As a small-scale BTS fan, I went into this novel with middle-of-the-road expectations. I knew there would be romance, and I knew pretty instantly with the boyfriend/bestfriend arc. I didn't feel too much towards the main characters until quite a bit further on. I did enjoy the book though, but it would have been much better if the author had actually done research instead of writing the book leaning on her very superficial knowledge of Korean culture; knowledge that comes from listening to K-pop and watching a kdrama episode here and there only.

The rest was fine. This book didn’t blow my mind or anything, but it entertained me for a while. I would consider going into it knowing that it’s not the best young adult K-pop book out there in any way, though. And that the Korean representation is not super problematic but it goes in that direction, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a Korean reader felt a bit insulted by this book.

High school artist Merilee Hart has just come back from a vacation with her dad when she meets a moody but utterly gorgeous guy named Lee. When Merilee's closest friends back stab her and her dad refuses to consider her dreams of attending art school, she's drawn to Lee. Things are going well until she finds out he's a runaway K-pop star. Then things become extremely complicated...

I instantly liked Merilee and Lee and rooted for their relationship to work out, I thought Merilee and her dad had a genuine, great relationship, and I loved that Merilee was an artist. The comic panels were such a cool idea.

I had never read anything involving K-pop, but after reading Hart and Seoul, I'm interested in reading more in the genre, and can't wait for the sequel. And I'll definitely add this book to my middle school library because my 8th grade students will surely enjoy it.

Hart & Seoul is a YA novel with a difference. There's the usual YA factors - broken relationships, friendship struggles and college admissions - but then you throw in a runaway Korean popstar! I think readers need to go into this book knowing that this is YA to a tee. The writing is very simple and slightly cliche at points, and it does skim over some bigger issues, like parental abandonment and mental health. But all in all, I liked Hart & Seoul and couldn't wait to dive back in every day to find out what happens.

I received a complementary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Hart & Seoul
Author: Kristen Burnham
Release Date: 6/4/2019
Review Date: 7/16/2019 On Goodreads

Girl meets boy. Boy falls for girl. Girl discovers boy is a runaway K-pop idol in hiding.
Merilee Hart has been doing her best to keep things together since her mother left, her art a welcome escape from her depressing new reality. But things seem to go even more awry the moment her next door neighbor’s enigmatic and mysterious nephew arrives from South Korea. Lee is moody, cocky, and utterly infuriating.

This book was stinking adorable. I don't tend to reach for YA contemporary novels very often but when I do I prefer them to be unputdownable and cute, and this one was exactly that. I literally just wanted to devour this book from start to finish. I did see a lot of the "twists" coming but I still really enjoyed this book. I have already added the sequel to my want to read shelf on Goodreads and it doesn't even have a title, cover or description yet, I just want it. Also, Lee made me swoon a lot.

I was originally going to say that I wasn't going to be able to review the book as the last book in this situation (KPop romance) left a bad taste in my mouth. But as I was going through/reading the book a little bit as I usually do to see if I can maybe grasp a connection, I kept noticing how the MC's voice just felt very childish and her train of thought just didn't fit with the style I like to read. I gave this one a chance to break through the bad taste but I just don't think the writing style is for me!

Where do I even start with this?
Hart & Seoul is basically the story of Merri (Hart) and how after she is gone to Australia for the summer, comes back to her friend and boyfriend betraying her and a new neighbour (Korean, from Seoul probably) whom she deems a 'Sparkly Boy' with a nasty habit for being brutally honest. Of course, his honesty isn't so bad after a while and what ensues is a typical romcom hate/love then just love/love relationship. The twist: he's a runaway K-Pop star with a giant fanbase of dedicated (obsessed?) teenie girls.
I have to say the summary fascinated me mostly for being about a Korean love interest (I'm not into K-Pop or know particularly much about Korea), so I jumped at the chance of reading a story about such a fascinating country. Well, suffice it to say, that the author probably knows about as much as me and what I got, wasn't a tale with customs and Korean traditions, but rather a love story interspersed with stereotypes. From the aunt who speaks broken English after years of living in the U.S. to the 'everything is better in Korea, you drink too much water (?), we eat Kimchi with literally everything and are not open to any other foods, I keep saying (apparently misspelled?) Korean words despite having a perfect grasp of the English language and even an Australian accent to go with it'.
It just wasn't at all what I was expecting. I loved the fact that Lee (whose name isn't even Lee, girl! You've been calling your crush by his last name) called her Christmas which is so random but also so cute. I mean it's not even that this is badly written, cause it's not. It just bothered me to no end that it seemed to have about as much research involved as a fanfiction written by a teen (with about the same predictability too).
I don't know. It just wasn't for me, although I AM grateful for the ARC Netgalley and the publisher provided to me.

Thank you to Mascot Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hart & Seoul filled my Kpop and Kdrama loving heart with all the feels. It was pretty much like reading a Kdrama and I LOVED IT!!
The MC, Merri, felt so relatable. And I admired the fact that she was not dumb like most contemporary romance novel MCs are, thank God. She thoroughly thought through things (wow try saying that 10 times fast) and didn't make utterly stupid and embarrassing choices at the drop of a hat. I am so proud. Especially when she spoke to Bit-*ahem*-I mean Bree. She spoke maturely and with consideration (instead of the
imgoingtohideallmyfeelingsandthenexplodedramaticallylateronbecauseimchi
ldishandwhiny tendencies that a lot of annoying girls in contemporaries tend to have) BUT TOTALLY PUT HER IN HER PLACE AT THE SAME TIME. Again I say, I am so proud. Marilee is a better person than I am in the way she handles conflict. Although she at points can get emotional and cause a hilarious scene, more often than not she is rational and smart.

Now, Lee Hyung-Kim, Mr Kimchi, Sparkle boy, and whatever other adorable nicknames he has. His character seemed entirely accurate to the basic Kpop star standards. You get the hot, tall Korean with touchable shiny hair and an attractively frustrating sense of sarcastic humor. But of course, everyone has their secrets... All of the characters included were anything but shallow, which was so refreshing after reading seemingly one too many books with undeveloped characters.
I became especially moved by the author's note at the end. Later on in the book I thought of Kim Jong-hyun, figuring he had influenced some of what was mentioned. It seems I was correct. Cheers to Kristen for the recognition and spreading awareness. Really, kudos, I'm so happy that you were able to incorporate mental illness into a story about Kpop. Which is completely accurate, and not at all cliche or overdramatized. I've noticed some authors, especially the new ones, tend to overexaggerate and glorify mental illness. Which angers me to no end. Thankfully, this is not the case with this story and it was wrapped up in the authors note with encouragement, helpful websites, and the suicide prevention hotline number.

Hart & Seoul constantly had me rolling with laughter one minute, then teary-eyed the next. I absolutely loved how cultured it was, including so many Korean foods, Kdrama, and Kpop references! Just thinking about the food has my mouth watering all over again. And I 10000% agree with Lee, chopsticks really DO make everything taste better. (He did say that right?) I admit some of the writing a tad corny "holy K-pop!" being one example, but other than that it was great.

Truly, I recommend this to Kpop fans, even if you're not a Kpop, fan it's still a cute story full of adorable moments and whirlwinds of emotion. You'll even learn a few Korean phrases! (;

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Mascot Books for sending me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am not gonna lie - this book feels like a cheesy wattpad fanfiction written by a K-pop fan who has barely any knowledge about the actual Korean culture. There were a lot of grammatical errors too and ridiculous dialogues (like when Lee tells Merri that he came to USA for a vacation she legit asks him with utmost shock "You came to a new continent for vacation?!!!!" as if that's such an unnatural thing to do). This is a lot of complains for a book that I just rated 4 stars. But the thing about this book is it is a perfect guilty pleasure read - it is addictive and captivating and keeps you turning pages after pages until you actually finish it in one sitting. The writing keeps you hooked from the beginning to the end. I liked Lee - he was a really entertaining character. Merri was fine though I did not really care much about her. This book was a typical fanfiction with the tropes but at the same time it was very entertaining. I don't have much knowledge about K-pop but if you are a fan, then this book is the perfect summer read for you.

2.5 stars

I started this book with the best intentions. And pretty high expectations, which is something you should never do with a book, regardless of its synopsis. However, I should have been more careful with this book in particular since it’s about something I love with all my heart and that coincidentally comes from another culture I wasn’t born in. This is very important because I feel like the author should have considered this too. Way more deeply than how she did here. More about it later.

This is why I went into the book expecting too much and ended up putting it down after the first 15%. Not only the main character was bland, but I had already predicted what was going to happen with her friends (dull plot arc that lasts for the entire book istg), and the K-pop artist had made his appearance but he presented himself as the usual cocky rude new next door guy. On top of this, I already had the feeling that the Korean representation would be off. It didn’t look like I would enjoy it at all.

In the end, I ended up picking it back up with the intention of reading a bit more and dnfing it if I still didn’t like it. I lowered my expectations to zero. This is when the book blew my mind with how taken I was by the story once I reached the 25% mark. I’m still trying to understand what made me keep reading and reading without wanting to stop. Was it because I was listening to K-pop full blast with my headphones? Was it because of the writing style? Or because I wanted to see where the story would go?

I was for sure really interested in Lee Hyung Kim all of a sudden. He kinda grew on me a little bit. I think I was obsessed with knowing more about his career? And he was sweet. What I don’t get is why it felt like I liked the writing style when in actuality I didn’t. Maybe it was because it’s simple and quick, however I swear I couldn’t stand all of those parenthesis or exclamation marks. It looked like this book was written by a fangirl obsessing over her idols on twitter, and I don’t mean this in a good way. Especially because with everything else, the book read like a self-insert fanfiction.

Still, I guess I enjoyed the reading experience! Despite some stuff that really irked me which I’m going to go into now.

First of all, the Korean words used in this book are written incorrectly, and I don’t understand how they ended up in the finished book like that. I get that maybe the author (and the editor?) wanted the reader to read those words with the correct pronunciation, but there are better ways to make sure of that. This was the worst one they could come up with. For example, ‘yes’ in Korean should be romanized as ‘ne’, but in this book it was written as ‘deh’. Another example is ‘mwo?’, which was ‘bo?’ here. There’s a bunch more, these are only the most repeated words that I remember because they bothered me a lot.
You know, you can have a key at the beginning or end of the book to help the reader with the pronunciation of some words. It’s not a new thing.

Secondly, I don’t understand the reason why those Korean words were there in the first place. I guarantee you that when non-English speakers come to an English-speaking country, they don’t intersperse their sentences with words from their language. They just speak English. Period. They won’t say words in their language, if not by mistake, and then not explain them, expecting the other person to understand what they said.
It looked to me like Lee Hyung Kim’s nationality was fetishized. The author would find every possible excuse to have him mention that he was Korean, implicitly or explicitly. In every single page.
There are healthier ways to show your admiration for a culture. This ain’t it.

Thirdly, Lee Hyung Kim behaved like an idiot in the first quarter of the book. To me it seemed like the author still wanted to grandly show that he was a foreigner. A foreigner who doesn’t know anything about American culture? How is that even possible, please. He behaved like he had come to the US expecting it to be exactly like South Korea. Like that thing with the glasses size when they eat out (which I find super weird in itself, by the way). New country, new culture, bigger glasses, Mr. Lee. It’s only normal you find different things in a different country.

The rest was fine. This book didn’t blow my mind or anything, but it entertained me for a while. I would consider going into it knowing that it’s not the best young adult K-pop book out there in any way, though. And that the Korean representation is not super problematic but it goes in that direction, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a Korean reader felt a bit insulted by this book.

Although the story is leading to a great start and possibly a great ending, in my personal opinion, the story is slow. I like the hate to love relationship in this story. If you're into KPOP, I think you would really like and appreciate this book.

Very cute.
Merri meets her neighbor’s nephew almost immediately before catching her boyfriend cheating.
At first the new guy is snarky. But he’s kind to her when he realizes what she’s going through. He is Korean and he starts bringing her Korean foods to cheer her up.

They start spending more time together.
Merri is an artist and she basically draws her daily life as a bit of a diary. It doesn’t take long till “sparkly boy” starts making an appearance in her work.

She knows he’s keeping a secret. But it isn’t till after they’ve started to bond that she finds out he’s a K-pop Star and he’s basically in hiding.

I liked the characters and enjoyed the storyline. I thought it got cuter as it went on. Loved all the foodie dates.

I got to read an early copy from NetGalley.
I’ll plan to read the second book in the series too.

Hart & Seoul is a fun romance featuring a K-Pop star.

It's fun that Merri doesn't know who Lee is when they meet.

I found this tale to be cute and entertaining.

Merilee Hart has been doing her best to keep things together since her mother left, her art a welcome escape from her depressing new reality. But things seem to go even more awry the moment her next door neighbor’s enigmatic and mysterious nephew arrives from South Korea. Lee is moody, cocky, and utterly infuriating.
But when Merri’s closest friends betray her and her father crushes her dream of going to art school, Merri finds herself drawn to Lee, who seems to live within even greater shadows than her own. And just when she thought things couldn’t get crazier, Merri’s world is upended when she discovers Lee’s big and bizarre secret…he is none other than a runaway member of the K-pop mega-group Thunder.

It’s not long before Thunder’s fans, the Storm Chasers, begin to close in on Lee, ready to do whatever it takes to return their favorite idol to his rightful place in the band. Faced with the prospect of even more heartbreak and caught up in an international whirlwind that has a life of its own, Merri realizes that she must find a way to mend herself, gain control of her life, and pursue her dreams—her heart and soul depend on it.

I received a copy from NetGalley all my opinions are my own.
I loved this storyline!! It was humorous, sad, happy, and dealt with serious issues, and I enjoyed the two main characters bond. Merri and Lee had a rocky beginning, but they connected and became great friends, I enjoyed the character growth between that they went through. Lee, with his anxiety and learning to trust people, and Merri is dealing with the betrayal of her mother and best friend and having a better relationship with her father. I enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to the second book in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Hart & Seoul by Kristen Burnham. I've voluntarily read and reviewed this copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Girl meets boy.
Boy falls for girl.
Girl discovers boy is a runaway K-pop idol in hiding.

Hart & Seoul is a romance story with great comedic timing. It's a quick read and keeps you entertained. The premise is fun and something new, which made for a surprising story.

Even though I enjoyed the story, there were a few red flags for me. At times the writing didn't feel appropriate towards Korean culture. Since I'm not familiar with Korean culture myself, I can't speak to the authenticity of the portrayal of Korean culture in this book. But I do feel that the writing was insensitive at times and could be handled with more care.

This relates also to the mention of self-harm, which I felt could be handled with way more care. In the story it's mentioned briefly and rushed over as if it's just a simple thing. I feel like when you make self-harm a part of the story of a character, you should handle it with care.

For reasons above I rate Hart & Seoul by Kristen Burnham with 2,5 stars.

I read this all in one sitting! I absolutely loved the cute friendship turned romance, the reveal of Lee’s double life and even the betrayal/love triangle between Merri and her friends at the start of the book. I’d really recommend this to anyone looking for a new take on a Young/New Adult Romance as I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I wasn't into the book at all. I had to force myself to keep reading and I ended up skimming over everything. It felt way too cliché and childish for me. The voice of the main character was just . . . ignorant, at best.

4.5
TW: depression, self harm, parental neglect, low self esteem, betrayal

This was so cute. The relationship between Merri and Lee was just so heartwarming. There were so many moments where I was laughing out loud or just cheesy smiling.
I really liked Merri’s character arc throughout the story. She started off with low self esteem when dealing with the fact that her mother left her and her father. From that moment I connected with the character and knew that all her feelings were genuine. Another thing I also like about her is her passion for art. Sometimes contemporary novels forget the main character’s favorite activities but her love for drawing remained a constant throughout the book.
One thing that seemed kind of weird was the fact her knowledge of anything K-Pop related was nonexistent. I feel like every teenager knows about K-Pop whether they love it or don’t listen to it.
The plot line of her boyfriend cheats on her with her best friend is kind of predictable. Not only because of the synopsis because the minute he got introduced it was either he cheats on her or they drift apart. In the end it was kind of both so not surprised.
Lee’s character brings a kind of warmth to the story after everything that happened but also brings a serious note to the story. He really shows that being famous might seem nice to the fans but there are negative aspects to it. I think that side of him made him more real in a sense.
Their relationship and banter with each other was funny and adorable. They have that best friend vibe in the beginning which kind of makes the romance so much better in my opinion.
The ending could have used some work. It kind of left a “meh” feeling. Which kind of makes me wonder if the sequel is about them or another couple. Personally I don’t think their story needs to be continued and I think it left at a point in their relationship where if the sequel is about them it might fall into an unnecessary book category.

I'll start by saying that this is the perfect book for when you are looking for something light, sweet and with a guaranteed happy ending or in summary when you need to escape your own life.
The writing was not exceptional and there were some tiny cliches mainly when it came to some of Merri's behaviors and most importantly the beginning of the book that was too predictable but other than that I can't really complain.
If you are alive then you are at least marginally aware of the Kpop and Kdramas phenomenon and how many fans they have all around the world. There are people learning Korean all over Europe because of these bands and shows and even the American shows have begun to notice them. I'm not a Kpop fan, I requested this book just because I had never read a YA romance in which the male love interest was Asian. A lot of people will be reading it because of the Kpop angle though, the only other places I ever found stories about it being Archive of Our Own and Wattpad, so there is space for this kind of books obviously and Kristen noticed it.
With Lee being Korean the author was able to explore an entirely new set of cultural rules and she did it well. I particularly enjoyed the way in which Lee spoke, not when it came to being agrammatical or having an accent but how blunt he was not minding if he was offending someone. I also finished this book with my belly roaring after learning about several different Koran recipes.
I noticed that there is something about books inside books or books that are about another artistic medium that I enjoy and Hart &Seoul is no different. I loved reading about Merri's drawings and cartoons and wish I could see the illustrations she did of Lee and herself meeting, their first drive, Lee carrying her when she sprained her ankle and so on and I did also love to read about Lee ad Merri's best friend dancing and Lee singing and all the tiny details that set him apart from all the other male love interest I read until now.
One of those things were his clothes, that were so different from everything else they were difficult to imagine but I'm sure he pulled them off because Lee is amazing. The other was the fact that he often wore makeup and I loved that! In no way was ever hinted that he was less masculine because of it and there was even a tiny mention of Lee helping Merry applying her own eyeliner because he often wore it as well. The only part I disliked was the fact that when he wore it the author called it "guyliner". You don't need to gender makeup to make sure we know he is a man!
Despite the general lightheartedness of the book, the story does have some very heavy themes like parental abandonment on Merri's side and Lee's darker side not only of fame but also of Kpop and that is the scene that I will always remember this book for.
The book ending felt a bit rushed but I didn't even care because there is going to be a second book and I will Lee and Merri again!
When it comes to the cover, I found it pretty but it's only when you see it up close that you notice all the details. The first time I saw it I didn't even care to open the link because it just seemed so bland.
The entire book has a sense of freshness, lightheartedness, and originality that reminded me a lot of fanfics with the love you can feel emanating from every word.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mascot Books for this ARC.

3.5/5*

I don't know a lot about K-pop personally, but I hear a ton about it from my students on a regular basis, so of course this book grabbed my attention. The classic love story of a celebrity going undercover and meeting someone is always fun, and I loved that this would be adding in some culture shock and clashes.

Very Topical Love Story
K-Pop is everywhere! With groups like BTS blowing up in North America, this romance is so on trend and I loved taking part in it. Merri and Lee are really cute together and their conversations are hilarious. Language barriers are a real thing and it's great that it becomes a source of flirting for them, instead of something awkward or uncomfortable. I also think it's great that this is such a lovely reimagining of classic stories like Notting Hill, love stories that made us root for these couples to make it despite their differences.

Lots of Great References
I really liked that Merri and Lee are both challenged to adapt to each other's cultures. It would have been really easy for Lee to only experience American things, but instead, he introduces Merri to new foods and words and becomes a bonding moment between them. I honestly loved this because it's so beautiful to see relationships like this bridge countries and languages and still be true. Merri and Lee (aka Christmas and Kimchi) learn a lot from each other, and are adorable the entire time.

Coasts Over the Heavy Things
This is not a book that's going to spend a lot of time on the heavy themes that are mentioned, and that felt like a shame. Merri and Lee are both dealing with a lot of trauma, and it would have been nice to see them really working on these aspects of their lives. It's really just glossed over and that was a missed opportunity to turn this light romance into a really beautiful story about love, trust, and support. It was a cute story, but it won't go any deeper than that.

This was a really cute story and a perfect summer read. I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of K-Pop (I feel like you'll get more of the references than I did), enjoys light romances, or just wants a cute read. This is not an intense romance, but there's nothing wrong with a light love story!

Hart and Seoul is a cheeky story about your ordinary girl and the average K-pop Idol. Filled with some seriously adorable scenes, but also has some bittersweet and downright hard life lessons.

Highly recommend, even if you're not into K-dramas, crazy fangirls, and kimchi. 😉