Take a photo of a barcode or cover
transparent_tea 's review for:
I'll Love You Forever: Notes from a K-Pop Fan
by Giaae Kwon
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
To give some background about myself, I'm a huge K-Pop fan. My first memory of K-pop was in 2005-2006, when I was in college. My very first song that I listened to was Wonder Girls - Tell Me, and at the time, I didn't enjoy the music video, but later, my friends introduced me to TVXQ's Balloons, which was cute and got stuck with me since. (I later re-listened/re-watched Tell Me, and I was hooked.)
With that said, the memoir was interesting to read from the perspective of knowing K-pop, but seeing how it blends in with the author's life. Looking back, I could say some points of my life can be pinpointed to certain timeframes (pushing the limit of my peers who didn't know K-pop by pointing out that Run Devil Run by Girls' Generation was from a demo track that Ke$ha wrote, my left knee injury that happened around Girl's Day - Expectation, and discovering SF9's DaWon and soloist Wonho during the early days of the pandemic).
The book felt like a warm hug that the author wants to give to all the groups she likes/follows, mostly H.O.T and Suga from BTS. I enjoyed several points that she made about crossing what idols are going and the reality of things. Granted, because of the bias (both only knowing the groups that she liked and being SM-heavy), there were some things she could have added to elaborate on some points. I'm not saying that it's wrong not to include certain things (like how Wonder Girl's SunMi went on hiatus for school, only years later, she revealed it was because of her mental health, or adding a chunk about her thoughts about HyunA, since the Burning Sun scandal was mentioned). However, I can't speak for the author, as she probably didn't follow all the idols or felt like she knew enough to add them into her book, or it wouldn't feel genuine to her, as these were more facts than what she actually experienced during her time.
I've bought the Behind The Scene's book about BTS for some time and never got a chance to read it. Knowing a bit more about BangTan, I'm making it a point to include reading the book sometime this year, as understanding a part of their story from a slight bias perspectives makes me want to understand the struggles/experiences they went through to make them what they are today (and probably before their return as a whole group).
With that said, the memoir was interesting to read from the perspective of knowing K-pop, but seeing how it blends in with the author's life. Looking back, I could say some points of my life can be pinpointed to certain timeframes (pushing the limit of my peers who didn't know K-pop by pointing out that Run Devil Run by Girls' Generation was from a demo track that Ke$ha wrote, my left knee injury that happened around Girl's Day - Expectation, and discovering SF9's DaWon and soloist Wonho during the early days of the pandemic).
The book felt like a warm hug that the author wants to give to all the groups she likes/follows, mostly H.O.T and Suga from BTS. I enjoyed several points that she made about crossing what idols are going and the reality of things. Granted, because of the bias (both only knowing the groups that she liked and being SM-heavy), there were some things she could have added to elaborate on some points. I'm not saying that it's wrong not to include certain things (like how Wonder Girl's SunMi went on hiatus for school, only years later, she revealed it was because of her mental health, or adding a chunk about her thoughts about HyunA, since the Burning Sun scandal was mentioned). However, I can't speak for the author, as she probably didn't follow all the idols or felt like she knew enough to add them into her book, or it wouldn't feel genuine to her, as these were more facts than what she actually experienced during her time.
I've bought the Behind The Scene's book about BTS for some time and never got a chance to read it. Knowing a bit more about BangTan, I'm making it a point to include reading the book sometime this year, as understanding a part of their story from a slight bias perspectives makes me want to understand the struggles/experiences they went through to make them what they are today (and probably before their return as a whole group).