities. There’s always this fascination with celebrities and what goes on in their lives and I love books where the main character is a singer or actress or a modern day princess or something like that. Its so fascinating to me and I really loved seeing Lucky like that and I loved her strive to be normal and I loved loved loved her connection with Jack. Their story was similar to Ann and Joe’s in that there were moments where it broke my heart but I liked that Jack and Lucky’s ending was different.
Straight up, I think Maurene is a powerhouse in young adult contemporary and I truly think that she only gets better and better as time goes on and she writes more books. She’s really become one of my instant buy authors because she writes these super relatable characters that are always so hugely stemmed in Korean culture and I just super appreciate all of it. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Because I like RH so much, I think that attributed a lot to why I absolutely LOVED this novel. I recognized different pieces of the original movie retold in this fantastic book. I loved that it started in a similar way, that Lucky was so similar to Audrey Hepburn’s character, Ann, and Jack is so similar to Gregory Peck’s Joe but they also stand on their own. Its a fantastic twist on a movie that came out over 50 years ago and still remains a favorite, still remains a classic.
One big thing that I loved about the book was how its not just a love story between the two characters but a love story to the characters. I love a book that has the setting come to life, shows me places to visit and places to eat and makes me think that the person writing the book loves this place and the book distinctly feels like that. I felt like I was there and I’ve never ever been out of the country, besides Mexico, so it is a testament to Maurene’s writing. She makes China jump off the page and if I ever get to China, I want to plan it around Lucky and Jack’s adventures.
I’m also a sucker for a good romance, especially one built over an adventure like that. I think days like that are perfect for chemistry blooming. I also like fictional celebrities. There’s always this fascination with celebrities and what goes on in their lives and I love books where the main character is a singer or actress or a modern day princess or something like that. Its so fascinating to me and I really loved seeing Lucky like that and I loved her strive to be normal and I loved loved loved her connection with Jack. Their story was similar to Ann and Joe’s in that there were moments where it broke my heart but I liked that Jack and Lucky’s ending was different.
Straight up, I think Maurene is a powerhouse in young adult contemporary and I truly think that she only gets better and better as time goes on and she writes more books. She’s really become one of my instant buy authors because she writes these super relatable characters that are always so hugely stemmed in Korean culture and I just super appreciate all of it. I can’t wait to see what she does next.
This book was okay. I feel like her other books are better then this one, but I still liked it. I feel like if you like K Pop, Korean Dramas, and the China/ Korea culture, you would like it more, since all those references confused me. But I did like the Aladdin one (I’m not sure if it was supposed to be, or if that’s the only thing I think about and put it into everything.)
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders
Pretty cute fluffy romance about a K-pop star and a photographer who fall in love when she sneaks out for a hamburger one night. But also has some good stuff about finding your dreams and figuring out your passion.
3 stars, and I’d specifically recommend this one to read if you enjoy fluffy (and maybe a little over the top) Korean dramas. There’s a particular aspect that bothered me at the start of this story, but otherwise, very cute, very sweet contemporary story.
A light a fluffy read, this book is something you’d read when you want to get a little giddy over a cute romance.
As an Asian-Canadian, I love seeing reps of different Asian countries in literature. I’ve also been incredibly obsessed with Kpop and knew I’d fall in love with this book.
Although it wasn’t my favourite book of all time, it was a fun and cute read.
I love how they dive into the negative aspects of Kpop, and the Kpop industry (such as exhaustion, starvation - which I found so depressing to read. I mean, the main character literally snuck out of her room at night just to find food to eat.)
I found this a lot in reviews, but this book does have Americanized main characters (I mean, both main characters, although residing in Korea, were basically raised in America) and although it wasn’t much of a bothersome to me because there was a bit of the Korean culture in there, like certain words and phrases, I do wish both - or at least one character was born and raised in Korea.
Other than that, I really did enjoy it. And there were moments that did make me laugh.
As an Asian-Canadian, I love seeing reps of different Asian countries in literature. I’ve also been incredibly obsessed with Kpop and knew I’d fall in love with this book.
Although it wasn’t my favourite book of all time, it was a fun and cute read.
I love how they dive into the negative aspects of Kpop, and the Kpop industry (such as exhaustion, starvation - which I found so depressing to read. I mean, the main character literally snuck out of her room at night just to find food to eat.)
I found this a lot in reviews, but this book does have Americanized main characters (I mean, both main characters, although residing in Korea, were basically raised in America) and although it wasn’t much of a bothersome to me because there was a bit of the Korean culture in there, like certain words and phrases, I do wish both - or at least one character was born and raised in Korea.
Other than that, I really did enjoy it. And there were moments that did make me laugh.