Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction
Age Category: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 29, 2020
Synopsis: A Korean American teen is thrust into the competitive, technicolor world of K-pop, from Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Girls Generation.
What would you give for a chance to live your dreams?
For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy right?
Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner, or if she’ll end up crushed… Especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise.
REVIEW:
Shine is a typical tropey YA story in a Kpop setting. I’ve read a handful of YA contemporary novels and I can say that it reads almost the same. The family drama. The teen angst. The girl-on-girl hate. Etcetera. Not that it’s a bad thing but it’s quite dismaying on my part as a reader. I mean my expectation for this book is not that high but I expected something new to the table especially with that Kpop theme/setting.
Anyway, I still like this book and I enjoy reading it. It’s a quick read. Thanks to Jung’s good prose and writing style. And the Kpop setting and theme is still one of the strong points of this book. Through this book, I witness the beauty and the ugly of this industry. It may not be really the truth about Kpop but since it’s Jessica Jung, a Kpop superstar, it maybe as well. It is somehow amusing and scary at the same time.
I like the talk about feminism, sexism and double standard on this book. It wasn’t an in-depth discussion but these issues has been acknowledged and recognized by the characters. It was sad and enraging reading the unfair treatment towards women.
There are a lot of things I still liked about this book despite the disappointment. The characters felt real and not annoying. Also, the friendship, the family dyanmics, the banters and the genuine Kpop feel of the whole novel.
I’m not really a Kpop fan before, I only like 2ne1. But now, because of watching Kpop Random Play Dances on Youtube, I really appreciate the music and the artists. Shine just amplify my respect with these Kpop artists as I learned more about the hardships and struggles they are constantly facing just to debut and reach their dreams.
I will probably read the sequel when it comes out.
Read or Bleed 