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A review by winterkeep
Shine by Jessica Jung
2.0
This was definitely on the younger side of YA in terms of prose and execution of conflicts. The writing was honestly kind of cringe...
It does showcase an "insider look" into the life of a k-pop trainee, including all the fierce competition and awful verbal abuse from trainers you hear so much about from the industry.
If you're looking for tea about how Jessica was kicked out of SNSD, you're not gonna find it here. (This is the first book of a 2-book series, and the first book focuses on the trainee life, not post-debut.)
If you're looking for a 1:1 life story of Jessica's life as a trainee under SM, you probably won't find it here. However, it's 100% believable that some of the things that happened in this book really did happen to actual k-pop stars/trainees. With fierce competition comes sabotage and backstabbing. The book touches on sexism and double standards within the industry, and even showcases a male idol who is unable to recognize his own male privilege. Sure it wasn't a very nuanced portrayal, but it's almost too real considering the known problematic people in the industry.
Overall, Shine wouldn't be a book I would recommend to anyone unless they were already fans of SNSD or Jessica herself. 5/10
It does showcase an "insider look" into the life of a k-pop trainee, including all the fierce competition and awful verbal abuse from trainers you hear so much about from the industry.
If you're looking for tea about how Jessica was kicked out of SNSD, you're not gonna find it here. (This is the first book of a 2-book series, and the first book focuses on the trainee life, not post-debut.)
If you're looking for a 1:1 life story of Jessica's life as a trainee under SM, you probably won't find it here. However, it's 100% believable that some of the things that happened in this book really did happen to actual k-pop stars/trainees. With fierce competition comes sabotage and backstabbing. The book touches on sexism and double standards within the industry, and even showcases a male idol who is unable to recognize his own male privilege. Sure it wasn't a very nuanced portrayal, but it's almost too real considering the known problematic people in the industry.
Overall, Shine wouldn't be a book I would recommend to anyone unless they were already fans of SNSD or Jessica herself. 5/10