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A review by tangodiva
K-Pop Confidential by Stephan Lee
4.0
Absolutely LOVED this book. Stephan Lee has totally captured the voice of 15-year-old Candace Park from Fort Lee, New Jersey, and I give it up to him for that. This book made me cry and that is no lie from your 53-year-old K-pop Stan (of course Candace was the Rosé - I didn't even need to read an interview with the author to guess that).
I don't know why I love K-pop so much, I just do. It started with the Wonder Girls so I'm no Johnny-Come-Lately. And even though I love it and the way it tickles my cerebral cortex just so, the way it makes me feel happy when I'm depressed - there's no denying it's got a dark underbelly. That is not shied away from here. That trainee life is tough, periodt.
My only tiny nitpick is that I wasn't always sure of Candace's motivation in wanting to become a trainee. Lack of confidence? Feeling that her family didn't really "see" her? Crush on a male idol? It's hard to say. But when her mother tells her she is worth more than anything no matter what someone else may say, well, maybe I got it a little bit.
Lots of great flavor on the sights and sounds and smells of Korea. A handy-dandy dictionary at the end should you need it. And Lee writes with love and affection of all the songs you know and love.
Just try getting Red Flavor out of your head (Wendy is my bias!)
I don't know why I love K-pop so much, I just do. It started with the Wonder Girls so I'm no Johnny-Come-Lately. And even though I love it and the way it tickles my cerebral cortex just so, the way it makes me feel happy when I'm depressed - there's no denying it's got a dark underbelly. That is not shied away from here. That trainee life is tough, periodt.
My only tiny nitpick is that I wasn't always sure of Candace's motivation in wanting to become a trainee. Lack of confidence? Feeling that her family didn't really "see" her? Crush on a male idol? It's hard to say. But when her mother tells her she is worth more than anything no matter what someone else may say, well, maybe I got it a little bit.
Lots of great flavor on the sights and sounds and smells of Korea. A handy-dandy dictionary at the end should you need it. And Lee writes with love and affection of all the songs you know and love.
Just try getting Red Flavor out of your head (Wendy is my bias!)