Idol Gossip

okay, first of all, i wasn't sure if i wanted to write a review for this or not but i kind of needed to write my thoughts down at the end of this whole kpop journey.

i have to admit, this book definitely first got my attention because of the cover and was maybe 50% a cover buy BUT i also like to look at all the books inspired by kpop and have read a few already, so the genre and plot was also right up my alley and i was excited!

now, the beginning of the book was promising. i liked the idea of the gossip blog and the articles were way too realistic lmao, i have definitely read articles about kpop like this. so, that was fun. i was also rooting for alice at the beginning and liked seeing her be thrown into this whole new world of preparing for her debut in a kpop girlgroup. this, unfortunately, didn't last though. i have nothing against an unlikable protagonist, they can be extremely fun. but with alice it was more than that. she wasn't just unlikable, i also read this book thinking “wow she doesn't really... deserve any of this?” and i wasn't rooting for her anymore, i definitely had my moments where i was actually thinking that i wanted her to fail spectacularly just so that she can finally learn her lesson.

and i really, really needed something like this here to save the character and the plot. but no, alice doesn't really learn her lesson, until the last few pages it's still always about her and god i know, she's a teenager, the world revolves around oneself at that point in one's life, at least to a certain degree, but with her it's definitely too much. i genuinely don't understand why she made friends with the way that she behaves. i was honestly also really disappointed that we don't get more of the group interacting/trying to get closer. although that is also thanks to alice's behaviour. but seriously, alice can't even apologize for her fuck-ups unless someone tells her to.

what didn't help was the pacing of the book. the beginning was solid but i feel like we lost ourselves a bit in the middle but suddenly had to resolved everything in the last third while still adding more drama. it.... didn't work. the ending doesn't feel deserved and gave me whiplash because suddenly everything was getting resolved in very lazy and unsatisfying ways? it just made me, as a reader, feel like the book was clapping its hand and shouting “let's wrap this up guys, i wanna get home” at the end of a workday even though there was still so much more to do.

i don't want to be just negative so here a mention of things that i appreciated about this book: the kpop industry and especially the trainee process were portrayed pretty well for the most part and i think someone who doesn't know kpop would have still understood what was going on. i also really appreciated joon being bi, that was a nice little surprise. also thank god that he and alice didn't have something going on in the end because i don't think that would have worked out for them or fit into the book

i don't know if i would necessarily recommend this book to someone who wants to read about someone living the kpop debut dream because of my issues with the protagonist but the book is very easy to read and the writing style keeps you engaged, so if you are looking for an entertaining read but don't have too many expectations then this might work for you

Ah, the world of KPop. I admit that I too have been drawn into this world, full of super talented and gorgeous people. A world where music is pumped out on a regular basis, and the average fan has access to their idols pretty much constantly. It's a much contested place to exist in. On the one hand, the music that comes out of this space is vibrant and spans a vast set of genres. On the other hand, it is really easy to forget that the people inside these shiny, photo perfect groups are real human beings. So when I saw that Alexandra Leigh Young was writing a YA with the focus on the world of KPop idols, I was 100% in.

For the most part, I enjoyed this story! Like I mentioned above, the glossy part of this KPop idol world comes with some big issues underneath. I appreciated that Leigh wasn't afraid to shine a light on this part of things. Alice definitely gets dumped head first into a space that she wasn't prepared for. As a KPop idol her every move is scrutinized, and often manufactured. Her food intake is watched. Her social media is monitored. Worse still, she has barely any time to keep up with her family because of her insane training schedule. These are all very real things that happen, especially to trainees. It was almost refreshing to see this called out into the open.

The biggest issue that I had with Alice though is that Leigh really did just throw Alice straight into the fray with no background. Alice had no idea any of this was coming, and really all she wanted to do was sing. What ensues is a mess of a character arc where Alice refuses to change at all, is a stubborn brat, and starts to drag down the dreams of the other girls in her group who have been training for years. Alice becomes that frustrating entitled character who has done no research and just won't adapt. Now I would have been more forgiving of this if she had learned any lessons at all, but by the time any real progress is made the story is almost at an end. Alice is not just unlikable, she's unbelievable. That made it hard for me to make it through this story.

It was truly the other characters here that saved the day. So-ri with her famous past, and her eccentric personality. Alice's band mates, with their sweet personas and their excitement over their new group. Even Joon, who I didn't expect to like all that much, stole my heart. I loved that the was that famous character who was still humble, and genuinely excited about what he did. In my time spent in the KPop world I can tell you that there are a lot of idols like that. People who are genuinely love making music, and adore their fans. So this was a nice addition for me.

Honestly, I really felt like this book could have benefitted from some more length. More time for Alice to learn and grow, more time to really dive into the lives of the idols. It all felt very superficial, and wrapped up too quickly with a neat little bow. I would rate this on the younger side of the YA spectrum though, so maybe that isn't such a bad thing. This is a quick read, and it does have some very cute moments. So, three stars it is!