Permanent Record is a sort of reverse Cinderella story between a young man, Pablo who is struggling to try and fit in to his position as adult and Leanna who is a celebrity who is confused by her desire for normality without losing the fame and fortune she has accrued.

Let’s start with Pablo: He is a college dropout, seriously in debt, can’t figure out what he wants to do but knows that he wants to make a fortune doing it. He wants to be successful but does not want to accept that success is hard work. He has a complicated relationship with his family and often screws up monumentally.

Leanna is a pop star/childhood sensation who cannot cut her hair without making global news. She longs for normality but actually doesn’t know how to be normal because her normal is so different from everyone else’s that she often acts selfishly without realising that she cannot solve her problems by throwing her wealth around.

They make an unlikely pair but as a reader you really root for them to be together. My one negative about the book isn’t really a negative about the book. That sounds a bit confusing but her me out. I am not a young adult. I enjoy YA fiction but I am a fully grown adult in my thirties and at time I didn’t quite understand the vernacular used by the characters. That is on me though. Mary H K Choi is writing for a very different age group who would know about the things that I found confusing.

Permanent Record is a really good story that has two highly flawed but likeable characters. Make sure you add it to your to be read list.

Permanent Record by Mary H K Choi is available now.

For more information regarding Mary H K Choi (@choitotheworld) please visit her Twitter page.

For more information regarding Little, Brown Book Group (@LittleBrownUK) please visit their Twitter page.

I just don't think book was for me, it was okay but I found myself drifting off a bit. I 100% think it could of been the reading mood I was in and therefore I didn't enjoy it as much.

I think I'll probably try to re-read this though!

It took me quite a while to get into this book, the writing being pretty dense and feeling forced at times. But I did love the premisse of a pop star walking into a bodega at night, and then hitting it off with the guy behind the counter only to recognize him from his short bout of being meme famous.

What took away from my enjoyment aside from the dense writing, was the fact that some really strange things happened. For instance, Pablo's 13-year-old brother was expelled from school because he was trying to sell vibrators (?) to girls in his grade. What?!

I did however enjoy the emotional depth the book got in the second half, when it becomes clear that Pablo is very much stuck in life and making terrible decision after terrible decision, until he finally realizes he can't go on like this.

Rep: Korean-Pakistani MC, Mexican-American love interest, Latinx side character

CWs: racism, sexual assault, debt, weed, alcohol

Pablo, a college drop-out, is working at a New York bodega. He's massively in debt, he's avoiding his mother, and he finds his joy in creating unusual snacks with random ingredients! Whilst working one evening, he's surprised to discover that the girl he is chatting with as he serves is a super-famous pop star and, as unlikely as it may seem, they start a relationship. With one character who is trying very hard not to be seen or noticed by anyone, and the other who is seen and followed and hounded by everyone all over the world, it's an interesting clash as they come together. This isn't just a love story though, and actually it's really just Pab's story, about the journey he takes in his life via his meet-up with Leanna Smart.

I really liked the start to the book, as we see Pab's work in the Bodega (it's like a corner shop or convenience store for those of us not in the US), and start to learn a little about him. Having the story from his point of view is an interesting choice as I had thought it might switch to Lee at some point in the book, but it stayed with Pab throughout. I wasn't always sure I liked him very much, but that's sort of the point. He makes some really bad choices, he treats people terribly at times, and he finds himself stuck in a very, very deep hole. That does mean some parts are a little difficult to read, but the darkness in the book is also juxtaposed with humour too, which helps.

I like that both main characters are biracial. Pab is Korean and Pakistani, whilst Leanna is Mexican and white. There are flavours of the different cultures throughout, and as a parent of biracial children I love that there is more representation that they can identify with now in popular culture. It's important to recognise that biracial children often grow up within these dual cultures, feeling a part of both, or sometimes feeling a part of neither. As I read, though, I found that I wanted more from some of the secondary characters; for instance Pab's mum and dad have a very interesting relationship, that I would have liked to know a lot more about, and his brother, Rain, is also an intriguing character. Seeing Pab's childhood would make another good story, I think, as I was really intrigued by his family and the dynamics within it.

The dialogue in the book is funny, and smart, and that really helps the characters seem real. As the story turned into more of a romance, with the relationship between Pab and Lee, I was a little disappointed. I much preferred seeing Pab's wider world, and everyone else in his life (I'd have liked more about the family running the bodega, for instance). But then the book flips again, and from young love it spins into Pab's downward spiral into depression. Not happy reading, but still very heartfelt and compelling. And, I felt, more interesting than the romance.

The New York setting is atmospheric, and I could easily picture all the different places through the story. I also felt that different themes and ideas were touched on and handled in a really great way, for example, the whole celebrity lifestyle and what that actually entails for Lee. We see, very clearly, that although Lee has amazing advantages in her life, with all that money can buy, she misses out on normal things like popping out somewhere to eat, or even just learning to ride a bike. The book also takes a pass at social media, the personas created for the online world, and what's real and what isn't.

Pab's college issues were also interesting, thinking about how young American teenagers still are when they're making huge life choices, about which college to go to and how much debt they're going to get into to go there. Although you're despairing as you read at Pab's complete failure to deal with any of the letters and bills and final notices piling up with his debts, it also becomes understandable because he is just a young man still, and it's so easy to fall into the trap of taking on more debt with credit cards, just to get by.

My biggest criticism of the book would be that I didn't feel that Pab's depression was treated effectively. There was the sense that he crashed so very, very low, but then with just a nudge and a change of heart, he was back on the up and up, and although it was going to be a difficult path, all would be well. Whilst the spiral downwards was really well told, and his avoidance of facing up to the truth rang true, I don't think any treatment, or options for him, were very clearly defined and that was a definite mis-step for the story.

Whilst it's definitely a book that sits in the young adult genre, I felt it was wide-ranging enough to also be engaging to older readers (like me!) It wasn't a perfect read, but it was really, really good. I raced through it, reading ‘just one more chapter' repeatedly as it was hard to put down, and I'm already on the lookout for other books by this author.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

Take my word for it, this story is so much more than just a “secret romance” as the synopsis sets it out to be.

Permanent Record is all about Pablo Neruda Rind whose life is a mess. He’s dropped out of NYU, has moved out of his family home and is sharing an apartment with friends. For a year he’s been working at a health food store with the hopes of earning enough to get back into school, while monthly rent payments and various bills that are piling up in his bedroom drawer watch on.

Enter Leanna Smart - childhood star and now a major celebrity, who one night stumbles into the store on Pablo’s shift. The two hit it off and Pablo finds a new excuse to push away his problems by allowing himself to be swept up into Leanna’s world. But it’s not long before his problems come racing to catch up with him.

This was the first book I’ve read by Choi and I quite liked her writing style. Not being American myself I didn’t understand all the references used, but her inclusion of pop culture, social media and slang/lingo within the narrative really helped to voice Pablo’s character, as well as set the scene. At first I was surprised to find that this book wasn’t written in a dual perspective, but it became clear quite quickly that this was very much Pablo’s story.

At the centre is the theme of adulthood, or more specifically being new to adulthood and it sure hit closer to home than I expected. Through the various relationships Pablo has with his family, his friends, his employers and even Leanna, Choi touches on the societal and familial pressures that are present in today’s world when it comes to education, finances and life in general. As the story progresses you really start to get a glimpse of how dire Pablo’s situation is.

The romance between Pablo and Leanna played more of a supporting role in the story and I thought it was great that their relationship didn’t overpower the primary narrative at any point. Their joint personalities and interests made their relationship feel natural and realistic however, it also highlighted the contrasts in their lives.

The friendship and family dynamics present in the story were also superbly written, the latter probably being my favourite part. The various elements of Pablo’s identity – being the eldest child in a biracial Asian and broken family, being an older sibling, being a child of diaspora – were handled beautifully. It gave light to some really important and thought-provoking discussions on culture, identity, privilege and race.

Now my life may not be as much of a mess as Pablo’s but I related to his character so much and really enjoyed his character arc. I really appreciated the underlying message that it is okay to not be sure about where life is going and that it is okay to mess up. That growing up doesn’t mean you have to isolate yourself from others in difficult times.

Overall, I just love how unapologetically honest this book is and I am so glad I picked it up. I look forward to picking up Choi’s debut, Emergency Contact as well as any of her future works.
Final Rating - 4.5/5 Stars

Pablo Neruda Rind’s life isn’t easy. He quit college with a huge debt that he is not able to pay back. He avoids the calls from the bank, his parents and any responsibilities. He moves in with his friend's house and finds a job in the shop with healthy food products.
On his birthday he waits for something to happen so the day won’t be the same as all other days. As hard as it is to believe he got what he wanted. At night the girl came to the store during his shift. At first, he didn’t recognize her but before she left, he saw something familiar in her. She was Leanna Smart; a popular singer and actress people were obsessed with. He didn’t show any signs of recognition as he didn’t want to ruin their conversation that went very well.
After this day, she was the only thing he could think about. He saw her everywhere and wished to have her number so they could meet again. He didn’t believe to meet her again, but he wasn’t the only one who was charmed by this night. One day Leanna came back to the shop and this is the moment when their story starts.
Their worlds are different from each other as the day from the night. They both have problems in their lives they want to run away from. They are each other’s escape. As much as they try, they cannot leave their lives behind for a long time. They need to face reality.

My thoughts:

Well, this book gave me mixed emotions. It started as a perfect love story but didn’t finish this way. As weird as it sounds, it’s the part I liked the most. I feel like their relationship was like an escape from their lives. They went so deep into it that they didn’t want to go back to reality but when they finally got to the moment when it wasn’t possible anymore. They had to face reality and make changes in their lives. It makes us think about thinks we are running from. Sometimes it’s better to face them and work on the future instead of running from the past.
Pablo is an interesting character. His personality changes so often and quickly that you cannot keep up with him. Once he is super optimistic and feels like he can do everything but in a second, he becomes this pessimistic and depressed part of himself, who isn’t possible to reach anything in his life.
I think that his adventure with Lee woke him up. He finally started to do something with his life instead of thinking low about himself or reaching too high. He stopped waiting until someone will help him to change his life and he did it himself. Lee, however, had to let him go because she was the one who kept standing on his way.
The story didn’t end as I thought it will, but I think it’s good it wasn’t too predictable. The love story started as fast as it ended. I feel like everything was going so fast that I couldn’t keep up with them. I think it was also a point of it to show how fast the emotions were growing between them. They didn’t spend much time with each other, but he felt deeply for each other and when it ended it was heartbreaking for them both (and for me).
It wasn’t a long story, but it is perfect for all young adults who struggle with similar problems with becoming an adult and facing the reality of being responsible for all decisions. It shows that even if we are lost there is always a way to change it.

I had quite hopes for this book since I'd heard a lot of great things about it. There was great diversity and the main character was half-Korean and half-Pakistani (I'm Pakistani so I was pretty excited for that). Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, mainly because Pablo was so infuriating throughout the book with the decisions he made and the people he hurt. I'm glad that by the end he had learnt from his mistakes and become a better person for himself and those around him. I also felt the romance was a bit insta-lovey and got too intense very fast.

However, I did like the family and friend relationships, and enjoyed those parts the most. Pablo's dad's play at the end was such a great moment for his family to reconnect and it touched my heart. Also, who would've thought that the most sane character in the book would be the thirteen year old brother? But seriously, Rain was pretty great.

In general, I liked this book mainly for the social commentary and platonic relationships in Pablo's life, as well as the cultural elements; mostly, though, I didn't much care for the romance, which dominated the story.

Let me start with a cliche – I really wanted to like this book.
I read Emergency Contract a couple of months ago and it was so problematic. But also there are these great (despite negative) reviews in Goodreads and Amazon that somehow advise the author on what she can work more and what she can change and make the book better (or at least readable). If the author does care for her readers she will learn and improve. Unfortunately, nothing like this happened
Again, we have this stunning cover, that catches your eye and make you wanna read the book no matter what it is about. And again – everything stops with the cover.
We have these looooong descriptions. Pages after pages of unnecessary information. Often about secondary characters or characters which we don’t even meet in the book and we do not care much about them. Basically, we can cut the volume in half. I skipped about that much myself because I got bored. To balance the situation – we don’t have any plot. No plot and no plot development at all. Like she throws her random thoughts on the paper, puts the numbers on the bottom of each piece of paper, and then put some beautiful cover to foul us. Nah..
Also, we have these lifeless characters. I don’t care about them. I wasn’t able to jump into their shoes and understand them. The main character – Pablo simply can’t collect his shits together. He dropped off school and now he is working night shifts in a fancy deli, that sells every organic high-priced piece of food you can think of. When a girl storm in during the quiet part of the night. The girl is not just anybody but Leanna Smart – a famous Disney star. Yeah, you already know what’s following. A poor guy being noticed by a famous person drops everything and goes on the downward spiral. Why necessary this should be a bad thing? Because Pablo is in big debts and needs to work and earn money and still he prefers to lose his job and go wherever Leanna wants. It’s ridiculous like he is a puppy, not a human being.
Here are a few examples why I’m so pissed with this book:
#1

“I wonder if dad has cancer. Mom would be wrecked. Still, of the two I’d rather dad be sick.”
My father left my mom and me a couple of years ago because of another woman. I haven’t spoken with him for a bit more than a year. But I would never ever want my father to be sick. In a situation like this, I would use this kind of statement: “I hope I’m wrong and they both are fine and perfectly healthy“. What kind of person will want someone of their parents to be sick?
#2
“What? I ask her. “Him? You I’d understand. You can talk to me about my future and jobs and fiscal responsibility, but not him.” I know I’m being a dick.”
Yes, I agree. You are a dick! I notice this in her previous book. this disrespectful attitude towards parents. I can’t accept it. I’m 24 and I’ll never ever consider talking to my mom (or even my father) this way. Sorry (not sorry) if I sound so old-school, but no matter what – these people are your parents and you should behave. This book is categorised as YA. Lots of teens will probably read it and will consider being completely okay to shout to their parents, mock them, not obey their orders and behave like grande douchebags. This is all wrong and sick so much.
I was tempted to give this book a one-star rating. Instead – I gave it two. Not because I’m feeling benevolent. I kind of liked the ending. No happy-ending ending kind of saves the book. No matter how bad was the book, the plot, the voices and basically everything, I appraise that she chooses to run away from the common endings and come with something different.
To be honest I’m not a big fan of her previous book. (I have a review of it in my drafts, hopefully, I’ll finish and publish it soon.) I was scrolling through NatGalley and saw this new book of hers coming out and I wanted to see if she upgraded. If she read some negative reviews and learn. Obviously, she didn’t. Probably it’s not so easy to change your writing style, I don’t know. For one thing, I can’t be more sure – this is my last Mary H. K. Choi book. I’m not going to give myself trouble going through her book again.

I really liked the idea of this, but unfortunately for me it just wasn’t for me, I couldn’t connect with the characters, story or writing. I am sure will appeal to many others, just don’t think it was quite my cup of tea

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

This story made my heart ache in all the best ways.
I will definitely be picking up more of Mary H K Choi's work.

After a year of college, Pablo is working late nights at his local twenty-four-hour deli. He's dodging calls from the student loan office and has no idea what to do next. Leanna Smart's life so far has been nothing but success. Aged 8 she was a Disney Mouseketeer, aged 15 she had her first #1 single in the US pop charts, aged 17 she had her 10th #1 single and now her life is a queasy blur of private planes, hotels and strangers wanting selfies. When Pab and Leanna meet at 4am in Pab's deli, they know they can't be together forever. They keep things on the down-low but it takes only 3 seconds for the world to find out.



I had such high expectations when I went into reading this book. I had been excited to finally read it and I feel quite let down. This book was told from Pab's perspective and not once from Leanna's perspective. I was expecting it to be dual-narrative so this came as a bit of a shock and mean that we never got a proper insight into Leanna's head like the synopsis suggests. I didn't find either of the main characters all that interesting which made it hard for me to invest in the story.

One thing I really enjoyed was the sarcastic and 'cool' writing style that showed off Pab's perspective incredibly well. It made me laugh and they little sections of humour really helped my enjoy the story that little bit more.

This book does tackle some important topics such as university, feeling like it isn't the next step for you and the debt that so many people who have been to university and getting into adulthood face. These issues are tackled incredibly well and I wish I had read a book like this one when I was struggling with university myself.

Although I didn't completely gel with this book and it felt quite rushed in parts, it was still an eye-opening and fun read. I would recommend this if you are going into university, are at university or just want a fun but honest book.

I really liked the concept of this book but didn't enjoy the writing style at all. I hate marking a book as DNF but it became such a struggle I just had to give up on it.

I’m about to open this review up with that dreaded phrase. It’s not you, it’s me. Because this book exemplifies the phrase. Pretty much everything I disliked about this book can be put down to me. So, feel free to just ignore my review and go read it anyway. I won’t be offended.

Permanent Record tells the story of Pablo and Leanna, who meet in a bodega at 5 in the morning. Pablo is a college dropout, struggling with credit card debt and student loans (and won’t answer his goddamn phone to talk to the debt collectors), while Leanna is a famous popstar. What follows isn’t a romance as such in the conventional sense. The focus is more on Pablo than Pablo-and-Leanna.

I’ll start with what I did like about this book. That is, Pablo. He was easily my favourite character of the whole thing, even if he was a dickhead at times and even if he stressed me out by not actually getting in touch with the people he owed money to. C’mon Pablo, just call them back. But anyway. I loved him, and I loved the way his relationship with his family developed (especially at the end when he actually talked to them).

However, Pablo was about the sum of the things I liked. And, yeah, you’d think liking the main character would be enough for me to like the book too, but not this time. Because, ultimately, I was bored by this book. I don’t know why – possibly I was just in the wrong mood – but I found myself skimming the book very early on. Okay so Pablo and Leanna’s first meeting was great, and I (initially at least) loved their dynamic, but instead of coming to like their relationship more and more as the book went on, I started disliking it. And I’m not sure I was supposed to. I think I might have been meant to feel sad about their relationship going the way it did, but I didn’t. I just started disliking both characters. And all that on top of feeling bored by the book.

It’s not a bad book, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not a me book, for whatever reason that may be.

So, if you want a character driven, not exactly romance-centric new adult (ish) novel, then this one is for you.

Choi's novel is frankly quite boring; unfortunately, the plot did not really capture my attention and I could not have cared less about the two main characters.

I read Emergency contact which I adored and gave 4.5 stars. Sadly Permanent Record just wasn't the book for me. I cant believe 2 books by the same author could be so vastly different.
I gave Permanent Record a good go but had to DNF. There were way too many america-isms that I didn't understand, I didnt click with the characters and I found it a little boring.
Thank you for gifting this to me and my review for Emergency Contact will be up soon.

I really wanted to give this book a chance after hearing a lot of good things about it however I just could not get into it. I found myself unable to connect with the main character and honestly found myself quite bored with the writing style.

I sadly DNF'd this book as it just wasn't for me.

I really liked this book. It was realistic and relatable and cute. It gives me all the feelings. I like the writing and i like the characters. I had a great time reading this book.

Thank you so much NetGallery for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly I'm super torn with this book! Theres some things in it which I really loved and some things I'm just not sure about...

The main character is a boy called Pablo and the story is written from his point of view, which is so rare for a whole book so I really enjoyed the change!

Pablo dropped out of college, shortly after starting at NYC because I think he just didn;t really know what he wanted to do but did the classic finish school, go to college (Uni) that so many do. However this is much to his Asian mum's disgust as she "didn't move 7000 miles to put herself through college then med school... For her first born to work in a first generation job."

Whilst at college Pablo raked up a ton of debt owing to not having any scholarships and given his current work is not the best paid is struggling to make ends meet, especially after he moved out to live with a friend as he wasn't able to tolerate his mums disappointment anymore.  By hiding the bills and pretending they don't exist he's just about getting by and is starting to think about returning to college. 

However a spanner is thrown in the works when one night while he is working the graveyard shift in walks Leanna Smart, world famous superstar, movie star, everything and Pablo instantly feels a connection that he can't shake. 

In terms of plot I was a little disappointed, I felt like it lacked a lot and could have ended a lot differently. It took me a long time to read this book and I'm not sure if it was because I was struggling to see where the book was going? 

I did however like the characters and found Pablo to be relatable in terms of his uncertainty for the future but want to be independent. I also found the insight into the A-list celebrity world really interesting and felt it was written in a fresh way. It explored Leannas wants vs her company/fans wants but also the exploration a female in this industry may face.

This book is definitely YA but I feel maybe those on the younger end of this range would enjoy it more? There is mentions of drug use throughout though. 


*review will be posted on my blog and social media accounts nearer the release date.

I have been anticipating reading this for quite some while now; I was really excited to delve into this. However, I was quite disappointed as I just couldn't get into it. I didn't really connect with the characters and the opening, I found, confused me for some reason.

Perhaps one day I will retry reading this but for now, it just isn't for me.

Ok, I loved this book so much!

I really want to read emergency contact (I can’t believe I haven’t gotten round to it yet!) so when I saw this pop up on netgalley I was super excited and then I got approved & it actually made my day! 😆

I loved reading this from the perspective of a guy because, I mean, when is it ever a guy narrator? Unless an author does 2 POVs but that’s a whole other kettle of fish...
Anyway, it was different from so many other books because of it & it was just nice finally seeing a guy tell a contemporary!
And I mean, I’m not a guy so I can’t testify to how well Mary wrote Pab but I thought it was good 😂

The story just felt super down to Earth, which is so important because I feel like sometimes authors get a bit carried away on making it too perfect or they ignore other important bits of life. Like Pablo is a college drop out, drowning in debt, working in a health food store, trying to balance the expectations of his Asian mum AND now he’s dating a celebrity. Yeah, the last one’s pretty crazy but it’s balanced out by sucky normal things that he has to deal with. I also feel like the roommate situation helped a lot in the real-life factor.

And last (but definitely not least) this book was so funny, honestly I was laughing so hard at some points (and I just had my braces put on so IT HURT) but it was worth it because comedy is always the cherry on the little bookish cake 🍰