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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
This book is entertaining af but I did not like how the book was resolved — is it supposed to be like a kdrama kind of cliffhanger? Is that why so many things were not addressed? I mean I’m a little shook at how MC never brought up the incident that happened at the beginning of the book but instead made us pity the protagonist (aka making excuses for their toxic behavior). I also am not sure why Rachel seems to love her friends and family but never really has tough convos with them….but yeah I could not put book down bc the BTS of K-pop industry is DAMNING and so juicy to hear it all.
Alexa, play “Into the New World” by Girl’s Generation. Let me begin this review by stating that Girl’s Generation (also known as SNSD or Sonyeo Sidae) was the first K-Pop group that I ever loved. I started listening to their music in 2009 when I was still in primary school, and when Jessica left the group in 2014, I was stunned.
While Shine is technically a fictional story, there’s no doubt that the characters and events are largely inspired by Jessica’s life. If this book were written by anyone else other than Jessica, I don’t think it would have been as well-received or as entertaining of a read simply because Jessica’s background offers an inside look into the Korean music industry.
Shine follows Rachel Kim, a 17-year-old Korean American trainee under Seoul’s largest K-Pop label, DB Entertainment. Just from the synopsis, you can find immediate parallels between Rachel and Jessica who was one of the Korean American members of Girl’s Generation under SM entertainment.
I went into this book with fairly low expectations mainly because I’m always wary of books written by celebrities, but the discussions of K-Pop’s darker side were really interesting to read, mainly because I’m a K-Pop fan myself but also because I was trying to find ties between Rachel’s life and Jessica’s.
Through Rachel, we’re exposed to the unforgiving life of a K-pop trainee from strict diet expectations where gaining 1kg could have you publicly shamed, competition among trainees looking to debut, sponsorships AKA sexual relations between trainees and company executives, double standards between female and male idols, and more.
The writing itself was very easy to read which I wasn’t too surprised by since the book had been edited by Kat Cho, author of Wicked Fox. However, I will admit that this is a very frustrating book from the immense girl-on-girl hate and bullying with Mina, another trainee, and whirlwind romance with Jason, Rachel’s love-interest.
It’s easy to forget how K-Pop artists’ images, music, everything?? are carefully curated by the label executives, and this book ~shines~ a light on how toxic the environment can be. With Mina, I kept speculating whether Jessica was bullied like Rachel, similar to how Mina in AOA was bullied by the leader Jimin.
The romance between Rachel and Jason wasn’t my favorite mainly because he was such an irresponsible and flakey love interest to read about but that was a major plot point to show the double standards between expectations of male idols in the industry to their female counterparts.
Truthfully, I mainly picked up this book to see whether Jessica revealed anything interesting about her experience (and eventual departure) from Girl’s Generation, and Rachel’s story revealed the brutal nature of achieving success in the industry. There are several scenes in this book that feel very over-the-top, but as a whole, this was an entertaining read that I would recommend to other K-Pop fans.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Blog (Read By Tiffany) | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
While Shine is technically a fictional story, there’s no doubt that the characters and events are largely inspired by Jessica’s life. If this book were written by anyone else other than Jessica, I don’t think it would have been as well-received or as entertaining of a read simply because Jessica’s background offers an inside look into the Korean music industry.
Shine follows Rachel Kim, a 17-year-old Korean American trainee under Seoul’s largest K-Pop label, DB Entertainment. Just from the synopsis, you can find immediate parallels between Rachel and Jessica who was one of the Korean American members of Girl’s Generation under SM entertainment.
I went into this book with fairly low expectations mainly because I’m always wary of books written by celebrities, but the discussions of K-Pop’s darker side were really interesting to read, mainly because I’m a K-Pop fan myself but also because I was trying to find ties between Rachel’s life and Jessica’s.
Through Rachel, we’re exposed to the unforgiving life of a K-pop trainee from strict diet expectations where gaining 1kg could have you publicly shamed, competition among trainees looking to debut, sponsorships AKA sexual relations between trainees and company executives, double standards between female and male idols, and more.
The writing itself was very easy to read which I wasn’t too surprised by since the book had been edited by Kat Cho, author of Wicked Fox. However, I will admit that this is a very frustrating book from the immense girl-on-girl hate and bullying with Mina, another trainee, and whirlwind romance with Jason, Rachel’s love-interest.
It’s easy to forget how K-Pop artists’ images, music, everything?? are carefully curated by the label executives, and this book ~shines~ a light on how toxic the environment can be. With Mina, I kept speculating whether Jessica was bullied like Rachel, similar to how Mina in AOA was bullied by the leader Jimin.
The romance between Rachel and Jason wasn’t my favorite mainly because he was such an irresponsible and flakey love interest to read about but that was a major plot point to show the double standards between expectations of male idols in the industry to their female counterparts.
Truthfully, I mainly picked up this book to see whether Jessica revealed anything interesting about her experience (and eventual departure) from Girl’s Generation, and Rachel’s story revealed the brutal nature of achieving success in the industry. There are several scenes in this book that feel very over-the-top, but as a whole, this was an entertaining read that I would recommend to other K-Pop fans.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Blog (Read By Tiffany) | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube
I honestly thought I would at least enjoy this book, but I didn't. I understand this is not a book that would leave me with a lot of thoughts but damn... it sucks so much to the point i'm kinda hating it.
The ending sucks. Conflicts birthed more conflicts. Nothing was resolved. Almost everything that happens around our main character Rachel is only for the plot to move, nothing in this book feels real.
The ending sucks. Conflicts birthed more conflicts. Nothing was resolved. Almost everything that happens around our main character Rachel is only for the plot to move, nothing in this book feels real.
Disclaimer: I listened to the audiobook.
I know I'm a lil late to the trend but... Jessica wrote a book!!!
I loved this book so much! Even though this book isn't entirely based off a true story, you get an insider scoop on what goes on behind the scenes. The writing style was more like a diary rather than a book, which was fine by me. (I may or may not be biased haha).
I can totally imagine Rachel and Leah being Jessica and Krystal lolol. Leah was my all-time favorite character. She was always there to lift the mood and kinda went with the flow. Leah was one of those not-so-important but totally great side character.
To be completely honest, this book could've used some more work. The characters were so bland and was no development whatsoever. There were some places where I thought Mina and Rachel would become somewhat friends, but Mina was always the bad guy in the entire book.
Do I care that the book was written badly? No. Do I care if the characters were bland? No. Do I care if people didn't like this book? No. Am I gonna read the second book? Absolutely :D. Bright, Here I Come!
Anywayssss cya guys in my next review
I know I'm a lil late to the trend but... Jessica wrote a book!!!
I loved this book so much! Even though this book isn't entirely based off a true story, you get an insider scoop on what goes on behind the scenes. The writing style was more like a diary rather than a book, which was fine by me. (I may or may not be biased haha).
I can totally imagine Rachel and Leah being Jessica and Krystal lolol. Leah was my all-time favorite character. She was always there to lift the mood and kinda went with the flow. Leah was one of those not-so-important but totally great side character.
To be completely honest, this book could've used some more work. The characters were so bland and was no development whatsoever. There were some places where I thought Mina and Rachel would become somewhat friends, but Mina was always the bad guy in the entire book.
Do I care that the book was written badly? No. Do I care if the characters were bland? No. Do I care if people didn't like this book? No. Am I gonna read the second book? Absolutely :D. Bright, Here I Come!
Anywayssss cya guys in my next review
1.0 esse certamente é um livro. por baixo de muita gordofobia, distúrbio alimentar e uma escrita confusa existe o universo que a jessica transforma em shine. sempre admirei muito ela como artista, porém sinto que esse livro não foi, não será. realmente tem uma premissa e uma presença cativante, mas se perde demais do meio pro final. a minha impressão sempre era de que o livro tava confuso, a narrativa dava a impressão de que ia seguir um caminho e ia pra um completamente diferente. e além de tudo, os personagens principais são insuportáveis, incluindo a princesinha rachel kim, jason lee e companhia. esse livro é bem curto e eu demorei pencas de tempo pra ler pois simplesmente não queria entrar na cabeça de uma garota adolescente mimada, rica, sonsa e privilegiada que não conseguia enxergar muito além das dificuldades dela. não, não estou dizendo que a rachel é uma personagem ruim, uma pessoa má, ela só é chata. para além disso, o romance foi péssimo, brega demais, já tava de saco cheio simplesmente por ter começado com a premonição da kang jina, qualquer já sabia como ia terminar, não dá nem vontade de torcer. por fim, shine também tem seus pontos positivos, apesar de não ser tão realista quanto promete (em que mundo trainees de kpop viajam pra jeju com sua escola internacional se hospedando em hotel cinco estrelas? onde trainees viajam pra tokyo com a maior estrela do kpop por pura cortesia?) o livro trás discussões relevantes sobre machismo na indústria, dupla nacionalidade e lidar com se encaixar em uma sociedade preconceituosa. p.s.: a fofoca foi boa até :D
Thought it would be more authentic since it's written by an actual kpop star but it feels like a fanfic written by a white American girl.
Demorei quase um ano para ler este livro (só lia na eletiva clube de leitura) e, caramba, como ele é sem graça! Mostra como a indústria do K-pop pode ser cruel: as meninas ficam sem comer, não podem namorar, precisam treinar muuuito, sempre controladas e tal (partes mais interessantes do livro, porque de resto... a protagonista é uma chata), e nesse cenário temos Rachel, que está dando o máximo para estrear em um grupo de k-pop, e Mina, filha de um cara que manda lá, mas sempre pressionada e sozinha, por vezes cruel. Vai aparece um boy magia famoso, o Jason, Rachel e ele vão se apaixonar, mas ela sabe que se isso vazar, já era pra ela – o que possivelmente não acontecerá com ele. Eles fazem uma música em trio, explode, Mina e Rachel começam uma amizade até esta emprestar um salto para aquela e ele quebrar no meio de uma apresentação. Foi declarada guerra novamente. Jason anuncia carreira solo (saiu da seu grupo k-pop) e Rachel descobre que ela e Mina foram usadas para esse marketing dele. No fim, ele negocia com o pai de Mina para que Rachel seja cantora principal de um grupo – ela continua narrando que precisa ficar atenta às colegas, pois a rivalidade continua e o livro acaba com o casal separado. Não vou ler o 2º, se soubesse que tinha continuação, não teria comprado (por 10 reais, claro hahaha)
I went in expecting cheesy escapism, and got all of that plus some genuinely emotional moments. That said, it was too formulaic for me to really get into and I might have dropped it if it hadn't been for Jessica's name on the cover (at least from the quality I'm assuming she actually did write it?)
If you enjoy kpo-themed YA romance, XOXO by Axie Oh is a better read.
If you enjoy kpo-themed YA romance, XOXO by Axie Oh is a better read.
K-pop, training, songs, family, and more. Follow Rachel as she tries to become a K-pop star!
While I am not that much of a k-pop listener myself, I should remedy that, I have listened to songs and I love the dances, I love how flashy it all is. So I couldn’t resist buying this one. It looked shiny, the premise sounded so much fun.
Meet Rachel, she has been a trainee for years and is now nearing to be too old to be a star. We see her train, study hard, try to make her dream come true, have fun with friends, and much more. Rachel was quite an interesting character to follow and I definitely found myself rooting for her. She was working so hard and I was hoping she would debut.
We see clearly that life as a K-pop trainee is not easy. Calorie-counting, weighing weekly and sometimes also surprise, hitting when you are not hitting a note, endless training, barely any sleep, and the constant fear you may just get send home. Then you cannot date. Your fellow trainees may be bitches send from hell. And there is plenty more. It is not a world I would ever want to be in no matter what. It sounds like pure hell. You have no control over anything. You just hope that the execs will see you and think you are worth the career. Brrrrr. Not to mention the differnt sets of rules between boys and girls as we see clearly in this book.
I do have to say I found it a bit too much that EVERY girl that Rachel saw and that knew her was complaining about her look and telling she was ugly. WTF? There wasn’t one who was happy with her and I found this highly unbelievable and silly. It felt like it was just added for the sake of showing the differences in everything between female and male k-pop stars/trainees some more.
I loved Rachel’s family and especially Leah was adorable. While Rachel doesn’t have a lot of time to do things with her sister, she does try. Buys yummy treats, shares gossip, goes to a fansigning. I love the bond they have. It was cute and sweet.
It must have been such a big change for the family as they lived in the US before going to Korea. For Rachel’s dream. I can only imagine how heavy that is for each family member. Each had to find a new way in this country.
Umma was not my favourite character in the beginning, but the ending definitely brought another side to her and I could understand her actions a bit better. But it would have been nice if she had just listened to her daughter, if she helped her out more, if instead of holding her back she would have allowed a bit more. At times I got quite frustrated with the mom. I mean, you went to Korea mostly for her, and then you hold her back. What is it that you want?
Her two friends Hyeri and Juhyun were great. I also liked Akari though we didn’t see a lot of her.
While I did like the romance between Jason/Rachel or at least the sweet and cute moments (I just LOVED how they met that was funny and adorable)… I was also pissed at Jason. Because he darn well knows the rules. He knows that Rachel could lose her entire career if she had a boyfriend. Even though he may deny it. He should know there are different sets of rules. Female singers get way less freedom. Why is he denying it when it is so clear? He does get a bit better later and he also helps Rachel in NY, so I was happy with that. Later on we find out more about things and then I just wanted to kick Jason. Hard.
The whole thing with Mina (but also the other girls) and then later the ending. Wow, a total big bag of bitches those girls are. Mina was the worst character in the world and I am sad she keeps being rewarded for doing shitty things to people. At times we saw another Mina, but sorry it just didn’t make anything that Mina did better. OMG, the stilettos I got from you broke and now I cannot dance, you must have sabotaged me… while Rachel never did a thing. WTF girl is wrong with your brain? Mina (but also the other girls) just made me like this book just a bit less. Instead of 5 stars it became a 4.5 stars, especially given that freaking ending.
While I enjoyed this book, there were many great parts and I was totally into it… I am not sure if I want to read the next book. Given the ending and how things go for Rachel now.. I am just not in the mood for a whole book about that.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
While I am not that much of a k-pop listener myself, I should remedy that, I have listened to songs and I love the dances, I love how flashy it all is. So I couldn’t resist buying this one. It looked shiny, the premise sounded so much fun.
Meet Rachel, she has been a trainee for years and is now nearing to be too old to be a star. We see her train, study hard, try to make her dream come true, have fun with friends, and much more. Rachel was quite an interesting character to follow and I definitely found myself rooting for her. She was working so hard and I was hoping she would debut.
We see clearly that life as a K-pop trainee is not easy. Calorie-counting, weighing weekly and sometimes also surprise, hitting when you are not hitting a note, endless training, barely any sleep, and the constant fear you may just get send home. Then you cannot date. Your fellow trainees may be bitches send from hell. And there is plenty more. It is not a world I would ever want to be in no matter what. It sounds like pure hell. You have no control over anything. You just hope that the execs will see you and think you are worth the career. Brrrrr. Not to mention the differnt sets of rules between boys and girls as we see clearly in this book.
I do have to say I found it a bit too much that EVERY girl that Rachel saw and that knew her was complaining about her look and telling she was ugly. WTF? There wasn’t one who was happy with her and I found this highly unbelievable and silly. It felt like it was just added for the sake of showing the differences in everything between female and male k-pop stars/trainees some more.
I loved Rachel’s family and especially Leah was adorable. While Rachel doesn’t have a lot of time to do things with her sister, she does try. Buys yummy treats, shares gossip, goes to a fansigning. I love the bond they have. It was cute and sweet.
It must have been such a big change for the family as they lived in the US before going to Korea. For Rachel’s dream. I can only imagine how heavy that is for each family member. Each had to find a new way in this country.
Umma was not my favourite character in the beginning, but the ending definitely brought another side to her and I could understand her actions a bit better. But it would have been nice if she had just listened to her daughter, if she helped her out more, if instead of holding her back she would have allowed a bit more. At times I got quite frustrated with the mom. I mean, you went to Korea mostly for her, and then you hold her back. What is it that you want?
Her two friends Hyeri and Juhyun were great. I also liked Akari though we didn’t see a lot of her.
While I did like the romance between Jason/Rachel or at least the sweet and cute moments (I just LOVED how they met that was funny and adorable)… I was also pissed at Jason. Because he darn well knows the rules. He knows that Rachel could lose her entire career if she had a boyfriend. Even though he may deny it. He should know there are different sets of rules. Female singers get way less freedom. Why is he denying it when it is so clear? He does get a bit better later and he also helps Rachel in NY, so I was happy with that. Later on we find out more about things and then I just wanted to kick Jason. Hard.
Spoiler
Sure he was manipulated as well, but he was never honest. Was he ever truly in love with Rachel or was it all pretend? I don’t know, and frankly I don’t care. Boo Jason.The whole thing with Mina (but also the other girls) and then later the ending. Wow, a total big bag of bitches those girls are. Mina was the worst character in the world and I am sad she keeps being rewarded for doing shitty things to people. At times we saw another Mina, but sorry it just didn’t make anything that Mina did better. OMG, the stilettos I got from you broke and now I cannot dance, you must have sabotaged me… while Rachel never did a thing. WTF girl is wrong with your brain? Mina (but also the other girls) just made me like this book just a bit less. Instead of 5 stars it became a 4.5 stars, especially given that freaking ending.
While I enjoyed this book, there were many great parts and I was totally into it… I am not sure if I want to read the next book. Given the ending and how things go for Rachel now.. I am just not in the mood for a whole book about that.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated