Scan barcode
A review by angek98
花樣年華 HYYH The Notes 1 by Big Hit Entertainment
5.0
As a fan of BTS I was anticipating reading this book. This book is the explanation of the overarching story in most of their music videos, straying from the norm of both pop and K-pop music, something which set the tone for this book.
The story is the tragic, depressing telling of 7 boys with different traumas, mental illness and struggles, who come together as troubled friends, then break away as they grow (or stagnate) throughout their lives. The story is character driven, with no overarching plot other than to help the reader understand the pain each of the boys go through, although there are hints of it coming in later installments, with the teasing of certain moments such as Taehyung's prophetic dreams and Seokjin's need to "change" things.
In terms of the storyline, it was perfect, but I do feel like the writing/translation and structure of the novel could have been improved by things such as a paragraph break whenever a character had dialogue, as well as the use of italics whenever a character had internal thoughts. It was easy to follow in first person, despite the multiple points of views, but there were certain characters that had more of an indicative voice than others, such as Namjoon, whose introspectively written chapters made it feel as if I was reading the man's words himself. I would'nt have minded if the writing was a little more fleshed out and lengthy, though this wasnt enough to detract from the story.
I want to say that I enjoyed this book, but I feel like that's impossible to say when the story follows the tragic fictional lives of the band I've consumed and adored for nearly 2 years. I don't think anyone would be able to enjoy a book that managed to evoke a feeling of hopelessness for the characters, however, this is not a bad thing. I would rather say that this was a book unlike anything I've read before, just like BTS is a band unlike anything I've heard before. It evoked a whirlwind of emotions within me, managed to relate to me in a way I didn't expect and told the important message that everyone is going through their own struggles, that things can go wrong unexpectedly. I'm looking forward to the next instalment of this story, whether its through music video, short film, webcomic, or novelisation (or any other medium, knowing Big Hit and BTS)
The story is the tragic, depressing telling of 7 boys with different traumas, mental illness and struggles, who come together as troubled friends, then break away as they grow (or stagnate) throughout their lives. The story is character driven, with no overarching plot other than to help the reader understand the pain each of the boys go through, although there are hints of it coming in later installments, with the teasing of certain moments such as Taehyung's prophetic dreams and Seokjin's need to "change" things.
In terms of the storyline, it was perfect, but I do feel like the writing/translation and structure of the novel could have been improved by things such as a paragraph break whenever a character had dialogue, as well as the use of italics whenever a character had internal thoughts. It was easy to follow in first person, despite the multiple points of views, but there were certain characters that had more of an indicative voice than others, such as Namjoon, whose introspectively written chapters made it feel as if I was reading the man's words himself. I would'nt have minded if the writing was a little more fleshed out and lengthy, though this wasnt enough to detract from the story.
I want to say that I enjoyed this book, but I feel like that's impossible to say when the story follows the tragic fictional lives of the band I've consumed and adored for nearly 2 years. I don't think anyone would be able to enjoy a book that managed to evoke a feeling of hopelessness for the characters, however, this is not a bad thing. I would rather say that this was a book unlike anything I've read before, just like BTS is a band unlike anything I've heard before. It evoked a whirlwind of emotions within me, managed to relate to me in a way I didn't expect and told the important message that everyone is going through their own struggles, that things can go wrong unexpectedly. I'm looking forward to the next instalment of this story, whether its through music video, short film, webcomic, or novelisation (or any other medium, knowing Big Hit and BTS)