Hardcover, 336 pages
Release Date: June 16, 2020
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Read from: June 11-19, 2020
Stand-alone
Source: Edelweiss (I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Fatphobia, some queerphobia & families who aren’t accepting
For fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Body Positvity, Own Voices, Realistic Fiction, Sparkly Covers, YAThe world of K-Pop has never met a star like this. Debut author Lyla Lee delivers a deliciously fun, thoughtful rom-com celebrating confidence and body positivity—perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Julie Murphy.
Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.
She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else.
When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho.
But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I remember when I first opened this book. I honestly went and highlighted the entire first page. It was wild. I don’t remember the last time I did that. If ever. It was right then that I knew I was going to enjoy reading this. And the rest of the story did not disappoint me too much.
“FAT GIRLS CAN’T DANCE. It’s something my mom said after one of my ballet recitals when I was a little kid.”“1%
Skye’s mom has always told her one thing: Fat girls can’t dance. But Skye has always made it her mission to prove her mother wrong. So she enters a K-Pop competition to show her mom that she can do it. But as she’s doing it, she doesn’t expect all the crazy (like possibly falling for a fellow competitior) to happen along the way!
“I guess a normal kid would have cried. Or gotten discouraged. Or maybe even quit ballet there and then. But instead, I stomped my foot in on the ground with as much force as my five-year-old self could muster and yelled at my mom’s face, “OH YEAH? THEN I’LL PROVE YOU WRONG!” and stuck with ballet for several years before the snobby prima-donna types irked me enough to switch to hip-hop and modern dance.”“1%
The best part of this book by far was Skye. I loved her vibrant, living her best life attitude. She definitely made me think twice about my own life. And I think that’s what I liked most about her. Here I am a grown woman and I still learned something from her. So if I did, I know the teens that read this will appreciate her so much more.
“Social media really scares me sometimes.”“5%
The writing style itself was simple and easy to follow, but unfortunately that was all I liked about it. Like the plot, I didn’t care for it. I really didn’t feel like much happened. And it just felt really repetitive. And because of that, I was expecting it to be more romance centered, but it wasn’t. I don’t think they even really got together until like 65%? I don’t remember. Yes it was a good slow burn, but when there’s nothing really happening in between, I wanted some more umph.
“Fat girls can’t dance. I hear Mom’s words in my head over and over again like a broken record. “Well Mom, I’m here to prove you wrong. I jump forward and begin moving with the beat.”“7%
Which brings me to the romance. It was there, but barely. And I know, I’m the first to say I don’t like Insta-Love, but I wanted more. I have to be honest, I thought she deserved more. I would have loved to see more of this bi, Korean American fat girl fall in love and get all the smushy, swoony moments. And I know it’s probably because this was more Skye’s story than a love story, but with that being said, I would have appreciated more time seeing her happy and swoony with that other person.
“That girl failed me, so I want to be my own hero.”“9%
Lastly, I wasn’t really as into that ending. That whole book was about this one event, but it was over in like 3 pages? The imagery was BOMB. I really felt like I was there and experiencing it with her. But I really wish that it was more time dedicated to it.
“Being fat and pretty aren’t exclusive traits, though. Fat people can be pretty, pretty people can be fat.”“20%
This had its ups and downs for me, but in the end, I did like it. I think I was convinced it was going to be something that it wasn’t. But I did still like the writing and Skye was so amazing. Although it all didn’t work for me, the part that did, REALLY did.
Overall, I give this,
You pretty much mirrored my thoughts here. I also though Skye was the best thing about this book, and the cons I noted in my review were that I wanted more from the ending and wish there had been more resolution with respect to Skye’s mother. I enjoyed it a lot though. I thought