This book was borderline racist at times, quite uninformed at most times. As a person who's been a fan of K-pop and Korean mainstream media in general for several years now, following the innerworkings of that business very closely, this just felt like the author hadn't done any kind of research at all. Not just into the way K-media works, but also into the way Korean culture works as a whole. It's K-pop, but make it Western - if the Jonas Brothers were exactly the same, but K-pop, if you will. I was highly disappointed, unfortunately.

This was such a fun read. Who doesn’t love a story about a runaway pop star in hiding!!!! The author really knows how to tel a great and interesting story.

This is so cringey... Feels like the author didn't do much research into Korean culture, just enough to fetishize it. DNF'd at 25%.

Received an Advanced Reader’s Copy from the publisher, Mascot Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! 

First and foremost, ladies and gentleman, after almost one whole month of the hardest slump of my life, I have successfully read a book. 

Now, I chose Hart and Seoul because I’ve been wanting to read it since forever, and it’s just cruel that I had the book but had yet to get around to reading it. So I brought some justice into the world and picked it up. 

Straight off the hat, I’m going to say, the book is cute. It’s not a KDrama the way we’d expect it to be. It’s an almost normal story, a hate to love kinda romance and everything blowing up before piecing itself back together again. Simple. Except…what made the book absolutely fantastic for me was the heroine. 

It’s not often I say this in a young adult contemporary book, but I absolutely enjoyed the heroine’s characterisation. Merilee Hart wasn’t the perfect, whip smart, got everything going for her, does everything the right way, says the right things at the right time kind of girl. She was absolutely normal. By which I mean, she’s got problems, doubts, strife, confusion, all of it. But what I absolutely loved was how she’d work things out inside her head. Her introspection moved me and I connected to it immediately. A large part of the poignancy in this book comes from her; her thoughts on her mistakes, her immediate admission to them and how she always remembers to see a little bit of herself in the person she doesn’t understand and while she may take the decision to put herself first, she certainly won’t do it with a sense of superiority.

Lee reminded me a little bit of the person I’ve always wondered if K-Pop idols are outside the spotlight. Exhausted, drained and wanting for a break. When the author made a mention of Kim Jong-hyun from the popular K-Pop group SHINee, I knew that I had understood exactly what she was trying to say. I think the whole world was shaken after the suicide of the famous K-Pop singer and it brought a lot of darkness in the spotlight to our eyes. I always wonder what it must be like, whether the price is too high and with everything I further hear about the industry… perhaps it is. 

There were some very interesting secondary characters, some supportive and some not, but no matter their role they always brought something very very important to the protagonist’s understanding of herself. I won’t mention further because I think it’s best that it unfolds candidly to the reader.

The writing is definitely young but it is peppered with surprising moments of depth. The plot is simple but it doesn’t fail to keep you reading and the references to Korean culture are many (expect a lot of Aiish‘s *chuckle*). There were also some very natural cultural differences at many points in the book and the author also shows how that distance starts to melt away and there’s a beautiful sharing of special parts of one another’s culture with each other 

Four stars! A very happy reading and stay super super safe! ❤

Did not get to this title, so can't leave an honest review. It sounds very cute though. But I don't read much YA.
The premise is intriguing and seems like a low key THE IDEA OF YOU.
Again, wasn't able to get to this because YA becomes last priority in my reading stack. What about you?

Not my cup of Soju....

I really liked the idea of an romance novel aimed directly at Kpop stans, and was genuinely interested in seeing how this author would approach this topic. However cute the story is, during my read I did discover some cultural snags that lessened the reading experience overall.

I think the author definitely has potential for this genre, and that this particular definitely has a growing market,  but this story and its missing ingredients was not it for me.

I am curious how die hard Kpop stans, and especially Korean Kpop stans felt about this book, as I am not Korean myself.

I just think ultimately this book wasn't for me. I went in with high hopes, but couldn't connect with the character. I was also a little put off by the main character's voice. Some will enjoy this, but unfortunately, I didn't.

What a fun fast-paced read!

Merri has just returned home from a brief stay in Australia to find that her best friend and boyfriend have betrayed her and had an affair. With her trust broken Merri turns to her neighbor's newly arrive nephew, "Lee". A fancy dresser with attitude to boot, Lee and Merri find themselves drawn into a deep and genuine attraction but how will Merri react when she finds out that Lee is a runaway K-Pop star with gaggles of girls following his every move?

Merri, or Christmas as Lee likes to call her, and Lee were sweet and genuine young loves. They both have trust issues and have to navigate those issues in their relationship but I thought they did it very well. The novel is fun and quick but at times does read like a fanfiction. I loved it anyway!

I really wasn't expecting much from this book, in fact I thought it was going to be some cringy fanfic about K-pop. But it actually wasn't too bad. Despite the plot being kind of predictable and cheesy, it was engaging. But I think what really made this book stand out for me was the way it mentions self-harm and suicide, particularly when in recent years we've seen this occurring in the K-pop industry. 'Hart and Seoul' really highlights the pressures of being in this industry and I saw it as a reality check for the fans.

Overall, if you're a K-pop fan then you have to read this! But otherwise it was a really good, unique read!

For fans of Korean pop culture and lovers of Korean music fan culture, Hart & Seoul is the book to check out. It ties in aspects of idol culture into a more familiar setting, essentially amplifying the trope of "bringing the big city boy to the small town girl". While this story may feel familiar to those who are already immersed in Korean pop culture, the style and writing may be jarring for first timers. The constant usage of Korean phrases sometimes distracted from the plot and dialogue. Overall, if you're looking for a fun contemporary read and you have a deep interest in K-pop, Hart & Seoul may be just the right book for you.

I thought I would really enjoy this book but I found it hard to connect with. I think it is very age specific and I'm a bit older for the book. I read a lot of YA, but this one just felt really young. I think it's definitely a cute enough, easy read but just not for me.

This book is such an interesting one, it has a unique premise and I was so excited to see how idols are like in real life too so this is such a refreshing take on the contemporary genre. I am a little annoyed with the main character in the beginning as she seems like a childish person but she has matured and grown so much throughout the book! The writing style was simple and sweet so I had no hard time getting into the book. Overall, I think it is a fun, quick read for anyone who wants a refreshing and cute read!

A really easy read, especially for those who are into K-Pop or K-Drama, but the story doesn't offer much in terms of originality from other offerings in the genre.

I didn't really find anything here that outstanding in any way. I thought the characters were a little bland and the plot was predictable. It's a cute read but unfortunately there's no real spark here for me.

This was a light fun read and it was nice having the Korean culture tied in throughout! However, I did find it fairly predictable and cheesy sometimes. It didn't have the same strong impact as I was expecting, but not a bad book overall.

This was a cute, fun read. I loved the incorporation of Korean culture, food, and music. However, I found this book predictable and didn't think it added anything to the genre.

A k-pop star? Yes!
An artist female MC? Yes!
Who wouldn't want to read this hell-of-an-amazing book?
Loved reading this fluffy quick read. If you're a k-pop fan this is definitely for you. (Or, if you like reading fan fiction)
Aiggo! I loved it so much!❤ The cute story between Lee and Merri was so cute.Or should I say Mr.Kimchi and Christmas? Each of their scenes were amazing and lovey-dovey.
It also focuses on the dark side of fame, how the stars have to deal with depression especially due to all the pressure and expectations pushed upon them. 
It talks about the hardship of being in the spotlight. It also potrayed how the adoring fans who think they want the best for their idol, are sometimes the ones who ruin everything for their favourite. Kudos to the author for pointing these stuffs out.
However,I felt a few things disturbing,it felt clichè at times about both of them being ENTIRELY oblivious to each other's culture .
But apart from it I loved this one. Definitely read this one, if you're looking for a quick fluffy teen romance.
Excited for the sequel!

I have never really understood K-pop or the fascination with it but when I saw this book was up on NetGalley I knew I wanted to give it a shot and see if it would help me understand. Plus I would hopefully get a good contemporary story out of the deal. And now that I have finished this story I still don't understand K-pop but I do know that I really enjoyed this story.

It started out as a very light and cute contemporary story and by the end was looking at some very dark and deep things. Now being outside of the K-pop community I can't speak to how accurate that part of the story was but I can say that this book did not shy away from some really heavy things. 

At the end of the day this was a story that I found very enjoyable with a couple that I loved seeing grow. And while I still don't think K-pop is for me: I am a big fan of Lee.

I was so excited for this book, but I ended up feeing a lot of anger towards this book. This probably is just a really personal thing, but so many things rubbed me the wrong way. I'm Chinese and not Korean, but even so, some things are just generally regarding Asian cultures.
One of the things that really bothered me was that Ms. Park couldn't seem to be 'properly' speaking English, that is, with actual grammar. Lee Hyung-Kim also had some encounter with this, when he said "she should go to hospital". I'm pretty sure this wasn't a typing fault or something, because Merri repeated this several times in her head, in the exact way. Another thing that really bothered me when Merri thought the following: "He didn't look old enough to have finished high school". From personal experience, I know it's not fun to have people think you're sixteen whereas you're actually twenty. So even when those things happen in real life, nothing in the book fought this to show that it is wrong to do so.
The storyline itself was fine, nothing special and very predictable. Had those 'problematic' aspects not been there, I would definitely have given this book three stars. Also because it tackles mental health problems, plastic surgeries and extreme pressure, to show that not everything is as it seems and that the K-pop scene is far from perfect.

Initially, I was drawn by the description of this book because I had never heard of this in the book community. I was expecting a love story, and I thought it would be predictable. However, it is definitely more than just I did not expect to two teenagers falling in love, because the main characters are so complex in their own ways, that I immediately wanted to discover all their layers.

Something that I did not know much about was the K pop world, and how complicated it can get for an artist, but like any young adult, I related to that character because it reminded me (to some degree) what the pressure of everyone around you added on to me whilst growing up. 

I recommend this book to anyone that loves an original love story.