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deschatjes's review
3.0
Enjoyable teen rom-com with 2 Korean YA characters plus their side-kicks of family and friends. Found Val to be somewhat unreasonably mean & Wes the opposite but fills a nice gap for non-sexual relationships for teens. Liked the entrepreneur bent.
kittynovaaaa's review against another edition
2.0
none of the characters were like able. wes least of all
cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
This was cute although romance was little rushed Wes was adorable.
readingwithrae's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars.
ngl i have very mixed feelings on this one. the beginning and end? excellent, amazing, really drew me in and ended on a great note. the middle though? slogged SO MUCH and really had me considering dnf'ing it. it just felt like nothing was happening? and so much was built off of the miscommunication trope which i wasn't in love with.
BUT i will say the characters in this are really what made the book shine. valerie, wes, charlie, pauline, even taemin were so fun to read about, and i loved the journey val and wes took to not only get together, but also realize their own self-worth is more important than what others think of them. also they were a really cute couple and i loved their rivals to lovers dynamic.
overall this was cute, but not something i'll probably remember for a long time
ngl i have very mixed feelings on this one. the beginning and end? excellent, amazing, really drew me in and ended on a great note. the middle though? slogged SO MUCH and really had me considering dnf'ing it. it just felt like nothing was happening? and so much was built off of the miscommunication trope which i wasn't in love with.
BUT i will say the characters in this are really what made the book shine. valerie, wes, charlie, pauline, even taemin were so fun to read about, and i loved the journey val and wes took to not only get together, but also realize their own self-worth is more important than what others think of them. also they were a really cute couple and i loved their rivals to lovers dynamic.
overall this was cute, but not something i'll probably remember for a long time
kjpollard71's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A quick read. A nice glimpse into the Korean-American culture.
monarchsandmyths's review against another edition
4.0
another book i read in the quest of reading through the entire k-pop ya genre, and i can now confidently say that this book doesn’t actually fit in that niche. i also think it’s done a bit of a disservice by people who pitch it as rivals or enemies to lovers because it’s also not that. all that said, it’s a pretty decent book, although it does take a bit for the drama to get truly, truly exciting. however, the visible tension between valerie and wes shines through at the best moments.
overall, though this book does have a clear and fairly easy to follow plotline, there’s nothing about it that particularly jumps out of the box (although i did think the ending gave enough of a plot twist, especially considering i can never figure twists out no matter how much i thought about it). but the characters are absolutely the best part, not just with valerie and wes, but charlie, pauline, taemin, samantha, etc. each and every character gets to see some semblance of growth throughout the story, and in ways that feel mostly viable for a young adult book. though there were some parts that didn’t grab me as much as others, i was ultimately very satisfied by the end of the book.
i have to say though, i think my favourite part of this book was the romance at the center and the two characters involved. even though valerie isn’t the most likeable character at times, i still wanted to root for her. it’s so interesting to see her inner self, softer and more vulnerable than the outer self that everyone judges her on. and it’s so gratifying to see wes realise that before anyone else, to see her through his eyes where he just sees a girl he likes, although she’s definitely trying to put him out of business. on the other hand, wes seems more likeable on the outside but his inner dialogue allows us deeper, into someone more insecure, although aware of his own ability to manipulate the way people view him. both are ultimately good people, with good intentions, that seem very different, but ultimately they both struggle through trying to be a good person while competing. it’s undeniable that they do questionable things in the k-beauty showdown, but it feels realistic to two teenagers trying to find their places in the world.
for the most part, i enjoyed this book. i think the overall story is interesting enough and i enjoyed the ending. if you’re into fairly light contemporary ya, this might be the book for you, especially if you want a good romance in it!
overall, though this book does have a clear and fairly easy to follow plotline, there’s nothing about it that particularly jumps out of the box (although i did think the ending gave enough of a plot twist, especially considering i can never figure twists out no matter how much i thought about it). but the characters are absolutely the best part, not just with valerie and wes, but charlie, pauline, taemin, samantha, etc. each and every character gets to see some semblance of growth throughout the story, and in ways that feel mostly viable for a young adult book. though there were some parts that didn’t grab me as much as others, i was ultimately very satisfied by the end of the book.
i have to say though, i think my favourite part of this book was the romance at the center and the two characters involved. even though valerie isn’t the most likeable character at times, i still wanted to root for her. it’s so interesting to see her inner self, softer and more vulnerable than the outer self that everyone judges her on. and it’s so gratifying to see wes realise that before anyone else, to see her through his eyes where he just sees a girl he likes, although she’s definitely trying to put him out of business. on the other hand, wes seems more likeable on the outside but his inner dialogue allows us deeper, into someone more insecure, although aware of his own ability to manipulate the way people view him. both are ultimately good people, with good intentions, that seem very different, but ultimately they both struggle through trying to be a good person while competing. it’s undeniable that they do questionable things in the k-beauty showdown, but it feels realistic to two teenagers trying to find their places in the world.
for the most part, i enjoyed this book. i think the overall story is interesting enough and i enjoyed the ending. if you’re into fairly light contemporary ya, this might be the book for you, especially if you want a good romance in it!
nightshade_1's review against another edition
4.0
“I don't want to have any regrets and always wonder what could have been.”
⥼~-✰-~⥽ ☽ ˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚＊☾ ⥼~-✰-~⥽
ೃ︵➷
For not going full on knowing what this book was about seeing a couple of my favourite booktubers reading this book I had to get it but going in with not much dept. I have to say I had quite enjoyed it. The setting off it being in Korea,Seoul is one of the places where I’d love to visit someday. I love these type of books has these type of foreign it’s different and the difference of language.
The story begins the high school studen Valerie (Val) which she has a beauty stall with her cousin Charlie. There is one particular goal she is aiming why she is setting herself high in getting so much money to take her grandmother on a once in a life time trip!
But things change a bit sudden for Val, a new student Wes comes to sabotage her regular customers with nee K-Pop band.
You all know how this story is about to go down
⥼~-✰-~⥽ ☽ ˚•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙˚＊☾ ⥼~-✰-~⥽
ೃ︵➷
For not going full on knowing what this book was about seeing a couple of my favourite booktubers reading this book I had to get it but going in with not much dept. I have to say I had quite enjoyed it. The setting off it being in Korea,Seoul is one of the places where I’d love to visit someday. I love these type of books has these type of foreign it’s different and the difference of language.
The story begins the high school studen Valerie (Val) which she has a beauty stall with her cousin Charlie. There is one particular goal she is aiming why she is setting herself high in getting so much money to take her grandmother on a once in a life time trip!
But things change a bit sudden for Val, a new student Wes comes to sabotage her regular customers with nee K-Pop band.
You all know how this story is about to go down
thebookberrie's review against another edition
Why did hi-chew sponsor this book. They mentioned it SO much.
Made in Korea is about a girl named Valerie who loves making a good sale. With her cousin, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school's most popular business. Enter new student Wes. When his classmates go rabid to buy the K-pop branded beauty projects that his mother gave him to make friends, he takes the opportunity. Wes wants to go to music school, but he knows his parents won't cover the tuition. He doesn't realize that he's now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor. The stakes are high as the two try to outsell each other while also falling for the other.
This is enemies to lovers but also not really, it's just Valerie hating him on sight while Wes has no idea what's happening. The audacity of this bitch was literally insane. Her entitlement and how she treats every one just like another dollar was lowkey gross. Mr Krabs found dead in a ditch. Wes was nice! To Val though, only her reason for money matters and not his. Eventually she does get better but it was just ick. I liked Wes but Val was just wild af about her business and the romance didn't sit with me.
Lots of K-pop references and I'm like sure I know what that is. (I don't despite all the K-pop related books I've weirdly read this year.) Otherwise it was fineee. But also it feels like I've read this before.
Made in Korea is about a girl named Valerie who loves making a good sale. With her cousin, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school's most popular business. Enter new student Wes. When his classmates go rabid to buy the K-pop branded beauty projects that his mother gave him to make friends, he takes the opportunity. Wes wants to go to music school, but he knows his parents won't cover the tuition. He doesn't realize that he's now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor. The stakes are high as the two try to outsell each other while also falling for the other.
This is enemies to lovers but also not really, it's just Valerie hating him on sight while Wes has no idea what's happening. The audacity of this bitch was literally insane. Her entitlement and how she treats every one just like another dollar was lowkey gross. Mr Krabs found dead in a ditch. Wes was nice! To Val though, only her reason for money matters and not his. Eventually she does get better but it was just ick. I liked Wes but Val was just wild af about her business and the romance didn't sit with me.
Lots of K-pop references and I'm like sure I know what that is. (I don't despite all the K-pop related books I've weirdly read this year.) Otherwise it was fineee. But also it feels like I've read this before.
am2ara's review against another edition
Not my type of storytelling I guess, I couldn’t get interested and some of the narrative writing felt more middle grade to me