Absolutely lovely in every way. I won’t forget this book and it’s words for a long long time. Completely unforgettable!

Thank you to NetGalley and Mascot Books for letting me read an advanced readers copy for my honest review.

<i>Hart and Seoul</i> is the debut book for Kristen Burnham. I found this book...adorable. There were some hard things discussed in it, but I feel like it's things that teens are facing now. Especially with the rise of internet bullying and social media.

First I'm going to talk about what I wasn't a fan of with the book. The spelling/mispronunciation of some of the Korean words. The biggest one - <i>deh</i>. I'm not sure if Ms. Burnham had looked at any Korean language tutorials or if she speaks Korean, or how she did her I research. I'm Korean - with a mother who likes to yell at me in Korean good or bad. Deh is not a word. Neh is the correct way to say and spell 'yes'. Also, <i>bo</i> is not a word either. From the context, it should be <i>mo</i>. The mispellings are the biggest things that I had a problem with in the book. It's not hard to google translate something and get the right answer.

That being said - why I loved this book! It was sweet and lovely. This is the first time I've read a book that had a Kpop star in it. Kristen got a lot of aspects correct in that way. I've heard rumors, but don't actually know any Kpop stars that can confirm. The things they go through are rough. They do start training at an early age and they have to do what the managers say and when they say it. The way that she described the ordeals that people go through when it comes to depression are spot on. These are also things that happen to everyone.

All in all, I recommend <i>Hart and Seoul</i> to everyone! It was an extremely satisfying book and I'm hoping to see more of Lee!

When a book can make you laugh, make you hungry, make you want to travel the world, and make you feel the looks the characters are exchanging, all while highlighting an important topic that is impressive!

This novel is fun, with a capital F. There is romance, but it isn’t graphic and the moments that could be cheesy are endearing because the characters laugh at their own cheese factor. There is K-Pop music with obsessed fans, but not in a way that feels fake and certainly not in a way that makes you wish for fame. Most of all, there are two main characters and a supporting cast that through a short novel manage to grow, love, hate, and become the friends you didn’t know you needed. Hart & Seoul is one of the books that has characters you wish you could hang out with in real life which is always a sure way to make me love a reading experience. The writing is fun and light and the sprinkling of Korean and Australian words and confusion over sayings is just right making the book speed by while many months are covered in the book’s timeline. Because of the way that passage of time is handled, the end of the books seems fitting and doesn’t end with a quick fix which can be a common pitfall of shorter YA books.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for an enjoyable book, needing a laugh, getting over heartbreak, jamming out to K-Pop on the regular, or anyone who has learned who their friends are the hard way. Just don’t read this one on an empty stomach! No kimchi for me, but I’ll be ordering in bibimbap tonight!

Thank you NetGalley for an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Merri comes home from a summer abroad to discover that her boyfriend and best friend have betrayed her. Luckily, she's distracted from her broken heart by the gorgeous but grumpy Korean boy, Lee, who has moved in next door. They're just starting to get past hating each other when she discovers his secret: Lee is a member of Thunder, one of the most popular K-Pop bands in the world. Why is he hiding out in Virginia? And will he break Merri's heart all over again when he inevitably has to go back to his real life of being a global superstar?

I know absolutely nothing about K-Pop, but I got completely swept up in this book. I've read several others where the heroine is Korean-American, and I often feel lost (like the American hero) as she introduces him to K-Pop and Korean foods that I'm unfamiliar with. Here, the heroine is the American who introduces her Korean neighbor to American food and music while he shares kimchee and Korean phrases with her. I really liked the exchange of cultures. Both of them were a little lost to begin with, and their mutual interest in learning what they could was adorable. I liked this set-up much better because the reader was able to learn all the ins and outs of K-Pop along with Merri.

There's a very sweet romance in this book, but there's more to it than that. Merri wants to be an artist, but her dad is absolutely against it so she struggles with getting him to accept the future she wants for herself. Lee has some dark secrets in his past that are part of the reason he's hiding out in America. The story has plenty of fluff, to be sure, but it's got some depth to it, too.

My fave of any K-Pop/K-Drama books I've read to date! And this is the author's debut novel, so I'll be checking out anything she writes in the future.

***Thank you to NetGalley and Mascot Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!***

As someone who knows very little about K-pop, I can't vouch for the authenticity at all. But this novel is fun, with strong chemistry between the two main character. The reader often hits the major beats before the author writes them, but sometimes, that's part of the fun. I also felt the message board/blog posts helped move the story without feeling tacked on or intrusive.

From the beginning, I didn't really like Merri's voice and it took a 1/3 Of the book for me to warm up to her. The dialogue felt forced and awkward in the beginning chapters and it was painful to read how oblivious Merri was to what was going on around her. (We find out in the first chapter that her BF is cheating on her with her BFF)

The fun does build with the arrival of Lee visiting his Aunt for a undetermined hiatus/vacation from Korea. There is mystery surrounding why he is there, and his aunt keeps contriving for Merri and Lee to do things together.

Lee is the reason I kept reading, he is a lovable male lead with a good heart and watching Merri and his little love story unfold was precious! I grew to like Merri a lot more towards the end of the book. This is a cute and fluffy read, I loved learning about Korean culture and food - defininitely need to check out some K-dramas. I also enjoyed that Merri was an artist and she uses comic panels to process and journal her life online.

The author did try to touch on some important topics, some were done fairly well, while others were skimmed over too quickly.

- Popularity/Self Worth - The pressures of social media
- Jealousy - Even if it looks like someone has the perfect life, underneath they may still be struggling.
- Self Harm - Tying into the whole idea, that just because a person appears to have everything, doesn't mean their life is good and healthy.

How the author addressed self harm and attempted suicide was the biggest let down for me. It was only mentioned on one page at the very end of the book and was used more as a big plot reveal, than actively recognizing and addressing the issue. The afterward by the author filled in the blanks some, but as someone who has been directly affected by suicide, it wasn't enough and read more like a statistic than something that would help someone.

If you want to read a cute romance that features two different cultures and somewhat addresses current social issues this book is for you!

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC of this book for an honest review.

Review has been posted to Goodreads and will be shared on my Instagram in the month of June.

I had a very difficult time with this book. Don't get me wrong, the subject matter alone was enough for me to give it 5 stars, or more if possible, but there was something about it that really bothered me.

When I saw it available for request, I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Luckily for me I didn't have to wait long and I jumped right in as soon as it hit my kindle. I was finished it within the day and I've been struggling with how to review it ever since. There are many problems with it, but the main thing I struggled with was the slight racist tone. I will not pretend that I am anything but white and some of the scenes written bothered me. Merri, the main character refers to Lee Hyungkim as 'Mr. Kimchi' on multiple occasions, she seems to make fun of his superstitions and the way he speaks English. The author uses weird romanized Korean words, which don't really make sense. The constant use of 'deh' instead of 'ne' will haunt me for the rest of my life. What could have been a touching romance, turned into something strange.

All of that being said, the way the author touched on the hardships Korean idols face is important. In her 'Author's notes' she writes about Kim Jonghyun, a member of the group SHINee and his suicide. Being a kpop fan for 10+ years, his death affected me greatly and opened my eyes to the ugly side of Kpop and what the girls/boys/men/women must endure. I thank her for touching on the darkside. I felt like she could do so much more with that angle, but at least she made an attempt.

A romance between a K-Pop Idol and the girl next door, is the order of the day in this book and I loved it.

As someone who now wishes to be the next door neighbour of Suga (but sadly Not Today) a story about a girl who has a romance with a kpop Idol was so damn up my street, I had to request this book, Hart & Seoul, I Need U.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, the love/hate relationship growing into friendship and more is one of my favourite things in romance tropes and this book does it so well, it’s really dope how the writer builds up the tension incredibly well through the book and the end totally does make it right. This story kept me awake at night, it would just run through my head.

I’m not a huge fan of girls screwing over girls in books, I know it happens, but I wish I didn’t and for me the side-plot wasn’t my favourite thing, but I like how Merilee has a best friend online, I feel online friendships are considered lesser, but I love how seriously this is taken in the book and how strong that friendship is shown throughout the whole of the story.

Not at all a spine-breaker to read, Hart & Seoul doesn’t need a cypher to understand and it makes for such a great read, especially when you’re not feeling great like I was when I was reading this. Probably one of my favourite books I’ve read this year, this book was paradise to read!

If you're into Korea, kpop, dramas, Korean food, or if you've ever been to Korea, YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS! If you don't, you'll probably think this is too cliché, fluffy and unoriginal, and I can definitely understand that.

Anyway, I enjoyed the heck out of this and all the Korean references made me laugh out loud so many times and are basically what made me love this book so much. I just got back from Seoul 2 weeks ago and this made me miss everything there so much more! I felt like it was meant to be that I got approved to review an ARC right after I got back.
I also loved how the author randomly name-dropped BTS and Boys Over Flowers so many times lol! They're my favorite k-pop group and first k-drama ever!

The author's note made me cry though. Kim Jong-hyun, I still miss you <3

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<p style="text-align:justify">This book shouts the cliches in BOLD letters . I mean all the cliches are wrapped together and creatively presented in this YA.This book shouts the cliches in BOLD letters . I mean all the cliches are wrapped together and creatively presented in this YA.It’s got everything from enemies-to-lovers (Lee and Merri’s terrible first meeting and their subsequent awkward interactions are absolutely hilarious. Then even fake a date and ultimately we have them falling for each other. </p>
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<p style="text-align:justify">But that's not where the story ends , there is some talk about the perks and the cons of being Famous . The glitter and glamour of being a Idol(as said in Korea). Lee Hyung Kim is a fictional character in a book but there are so many idols out there and well , they also serve enjoy life as all of us. Lee was so adorable in the book , totally boyfriend material .</p>
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<p style="text-align:justify">However, I did find that the plot was a bit predictable and some of the writing was a bit heavy-handed. Anyways the book is just quite light-hearted read . You can't expect much and you shouldn't as well . <strong>I go with 3.5 Stars . In case you are looking for a light YA - RomCom , then this is the one for you . </strong></p>
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After receiving approval from the publisher via NetGalley to read this ARC in exchange for honest review, I immediately jumped to this June 2019 release as the summary is interesting.

Focusing on the story of Merrilee Hart, a teenage American girl, who unknowingly crossed paths with the runaway K-pop superstar Lee Hyung-Kim, Hart & Seoul is a feel-good contemporary novel that will surely be loved by those who are a big fan of swoon-worthy reads, enemies-turn-lovers trope, and well, Korean pop culture.

What I loved about this book is that the characters' voice are distinctly represented and it showed in both Merri and Hyung-Kim's character development all throughout. However, there were some lines that can be considered as borderline racism and I think that is something that can be improved.

I may be biased with rating this one because I really loved the gist presented in NetGalley but I assure you that the book is more than that. There were a bunch of curveballs that were perfectly added by the author and everything felt perfectly intertwined except, because there is always an exception to the rule, for the ending. I am not a big fan of open-ended conclusion and excluding the possibility that this book has a follow-up novel, then the ending is not something notable for a feel-good contemporary read.

Anyway, if you really are interested in a book that tackles teenage love and/or Korean pop culture then you should really add this book on your TBR. Ciao.

Rating: 3.5stars

On the whole, Hart & Seoul was a wonderful, fluffy contemporary that I wouldn't mind revisiting in the future. I ran through the Korean phrases and culture points with a Korean friend to check the accuracy; I go through these in my quick review below.

What I liked:
- Merri and Lee's relationship. It was clean, cute, and a fun enemies-to-lovers story.
- Lee's humor -- some of his lines managed to make me smile!
- All the Korean food and parts of the culture (some were accurate, some... maybe not.)
- Good structure. Hart & Seoul follows the three-act story structure, providing for an overall strong novel. If I look back, I can quickly recall the hook, setup, buildup, pinch points, supposed victory, dark moment, climax, and of course, resolution.
- I also appreciated the subplot on studying the arts as that's something that many people struggle with.

What could use some work:
- The writing and prose itself could use a bit of work, but once you get sucked into the plot, it doesn't matter as much.
- This has already been said quite a few times, but the romanization of some Korean words are a little questionable. Examples include "bo" (what) which is really pronounced "mwo", and "deh" (yes), which should be "ne" or something similar. Speaking of Korean, the phrase Lee uses " joesonghapnida" (I'm sorry) is what you'd use when speaking to someone older, not someone younger, in the case of Lee to Merri.
- Plus, the epilogue was a bit abrupt. The novel would have been fine without it, but ultimately, this is the author and editor's choice.

I don’t usually read contemporary, YA or otherwise. But for the right theme, or if it looks exciting enough I am more than willing to give it a go! Hart & Seoul is a book I was pretty excited about, and in some ways it really fulfilled my expectations and in others it didn’t. I wanted a fluffier read than some of the books I have been going for recently. Something interesting with a focus on romance, which I can be a total sucker for when I’m in the mood for it. In this aspect, ‘Hart & Seoul’ totally delivered. There was romance, heartbreak and a good chunk of predictable drama. I also picked this up because I used to watch K-dramas occasionally with my uni housemate, and am somewhat of a K-pop fan, so this sounded like a good read.

The plot read a bit like a super cheesy K-Drama, and I feel these two quotes kind of sum it up: ”It was like my life had become a K-drama episode” and “This is ridiculous. K-dramas are ridiculous. So unrealistic”. I did feel that the plot ended up on “ridiculous” and “unrealisitic” territory at times. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because the whole premise of the book is, after all, fangirly wish fulfillment. A young K-Pop Idol and an All-American Girl Next Door isn’t exactly going to be your normal pairing. It’s a bit silly, a bit fun, and I loved Lee Hyung-Kim as a character. He was interesting, flawed, and had a lot of issues, but was also sweet, kind and caring. He felt the most rounded and complex character in the book, and I do wish I had gotten to see more inside his head. Some of the supporting characters were great - Ema, Merri’s dad and Mrs Park - and made the story more rounded out and heartwarming. Merri had her moments of charm, however throughout the novel, she remains almost willfully ignorant about Korean culture to the point that it feels like an insult. She calls Lee Hyung-Kim ‘Mr Kimchi’ for about half the novel which I think is supposed to be ‘cute’ nickname in response to being called Christmas, but just comes across as rude. I would not like to be called Miss ‘Baked Beans’ by anyone, especially not someone I barely knew.

I was a little surprised by the fact that the book didn’t cover things like the dating ban on idols, especially considering some events in the past year that anyone who follows the world of K-pop would surely have read about. I also found that despite the potential for discourse about the pressures of being an idol and the mental health implications on this, it felt a bit brushed under the carpet. It was briefly touched upon, but Merri didn’t seem to care enough to continue it. This led me to feel that some of the other things in the book that didn’t sit quite right with me were also somewhat of an issue. Obviously I am not Korean, and some of the things that made me uncomfortable because they felt like insults, lack of research or ignorance may not have been, but I do think that ‘Hart & Seoul’ could have done with an own voice editor. It felt a little like someone had listened to a bit of K-pop, watched a few dramas and thought that showed them enough of the culture that they thought they had a solid understanding of Korea, it’s customs and culture. As I said, I could be wrong on that, but that was the impression I got.

‘Hart & Seoul’ was overall an enjoyable, easy read (it took me 2 days) and had a lot of potential. The story was fun, I enjoyed some of the characters, the basic plot, and the romance. If I overlook the cultural issues I had with it, my star rating would have been higher, but I don’t feel comfortable giving a higher rating due to my misgivings about the way some things were presented.

Hmmmm. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book now that I've finished it. On the one hand, I loved Hart and Seoul. I liked the characters well enough, the plot was fun and it made me laugh quite a lot.

On the other hand, I had my concerns about it. But I'll get to that. 



First what I liked. 

This book really did make me laugh. It was sweet and funny and stuffed with YA Rom-Com cliches and troupes, which are fun to read once in a while. I don't watch K-Dramas (I mean to, I have a To-Watch list of titles about the length of my arm but I just don't have the time) but I know how they work and the formulas and it certainly felt like this story was heavily inspired by them (Merri even comments on it). 

Merri and Lee were fun to follow along - a tad bland at times - but for the most part, they were enjoyable to read. Lee could be a little hard to get a handle on at first but then Merri struggled to get a handle on him so that could easily be intentional. Merri was nice enough, I appreciated her personal growth and learning to move on because, to be fair to the poor girl, she went through a whole lot in a very short space of time.

Obviously, you KNOW they're going to get together but it didn't QUITE feel like there was enough chemistry between them yet, when it finally happened. Like, I couldn't really see why Lee would like Merri that much when all they'd done was annoy each other and she had no idea who he was (makes a change from his usual life, I guess) And Merri, well she was just in lust with him - kind of admits it as well tbf. 

All that was fine though. Again, YA Rom-Com with all the usual troupes, happy to go along with that. The plot was 100% predictable. That's all there was to it, you're not going to read this book and choke on a gasp because you didn't see something coming. I could plot the whole things after reading the first couple of chapters but, again, happy to go with it. It was funny and enjoyable.

Then we hit the mid-point zone and that's where it started to lose its flow a little. I got a bit bored and sped through it and then all the big stuff happened and THIS is where my issues lie with this book and why it dropped from a 4.5 star to a 2.5. 

This book touches on some very serious psychological topics in the second half of the book. It also makes comments on the lives of Idols in K Pop-Culture (lives I'm sure Idols from other cultures share as well, like J Pop-Culture). 

Lee talks about how brutal the lives of Idols are behind the scenes and we learn he's gone through A LOT - like a distressing lot-a-lot - over the years.

This would all be fine, but I didn't feel this book handled it very well. Like, all this stuff was really only crammed into... what? 5 pages? 

That's a lot of hell and havoc to just throw in (even if hints had been dropped a couple of times before this). 

Lee is a very disturbed young man, and Merri admits that, but it felt like she only admitted that because the author knew she should acknowledge it. Basically, I didn't feel like the book showed the seriousness of the issues and lifestyle brought up in their true light. 

As if they're too heavy for YA Rom-Coms but add that edgy edge. Touch on them - but only with a ten-foot-pole. 

(I also did not care for Lee's big apology call at the end. The whole 'I was scared for you' after outright accusing her of You Know What (You will if you read) and then turning it around like it was all done under good intention and not apologising for what he'd actually accused her of.... excuse you, sir.

(Frankly, couldn't see the relationship lasting if it were real but that's neither here nor there lol. It's YA, so I insist they get their happily ever after. Even if it feels like Lee's problems just get brushed under the rug). 

Cover: Really simply - honestly I thought it was the draft cover at first - but there's something nice in its simplicity. 

Overall: Started out great. Was fully ready to give it a high rating for the first half of the book. Then it started to stumble. Then it's handling of major issues turned me off. This book was almost certainly heavily inspired by the tragedy surrounding SHINee's Kim Jong-hyun, (the author talks about him in her author notes), and I feel like she felt passionately about that tragedy and wanted to highlight some of the very unhealthy issues in the Idol Cultural (which frankly exist around the world, not just in K-Pop) - I just didn't feel like it was handled right. It felt like it was shoe-horned in there to give the book an edgy feel. I'm quite sure that was not the intention, but that's just how it felt to me. Still, glad I got to read the book.

Each week Merri/m\Mer created a new cartoon with each panel capturing some event that happened to her. It had started as a homework assignment in third grade but merri loved it so much she just kept going. Merri loved it so much she just kept going. Merri had seen her neighbor across the street Ms. banks come skidding in her driveway and was yelling at someone and someone yelled back at her from the car. Than he finally got out of the car and was tall, hot, and sparkling. He was angry. Than he yelled At Merri saying” what are you staring at?” Merri best friend was Bree they kept in touch online with the time difference and their busy schedules as Merri was in Sydney Australia with her father. It had been a long two months Merri had missed Bree came over and told her not to travel things weren’t the same without Merri. Bree and Merri had been best friends for thirteen years. Bree planed on specializing in social media marketing in college. Merri’s boyfriend was Luke they had been together two years. Merri mom had left Merri and her dad as she left to follow her passion at the time art- Merri and her dad both knew that. She had sent merri at text saying she was sorry to please forgive her. Merri’s parents had been married twenty years. Bree had came over been when she heard Luke was coming over she quickly left. Luke did come over and merri was glad to see him. Than he got a text and said he had to leave. Both Bree and Luke had came over and left shortly after they got to her house. Than “sparkle boy’ -Lee-as Merri called him came over asking to borrow some sugar he told Merri she looked bad and very tired than he asked if she wanted to go to the hospital. Five days had went bad and nothing form Bree or Luke. Than her father told her they were going out to dinner with Ms. Banks and her nephew the next night. Lee Hyung-kim was Ms. Banks nephew and was part of the Korean band Thunder and had been missing from Thunder’s last interview. Lee was a celebrity. When Merri saw him again she saw just how good looking he was. But that didn’t change that he was the rudest boy Merri had ever met. Than Ms Parks set up for Lee and Merri to run. As they were running merri didn’t see a pothole and and hurt her ankle. The pothole hadn’t been there before she went to Sydney. Lee ended up carrying her on his back they went by Bree’s and Luke was in the truck kissing Bree than Bree came up for air and noticed her but Merri just asked Lee to take her home. Lee and Merri became friends. Merri learned through another girl the whole school knew about bree and Luke. than Bree admitted they had been seeing each other for four months. Long before merri had left with her dad. Bree wanted the three of them to meet up and talk but Merri told Bree she had a date and Lee went along with it. Later that evening Lee showed up to take Merri to dinner and they did go to a Korean restaurant and merri found out Lee was a very popular celebrity with a fan following called Storm Chasers. Than Lee started taking Merri back and forth to school every day as he saw how hard taking the bus was with crutches and her badly sprained ankle.
I loved this book. I have a new favorite. I loved this sweet romantic story with just enough drama in it. I love Merri and Lee together and how they interacted. I felt like I was there with Merri and Lee. I chuckled at times and choked up at others while reading this book. I didn’t want to put this down and basically didn’t. I read this in one setting. I was drawn in from the very beginning and that lasted until the end of this book. I would love to see another book come out to let us know how things went and if Lee and Merri made it. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.

What a lovely book. Hart & Seoul is a cute contemporary featuring all romance lovers' favourite tropes: fake dating, enemies to lovers and the one that never gets old: celebrity dating a nonfamous person. Kristen Burnham's debut book is a wonderful and heartwarming book that kept a smile on my face throughout. The characters' story was amazing to read and very well written.

I loved how social media was incorporated into the story in the form of posts by fans and the development of Meri and Lee's relationship, how she tackled the themes of abandonment and anxiety within the book.

I was instantly sold on the blurb of this YA rom-com: girl meets boy, boy happens to be a runaway k-pop star...? Sign me up!

Sadly Hart & Seoul didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It reads like fanfiction - which in itself is no bad thing. I liked the use of classic tropes, and there are some cute moments inspired by k-drama, but it ultimately makes for predictable reading. The prose is a little clumsy and the narrative is erratic in places - although this improved as the book progressed.

It's interesting to see Korean culture through the eyes of an outsider, but at times this approach sadly proves problematic. Merri's ignorance too often takes the form of painful cultural insensitivity and she never seems to learn from her mistakes. There are some dodgy romanisations, a lot of generalisations and a lack of awareness of k-pop culture (how can you have a k-pop romance without any mention of dating bans or recent career-ending scandals?).

That said, Hart & Seoul is clearly written with the best intentions, and Merri's growing love of k-drama and Korean food is infectious. I also liked the exploration of the dark side of k-pop, and how emotionally exhausting the industry can be. But despite some promising fluffy moments, this wasn't the k-pop romance I hoped it'd be.

My goodness, this book! Perfect mix of cutesy romance while also dealing with a serious topic. Thanks to Samm, a friend and fellow mod in TBR and Beyond, I've become obsessed with all things k-pop. This book is no exception.

I absolutely adored the characters and the storyline. It also deals with some heavy topics that I wasn't really expecting it to, but am so glad it did. Trigger warnings for parental abandonment, self-harm, and mental illness

Copied from my Goodreads review:
I was really excited to read this book once I saw in on NetGalley, and I was so happy when this was the first ever ARC that I was approved of by the publisher. I really wanted to love this book because I love Korean culture, I'm learning Korean and my boyfriend is Korean. However, there are so many inaccuracies in the representation of Korean culture in this book. It varies from inaccurate to insulting to racist. Now I'm not saying that the entire book is racist, there was just one scene (at least in the 53% that I pushed myself to read), that was. It's a scene when the main characters are in a Korean restaurant. Merri tries Kimchi for the first time and doesn't like it, however Lee loves it. Merri then proceeds to call Lee 'Mr. Kimchi' three times in that scene. I didn't feel comfortable when I read that scene. My Asian senses were tingling and it didn't feel right. I explained the scene to my Korean boyfriend and sent him screenshots, and he literally said that it was racist. In addition, in Korea if you were to refer to a person as a 'Kimchi girl,' it's an misogynistic insult. In my head, I thought about it like this. If the roles were reversed and Merri was in Korea, would Lee have called Merri 'Miss Mac and Cheese,' or 'Miss Cheeseburger'? My answer was no because it feels insulting to refer to someone as a food, unless it was a bullying scene. If Lee was a black character, I’m 100% sure the author would not make Merri call him ‘Mr. Fried Chicken’, ‘Mr. Curried Goat’, ‘Mr. Jollof Rice.’ That would be racist, just as calling Lee ‘Mr. Kimchi’ is. You could argue that it was just a joke, or they were teasing, but I think this is a time where people would use that as an excuse to be racist. I would be angry if anyone called me Pad Thai. Teasing or not.

Let me talk about a few other inaccuracies of Korean culture presented in this book.

1. Romanization of Korean
Unfortunately for this book, I can read Hangul, so I know how things should be pronounced (even if I pronounce them incorrectly myself). The word that is most frequently used in this book is 네. It is pronounced like "Ne" with the 'e' sound being a sharp ending. It doesn't sound like knee essentially, but more like neck. In this book, it's romanizised to "Deh." It irritated me a lot because I know that it's not pronounced like that, and even the recognised romanization systems of Korea do not use this (at least in my quick google search). In addition to 네 being written not like it's pronounced, Lee would not say it towards Merri at all. For one, he is in America and an undercover K-Pop idol. You would probably only speak English to improve it and try to hide the fact that you are Korean because you are in hiding. Two, Lee keeps on going in and out between English and Korean in conversation with Merri. Regardless of what stage you are in at learning a different language, you would not revert to your native language in conversation. I know this as someone who is learning two additional languages from English. You stick to the language you are attempting to speak. You'd only revert back if you didn't know how to say things. Lee seems very much fluent in English in this book in order to have many conversations with Merri, and I think it's suggested that he speaks Korean to Merri to annoy her.Three, Lee would not say 네 to Merri. The main reason for this is the fact that Merri is younger than Lee. Korean contains honorifics so you would be respectful to people who are older than you, and to people in a higher social position. As Lee is older, and a famous K-Pop idol, he would not be that respectful towards Merri. Even himself as a character, especially when he firsts meets Merri, is not respectful towards her and is downright rude, so in Korean he would not be that respectful towards her. Now, 네 is not the only romanization mistake, but it the word that is used the most in this book, and perfectly illustrates the inaccuracies in the author choosing to use this word to illustrate that Lee is Korean and different and not American.

There are multiple moments in this book where Merri mocks Lee for his Korean beliefs. An example of this would be when she is telling the reader that she hasn’t quite grasped Lee’s sense of humour, ‘Just a week earlier, he’d refused to walk down a street because it only had four houses on it, and had stared at me in horror as I laughed. “Four is an unlucky number!” he’s insisted, eyes huge, and my laughter had sputtered to a halt when I realized that, in this case, Lee was absolutely serious.’ Merri initially laughs at Lee and stops when she realises that he’s being serious. But the way that the author has written it, mocks Korean culture as whilst the number four is seen as an unlucky number, it would completely depend on how superstitious a person is. Four is not a forbidden number in Korea. It doesn’t jump from three to five. I am sure that most Korean people would not see four houses and see it as unlucky. Whilst the West might not have a 13th floor to a building or a 13th row in a plane, we as individuals would not notice if there were only 13 houses on a street.

Another inaccuracy is after Merri found out that Lee is in fact a K-pop star and confronts with the fact that she’s been calling him by his surname the entire time because his name is Lee Hyung-kim. (For one, I personally don’t think it’s a common Korean name. The are made up of common Korean characters but not in combination, and in discussion with my Korean boyfriend it would be an awkward sounding name). Lee says something along the lines of, ‘I wondered how long it would take you to catch on,’ but honestly it would be normal for him to be called to by his surname.

This book feels like a first draft. It doesn't feel like this book had any sensitivity or beta readers that were Korean, or even East Asian. If me, a person who is not Korean but Asian, can find all the flaws in this book, I dread to think what a Korean or someone of Korean descent would think of this book. This book feels like it's for white people, or people who know nothing of Korean culture. It makes me worry of the people who would come across this book and learning about Korean culture for the first time.

On top of all of the Korean inaccuracies that this book contains, the plot itself is not entertaining. So much of it is based on Korean culture that it takes away from the overall plot. I didn’t really even see an overall plot other than Lee and Merri maybe getting together (I can’t say if they did because I stopped reading). In addition, with Lee being a K-pop idol, they have such strict lives that I personally don’t think that he would get into a romance with anyone unless he would be willing to personally sacrifice his fame and money. K-pop idols and actors have to secretly date anyone and would only reveal their relationship if they are about to have a child, get married, or not even then, as it is considered that idols are for the fans. It’s an unhealthy system, but that is the system that K-pop idols live in.

Some of the plot conflicts make no sense. One of them is the fact that Merri’s mother left Merri and her father to pursue her art because she felt like her family was holding her back. Merri also wants to get into art and wants to study it in college, but her father refuses for her to follow the path of her mother. It makes no sense because the daughter is not like the mother. In addition, the father must be blind to teenagers because if you prohibit them from doing things that they want to do in the future, they will do it anyway and you will lose them in the process.

I honestly felt no chemistry between Lee and Merri. If anything, I felt like it was a slight fetishization of Lee being Korean. I could maybe see them as friends, but I didn’t see the appeal in either character. Because Lee is meant to be a K-pop star, I think it’s meant to be seen as he is hot and perfect, and why would anyone not find him attractive? Except from the fact he doesn’t really have a good personality. However, Merri is far more irritating than Lee, but I think it’s because we are reading from her perspective. She seemed very immature, and I didn’t see any appeal in her character. I did not relate to any of the characters at all.

This book would have been far better if Lee was Korean-American. There would have been far less focus on Lee being Korean, and the story could have just been about Merri and Lee getting together. It wouldn't haven taken away from the fact that Lee was a K-pop star because there are Korean-Americans who are K-Pop stars (E.G. Eric Nam, Wendy from Red Velvet). There would have just been a far less focus on the Korean culture aspect, which is what would be needed for this story to have been a good one. The white author, who is a fan of Korean dramas, probably didn’t want the book to be as problematic as it is, but she should have either further researched Korean culture to make this book as accurate as possible to avoid offense, or have a Korean beta reader, or avoid representing Korean culture. As much as I want East-Asian representation, I want it done right or not at all. Fantasy stories have greater flexibility because something can be Asian-influence but still be a complete fictional world. However, contemporary stories are held to a higher regard as much as a book can be labelled as fiction, it’s based on reality, and that representation needs to be accurate.

This book made me not want to read and put me into a reading slump. I hope that I get out of it soon. I would not recommend this book. It portrays an inaccurate portrayal of Korean culture which is the foundation and selling point of this book. You would only enjoy this book if you knew nothing about Korean culture, which makes it dangerous. Not only that, but the story itself is lacking, and the characters are not appealing to read.

A promising debut with lots of heart, no pun intended, honest ! Lovely relatable real characters who have flaws and issues, which I loved. A lovely YA contemporary romance, a really quick nice read, very addictive reading. Really fun and I think will be a big hit.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion