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A review by usandalgona
Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh
3.0
I think this is a great debut novel. It was relatively predictable for me, but I finally got a book about Koreans set in Korea that's a YA novel and also sci-fi, so I'm quite satisfied. And some incorporation of Korean slang and mannerisms. It's the thing I've been looking for for a long time.
The way Axie Oh navigates the woman-protecting-a-man thing is pretty impressive. And that Jaewon finds comfort in it. If that is not wholesome and mutually supportive, I don't know what is. It's not that women have to be physically superstrong to protect a male partner, but more like the mutual trust is essential. That got across very clearly.
I won't lie, it was nonsensical and unrealistic that Korea and Japan were in an alliance. That is not only very very implausible but overly idealistic and very romanticized. None of the history between the two countries was mentioned either. I'm not saying you should mention all the human experiments with STIs and the war crimes committed by Japan in a YA novel, but at least back up this alliance with some reasonable foundation. I suppose it was for combining the author's passions, but this just didn't work well with me. I'm not against the idea of an alliance, exactly, but I'm very skeptical about it ever happening in a just way even in a fictitious world. And it's hard to talk about Korea while almost completely removing its historical background. But you can only achieve so much well if you spread yourself thin with the messages you want to send across clearly.
On another note, I shipped Young and Jaewon so hard 😂😂 Their bromance is legit. I want to see Young and Daeho meeting Tera.
Also, Daeho? MVP. He's hands down my favorite character in the novel and kind of reminds me of Seungri (chewing gum and all), which was probably deliberate.
Again, I'm still worried about the uncredited Guilty Crown reference in that song...
The way Axie Oh navigates the woman-protecting-a-man thing is pretty impressive. And that Jaewon finds comfort in it. If that is not wholesome and mutually supportive, I don't know what is. It's not that women have to be physically superstrong to protect a male partner, but more like the mutual trust is essential. That got across very clearly.
I won't lie, it was nonsensical and unrealistic that Korea and Japan were in an alliance. That is not only very very implausible but overly idealistic and very romanticized. None of the history between the two countries was mentioned either. I'm not saying you should mention all the human experiments with STIs and the war crimes committed by Japan in a YA novel, but at least back up this alliance with some reasonable foundation. I suppose it was for combining the author's passions, but this just didn't work well with me. I'm not against the idea of an alliance, exactly, but I'm very skeptical about it ever happening in a just way even in a fictitious world. And it's hard to talk about Korea while almost completely removing its historical background. But you can only achieve so much well if you spread yourself thin with the messages you want to send across clearly.
On another note, I shipped Young and Jaewon so hard 😂😂 Their bromance is legit. I want to see Young and Daeho meeting Tera.
Also, Daeho? MVP. He's hands down my favorite character in the novel and kind of reminds me of Seungri (chewing gum and all), which was probably deliberate.
Again, I'm still worried about the uncredited Guilty Crown reference in that song...