Scan barcode
leahjanespeare's review against another edition
3.75
I read this for my Popsugar prompt 'book about K-pop' which is extremely out of my comfort zone of reading. What a surprise this was!
I didn't read a lot about the summary beforehand knowing I needed to read it regardless because it looked like the best choice for my prompt. And wow was I surprised at every corner. The narrator is kinda creepy in a disassociating way, where you can tell she's suppressing some trauma. And as the plot unfolds with backflashes to the highlight of her career as a k-pop star/reality tv show (maybe? that was a little confusing) you're like whoaaa there's some weird shit here. Take the toxic friendships of Gossip Girl, gaslighting of Ace of Spades, with a bit of eastern magic curses and sacrificial practices and yep you got this weird-ass story. Things just get creepier and weirder and I found myself listening to it while not multitasking, something I don't usually do. If you want a kind of mind-fuck YA story - try this one!
I didn't read a lot about the summary beforehand knowing I needed to read it regardless because it looked like the best choice for my prompt. And wow was I surprised at every corner. The narrator is kinda creepy in a disassociating way, where you can tell she's suppressing some trauma. And as the plot unfolds with backflashes to the highlight of her career as a k-pop star/reality tv show (maybe? that was a little confusing) you're like whoaaa there's some weird shit here. Take the toxic friendships of Gossip Girl, gaslighting of Ace of Spades, with a bit of eastern magic curses and sacrificial practices and yep you got this weird-ass story. Things just get creepier and weirder and I found myself listening to it while not multitasking, something I don't usually do. If you want a kind of mind-fuck YA story - try this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Minor: Gaslighting
entamewitchlulu's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.0
amyjayexo's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
somuchformedia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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? No
3.5
smlaurie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was fine; I wasn’t bored reading it. The overall feel is standard writing for young adults, starting with a lot of “girl drama” which is fairly well written and interspersed with a supernatural element, which is inspired by an Asian celestial maiden folktale This element made it a little different and dominated the last third or so of the book.
I selected this book to fulfill a reading challenge prompt for K-Pop. Although the girls are involved with k-pop groups, the cultural impact of k-pop wasn’t central. It really felt like it could have been any teen pop group, and the central focus was teen girl angst with the supernatural/mild horror twist.
2024 PopSugar Reading Challenge #5: A book about K-Pop.
Taylor Swift Reading Challenge #71: Stay Stay Stay/A book with a three word title.
ctanguay_85's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
monarchsandmyths's review against another edition
4.0
thank you to Roaring Brook Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review
A combination of horror, K-pop, and sapphic characters immediately had me hooked when I first heard about this book, and Linda Cheng delivers on all of that and more in this twisty supernatural horror about a cutthroat idol competition. Cutting back and forth between past and present it weaves the story of 3 girls who rose to fame, and the 2 that are left seemingly trying to claw their way back to the top after their group’s untimely demise, and the loss of their friend. Whatever I originally anticipated the twists and turns of this book would be about, I didn’t even have the faintest idea what an enthralling web Cheng would end up spinning as the past and present revealed themselves as the story went on. While there are some loose threads I’m still curious about and a few things I wish had been a little smoother, all in all I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to see what happens next in the GGF universe!
Hands down the best part of this book is the horror/thriller elements. There’s this sensation that something is deeply wrong from the beginning and yet it’s hard to fathom just how wrong things seem to get, to the point I almost had to put my book down but couldn’t because I was so invested in what was going to happen next. The body horror is gruesome without feeling gratuitous. There are some elements that I wish had been woven into the story earlier on and that I think would have continued to heighten that sense of wrongness and made the ending a little more high-stakes, but overall it was horrifying and wonderful.
The way that the K-pop and showbiz elements were woven in also worked well for me, calling upon some ideas of the idol industry while still being a little more in the realm of Western media, letting the story be a little more unique. The characters themselves were pretty interesting although Sunny and Candie clearly get the most overall attention, at times to the detriment of the others but never to a terribly noticeable degree (and honestly it works with the plot). The aforementioned sapphic romance doesn’t exactly show up until the second half of the book but honestly there’s hints of it from the very beginning, without the characters even truly realising. It wasn’t a specifically standout element, but I certainly wasn’t mad about it.
I really enjoyed reading this book and honestly kept me hooked throughout. There are a few things I might wish were different after finishing it but honestly my biggest takeaway is that I’m excited for the next book and I’m interested to see how this book will develop after the initial ‘big bad’ is seemingly vanquished. Definitely worth the read!
A combination of horror, K-pop, and sapphic characters immediately had me hooked when I first heard about this book, and Linda Cheng delivers on all of that and more in this twisty supernatural horror about a cutthroat idol competition. Cutting back and forth between past and present it weaves the story of 3 girls who rose to fame, and the 2 that are left seemingly trying to claw their way back to the top after their group’s untimely demise, and the loss of their friend. Whatever I originally anticipated the twists and turns of this book would be about, I didn’t even have the faintest idea what an enthralling web Cheng would end up spinning as the past and present revealed themselves as the story went on. While there are some loose threads I’m still curious about and a few things I wish had been a little smoother, all in all I really enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to see what happens next in the GGF universe!
Hands down the best part of this book is the horror/thriller elements. There’s this sensation that something is deeply wrong from the beginning and yet it’s hard to fathom just how wrong things seem to get, to the point I almost had to put my book down but couldn’t because I was so invested in what was going to happen next. The body horror is gruesome without feeling gratuitous. There are some elements that I wish had been woven into the story earlier on and that I think would have continued to heighten that sense of wrongness and made the ending a little more high-stakes, but overall it was horrifying and wonderful.
The way that the K-pop and showbiz elements were woven in also worked well for me, calling upon some ideas of the idol industry while still being a little more in the realm of Western media, letting the story be a little more unique. The characters themselves were pretty interesting although Sunny and Candie clearly get the most overall attention, at times to the detriment of the others but never to a terribly noticeable degree (and honestly it works with the plot). The aforementioned sapphic romance doesn’t exactly show up until the second half of the book but honestly there’s hints of it from the very beginning, without the characters even truly realising. It wasn’t a specifically standout element, but I certainly wasn’t mad about it.
I really enjoyed reading this book and honestly kept me hooked throughout. There are a few things I might wish were different after finishing it but honestly my biggest takeaway is that I’m excited for the next book and I’m interested to see how this book will develop after the initial ‘big bad’ is seemingly vanquished. Definitely worth the read!
edsbooks's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
miranda_crawford's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
notcarmen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0