Once she arrives in Seoul Jaewoo quickly wants a secret relationship with her. Her not knowing he was an up and coming idol in Seoul made things interesting. Jenny suggesting an impromptu karoke challenge shortly after she found Jaewoo sulking on the floor of one of the rooms at her uncle’s karaoke bar was a fun start. The Romance ~ I decided to talk about this separately from the relationship section because there was so much awesomeness with this alone. But it was so sweet seeing how well he cared for and provided for them. But Jaewoo also had a lot on his plate with respect to his family. And there were other relationship hardships in play between Jenny and her mom, and between her mom and her grandmother. There’s also the “Uncle” that isn’t really, and her new relationship with her grandmother, which is so very precious. I enjoyed the other friends Sori quickly made, too.

Nathaniel, a member of Jaewoo’s K-pop band, describes Sori best in the she might be covered in ice, but she’s marshmallow inside. I’m not sure if my favorite was between our heroine Jenny and the hero, Jaewoo, or if it was between Jenny and her roommate, Sori. Relationships ~ There were a lot of great relationships explored in the book. It was also interesting reading about the family dynamics and expectations. Music and food play such a huge role in the story. This book is a foodie’s dream! The way arts are embraced and especially music and dance was fascinating to read about. And the fact that the book starts in California and then moves to Seoul really helped to further share the differences between Korean Americans and Koreans. I loved feeling completely immersed in the culture. Korean representation ~ This alone offered so many interesting aspects to the story. There were so many things to love about it ~ I was so surprised at how quickly this book just totally sucked me in.

Xoxo axie oh paperback