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A review by nicolemhewitt
Made in Korea by Sarah Suk
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Who doesn’t love a little competition fed by an entrepreneurial spirit? Valerie and Wes both feel like they have something to prove. Wes wants to go to music school, even though he knows the only way he can make it happen is by funding it himself—there’s no way his father will support him when Wes’s uncle is already a “starving” musician. Valerie feels like she’s always overlooked and being compared to her perfect older sister. She also wants desperately to help her halmeoni (her grandma) see the world like she’s always dreamed. Valerie figures the best way to solve both of those problems is to make enough money to take her halmeoni to Paris—not only will her halmeoni get the trip of a lifetime, but Valerie will have shown her family she’s capable of great things! When new-guy Wes shows up with a competing business, Valerie is more than a little upset. So the two make an all-or-nothing bet—whoever makes the most profits gets to keep the other person’s profits as well. Except things get a little complicated when they start to fall for each other.
My absolute favorite aspect of this book actually wasn’t the romance but Valerie’s relationship with her grandmother. These two are so sweet together, and it was quite obvious how much Valerie treasured her halmeoni. And whenever the pressures of life were getting to Valerie, Halmeoni was there to lift her up and remind her of what’s truly important. Valerie’s emotional connection to Halmeoni is incredibly strong, and Suk manages to bring the reader right into that relationship so that I was emotionally invested to her too. (I’ll confess that I shed a few tears during some moments between these two.) Another fantastic element of the book was the Korean (and Korean American) cultural references. The delectable food, the beauty products, the K-pop, Korean women divers, church, family relationships, and more. Since all of these things are part of the characters’ everyday lives, the reader is immersed in them too. Plus, both Wes and Valerie explore the ramifications of being raised in a culture that’s different than the country you’re raised in.
In the end, both Wes and Valerie have to figure out what’s truly important to them and determine how far they’ll go to achieve their dreams. And decide which sacrifices aren’t worth making.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for review purposes. As always, all opinions are my own and no compensation was given.***
Who doesn’t love a little competition fed by an entrepreneurial spirit? Valerie and Wes both feel like they have something to prove. Wes wants to go to music school, even though he knows the only way he can make it happen is by funding it himself—there’s no way his father will support him when Wes’s uncle is already a “starving” musician. Valerie feels like she’s always overlooked and being compared to her perfect older sister. She also wants desperately to help her halmeoni (her grandma) see the world like she’s always dreamed. Valerie figures the best way to solve both of those problems is to make enough money to take her halmeoni to Paris—not only will her halmeoni get the trip of a lifetime, but Valerie will have shown her family she’s capable of great things! When new-guy Wes shows up with a competing business, Valerie is more than a little upset. So the two make an all-or-nothing bet—whoever makes the most profits gets to keep the other person’s profits as well. Except things get a little complicated when they start to fall for each other.
My absolute favorite aspect of this book actually wasn’t the romance but Valerie’s relationship with her grandmother. These two are so sweet together, and it was quite obvious how much Valerie treasured her halmeoni. And whenever the pressures of life were getting to Valerie, Halmeoni was there to lift her up and remind her of what’s truly important. Valerie’s emotional connection to Halmeoni is incredibly strong, and Suk manages to bring the reader right into that relationship so that I was emotionally invested to her too. (I’ll confess that I shed a few tears during some moments between these two.) Another fantastic element of the book was the Korean (and Korean American) cultural references. The delectable food, the beauty products, the K-pop, Korean women divers, church, family relationships, and more. Since all of these things are part of the characters’ everyday lives, the reader is immersed in them too. Plus, both Wes and Valerie explore the ramifications of being raised in a culture that’s different than the country you’re raised in.
In the end, both Wes and Valerie have to figure out what’s truly important to them and determine how far they’ll go to achieve their dreams. And decide which sacrifices aren’t worth making.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for review purposes. As always, all opinions are my own and no compensation was given.***