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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
3 stars not because the book was quality content, but because it was the book version of easily digestible, gone-in-a-minute cotton candy. And honestly? I had fun with it. Read this in the middle of a bad mental health slump in college and it provided a much needed source of escapism.
The actual book itself is not great, though it had a lot of potential to be. Characterisation is fairly one-dimensional across the board, although not terrible. Just standard YA-lite stuff. Although I cannot stand Jason and his constant microaggressions. When a WOMAN is telling you about misogyny SHE faces, please shut the fuck up and listen, don't act like you know better! I had a very hard time rooting for him as the love interest.
The actual book itself is not great, though it had a lot of potential to be. Characterisation is fairly one-dimensional across the board, although not terrible. Just standard YA-lite stuff. Although I cannot stand Jason and his constant microaggressions. When a WOMAN is telling you about misogyny SHE faces, please shut the fuck up and listen, don't act like you know better! I had a very hard time rooting for him as the love interest.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
funny
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pleasant delight & curious about what the next book will bring :)
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read this in one sitting and I loved every second. I really loved Girls Generation growing up and having the opportunity to read this novel by Jessica, a member who has experienced the kpop industry, is wonderful.
Plot summary:
The kpop trainee life is tough- its publicised as that but even some aspects are still hidden from public eye. For 17 year old Rachel it's all she wants. To Debut in the newest girl group.
Diets galore, Cat fights and no boys...but when one trainee is offered the chance to work with the most famous male kpop star around romance can not be far away. And Rachel cant afford to fail.
Review:
Plot wise this book was riveting. You can tell the author knows her stuff and used some of her experiences to build her world and it works beautifully. In there where plot twists, romance and the secret cat fights that kept me on my toes.
The pacing of this story was up there with a kdrama- fast and breakneck plot twists galore.
Character wise Rachel was a wonderful developmental lead heroine for the story and truly shows the dark sides to the kpop industry in her own voice. Her relationships and the development of her love interest, and her other trainee candidates is really good. I genuinely think some characters got overlooked however I'm sure that will be remedied with the sequel.
Final Thoughts:
An enlightening view into the kpop industry with room to grow- a great debut that you can easily fall into for some light easy reading.
Plot summary:
The kpop trainee life is tough- its publicised as that but even some aspects are still hidden from public eye. For 17 year old Rachel it's all she wants. To Debut in the newest girl group.
Diets galore, Cat fights and no boys...but when one trainee is offered the chance to work with the most famous male kpop star around romance can not be far away. And Rachel cant afford to fail.
Review:
Plot wise this book was riveting. You can tell the author knows her stuff and used some of her experiences to build her world and it works beautifully. In there where plot twists, romance and the secret cat fights that kept me on my toes.
The pacing of this story was up there with a kdrama- fast and breakneck plot twists galore.
Character wise Rachel was a wonderful developmental lead heroine for the story and truly shows the dark sides to the kpop industry in her own voice. Her relationships and the development of her love interest, and her other trainee candidates is really good. I genuinely think some characters got overlooked however I'm sure that will be remedied with the sequel.
Final Thoughts:
An enlightening view into the kpop industry with room to grow- a great debut that you can easily fall into for some light easy reading.
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, Toxic friendship
Too cliche, too childish, not my cup of tea
Preamble that is irrelevant to the story: the plot description of this book on Libby calls it “Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl” and I just want to say WHAT? Fuck outta here with that racist comparison. Literally every book I see that has Asian main characters these days is described as “Crazy Rich Asians meets (fill in the blank).” Can we not? This book has NOTHING in common with Crazy Rich Asians other than the fact that the characters are Asian. Stfu Libby. (Tbh the book has nothing in common with Gossip Girl either so I’m left wondering if whoever wrote that description has even read any of the books in question)
ANYWAY, my review: This wasn’t awful. It was okay. Parts of the book had potential but overall weren’t executed effectively, particularly the commentary on sexism in the kpop industry/Korean media in general. This is obviously a super important topic that I’m glad was addressed but it’s ironic that the main antagonists are all girls, whereas the male love interest is this great guy who can do no wrong (despite kinda being a total asshole?). It’s like the author was unaware that she was being sexist to her own characters. Overall the commentary on the kpop industry was definitely the most interesting part of this, but the characters and plot were flat. I would have preferred if Jessica had written a non-fiction autobiographical account of her struggles instead of a YA novel which reads more like one long vague post than anything else. It’s like she wanted to call people out but was too scared to do it directly. I’m still not 100% clear about what exactly happened between Jessica, SNSD, and SM Entertainment and honestly this book leaves you with more questions than answers, so don’t go into it trying to understand what she experienced because it’s hard to tell what’s based on fact and what’s pure fiction here.
Also, I just want to add that I’m pretty doubtful that Jessica actually wrote this. Most likely it was done by a ghostwriter IMO but who am I to judge?
ANYWAY, my review: This wasn’t awful. It was okay. Parts of the book had potential but overall weren’t executed effectively, particularly the commentary on sexism in the kpop industry/Korean media in general. This is obviously a super important topic that I’m glad was addressed but it’s ironic that the main antagonists are all girls, whereas the male love interest is this great guy who can do no wrong (despite kinda being a total asshole?). It’s like the author was unaware that she was being sexist to her own characters. Overall the commentary on the kpop industry was definitely the most interesting part of this, but the characters and plot were flat. I would have preferred if Jessica had written a non-fiction autobiographical account of her struggles instead of a YA novel which reads more like one long vague post than anything else. It’s like she wanted to call people out but was too scared to do it directly. I’m still not 100% clear about what exactly happened between Jessica, SNSD, and SM Entertainment and honestly this book leaves you with more questions than answers, so don’t go into it trying to understand what she experienced because it’s hard to tell what’s based on fact and what’s pure fiction here.
Also, I just want to add that I’m pretty doubtful that Jessica actually wrote this. Most likely it was done by a ghostwriter IMO but who am I to judge?