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elliemaeeee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I won this book in a giveaway from Kstars in Manchester and I didn’t know what to expect as I’ve never read a book like this before. I thought it was so good. The chemistry was wild!
I do wonder if an alternative ending if he stayed a kpop idol and he got more famous and somehow they made it work. A lot of kdramas and books end with they leave their career behind and I feel like I’m yet to find a kdrama or book that has the idol keep doing their career and date and be happy. I know it’s so rare to find in the kpop world/industry and next to unrealistic but it’s not impossible! They’re people too and deserve to have their career and be happy!
Either way I absolutely loved this book and finished it in one sitting! They weren’t joking when they said they couldn’t put it down!!
lousnewchapter's review
4.0
This book was perfection. I couldn’t put it down. It was so wholesome and tugged on my heart strings.
Fran and Jae-seung are such loveable characters, I really enjoyed seeing their love story build and also their development as individuals! This book didn’t just focus on their relationship though, it had complicated familial relationships and unbreakable friendships (the bond between Fran and Clara was the best). This book had so many layers and I think it’s the main reason why I enjoyed it so much.
You get to travel the world with Fran and Jae-seung, see their love for eachother grow, watch them both find themselves as individuals and open up. It’s a beautiful book. Also a special mention to the Taylor Swift references throughout the book, the swiftie in me was very pleased by those!
This is the first book I’ve read by Caroline but definitely won’t be the last! If you’re looking for a new cute rom com to read then definitely add this one to your list!
mrs_hs_favourite_books's review against another edition
This book was just not my cup of tea. I didn’t like either of the central characters and found the whole thing too cringe.
funshine3's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Sexual content, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Minor: Infidelity and Pregnancy
freya_r's review
1.0
I truly believe I must have read a different book to all these 4 and 5 star reviews. This book fell flat in every way I’d have loved for it to succeed.
The main issue for me was how implausible and unbelievable the whole story seemed. The FMC studied nursing in Italy and then gave that up in the UK to become an actress after being a carer for her grandmother? Why wouldn’t she work as a nurse in the UK whilst auditioning? How can she afford a flat in London on her own working part time as a waitress on weekends and 2 night shifts at Zara? How can she look in someone’s eyes and see pain (which is mentioned every time she looks at the MMC)? I really struggled to enjoy this book because on almost every page I just had more questions.
The formatting of this book really grated on me as well. I really dislike books that do not use speech marks (“”) to denote speech, instead using apostrophes (‘’). It is such a minor thing but when speech is hidden in paragraphs using the apostrophe rather than using a new line for new speech, it makes it so much more difficult to read.
There were so many problems for the all the main characters in this book as well. There was parental suicide, abandonment, affairs, parents lying to you, death of family, unwanted attraction, and I could go on. With how many issues were crammed into the book it just found the FMC to be disingenuous and so difficult to relate to.
I was really excited when I bought this book as I had seen so many good reviews about it, but I struggled to finish it and would not recommend it to anyone. The story didn’t flow (likely due to the characters being in a new part of the world every few chapters) and all the characters seemed very surface level with no deeper substance, with only their problems being what we know about them. Really disappointing.
The main issue for me was how implausible and unbelievable the whole story seemed. The FMC studied nursing in Italy and then gave that up in the UK to become an actress after being a carer for her grandmother? Why wouldn’t she work as a nurse in the UK whilst auditioning? How can she afford a flat in London on her own working part time as a waitress on weekends and 2 night shifts at Zara? How can she look in someone’s eyes and see pain (which is mentioned every time she looks at the MMC)? I really struggled to enjoy this book because on almost every page I just had more questions.
The formatting of this book really grated on me as well. I really dislike books that do not use speech marks (“”) to denote speech, instead using apostrophes (‘’). It is such a minor thing but when speech is hidden in paragraphs using the apostrophe rather than using a new line for new speech, it makes it so much more difficult to read.
There were so many problems for the all the main characters in this book as well. There was parental suicide, abandonment, affairs, parents lying to you, death of family, unwanted attraction, and I could go on. With how many issues were crammed into the book it just found the FMC to be disingenuous and so difficult to relate to.
I was really excited when I bought this book as I had seen so many good reviews about it, but I struggled to finish it and would not recommend it to anyone. The story didn’t flow (likely due to the characters being in a new part of the world every few chapters) and all the characters seemed very surface level with no deeper substance, with only their problems being what we know about them. Really disappointing.
jessicarb's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
leahjade_98's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
2.0
melreadsthings's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Listened to the audiobook, not sure about the narration.
fictionalmusings's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
tellasdantes's review
3.0
Thank you to the author, publishers and Netgalley allowing me to read this title in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 2.5 stars
I wish I could have liked this book. The premise was so good ... I was so interested at the beginning but lord it dragged on. It looked me WEEKS to get through this, where I went back and forth between enjoying some chapters and then others sending me into such a slump that I debated dnfing ... which now I look back and I should have just accepted my defeat.
The best part of this entire book was the fmc's best friend, Clara. She was fun to read about, and then I'd go back to the insta-love romance and the back and forth between the parents and the cousins and ugh. Just stop .. please write more of Clara and less of how the fmc has issues with both her parents lying to her.
The romance was okay. Kind of mediocre compared to other romances that I've read in the years. I wanted to give it a chance after reading other reviews but it seems they all hit the nail on the head. The chemistry was a little dry, drier than me reading those "spicy" scenes.
Rating: 2.5 stars
I wish I could have liked this book. The premise was so good ... I was so interested at the beginning but lord it dragged on. It looked me WEEKS to get through this, where I went back and forth between enjoying some chapters and then others sending me into such a slump that I debated dnfing ... which now I look back and I should have just accepted my defeat.
The best part of this entire book was the fmc's best friend, Clara. She was fun to read about, and then I'd go back to the insta-love romance and the back and forth between the parents and the cousins and ugh. Just stop .. please write more of Clara and less of how the fmc has issues with both her parents lying to her.
The romance was okay. Kind of mediocre compared to other romances that I've read in the years. I wanted to give it a chance after reading other reviews but it seems they all hit the nail on the head. The chemistry was a little dry, drier than me reading those "spicy" scenes.