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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
The perfect book to start 2025, aka The Year of BTS š
āWeāre basically family, if you think about it. Iāve seen more of them than my actual family these past ten yearsā¦ If any of them feel sick or happy or sad, I immediately feel the same way. When they suffer, I want to be next to them, and when they rejoice, I want to laugh with them, and when they have worries, I want to listen to themā¦ I think thatās who we are to each otherā¦ I always want to express my thanks to the other members, and we keep running ahead with the thought of, āIf ARMY can smile and rejoice, that is our ultimate happiness.āā - jhope
what can I say, I love my seven :ā)
what can I say, I love my seven :ā)
nothing really new was revealed in this book if you are a chronically online army such as myself but it was really interesting getting the membersā direct thoughts on events throughout their history. overall a very thorough guide to their 10 years together (and then some counting trainee years)! I feel very sappy reading it honestly and thinking abt my own journey with bts. hereās to the next chapter together
Coming from a fan of BTS since early days and one who has recently not been following them as actively as I wish this book was a huge comfort to me. I think there are times when the book dragged I mean it was a six hundred page book however the quotes broke into nice little sections and it made me feel emotions while the stats just made me proud. This book made me go through so many experiences and it soothed the part of me that was sad that they were going into the military and I wouldn't see the first KPOP group I loved for a while. If you love BTS you will like this book. If you don't you might just get to understand why so many people love them.
inspiring
hmm slightly mixed feelings on this one!
my being an army since 2016 made me want to love this book with my whole heart and soul, but the truth is,,, it fell a little flat? to clarify, this has absolutely nothing to do with the boys or their story- which is truly compelling from start to finish- but rather the problem lies on the narrator, mr. kang.
bts have a very long and adventurous 10 year journey that kang was tasked with putting together in this book. it is definitely a daunting task, especially when the target audience is so broad- from people that are getting their bts initiation through this very book, to long term fans that have been with bts through all the events depicted in these 500 pages.
my personal let downs were:
1. despite following a chronological order (following the boys' musical releases), there were oftentimes weird and misplaced anachronisms that felt confusing and/or not needed.
2. a lot of the information felt very generic and a lot of it was repeated a few times too many. i understand that a lot of the generic information is needed to give a complete story to someone who is not a veteran fan but biographies feel like they should be a place for a lot of unreleased facts/feelings and experiences. of course there was a fair share of that as well, but too many of the pages felt like the were being taken up by something that needed a page but took three (quotes not included- i'm talking purely about the narration).
3. the chronological layout and the idea of subchapters of the book was good, however from a point on, it felt lacking and repetitive, mainly due to the content chosen i suppose, as well as the narration itself.
4. the constant mention of the mass hatred that bts have faced during their career, despite being so frequently mentioned, lacked gravity. besides a few targeted mentions of specific events & some quotes from the boys where they talked about hate directly, there were an awful lot of mentions of the hate that felt a lot like "oh and don't forget they got hate!!!". after a few repetitions, the words lose meaning. i think there should have been extra care with highlighting how truly difficult it was for the boys and the fans to go through such massive hate, even if that meant there were less mentions of it overall.
5. oftentimes i felt curious to see multiple members pov's on specific events/issues and that was usually not delivered, at least not in a satisfactory way. also, i kind of wish the book ended with ending comments from all of the members!
6. some events/issues were watered down or omitted, though i suppose that also has to do with what the company wanted out, as well as printing space.
now, this list may seem long and over the top, but it is also the opinion of a critical reader as well as a veteran army (so i'm double hitting this).
also this is not to say that i did not enjoy the book, it was certainly exciting to see bts' story laid out in front of me. more specifically:
1. i enjoyed the direct addressing of beef and it's impact on the boys (b-free & bobby)
2. despite a lot of the content being known to me, quotes from the boys gave me new perspectives and facts that embellished my knowledge
3. it was refreshing to see the boys candidly talk about their struggles but also their struggles being being objectively acknowledged by the narrator as fact. as an army, i've seen bts' experiences get erased and undermined to the point of frustration.
4. the first chapter was extremely interesting to me- their trainee days. it's not like we don't know things about their predebut times, but in comparison to their years under the spotlight, they sure feel more misty.
5. being once again reminded of how much i love bts, their incredible companionship, their involvement with their art, their work ethic and their personalities in general. seeing their growth (personal and professional), their strive to never give up and their love for what they do and the fans. truly some of the best role models i could think of.
6. upon finishing the book it was interesting to realize that i now have a very distinct timeline of not only their journey, but exactly how they were feeling all throughout it. technically, we sort of already knew it, but definitely not in such detail, and again, seeing it all together, gives you better perspective.
all in all, despite my personal critique, this book was most interesting, cannot wait the 20 year round up:)
my being an army since 2016 made me want to love this book with my whole heart and soul, but the truth is,,, it fell a little flat? to clarify, this has absolutely nothing to do with the boys or their story- which is truly compelling from start to finish- but rather the problem lies on the narrator, mr. kang.
bts have a very long and adventurous 10 year journey that kang was tasked with putting together in this book. it is definitely a daunting task, especially when the target audience is so broad- from people that are getting their bts initiation through this very book, to long term fans that have been with bts through all the events depicted in these 500 pages.
my personal let downs were:
1. despite following a chronological order (following the boys' musical releases), there were oftentimes weird and misplaced anachronisms that felt confusing and/or not needed.
2. a lot of the information felt very generic and a lot of it was repeated a few times too many. i understand that a lot of the generic information is needed to give a complete story to someone who is not a veteran fan but biographies feel like they should be a place for a lot of unreleased facts/feelings and experiences. of course there was a fair share of that as well, but too many of the pages felt like the were being taken up by something that needed a page but took three (quotes not included- i'm talking purely about the narration).
3. the chronological layout and the idea of subchapters of the book was good, however from a point on, it felt lacking and repetitive, mainly due to the content chosen i suppose, as well as the narration itself.
4. the constant mention of the mass hatred that bts have faced during their career, despite being so frequently mentioned, lacked gravity. besides a few targeted mentions of specific events & some quotes from the boys where they talked about hate directly, there were an awful lot of mentions of the hate that felt a lot like "oh and don't forget they got hate!!!". after a few repetitions, the words lose meaning. i think there should have been extra care with highlighting how truly difficult it was for the boys and the fans to go through such massive hate, even if that meant there were less mentions of it overall.
5. oftentimes i felt curious to see multiple members pov's on specific events/issues and that was usually not delivered, at least not in a satisfactory way. also, i kind of wish the book ended with ending comments from all of the members!
6. some events/issues were watered down or omitted, though i suppose that also has to do with what the company wanted out, as well as printing space.
now, this list may seem long and over the top, but it is also the opinion of a critical reader as well as a veteran army (so i'm double hitting this).
also this is not to say that i did not enjoy the book, it was certainly exciting to see bts' story laid out in front of me. more specifically:
1. i enjoyed the direct addressing of beef and it's impact on the boys (b-free & bobby)
2. despite a lot of the content being known to me, quotes from the boys gave me new perspectives and facts that embellished my knowledge
3. it was refreshing to see the boys candidly talk about their struggles but also their struggles being being objectively acknowledged by the narrator as fact. as an army, i've seen bts' experiences get erased and undermined to the point of frustration.
4. the first chapter was extremely interesting to me- their trainee days. it's not like we don't know things about their predebut times, but in comparison to their years under the spotlight, they sure feel more misty.
5. being once again reminded of how much i love bts, their incredible companionship, their involvement with their art, their work ethic and their personalities in general. seeing their growth (personal and professional), their strive to never give up and their love for what they do and the fans. truly some of the best role models i could think of.
6. upon finishing the book it was interesting to realize that i now have a very distinct timeline of not only their journey, but exactly how they were feeling all throughout it. technically, we sort of already knew it, but definitely not in such detail, and again, seeing it all together, gives you better perspective.
all in all, despite my personal critique, this book was most interesting, cannot wait the 20 year round up:)
I loved getting to hear the boys feelings and thoughts on their music, it was so wonderful. The narrator/HYBE bias just really did ruin some of the experience for me, there were just some parts that felt incredibly unnecessary and just rude lol. Still a great read!
APOBANGPO !! the vulnerability especially seen with Yoongi's anxiety really resonated me. It was a hard 10 years but they worked so hard and after reading this I love them even more.
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
Beyond the story is a deep dive into the lives of the seven men from the phenomenal group BTS. Their story is both inspiring and heartbreaking and I love and have always loved how honest they are and open about their struggles. Yes, they said that they tried to hide the sadness, the anger, the hurt from us, but they ultimately decided to share so much of their struggles with ARMY and the public, leaving them extra vulnerable to hate from people who just like to hate behind a keyboard. They bared it all for us despite that risk, and it is inspiring. It makes me feel like we shouldnāt shy away from our own bad feelings. Theyāve opened a door for me and Iām sure for others to be honest about how we feel and to speak openly about our struggles.
As an avid BTS fan or ARMY for 10 years, I know most of the stories told in this book, however, as mentioned earlier, it was a deeper dive into their past lives before debuting, when they debuted, and where they are now, with many behind the scenes things that I, and other ARMY probably werenāt aware of. I admire them for everything theyāve been through, I honestly canāt imagine how hard it was for them to continue when it feels like the world was against them from the start.
This book was beautifully written (I read the translated English version, and there were some typos but thatās okay, it didnāt detract from the story as a whole). I highly recommend every ARMY read this book whether youāve been with them since 2013 or are just now getting into them. I also recommend people who donāt give BTS a chance to read this book and maybe learn more about their story. You donāt have to like their music to respect them as people, and their story is quite fascinating, but maybe Iām just biased haha.
I couldnāt be more proud of the boys they were and the men they are today. I look forward to many more years with them and I canāt wait for them to come back from the military.
As an avid BTS fan or ARMY for 10 years, I know most of the stories told in this book, however, as mentioned earlier, it was a deeper dive into their past lives before debuting, when they debuted, and where they are now, with many behind the scenes things that I, and other ARMY probably werenāt aware of. I admire them for everything theyāve been through, I honestly canāt imagine how hard it was for them to continue when it feels like the world was against them from the start.
This book was beautifully written (I read the translated English version, and there were some typos but thatās okay, it didnāt detract from the story as a whole). I highly recommend every ARMY read this book whether youāve been with them since 2013 or are just now getting into them. I also recommend people who donāt give BTS a chance to read this book and maybe learn more about their story. You donāt have to like their music to respect them as people, and their story is quite fascinating, but maybe Iām just biased haha.
I couldnāt be more proud of the boys they were and the men they are today. I look forward to many more years with them and I canāt wait for them to come back from the military.