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jennifer_k5's review against another edition
2.0
This is such a disappointing read. This book has the most beautiful cover with a cool storyline, with interesting characters and relationships. But the way it is written is sooo bad, I don't know how the author is able to make a great story become so childish and cringe.
febifebs's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
darlingfleur's review against another edition
4.0
One of the first YA books I’ve read in a long time and it was such a fun read. I actually preferred reading about the side characters more than the main ones (Sori/Nathaniel story when?) and Sori in general has to be one of my favorite characters - 4/5 stars
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
2.0
*I'm reading all the 2022 FL Teen Reads. This is Book #6 out of 15 read. If you want to see a complete list altogether in one place check my tag florida-teen-reads-2022 to see the star ratings*
If you want to see the impact that Wattpad and Booktok has had on literature, look no further than XOXO.
While Wattpad has amassed a reputation for less than subpar writing, I’m not actually referring to the writing quality in this case, merely the style of writing that publishing is trending the most towards these days. It’s just that if you described this book, but subbed in Harry Styles for Jaewoo I wouldn’t bat an eye. Wattpad doesn’t have to mean bad, of course, but considering the reputation of other Wattpad/fanfiction turned traditionally published books I do not have high expectations when I come across one.
To be clear, this is not one of those books, it’s an original story if not set-up. That being said, it has all the hallmarks of the fanfics that morph into physical copies which did it no favors in terms of execution.
Authors writing fanfiction are obviously not a monolith. But, the unifier to these kinds of fics - by which I mean Y/N fics - are that they are typically concerned with feelings above all else. Logistics, practicalities and realism are secondary to what the author wants to evoke. The purpose of these fics is largely to make the reader feel good. They can project onto Y/N and through them live extraordinary lives of their wildest dreams.
XOXO reads exactly like a Y/N fic. How any of the story would work feasibly is secondary to the idea of it. This is evident in the rushed character development, the lack of real limitations, the ignored plot threads, and the shallow characterization for the supporting cast.
I am not a K-Pop fan, however, some of my friends are and I am chronically online so I have a decent idea of the dark side to the K-Pop industry. It’s not like it’s all that much better in the US, but the strict regulation of K-Pop stars has largely gone out of vogue here. There is no way that Jaewoo would be allowed to get away with what he does in this book.
When in big groups the two do little to hide their interest in one another. They actively seek each other out in plain view of plenty of teenagers who would be glad to gossip about them. Even being casually seen together could have repercussions. Jaewoo’s groupmate, Nathaniel, already had a massive scandal hit when he was caught with a girl - and she was a rising star not a no name like Jenny who would absolutely face more criticism - yet he allows himself to be seen dragging Jenny places or sitting really close to her or even out on a date with her.
More to the point, on the date the two actually do get caught, which speaks to how easy it would be for absolutely anybody else to spot the two.
Outside of the threat of a casual observer, it was unbelievable that his manager or management company never scolded him either.
I get the whole teenagers don’t always think argument, but Jaewoo has been at this for years. He has grown up in this culture knowing what could be expected of him if he were to get into the industry. He’s also supporting his family. What I’m saying is that from the beginning it was clear that the romance would have to be phenomenal for me to buy that this guy would risk his life’s work and overcome cultural conditioning to be with Jenny.
As you might have guessed, the romance was not worth all the potential drama. I did not understand what made Jenny so hung up on Jaewoo that she was still thinking about him months after their meeting. The synopsis makes it like they have some magical night together, but the two don’t do anything or share anything that is all that impactful. They have a quick karaoke session then go to a dinner where they mostly don’t speak. If there was some swapping of secrets such as Jenny confiding her confusing feelings regarding her mother or Jaewoo opening up about how difficult his idol lifestyle is in a meaningful way.
Obviously, it’s part of the twist that Jaewoo is a famous Idol, but he talked completely in coached language and vague non sequitors. Why would I believe these two have a special connection when he was super evasive the entire time? It would have been easy to have him lie about the exact circumstances whilst still being honest about his hardships.
This is another example of how it’s reminiscent of fanfiction, in general. When I read fanfic, I am reading about characters that I’m already somewhat comfortable with. Even in an AU, canon forms a basis off which the author’s interpretation is built. As such the reader doesn’t typically require as much evidence that the two characters belong together; they’re reading the fic because they already know they do and are simply basking in the feeling.
In a book, the characters are blank slates. I’ve never met them before and every aspect of them needs to be proven to me in some manner. I found that XOXO fell flat when it came to justifying actions, behavior, or feelings. Just because I understand why a character would do something out of text does not mean that in text it the rationale should be eschewed.
When Jenny arrives at the school her roommate Sori is cold to her. Jenny soon learns that Sori is an up and coming Idol similar to XOXO. Her mother runs the management company she and XOXO are signed to. For some reason Jenny is desperate to give this girl a chance to be her friend. Sori was mean to her at every turn for half the book and initially was presented as a potential rival for Jaewoo’s affections. Yet, Jenny was bending over backwards in her mind to explain to herself why Sori would act this way. When Sori has a big blow up, Jenny chases after her to apologize when Sori absolutely does not deserve it.
It felt like the author was trying too hard to subvert the idea that girls are always at each other’s throats. Girls being inherently catty is a stereotype wielded by the patriarchy to keep women in line, sure. That doesn’t mean that if a girl mistreats you, you should try to see her point of view to your own detriment.
Sori and Jenny get off on the wrong foot after Jenny reads a personal message of hers. Sori chooses to use this small indiscretion as a reason to hate Jenny unreservedly for weeks. Jenny finding it impossible to at the very least dislike her is inexplicable. Worse than that, it makes the subsequent friendship feel unearned. It’s a lot more meaningful if Jenny and Sori both contributed to the rift between the two then worked hard to forge a friendship in spite of it. Instead, Jenny comes off as a doormat, Sori inconsistent.
Speaking of Sori, there are three major plot threads dropped that involve her. One, she used to date Nathaniel. When caught, her mother forced them to break up to salvage the groups’ image. It is expressed many times that she and Nathaniel are still hung up on one another. This fizzles out as soon as Sori becomes friends with Jenny.
I’m not saying the two had to get back together, but it felt bizarre that Jaewoo ultimately chooses to date Jenny regardless of the impact of his career and here’s this couple that was forced apart specifically for that reason. How is Nathaniel not resentful? He dropped Sori partially for Jaewoo’s benefit. Where is the callout for Jaewoo’s hypocrisy? If Jaewoo is doing it then why doesn’t Nathaniel make a similar bid for Sori?
This is related to the second plot thread dropped. As mentioned before, Sori’s mother is the head of Joah Entertainment. She’s implied to be a ruthless, forbidding upholder of the industry standards. She essentially is the antagonist as a physical manifestation of all that stands in their way. Despite her having the most power and influence over the fall out of the conflict in the story - whether or not Jaewoo will lose his career if caught seeing Jenny - she never once appears on the page. The groundwork was definitely laid for an ultimate face-off with Sori standing up for her rights or her mother threatening the motley crew or something. It was mind boggling that she never showed up especially when she would have added some much needed authenticity to the depiction of Idol life.
Coming back to the first dropped plot thread: Sori was clearly being made to cozy up to Jaewoo for a PR relationship in the beginning. She completely abandons this course of action with zero explanation as to how this is possible for her to do without her mother/the company disciplining her. Sori’s whole life is preparing for her debut. Like Jaewoo, there needs to be a really, really good reason for her to risk her dreams going up in smoke. A friendship with Jenny did not fit the bill.
All of the supporting characters are shallow. Jenny acts like they’re all so close, but outside of Sori who soars to the front of the pack the rest are abandoned in favor of Jaewoo. It’s supposed to be a part of her arc somewhat that she’s focusing too much on Jaewoo except that doesn’t work when her friends not appearing much predates her officially dating Jaewoo. It never culminates in anything other than some grumbling on Sori’s part. Her other friends don’t seem bothered at all by her absence. To be fair, it’s not like we know much about them to miss them anyways.
Jenny’s familial struggles are completely dead in the water. She stays in dorms during the week so she only has the weekends to see family. She sees her grandmother maybe twice the whole book. Her mother leaves the book entirely until it’s time for the third act conflict where she now - after months - is harping on her constantly about participating in things other than cello. Jenny is a cello aficionado but it’s rare that she talks about music or songs she likes or spends time practicing. And no, it’s not one of the situations where her mother is pushing a dream she doesn’t want. Jenny loves playing the cello.
Her mother is depicted as uncompromising, however, her mother learns to loosen up independently in the background. Jenny never stands up for herself or otherwise gives any indication of her discontent. In fact, I could count one one hand the amount of times Jenny even thinks of her mother the entire almost year they live in Korea, let alone how much the two are in each others’ presence.
When the two do make peace, we don’t even get to read the conversation. Jenny skips weeks ahead in which time they apparently cleared up years of miscommunication, emotional damage, and heartache all in five minutes. Likewise, Jenny’s mothers’s conflict with her grandmother is wrapped up in two minutes in a conversation that Jenny randomly catches. It was ridiculously anticlimactic.
The ending was very rushed. I don’t feel like Jenny grew at all the entire course of the book mostly because she had nowhere to go either way. The third act conflict was very manufactured. It’s a romance staple to have a fight at this juncture. Still, there were plenty of things that could have been used to split the two up rather than what Axie Oh went with - Jenny apropos of nothing decides everything is too much for her and breaks up with Jaewoo. This would have been the perfect place to have Sori’s mother step in to manipulate the situation, for instance.
Also, while the author is Korean American, the whole book has a decidedly Americanized feel to it. I am by no means an expert on this topic nor do I mean to dismiss other peoples’ experiences, but I expected to get a special insight or interesting perspective given the background of the author and I ended up feeling as if Korea was interchangeable from Anywhere, USA.
I don’t think XOXO is bad. I expect the intended demographic will enjoy it. I just think there was a lot that could have been improved upon.
If you want to see the impact that Wattpad and Booktok has had on literature, look no further than XOXO.
While Wattpad has amassed a reputation for less than subpar writing, I’m not actually referring to the writing quality in this case, merely the style of writing that publishing is trending the most towards these days. It’s just that if you described this book, but subbed in Harry Styles for Jaewoo I wouldn’t bat an eye. Wattpad doesn’t have to mean bad, of course, but considering the reputation of other Wattpad/fanfiction turned traditionally published books I do not have high expectations when I come across one.
To be clear, this is not one of those books, it’s an original story if not set-up. That being said, it has all the hallmarks of the fanfics that morph into physical copies which did it no favors in terms of execution.
Authors writing fanfiction are obviously not a monolith. But, the unifier to these kinds of fics - by which I mean Y/N fics - are that they are typically concerned with feelings above all else. Logistics, practicalities and realism are secondary to what the author wants to evoke. The purpose of these fics is largely to make the reader feel good. They can project onto Y/N and through them live extraordinary lives of their wildest dreams.
XOXO reads exactly like a Y/N fic. How any of the story would work feasibly is secondary to the idea of it. This is evident in the rushed character development, the lack of real limitations, the ignored plot threads, and the shallow characterization for the supporting cast.
I am not a K-Pop fan, however, some of my friends are and I am chronically online so I have a decent idea of the dark side to the K-Pop industry. It’s not like it’s all that much better in the US, but the strict regulation of K-Pop stars has largely gone out of vogue here. There is no way that Jaewoo would be allowed to get away with what he does in this book.
When in big groups the two do little to hide their interest in one another. They actively seek each other out in plain view of plenty of teenagers who would be glad to gossip about them. Even being casually seen together could have repercussions. Jaewoo’s groupmate, Nathaniel, already had a massive scandal hit when he was caught with a girl - and she was a rising star not a no name like Jenny who would absolutely face more criticism - yet he allows himself to be seen dragging Jenny places or sitting really close to her or even out on a date with her.
More to the point, on the date the two actually do get caught,
Spoiler
thankfully just by his sisterOutside of the threat of a casual observer, it was unbelievable that his manager or management company never scolded him either.
I get the whole teenagers don’t always think argument, but Jaewoo has been at this for years. He has grown up in this culture knowing what could be expected of him if he were to get into the industry. He’s also supporting his family. What I’m saying is that from the beginning it was clear that the romance would have to be phenomenal for me to buy that this guy would risk his life’s work and overcome cultural conditioning to be with Jenny.
As you might have guessed, the romance was not worth all the potential drama. I did not understand what made Jenny so hung up on Jaewoo that she was still thinking about him months after their meeting. The synopsis makes it like they have some magical night together, but the two don’t do anything or share anything that is all that impactful. They have a quick karaoke session then go to a dinner where they mostly don’t speak. If there was some swapping of secrets such as Jenny confiding her confusing feelings regarding her mother or Jaewoo opening up about how difficult his idol lifestyle is in a meaningful way.
Obviously, it’s part of the twist that Jaewoo is a famous Idol, but he talked completely in coached language and vague non sequitors. Why would I believe these two have a special connection when he was super evasive the entire time? It would have been easy to have him lie about the exact circumstances whilst still being honest about his hardships.
This is another example of how it’s reminiscent of fanfiction, in general. When I read fanfic, I am reading about characters that I’m already somewhat comfortable with. Even in an AU, canon forms a basis off which the author’s interpretation is built. As such the reader doesn’t typically require as much evidence that the two characters belong together; they’re reading the fic because they already know they do and are simply basking in the feeling.
In a book, the characters are blank slates. I’ve never met them before and every aspect of them needs to be proven to me in some manner. I found that XOXO fell flat when it came to justifying actions, behavior, or feelings. Just because I understand why a character would do something out of text does not mean that in text it the rationale should be eschewed.
When Jenny arrives at the school her roommate Sori is cold to her. Jenny soon learns that Sori is an up and coming Idol similar to XOXO. Her mother runs the management company she and XOXO are signed to. For some reason Jenny is desperate to give this girl a chance to be her friend. Sori was mean to her at every turn for half the book and initially was presented as a potential rival for Jaewoo’s affections. Yet, Jenny was bending over backwards in her mind to explain to herself why Sori would act this way. When Sori has a big blow up, Jenny chases after her to apologize when Sori absolutely does not deserve it.
It felt like the author was trying too hard to subvert the idea that girls are always at each other’s throats. Girls being inherently catty is a stereotype wielded by the patriarchy to keep women in line, sure. That doesn’t mean that if a girl mistreats you, you should try to see her point of view to your own detriment.
Sori and Jenny get off on the wrong foot after Jenny reads a personal message of hers. Sori chooses to use this small indiscretion as a reason to hate Jenny unreservedly for weeks. Jenny finding it impossible to at the very least dislike her is inexplicable. Worse than that, it makes the subsequent friendship feel unearned. It’s a lot more meaningful if Jenny and Sori both contributed to the rift between the two then worked hard to forge a friendship in spite of it. Instead, Jenny comes off as a doormat, Sori inconsistent.
Speaking of Sori, there are three major plot threads dropped that involve her. One, she used to date Nathaniel. When caught, her mother forced them to break up to salvage the groups’ image. It is expressed many times that she and Nathaniel are still hung up on one another. This fizzles out as soon as Sori becomes friends with Jenny.
I’m not saying the two had to get back together, but it felt bizarre that Jaewoo ultimately chooses to date Jenny regardless of the impact of his career and here’s this couple that was forced apart specifically for that reason. How is Nathaniel not resentful? He dropped Sori partially for Jaewoo’s benefit. Where is the callout for Jaewoo’s hypocrisy? If Jaewoo is doing it then why doesn’t Nathaniel make a similar bid for Sori?
This is related to the second plot thread dropped. As mentioned before, Sori’s mother is the head of Joah Entertainment. She’s implied to be a ruthless, forbidding upholder of the industry standards. She essentially is the antagonist as a physical manifestation of all that stands in their way. Despite her having the most power and influence over the fall out of the conflict in the story - whether or not Jaewoo will lose his career if caught seeing Jenny - she never once appears on the page. The groundwork was definitely laid for an ultimate face-off with Sori standing up for her rights or her mother threatening the motley crew or something. It was mind boggling that she never showed up especially when she would have added some much needed authenticity to the depiction of Idol life.
Coming back to the first dropped plot thread: Sori was clearly being made to cozy up to Jaewoo for a PR relationship in the beginning. She completely abandons this course of action with zero explanation as to how this is possible for her to do without her mother/the company disciplining her. Sori’s whole life is preparing for her debut. Like Jaewoo, there needs to be a really, really good reason for her to risk her dreams going up in smoke. A friendship with Jenny did not fit the bill.
All of the supporting characters are shallow. Jenny acts like they’re all so close, but outside of Sori who soars to the front of the pack the rest are abandoned in favor of Jaewoo. It’s supposed to be a part of her arc somewhat that she’s focusing too much on Jaewoo except that doesn’t work when her friends not appearing much predates her officially dating Jaewoo. It never culminates in anything other than some grumbling on Sori’s part. Her other friends don’t seem bothered at all by her absence. To be fair, it’s not like we know much about them to miss them anyways.
Jenny’s familial struggles are completely dead in the water. She stays in dorms during the week so she only has the weekends to see family. She sees her grandmother maybe twice the whole book. Her mother leaves the book entirely until it’s time for the third act conflict where she now - after months - is harping on her constantly about participating in things other than cello. Jenny is a cello aficionado but it’s rare that she talks about music or songs she likes or spends time practicing. And no, it’s not one of the situations where her mother is pushing a dream she doesn’t want. Jenny loves playing the cello.
Her mother is depicted as uncompromising, however, her mother learns to loosen up independently in the background. Jenny never stands up for herself or otherwise gives any indication of her discontent. In fact, I could count one one hand the amount of times Jenny even thinks of her mother the entire almost year they live in Korea, let alone how much the two are in each others’ presence.
When the two do make peace, we don’t even get to read the conversation. Jenny skips weeks ahead in which time they apparently cleared up years of miscommunication, emotional damage, and heartache all in five minutes. Likewise, Jenny’s mothers’s conflict with her grandmother is wrapped up in two minutes in a conversation that Jenny randomly catches. It was ridiculously anticlimactic.
The ending was very rushed. I don’t feel like Jenny grew at all the entire course of the book mostly because she had nowhere to go either way. The third act conflict was very manufactured. It’s a romance staple to have a fight at this juncture. Still, there were plenty of things that could have been used to split the two up rather than what Axie Oh went with - Jenny apropos of nothing decides everything is too much for her and breaks up with Jaewoo. This would have been the perfect place to have Sori’s mother step in to manipulate the situation, for instance.
Also, while the author is Korean American, the whole book has a decidedly Americanized feel to it. I am by no means an expert on this topic nor do I mean to dismiss other peoples’ experiences, but I expected to get a special insight or interesting perspective given the background of the author and I ended up feeling as if Korea was interchangeable from Anywhere, USA.
I don’t think XOXO is bad. I expect the intended demographic will enjoy it. I just think there was a lot that could have been improved upon.
cdelaroy's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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? N/A
4.25
pagesofash's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
nataliefox's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
drubyy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-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? Yes
4.0