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jjkook13's review against another edition
1.0
1 out of 10.
OMG, the cringe. I love K-pop music and I'm kinda okay with YA contemporary, so I thought it was fair to think that I would be one of the target audience. Apparently, I was wrong.
OMG, the cringe. I love K-pop music and I'm kinda okay with YA contemporary, so I thought it was fair to think that I would be one of the target audience. Apparently, I was wrong.
firefox's review against another edition
5.0
I dont think this book is for everyone but my gosh, I loved thisss
deerbandit's review against another edition
4.0
I'm shook to Shakespearean levels: I did NOT think I would enjoy this, and I'm a decent kpop fan.
What I thought would be a, for a lack of a better word, "cringy" book, that 1) glorified kpop idols/industry in some way or 2) sugar coated the trainee process, was surprisingly a cute story. The author does a great job acknowledging where the problems and cons of the kpop industry lie. As far as trainee process goes, I do think this is more or less the Sparks Notes version of it -- although it may happen rarely, I don't believe the three month trainee story is the norm. And I would love to know how accurate it really is. The storyline itself reads a little like fan fiction, but I'm not complaining. The journey was entirely fun, and so dramatic, and I was rooting for everyone of these girls -- except maybe Helena.
The kpop fan in me loved the name dropping of kpop groups, companies, and members. Reading about the real idols reminded me of being younger and wanting to submerge myself in the music and genre when it was new to me. I remember wanting to know what group was debuting next, what was the next big comeback for every group, etc. Regardless, I think for the most part kpop listeners and non-kpop listeners would enjoy this. Its a story that is about the road to a [unique] stardom that I don't think has been told before. It's also about culture, family, friends, romance, and adventure.
This book was fun. It felt new, fresh, and dare I say hip. Kpop is more mainstream than ever now and I can't imagine this book coming out 10 years ago when I was just dipping my feet into the genre. I enjoyed Lee's fast paced writing and knowledge, and look forward to more amazing stories from him!
What I thought would be a, for a lack of a better word, "cringy" book, that 1) glorified kpop idols/industry in some way or 2) sugar coated the trainee process, was surprisingly a cute story. The author does a great job acknowledging where the problems and cons of the kpop industry lie. As far as trainee process goes, I do think this is more or less the Sparks Notes version of it -- although it may happen rarely, I don't believe the three month trainee story is the norm. And I would love to know how accurate it really is. The storyline itself reads a little like fan fiction, but I'm not complaining. The journey was entirely fun, and so dramatic, and I was rooting for everyone of these girls -- except maybe Helena.
The kpop fan in me loved the name dropping of kpop groups, companies, and members. Reading about the real idols reminded me of being younger and wanting to submerge myself in the music and genre when it was new to me. I remember wanting to know what group was debuting next, what was the next big comeback for every group, etc. Regardless, I think for the most part kpop listeners and non-kpop listeners would enjoy this. Its a story that is about the road to a [unique] stardom that I don't think has been told before. It's also about culture, family, friends, romance, and adventure.
This book was fun. It felt new, fresh, and dare I say hip. Kpop is more mainstream than ever now and I can't imagine this book coming out 10 years ago when I was just dipping my feet into the genre. I enjoyed Lee's fast paced writing and knowledge, and look forward to more amazing stories from him!
whitneymouse's review against another edition
5.0
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Step 1: Open your web browser to your favorite book retailer. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kindle, an Indie store, etc.
Step 2: Find Kpop Confidential
Step 3: Add to cart
Done? Awesome, let's move on
rmreads_rf's review against another edition
3.0
This book was truly an inspiration to follow your dreams, to stand up for what is right and to speak the truth good or bad.
Candace taught me it’s better to speak the truth and to fight for what you believe no matter how hard it gets, Binna taught me that you should always treat others equally, to help them when you can and to work hard to achieve your goals, JinJoo taught me that even if people push you down for looks or personality you can shine brighter that everyone you weren’t and to be your own person, Aram taught me that beauty is not everything even though she was the “visual” of the group she had and strong and beautiful personality and lastly Helena taught me that you can always push people away thinking it is best when it is the opposite and that it’s okay to feel and to open up to the people around you.
I loved the overall development of the characters and how they all overcome something wether it was a fear or a insecurity, minor or major.
You need this book!! This will 100% shout to you in one way or another. If I know anything now… SPEAK YOUR TRUTH!!
Candace taught me it’s better to speak the truth and to fight for what you believe no matter how hard it gets, Binna taught me that you should always treat others equally, to help them when you can and to work hard to achieve your goals, JinJoo taught me that even if people push you down for looks or personality you can shine brighter that everyone you weren’t and to be your own person, Aram taught me that beauty is not everything even though she was the “visual” of the group she had and strong and beautiful personality and lastly Helena taught me that you can always push people away thinking it is best when it is the opposite and that it’s okay to feel and to open up to the people around you.
I loved the overall development of the characters and how they all overcome something wether it was a fear or a insecurity, minor or major.
You need this book!! This will 100% shout to you in one way or another. If I know anything now… SPEAK YOUR TRUTH!!
honnomushi13's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
nanataska's review against another edition
2.0
this book just screams ‘fanfic’ lol.
def recommend to a rookie kpop fan - the kpop vocab is explained well.
as a fan for 5+ yrs it just had me throwing up. I mean - the author compares his oc company to yge, sme and jype? this is funny.
and i hate how he (the author) wants to show the whole world how kpop-y is he. As i said, the kpop vocab is explained well but he just placed the words everywhere and it was annoying.
please, don’t compare blackpink, red velvet, snsd, everglow, itzy and twice to some ‘queengirl’. When you want a kpop oc gg, then have it - i dont care. but comparing it to real groups? lol.
and when candace was such a fan of slk - the ‘best boyband in the world’, where is bts? txt? seventeen? im a gg fangirl, but still. lol.
for example, [b:Shine|50855956|Shine (Shine, #1)|Jessica Jung|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580350020l/50855956._SY75_.jpg|73696907] by [a:Jessica Jung|15241961|Jessica Jung|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1602795803p2/15241961.jpg] (my darling jessica ilysm—) had all the groups and companies as ocs. and when jenny from [b:XOXO|54618808|XOXO|Axie Oh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602086642l/54618808._SY75_.jpg|85216265] mentioned some real groups, it sounded just more natural to me.
i expect more from the second part.
def recommend to a rookie kpop fan - the kpop vocab is explained well.
as a fan for 5+ yrs it just had me throwing up. I mean - the author compares his oc company to yge, sme and jype? this is funny.
and i hate how he (the author) wants to show the whole world how kpop-y is he. As i said, the kpop vocab is explained well but he just placed the words everywhere and it was annoying.
please, don’t compare blackpink, red velvet, snsd, everglow, itzy and twice to some ‘queengirl’. When you want a kpop oc gg, then have it - i dont care. but comparing it to real groups? lol.
and when candace was such a fan of slk - the ‘best boyband in the world’, where is bts? txt? seventeen? im a gg fangirl, but still. lol.
for example, [b:Shine|50855956|Shine (Shine, #1)|Jessica Jung|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580350020l/50855956._SY75_.jpg|73696907] by [a:Jessica Jung|15241961|Jessica Jung|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1602795803p2/15241961.jpg] (my darling jessica ilysm—) had all the groups and companies as ocs. and when jenny from [b:XOXO|54618808|XOXO|Axie Oh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602086642l/54618808._SY75_.jpg|85216265] mentioned some real groups, it sounded just more natural to me.
i expect more from the second part.
briaraq's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve been a kpop fan since 2010, and I’ve also known about about how horrible idols are treated, especially during training. I always feel bad for being so into kpop for this reason, but this book allowed me to consume some kpop media without the guilt.
I looooove this book. I love Candace, her story, her friends, the relationships with her team. I love almost everything about this book. The one thing I didn’t like was the whole one.j thing because it didn’t seem like she actually had interest in him. That could’ve really been left out.
I looooove this book. I love Candace, her story, her friends, the relationships with her team. I love almost everything about this book. The one thing I didn’t like was the whole one.j thing because it didn’t seem like she actually had interest in him. That could’ve really been left out.