Book Review: Shine by Jessica Jung

So, admittedly, I knew K-pop was a culture all of it's own, but I'm not sure I realized how much so until I read this book.

Rachel Kim is Korean-American who has moved with her whole family from New York to Seoul so that she can pursue her dreams of becoming a K-pop star. She isn't extremely popular among the other trainees as they feel like she gets preferential treatment: she gets to live at home rather than in the dorms with everyone else. Having uprooted her whole family, she feel major pressure to succeed. But of course, things are not so simple, with plenty of backstabbing trainees, a forbidden romance with the biggest star in the company, Jason, and the pressure to always be perfect.

If anyone can shine the spotlight on the problems in K-pop culture, it's Jessica Jung. Jung is the former lead singer in the hugely successful Girls Generation. She's lived that world and herself considers the book to be "semi-fictional".

Main character Rachel experiences many of the problematic facets of the industry: insane schedules, crushing pressure to debut before you're considered "too old" at about 20, double standards between the female and male artists, interactions that are somewhat less than genuine. Despite all the glitter and screaming fans, the life of an idol can be ugly. Know this can really make you rethink everything you are seeing presented to the public.

I won't lie, the book can be at times a little predictable, but it's still fun and fascinating and well worth a read for fans of K-pop and YA. The sequel Bright is due out sometime in 2022.