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whitneymouse's review against another edition
5.0
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Step 1: Open your web browser to your favorite book retailer. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kindle, an Indie store, etc.
Step 2: Find Kpop Confidential
Step 3: Add to cart
Done? Awesome, let's move on
rmreads_rf's review against another edition
3.0
This book was truly an inspiration to follow your dreams, to stand up for what is right and to speak the truth good or bad.
Candace taught me it’s better to speak the truth and to fight for what you believe no matter how hard it gets, Binna taught me that you should always treat others equally, to help them when you can and to work hard to achieve your goals, JinJoo taught me that even if people push you down for looks or personality you can shine brighter that everyone you weren’t and to be your own person, Aram taught me that beauty is not everything even though she was the “visual” of the group she had and strong and beautiful personality and lastly Helena taught me that you can always push people away thinking it is best when it is the opposite and that it’s okay to feel and to open up to the people around you.
I loved the overall development of the characters and how they all overcome something wether it was a fear or a insecurity, minor or major.
You need this book!! This will 100% shout to you in one way or another. If I know anything now… SPEAK YOUR TRUTH!!
Candace taught me it’s better to speak the truth and to fight for what you believe no matter how hard it gets, Binna taught me that you should always treat others equally, to help them when you can and to work hard to achieve your goals, JinJoo taught me that even if people push you down for looks or personality you can shine brighter that everyone you weren’t and to be your own person, Aram taught me that beauty is not everything even though she was the “visual” of the group she had and strong and beautiful personality and lastly Helena taught me that you can always push people away thinking it is best when it is the opposite and that it’s okay to feel and to open up to the people around you.
I loved the overall development of the characters and how they all overcome something wether it was a fear or a insecurity, minor or major.
You need this book!! This will 100% shout to you in one way or another. If I know anything now… SPEAK YOUR TRUTH!!
honnomushi13's review against another edition
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
3.25
nanataska's review against another edition
2.0
this book just screams ‘fanfic’ lol.
def recommend to a rookie kpop fan - the kpop vocab is explained well.
as a fan for 5+ yrs it just had me throwing up. I mean - the author compares his oc company to yge, sme and jype? this is funny.
and i hate how he (the author) wants to show the whole world how kpop-y is he. As i said, the kpop vocab is explained well but he just placed the words everywhere and it was annoying.
please, don’t compare blackpink, red velvet, snsd, everglow, itzy and twice to some ‘queengirl’. When you want a kpop oc gg, then have it - i dont care. but comparing it to real groups? lol.
and when candace was such a fan of slk - the ‘best boyband in the world’, where is bts? txt? seventeen? im a gg fangirl, but still. lol.
for example, [b:Shine|50855956|Shine (Shine, #1)|Jessica Jung|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580350020l/50855956._SY75_.jpg|73696907] by [a:Jessica Jung|15241961|Jessica Jung|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1602795803p2/15241961.jpg] (my darling jessica ilysm—) had all the groups and companies as ocs. and when jenny from [b:XOXO|54618808|XOXO|Axie Oh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602086642l/54618808._SY75_.jpg|85216265] mentioned some real groups, it sounded just more natural to me.
i expect more from the second part.
def recommend to a rookie kpop fan - the kpop vocab is explained well.
as a fan for 5+ yrs it just had me throwing up. I mean - the author compares his oc company to yge, sme and jype? this is funny.
and i hate how he (the author) wants to show the whole world how kpop-y is he. As i said, the kpop vocab is explained well but he just placed the words everywhere and it was annoying.
please, don’t compare blackpink, red velvet, snsd, everglow, itzy and twice to some ‘queengirl’. When you want a kpop oc gg, then have it - i dont care. but comparing it to real groups? lol.
and when candace was such a fan of slk - the ‘best boyband in the world’, where is bts? txt? seventeen? im a gg fangirl, but still. lol.
for example, [b:Shine|50855956|Shine (Shine, #1)|Jessica Jung|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580350020l/50855956._SY75_.jpg|73696907] by [a:Jessica Jung|15241961|Jessica Jung|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1602795803p2/15241961.jpg] (my darling jessica ilysm—) had all the groups and companies as ocs. and when jenny from [b:XOXO|54618808|XOXO|Axie Oh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602086642l/54618808._SY75_.jpg|85216265] mentioned some real groups, it sounded just more natural to me.
i expect more from the second part.
briaraq's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve been a kpop fan since 2010, and I’ve also known about about how horrible idols are treated, especially during training. I always feel bad for being so into kpop for this reason, but this book allowed me to consume some kpop media without the guilt.
I looooove this book. I love Candace, her story, her friends, the relationships with her team. I love almost everything about this book. The one thing I didn’t like was the whole one.j thing because it didn’t seem like she actually had interest in him. That could’ve really been left out.
I looooove this book. I love Candace, her story, her friends, the relationships with her team. I love almost everything about this book. The one thing I didn’t like was the whole one.j thing because it didn’t seem like she actually had interest in him. That could’ve really been left out.
pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
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? It's complicated
1.5
While this was a very light read, I did struggle with this book a bit. It just seemed too ... unrealistic. And yes, I adore unrealistic stories. Books are places where fairytale dreams and reality can collide with no need for logical explanation ... But this was just a bit too far fetched.
I'm also highly intrigued how this segues into the second book. Given the current ending ... it seems even more implausible.
I'm also highly intrigued how this segues into the second book. Given the current ending ... it seems even more implausible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
_abikewrites's review against another edition
Daebak!!!!!!
This book is awesome. This is my best read of Q2 2022. Seven star read. I really have to shout out to Goodreads for recommending Stephan Lee's book for AAPI month.
This book is great for fans of K-dramas K-Pop and well written YA novels.
The book revolves around Candace Park, a Korean American, with a lovely voice and huge dreams. Her parents are the most practical and staunch believers in the American dream.
"Umma’s drilled it into Tommy’s and my heads that there are only three, maybe four, respectable fields we can go into as adults: medicine, law, business, or academia—in that order. Being a singer is far down the list, probably between murderer and drug dealer."
Somehow, she breaks through to her parents, and they allow her to go to Seoul to become a K-Pop idol trainee, and man, it's as tough as Hunger Games sans the gore and bloodlust. It's standards of beauty, high expectations and soulless rigour that sucks all you have to give.
It's not just the intense exposé that makes this book amazeballs. It's the display of culture in a way that is just beautiful. I love the array of characters. It was like a K drama cast. Gosh!!!
Candace was a fun narrator.
Really, this book should be made into a movie ASAP. It's that awesome. It has a sequel and I'm off to read that next.
This book is awesome. This is my best read of Q2 2022. Seven star read. I really have to shout out to Goodreads for recommending Stephan Lee's book for AAPI month.
This book is great for fans of K-dramas K-Pop and well written YA novels.
The book revolves around Candace Park, a Korean American, with a lovely voice and huge dreams. Her parents are the most practical and staunch believers in the American dream.
"Umma’s drilled it into Tommy’s and my heads that there are only three, maybe four, respectable fields we can go into as adults: medicine, law, business, or academia—in that order. Being a singer is far down the list, probably between murderer and drug dealer."
Somehow, she breaks through to her parents, and they allow her to go to Seoul to become a K-Pop idol trainee, and man, it's as tough as Hunger Games sans the gore and bloodlust. It's standards of beauty, high expectations and soulless rigour that sucks all you have to give.
It's not just the intense exposé that makes this book amazeballs. It's the display of culture in a way that is just beautiful. I love the array of characters. It was like a K drama cast. Gosh!!!
Candace was a fun narrator.
Really, this book should be made into a movie ASAP. It's that awesome. It has a sequel and I'm off to read that next.
tomesproject's review against another edition
4.0
cute and funny and romantic but also has so many really beautiful, thoughtful scenes. this was such a good time and now I'm going to pick up the sequel ASAP
astravars_thrubooks's review against another edition
4.0
'I want to tell her that despite the things I yelled at her last night, her value has nothing to do with what she does. She's the most valuable person in the world because she's Umma.'
What an awesome debut! I just couldn't put it down it's so quick and fun to read.
It adresses Korean standards for beauty, the crazy things trainees do and how far they're pushed to reach this ideal that'll make them into the best representative of their companies and Korea.
No pressure.
Candace is a great MC to follow and the introduction to the Trainee Center field and the K-pop culture. The friendships were so cute and the drama was so entertaining, just... woo!
''Go away!' I scream, throwing MulKogi at him.
Tommy catches MulKogi easily. 'No one understands Candace! Candace is so deep!'
What an awesome debut! I just couldn't put it down it's so quick and fun to read.
It adresses Korean standards for beauty, the crazy things trainees do and how far they're pushed to reach this ideal that'll make them into the best representative of their companies and Korea.
No pressure.
Candace is a great MC to follow and the introduction to the Trainee Center field and the K-pop culture. The friendships were so cute and the drama was so entertaining, just... woo!
''Go away!' I scream, throwing MulKogi at him.
Tommy catches MulKogi easily. 'No one understands Candace! Candace is so deep!'