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A review by whattaylorreads
Fireworks by Alice Lin
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I will preface this review by saying that I am not the target audience for this book. First and foremost, I am a very casual k-pop fan (like I know less than 15 k-pop songs and have no major attachments to any particular bands), so I didn't know much about the culture around k-pop groups and idols and felt out of my depth a bit. Second, I'm 26 now and going through a bit of a mid-20s crisis, so it was hard for me to connect back with high school seniors.
That being said, if I was a high schooler who was even moderately more interested in k-pop, I would have been OBSESSED with this book. I hope this does numbers on YA BookTok/Bookstagram because it's a cute, fluffy romance, perfect for summer reading by the beach.
I did find Lulu (FMC) to be a little bit lacking in personality, but in a way that it reminds me of self-insert fanfiction- many girls could read this and feel like they see themselves in Lulu. The only real character growth came from Kite (MMC), and everyone else sort of stayed the same. I wish that at least Lulu could have had more development, even something as silly as adding a Korean minor in college.
Overall, a fun, short read, and it fulfilled one of my reading challenge prompts (a book about K-Pop).
That being said, if I was a high schooler who was even moderately more interested in k-pop, I would have been OBSESSED with this book. I hope this does numbers on YA BookTok/Bookstagram because it's a cute, fluffy romance, perfect for summer reading by the beach.
I did find Lulu (FMC) to be a little bit lacking in personality, but in a way that it reminds me of self-insert fanfiction- many girls could read this and feel like they see themselves in Lulu. The only real character growth came from Kite (MMC), and everyone else sort of stayed the same. I wish that at least Lulu could have had more development, even something as silly as adding a Korean minor in college.
Overall, a fun, short read, and it fulfilled one of my reading challenge prompts (a book about K-Pop).