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pagesinthesnow's review against another edition
medium-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Vomit
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Cursing, Fatphobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Death of parent, Xenophobia, and Abandonment
calamityin's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Alcohol, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Classism
There is a moment in which someone is drugged. This is mentioned frequently throughout the rest of the book.christygsp's review against another edition
3.5
Good look into the K Pop world - dealing with double standards and really high expectations and sacrifices for following your dreams.
I liked the story, though the ending was a bit of a let down (a quick read of the second book also doesn’t seem worth picking up for me).
I liked it overall
I liked the story, though the ending was a bit of a let down (a quick read of the second book also doesn’t seem worth picking up for me).
I liked it overall
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming and Toxic friendship
itsreirei's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Reads a lot like fanfiction, only Jackson didn't throw the party in this one, lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Classism and Fatphobia
Minor: Alcohol
brigsis's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Body shaming and Death of parent
kadtide's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Gaslighting, Sexism, and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Classism, Racism, and Xenophobia
a_h__'s review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Sexism
elskabee's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
A fun read overall, but it was a pretty mediocre book.
The good:
- The actual writing was pretty decent, not standout, but not bad for a cheesy teen novel
- Not as childish as I was worried. there's teen drinking, swearing, and real-world problems among all the over the top k-pop drama
- Much of the 'over the top' drama was pretty entertaining despite being unrealistic at times
- The main characters weren't entirely one dimensional throughout
(notice how the praise is very measured?)
The not so good:
- With all the over the top drama, it felt like it would've worked better as a k-drama (which based on the acknowledgments at the end seems to be the goal). It couldn't decide how realistic it wanted to be and made for a bit of a confused tone. It could have been an entertaining melodramatic story OR it could have been a more realistic story of a girl struggling to achieve her dreams depending entirely on the chapter. I don't mind a mix, but I wish this novel had a clearer identity.
- VERY fan-ficcy. By which I mean there were many tropes that were distractingly cliche. For example: describing outfits constantly, random insertions of Korean language that seemed out of place, describing luxury experiences without having any real meaning behind them. All three of those things at the very least could have been worked into the story better or even just left out 50% of the time.
- Although the main three characters (Rachel, Jason, and Mina) were not 1D they weren't exactly 3D either. The other background characters suffer more, almost all of them being very 1D throughout. This book subscribes to the notion that in teen media every character is the best friend or worst enemy and it gets tired pretty quickly.
- Short. I don't think I would want it longer, but some things felt rushed, especially the ending. I know there's a sequel planned for next year and some of the stuff at the end could have been pushed into the sequel rather than being tacked on in the last chapter.
Overall:
I didn't hate reading this book and at times could be entertaining, but it has a confused identity and some tropes that stop it from being a more unique and interesting story. I'd probably read the sequel when it comes out out of curiosity, but I wouldn't be rushing to recommend this to anyone. I think the target audience of teen girls interested in kpop may find it more enjoyable than I did though.
The good:
- The actual writing was pretty decent, not standout, but not bad for a cheesy teen novel
- Not as childish as I was worried. there's teen drinking, swearing, and real-world problems among all the over the top k-pop drama
- Much of the 'over the top' drama was pretty entertaining despite being unrealistic at times
- The main characters weren't entirely one dimensional throughout
(notice how the praise is very measured?)
The not so good:
- With all the over the top drama, it felt like it would've worked better as a k-drama (which based on the acknowledgments at the end seems to be the goal). It couldn't decide how realistic it wanted to be and made for a bit of a confused tone. It could have been an entertaining melodramatic story OR it could have been a more realistic story of a girl struggling to achieve her dreams depending entirely on the chapter. I don't mind a mix, but I wish this novel had a clearer identity.
- VERY fan-ficcy. By which I mean there were many tropes that were distractingly cliche. For example: describing outfits constantly, random insertions of Korean language that seemed out of place, describing luxury experiences without having any real meaning behind them. All three of those things at the very least could have been worked into the story better or even just left out 50% of the time.
- Although the main three characters (Rachel, Jason, and Mina) were not 1D they weren't exactly 3D either. The other background characters suffer more, almost all of them being very 1D throughout. This book subscribes to the notion that in teen media every character is the best friend or worst enemy and it gets tired pretty quickly.
- Short. I don't think I would want it longer, but some things felt rushed, especially the ending. I know there's a sequel planned for next year and some of the stuff at the end could have been pushed into the sequel rather than being tacked on in the last chapter.
Overall:
I didn't hate reading this book and at times could be entertaining, but it has a confused identity and some tropes that stop it from being a more unique and interesting story. I'd probably read the sequel when it comes out out of curiosity, but I wouldn't be rushing to recommend this to anyone. I think the target audience of teen girls interested in kpop may find it more enjoyable than I did though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Racism
clockworkfox's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Okay so I did enjoy the time I spent reading this but I feel like the story is missing quite a lot. Apart from Rachel every character kind of feels like a cardboard cut out (though I did like her sister Leah and their relationship (the stuff we actually got) a lot) and the whole time it felt like everything only gets touched right at the surface.
We didn't see anything of Rachel's and Akari's friendship so when Rachel found out about her changing labels I didn't feel anything at all, the whole thing Rachel was just going on thinking to herself that she feels bad for not getting in touch with her.
To be honest I didn't feel much during the whole story because of the surface thing I mentioned. The relationship between Rachel and Jason felt very hollow and I have absolutely no idea what to think about the 'rivalry' between Rachel and Mina,especially with them being friendly to each other somewhere in the middle to the point of Rachel telling Mina something that's technically the secret between her and her father.
I also would have loved to see more of the family bonds (sure as a trainee you are super busy and all but since Rachel is usually at home during weekdays and trains at her father's boxing place one would think there'd be more interactions....).
Still have to think about if I actually want to read the second book but nonetheless I don't feel like I completely wasted my time with this.
To be honest I didn't feel much during the whole story because of the surface thing I mentioned. The relationship between Rachel and Jason felt very hollow and I have absolutely no idea what to think about the 'rivalry' between Rachel and Mina,
I also would have loved to see more of the family bonds (sure as a trainee you are super busy and all but since Rachel is usually at home during weekdays and trains at her father's boxing place one would think there'd be more interactions....).
Still have to think about if I actually want to read the second book but nonetheless I don't feel like I completely wasted my time with this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming
whatannikareads's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug abuse, Vomit, Misogyny, and Body shaming