Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Shine

Not my can of jam. When I first came across the book, the cover threw me off. It's not what you would expect from a YA novel, it's very garish and cheesy/'plastic', which pretty much describes the book.

Writing Style
There is a lot of 'show not tell.' I feel like all the scenes in the story were told to me, the writing felt chunky and corny. The story and way of words didn't flow together very well, and it seemed to be written (style wise and story wise) for maybe a young-middle schooler/elementary schooler to read. Reading it did not feel like an experience fit for the YA section.

Story and Characters
I could not connect with the characters for the life of me. Jason (the love interest) seemed like an irritant to me, he's dense and not very likable straight off the first meeting. I couldn't feel any real friction between the MC and Jason, except for maybe when they sung together and even then the 'friction and energy' was described and told to the reader, not shown. What may have been smooth flirting felt forced and I could not see through him at all, he was a bit 'too perfect' a character. His flaws felt forced and not natural.

Rachel was... as the main character, she was very 'plastic.' Any moment you may have thought for some character development... nope. I don't see anything that I particularly like in her as a character, as well as her sister and her friends. Though this is the first book in the series, so maybe there is hope for redemption further down the way.

The story address some issues like sexism/misogyny, issues with the corporates behind the k-pop industry and xenophobia, but it's a scrap on the surface and could've gone deeper, and felt like these things were used as a plot device.

I am not a k-pop fan, but I do know the author went through some sort of k-pop training/was in the industry and is a celebrity. A lot of times when celebrities write books they turn out subpar, however. Since this is the first book in a series, there is possible hope in the future these characters pack their shit together and we actually see something, because the sheer (almost ridiculous, but perhaps accurate) amount of drama was the one thing fun to read. Also, it makes me feel better maybe that someone with real experience within the industry wrote this novel.

Would I recommend? Not exactly. But maybe if we get a few books out in the future and return to this series, and see some character improvement I'll come back. Keep moving forward Jessica!

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blakethebookeater's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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whatannikareads's review

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adventurous informative lighthearted reflective sad 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

3.5

mmmm i'm settling at a 3.5 for this! if you've been a longtime fan of k-pop, i don't think you'll learn anything particularly new here. it's nice to verify that some of the things you've heard about k-pop idols—dating ban, diet watch, groups not being as frinedly behind the scenes, etc—are true, based on jessica's writing. i think the plot flew by enough for me to continue wondering what happened next, but didn't really go the extra mile in all of the plot directions that were brought up. but since i realized afterwards that this is meant to be the first book in a series, i think it makes better sense on how the book panned out. im mildly interested enough to check out the next book! it's not too strenuous of a read anywa—good fluff.

my biggest critique is that miss jessica wants me to believe that the hottest k-pop idol in all of the land is a guy named Jason....................has there ever been a hot Jason, let's be honest.

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rotatinglibrary's review

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challenging funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I listened to this book on audio and found the narrator frustratingly old-sounding. The secondhand embarrassment in this book is HIGH. I was also incredibly disappointed that in Rachel's father's storyline. He just lies for 3 years about going to law school and it's cool? NAH. 

I think Jung attempted to shed some light on the negative aspects of the KPOP industry: cattiness behind the scenes, sexism, and valuing looks over talent, HOWEVER Shine spends a lot of time talking about weight, body image, disordered eating etc. As this is a YA novel, I think it's important to remember how incredibly vulnerable young people are to disordered eating and body image issues. Jung could have presented her critiques in a stronger manner, but I understand where's she's coming from, having lived through them.

CW: 
Body talk, weight talk, disordered eating, negative self talk, vomit, racial microagressions, internalized racism, drugging, profanity, teen drinking, slut shaming.

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bookswithsoumi's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Review: As a decade long fan of K-pop, SM Entertainment artists, Girls’ Generation, AND Jessica Jung, I knew I had to read this book when Jessica first announced it. As far as I know, this is the first YA book that really explores life as a trainee, and definitely the only book written by a former idol!

In addition to the protagonist being a woman of color, I appreciated that the love interest is a person of color as well, especially a biracial one! Jessica did a wonderful attempt of describing a biracial person and an American’s perspective living in South Korea. Feelings of being an outsider are common, and you don’t have to be a Korean-American living in Korea to connect with Rachel.

Jessica also wrote out every fangirl’s dreaming of getting close to their idol. Jason, the Korean- Canadian love interest, is Korea’s number 1 idol. Out of the men Jessica has been romantically linked to in the past (Tyler Kwon, Taecyeon, and Donghae, who happens to be my bias in Super Junior), none of them stand out to me as the basis for Jason Lee’s character. Perhaps Jason was an amalgam of all the K-pop stars she has met over the years, including Henry Lau, Chinese-Canadian idol, who is very talented with various musical instruments and from Toronto, just like Jason.

Regarding the ending, I found it to be a very good set up for the next book in the series. I am indeed excited to see how Rachel performs as an idol as she matures into her twenties. I can’t wait to be thrown into the world of music shows and concerts. Maybe even fighting over endorsements or commercial gigs?

Time to read: 8 hours over 8 days

Content Warning: Avoid this book if you do not want to read about drugs, drugging, alcohol, bullying, vomiting, weight watching (not explicitly eating disorders), or loss of consciousness.

Tl;dr: Read this book if you want a light-hearted novel that makes you feel like a K-pop trainee! Complete with all the stress of making rehearsals, dance practices, and typical teenage drama.

(Adapted from my review posted on Instagram @BooksWithSoumi)

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queenfury's review

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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