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hannan_'s review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Was pretty good until the last third or so of the book, when it felt like the author wasn't really sure how to end the book so they kept flip-flopping btwn a happy ending and an open ending to the detriment of the experience. Also this could have done without the weird plot twist and the book would have been just as good lol
caitevans7's review
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
evermore_reads's review
3.0
This book was a lot. I won’t go into all of the nitty gritty of the twists and turns that this book takes but it definitely leaned into the k-dramaness but it didn’t always make sense. At certain points it felt like twists were just happening for shock value. I felt sorry for Hara, she barely had time to conceptualize what was happening to her before something else smacked her in the face. The book ended with her still in turmoil and I hope that in Seoulmates she finds peace.
mishmashedme's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m not entirely sure what to say about this one. I started out assuming it was a YA so when the writing and characters didn’t fall into that I had a hard time connecting. Then the story proceeded in a PG type fashion which kept me thinking YA but near the end gets decidedly NOT PG and so it really stuck out as other.
The story as a whole was just too long and too convoluted for me. I didn’t connect to the mc much even though we have several large things in common. I felt like the writing was repetitive thus my feeling it was too long and drawn out unnecessarily.
Then the story gets super complicated and chaotic at the end with so many back and forth’s about what happened and why that I was just done.
I want to read the next one only bc I’m super curious how the author resolves a pretty serious speed bump that’s arisen for our mc.
But mostly this just wasn’t a writing style that I enjoyed.
The story as a whole was just too long and too convoluted for me. I didn’t connect to the mc much even though we have several large things in common. I felt like the writing was repetitive thus my feeling it was too long and drawn out unnecessarily.
Then the story gets super complicated and chaotic at the end with so many back and forth’s about what happened and why that I was just done.
I want to read the next one only bc I’m super curious how the author resolves a pretty serious speed bump that’s arisen for our mc.
But mostly this just wasn’t a writing style that I enjoyed.
tagoreketabkhane31's review
5.0
This was such a good book! I appreciated, right off the bat, that Frederick had this book end on a cliffhanger (the second book comes out in January 2022) and for a romance book, even one that will be in a series, I appreciated that this was intentional. I believed that I was reading a K-Drama, because it contained the elements that I have come to see and love in the K-drams that I have seen in the past.
Right off the bat, this book stands out because of the #OwnVoices nature of story. Jen Frederick is a Korean adoptee, and her character is also a Korean adoptee who returns to Korea and find herself caught up in an act of destiny that can only be discovered in Seoul.
Hara Wilson is a Korean adoptee who lives in Iowa, and while she hasn't always felt disconnected from her adoptive family and home, it isn't until the funeral of her adoptive father Pat (along with the snide comments about her not being the "real" child) and an email from her birth father after conducting a DNA test enables her to take the trip to Korea to discover her family.
What happens in Seoul once her plan lands is nothing short of a K-Drama, and the ebb and flow that Frederick brings to the novel keep you engaged and reading. While this is def a romance, the mystery of finding the birth parents of Hara Wilson, while also balancing her dual identity as an American and Korean in Korea and everything else that is combined makes for an amazing novel and new adult romance debut for the author.
I highly recommend this, and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!
Right off the bat, this book stands out because of the #OwnVoices nature of story. Jen Frederick is a Korean adoptee, and her character is also a Korean adoptee who returns to Korea and find herself caught up in an act of destiny that can only be discovered in Seoul.
Hara Wilson is a Korean adoptee who lives in Iowa, and while she hasn't always felt disconnected from her adoptive family and home, it isn't until the funeral of her adoptive father Pat (along with the snide comments about her not being the "real" child) and an email from her birth father after conducting a DNA test enables her to take the trip to Korea to discover her family.
What happens in Seoul once her plan lands is nothing short of a K-Drama, and the ebb and flow that Frederick brings to the novel keep you engaged and reading. While this is def a romance, the mystery of finding the birth parents of Hara Wilson, while also balancing her dual identity as an American and Korean in Korea and everything else that is combined makes for an amazing novel and new adult romance debut for the author.
I highly recommend this, and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel!