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anabuyuan 's review for:
I Believe in a Thing Called Love
by Maurene Goo
This book is a mix of my two loves: books and Kdrama. So I obviously can't hate it.
The synopsis at the back of the book got me hooked immediately with its promise of "Kdrama Steps to True Love". And if you've ever watched a Kdrama before you know how formulaic and cliched (yet somehow still addicting) they can be. It's not so hard for someone like Desi to derive the formula and use it to get the guy.
About the characters, first there's Desi Lee (or Hye Jin, her Korean name, which is also the name of the protagonist in She Was Pretty). Smart. Over-achiever. Bound for med school. Perfect little student. Perfect except for her "flailures" (flirting failures), which are so ridiculous fails bordering on unrealistic. But I think it was intentional because the story itself is reminiscent of Kdrama. The more embarrassing the fail, the harder the guy falls in love, apparently.
And then there's Luca Drakos. The name seems too fantasy to me but I guess he needs that name for the bad ass effect, which directly contradicts his actual personality. Underneath the broody, misunderstood artist exterior lies one of the most unmanly mans in literature. Germophobe, weak, not sporty at all -- quite the opposite of perfect Desi. And as they say, opposites attract.
Kdramas won't be complete without lovable side characters. In this book, there's the Korean dad (which kind of reminds me of Park Sheridan's mom from Eleanor and Park) and Wes and Fiona, the best friends/squad. They are amusing!
The story itself is pretty simple but i like it. It was fun reading about how Kdramas could be if they happened in real life. Overall it was an entertaining read!
The synopsis at the back of the book got me hooked immediately with its promise of "Kdrama Steps to True Love". And if you've ever watched a Kdrama before you know how formulaic and cliched (yet somehow still addicting) they can be. It's not so hard for someone like Desi to derive the formula and use it to get the guy.
About the characters, first there's Desi Lee (or Hye Jin, her Korean name, which is also the name of the protagonist in She Was Pretty). Smart. Over-achiever. Bound for med school. Perfect little student. Perfect except for her "flailures" (flirting failures), which are so ridiculous fails bordering on unrealistic. But I think it was intentional because the story itself is reminiscent of Kdrama. The more embarrassing the fail, the harder the guy falls in love, apparently.
And then there's Luca Drakos. The name seems too fantasy to me but I guess he needs that name for the bad ass effect, which directly contradicts his actual personality. Underneath the broody, misunderstood artist exterior lies one of the most unmanly mans in literature. Germophobe, weak, not sporty at all -- quite the opposite of perfect Desi. And as they say, opposites attract.
Kdramas won't be complete without lovable side characters. In this book, there's the Korean dad (which kind of reminds me of Park Sheridan's mom from Eleanor and Park) and Wes and Fiona, the best friends/squad. They are amusing!
The story itself is pretty simple but i like it. It was fun reading about how Kdramas could be if they happened in real life. Overall it was an entertaining read!