Author: Stephan Lee
# of Pages: 336 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Candace Park knows a lot about playing a role. For most of her life, she's been playing the role of the quiet Korean girl who takes all AP classes and plays a classical instrument, keeping her dreams of stardom-and her obsession with SLK, K-pop's top boyband-to herself. She doesn't see how a regular girl like her could possibly become one of those K-pop goddesses she sees on YouTube. Even though she can sing. Like, really sing. So when Candace secretly enters a global audition held by SLK's music label, the last thing she expects is to actually get a coveted spot in their trainee program. And convincing her strict parents to let her to go is all but impossible ... although it's nothing compared to what comes next. Under the strict supervision of her instructors at the label's headquarters in Seoul, Candace must perfect her performance skills to within an inch of her life, learn to speak Korean fluently, and navigate the complex hierarchies of her fellow trainees, all while following the strict rules of the industry. Rule number one? NO DATING, which becomes impossible to follow when she meets a dreamy boy trainee. And in the all-out battle to debut, Candace is in danger of planting herself in the middle of a scandal lighting up the K-pop fandom around the world.
Review: Despite being a k-pop fan, I would never have read this book if I didn't receive it as a gift. I'm just not the target audience for this; K-pop Confidential dives into many young fans' fantasy of being a normal girl turned K-pop star. K-pop has its own set of lingo, and Lee does not hesitate to use it generously throughout the book. Although Lee includes a dictionary of vocab words for those less familiar with the lingo, it's clear that this book is best suited for those who can appreciate how well versed/researched Lee is in the K-pop world.
However, the best books will appeal to those even outside of the target audience. With the cringe-y (but perhaps accurate) teen dialog peppered with (non-K-pop slang), it just wasn't my cup of tea. Romance is innocent and surface level despite being crucial to the plot.
The best part of this book was how it allowed readers to peek into the life of a K-pop trainee. Many people don't see what happens behind the scenes and how difficult it is to become an idol, how strenuous and at times inhumane their training is. I would have loved to hear more about Lee's experiences interviewing people in the industry have attributed to what he ended up depicting in this book; this could have served as a powerful wakeup call as to what is going on in the idol industry and brought it above being a shallow, wish-fulfillment book for K-pop fans.
I would recommend this book to diehard K-pop fans who want a quick and fun read. Otherwise, your time would be better spent on something else.
No comments:
Post a Comment