Reviews with content warning for Racism - Seoulmates

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

thenovelmaura's review

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Pacing and plot-wise, this book is like reading a K-drama, and I recommend it as a fun summer read! It's a swoonworthy romance about childhood-friends-to-lovers with tons of SoCal references via Jacob's San Diego bucket list. Personally, I related to Hannah's internal struggle over not feeling "Korean enough" as well as her resistance to the K-everything craze (I had similar feelings before I started leaning into Korean food, beauty, and media). Jacob was feeling the intense pressure and demanding schedule of being a rising K-drama star, while also feeling like he can't push back against his company since the primary breadwinner in his family. The romance worked for me even with the compressed time frame because they were building on prior history. And they also needed to grow as characters before things worked out for them! I'm a fan of Susan Lee now and The Name Drop is definitely on my TBR.

Content Warnings

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Hannah and Jacob were best friends—until he moved away to South Korea and became a famous actor, and Hannah felt abandoned and pushed him away. When they reunite in San Diego, it’s the last thing Hannah wants…but their connection may be about to reignite.

I was extremely excited for this one, and it ended up being a cute a fluffy YA read. I actually tried it in every format—first ebook, then switched to my physical read, and finally ended up on audio, which is the way I consumed the majority of the book. There were some aspects I *really* liked, including Hannah’s journey to find connection with her Korean-American identity, and the overall message on prioritizing happiness over traditional “success.”

That said, the main conflict in the plot is miscommunication-based, and even giving some grace for the fact it was a YA novel I still felt frustrated by how immaturely the characters behaved for large parts of the book. I also felt like there could have been a bit more resolution and a more thorough epilogue (but I’m someone who REALLY likes to see the HEA play out, which is harder in a YA novel where the characters are younger).

Overall, I’m still looking forward to reading Susan Lee’s second novel very soon, and recommend this one if you want a fast-paced YA with some interesting themes!

Recommended if you like: K-Dramas/K-Pop, friends-to-lovers meets second chance; themes of self-discovery

CW: Mentions of loss of parent; bullying; abandonment; racism (including internalized prejudices)

Content Warnings

pagebypaigebks's review

Go to review page

slow-paced

2.5

I'd like to thank HarperCollins Canada for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

I haven't read many books that feature celebrity characters, so I was excited to see how it was incorporated into Seoulmates. The overall concept of the book was intriguing, unfortunately I found the plot to be repetitive, especially when miscommunication came into play. I enjoyed learning about the K-drama industry through Jacob's perspective, but I wish we explored that more. The plot was mostly focused on Hannah and Jacob's relationship, and this led to some areas of the book lagging. I also found the characters to be very one dimensional, especially Hannah. I would have liked to see more of her personality and see her grow on her own instead of needing Jacob to guide her. I found the romance to be cheesy but cute at times. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if the characters were more developed.

Content Warnings

novelty_reads's review

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

If you need a happiness boost, you have to read Seoulmates.

I absolutely devoured this book from start to finish. It was light, fluffy, absolutely readable and I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with it with every page. It had everything I wanted: a summer romance, friends to lovers, angsty teenage main character and soft, actor love interest who honestly just needed a hug. This book has been on my to-watch list of 2022 and when I managed to get the ARC of it on NetGalley, I practically screamed in delight.

Seoulmates follows main character Hannah whose boyfriend just broke up with her, claiming they have nothing in common. When Hannah's childhood best friend, and now up and coming K-Drama actor, Jacob Kim comes back from South Korea, Hannah uses his knowledge to aid her in getting Nate to be with her again. What Hannah leaves out of the equation is her developing feelings for Jacob as they uncover what really went wrong that caused a rift in their friendship previously.

This book is told in two perspectives: Hannah's and Jacob's. I think this worked perfectly with the story and it allowed us to get further glimpses into their characters including their vulnerabilities and their desire, ultimately, to be loved. Hannah was trying to fit in with her American friends thinking that in order to do that, she needed to shut out the Korean part of her Korean-American identity. This in turn made Nate and his friends drift away from her, making the very thing Hannah was shunning out the thing that set her apart from the others. You could see the toll this took on Hannah and how underneath that angsty girl facade, there was a girl who just felt scared, sad and vulnerable. I could see how she just wanted to feel okay again and how she felt like in order to do that, she needed to prove herself worthy of Nate's affections. In the end, I'm glad she developed on her self-worth and self-esteem, realising that maybe things would never have worked out with him to begin with.

Jacob on the other hand was seemingly living a dazzled life in South Korea but the truth was far from it. He was an actor in a popular new K-Drama show which just got renewed for a second season. After a PR disaster, his management tells him to take a holiday while they deal with the problem. Jacob and his mum and sister decide to head back to San Diego for the first time in years. While Jacob questions his future on a TV show with restrictive rules on what he can and can't do, he starts to feel a little bit stressed from the pressure his manager and co-star put on him, telling him he's not good enough at his job. Eager to take a break, Jacob tries getting as far away from the spotlight as possible with the company telling him not to bring any attention to himself. Jacob's internal struggle was with being good enough for other people and you could see this conflict between what he loved doing (acting) and the expectations others had on him to be up to par.

I loved how both character's flaws were really shown in this book and I think that's why I found I could relate to the characters as much as I did. Hannah was angsty but you could see how much she cared especially with how she wanted to become an immunologist to help people with allergic reactions after seeing how it affected someone she knew. While she tried hiding it on the inside, you could see past the facade and I liked how the book dealt with breaking down those shields Hannah put up around herself. Jacob was slightly more transparent in my opinion, but I loved seeing how gentle he was with Hannah and his compassionate and warm nature.

On top of the characterisation, I really liked the family dynamics between the Cho's and the Kim's. I love books with family at heart and great banter and it makes me so happy when said family dynamics also come with home-made food and cooking. This book made me hungry for Korean food so my recommendation is to have a few snacks on hand while reading this.

All in all, this book made me happy, with cute, relatable characters and deep themes. Minus, the vomiting scene at the start, this book, to me, is close to five stars.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.7 STARS

Content Warnings