Reviews with content warning for Bullying - I will shine

Actual rating: 3,5

Aku punya penilaian secara objektif dan subjektif soal buku ini. Yang objektif lebih dulu.

Pertama, terjemahannya enak buat diikuti, yah bisa dibilang khas banget lah, YA ala-ala yang bahas soal Sokor atau K-Pop sendiri.

Kedua, tema besar bukunya yang emang dreams come true, jadi walaupun ada masalah tetap bisa survive (ya iyalah, namanya juga ada premis hadehhh). Kesannya emang TGTBT sih, tujuannya, tapi yah sekali lagi, ini bicara soal mimpi.

Ketiga, hmm, kalo karakter-karakternya sih, bagiku oke. Ada layer, walaupun nggak berlapis. Beberapa kali kaget-tapi-nggak-kaget (loh) sama Jason. Yah, apa yang bisa diharapkan dari idol macam dia, sih. Kayak apa ya ibaratnya, kalo sekali menjalani hubungan bisa dapat exposure berlipat, kenapa enggak? In a word, manipulatif. Kesel sih, cuman ya dalam industri K-pop hal-hal yang kayak gitu emang perlu juga, kan, buat bertahan.

Kayaknya dari sisi objektivitas itu aja sih, walaupun aku nggak yakin apa 3 ppoin di atas tuh, udah objektif apa belum xD

Dari segi subjektivitas, aku kurang sreg sama gaya kepenulisannya. Kalo bentukannya novel lokal udah pasti dikomen bagian info dumping, sih, cuman karena ini terjemahan jadi yah kurang lebih dimaklumi, lah (sebenernya aku nggak tau, sih, ada pakem atau enggak soal hal ini di novel luar).

Terus yang mau aku bahas soal kehidupan trainee itu sendiri. Ehem, warning aja, ini bakalan jadi semacam opini seorang fangirl yang ngikutin K-pop dari generasi 2.

Rumor soal trainee yang gagal debut karena kencan bukan hal baru, sih. Di buku ini ada sedikit sentilan soal itu, walaupun sesama trainee jelas nggak tahu mendetail. Benar atau enggak, tetap jadi misteri. Lagipula, trainee pasti nggak sempat mikirin hal lain karena yah pelatihan itu sendiri udah berat, ditambah setiap hal yang bikin mereka awas buat debut. Pertimbangan agensi buat debutin salah seorang trainee juga banyak ngaruh ke mental para trainee.

Yang Rachel rasain itu emang beralasan banget. Banyak bukti trainee gagal debut padahal udah ngikutin pelatihan selama >6 tahun. Wow, setahun aja berasa lama banget, apalagi sampe 6 tahun lebih. Pernah ada juga, tuh, trainee yang udah di-spill ke publik, tapi sampai sekarang gagal debut juga (IYKWIM). Sedih, pake banget. Jadi, lihat gimana ngoyo-nya Rachel, bisa dipahami, lah.

Soal loyalitas. Haha, ini sensitif sebetulnya karena nggak cuma muncul sekali rumor para member dari grup yang debut ternyata nggak dekat. Aku nggak mention atau bahas soal grup asal dari penulis buku ini, ya. Ini bahas secara umum. Dekat nggak dekat, fans nggak bisa lihat di belakang layar gimana. Idol itu juga diajari kelas media waktu pelatihan, jadi bukannya nggak mungkin hal semacam menceritakan hubungan bisa dibuat di depan kamera. Dahlah, entar malah tambah panjang bahas ini doang.

Terakhir, soal kontrak agensi yang ternyata "menjebak". LOL jujur baru tahu setelah ada kasus dari salah satu grup akhir-akhir ini. Aku stan banyak grup, jadi yang diketahui ya hal umum-umum aja. Nggak nyangka ternyata kontrak budak itu ada. Gila, pantes yang kelihatan fine-fine aja, malah milih keluar agensi, dll.

Intinya, buku ini banyak kasih insight soal dunia pelatihan dan mendekati debut. Dibalut dengan cerita seorang remaja berkebangsaan Amerika-Korea yang jatuh cinta dengan K-Pop sejak usia belia dan berusaha keras buat mewujudkan impiannya sebagai salah satu bintang K-Pop. Narasi dan terjemahannya emang ngalir, sih, tapi berasa nggak ada jeda, jadi agak bikin bosen.

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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kadtide's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.25

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blqsrg's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

At first, I thought it would too cliché and predictable, but I was pleasantly surprised at the plot twist and really enjoyed it towards the end. Only there is some untied end to some characters like the love interest and her friend, but I'm hoping that's a sign that maybe we can expect a sequel.

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boob's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Not my can of jam. When I first came across the book, the cover threw me off. It's not what you would expect from a YA novel, it's very garish and cheesy/'plastic', which pretty much describes the book.

Writing Style
There is a lot of 'show not tell.' I feel like all the scenes in the story were told to me, the writing felt chunky and corny. The story and way of words didn't flow together very well, and it seemed to be written (style wise and story wise) for maybe a young-middle schooler/elementary schooler to read. Reading it did not feel like an experience fit for the YA section.

Story and Characters
I could not connect with the characters for the life of me. Jason (the love interest) seemed like an irritant to me, he's dense and not very likable straight off the first meeting. I couldn't feel any real friction between the MC and Jason, except for maybe when they sung together and even then the 'friction and energy' was described and told to the reader, not shown. What may have been smooth flirting felt forced and I could not see through him at all, he was a bit 'too perfect' a character. His flaws felt forced and not natural.

Rachel was... as the main character, she was very 'plastic.' Any moment you may have thought for some character development... nope. I don't see anything that I particularly like in her as a character, as well as her sister and her friends. Though this is the first book in the series, so maybe there is hope for redemption further down the way.

The story address some issues like sexism/misogyny, issues with the corporates behind the k-pop industry and xenophobia, but it's a scrap on the surface and could've gone deeper, and felt like these things were used as a plot device.

I am not a k-pop fan, but I do know the author went through some sort of k-pop training/was in the industry and is a celebrity. A lot of times when celebrities write books they turn out subpar, however. Since this is the first book in a series, there is possible hope in the future these characters pack their shit together and we actually see something, because the sheer (almost ridiculous, but perhaps accurate) amount of drama was the one thing fun to read. Also, it makes me feel better maybe that someone with real experience within the industry wrote this novel.

Would I recommend? Not exactly. But maybe if we get a few books out in the future and return to this series, and see some character improvement I'll come back. Keep moving forward Jessica!

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