Title: Hello, I Love You
Author: Katie M. Stout
Series or standalone: Standalone
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publication Date: 1st July 2015
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
GoodreadsGrace Wilde is running—from the multi-million dollar mansion her record producer father bought, the famous older brother who’s topped the country music charts five years in a row, and the mother who blames her for her brother’s breakdown. Grace escapes to the farthest place from home she can think of, a boarding school in Korea, hoping for a fresh start.
She wants nothing to do with music, but when her roommate Sophie’s twin brother Jason turns out to be the newest Korean pop music superstar, Grace is thrust back into the world of fame. She can't stand Jason, whose celebrity status is only outmatched by his oversized ego, but they form a tenuous alliance for the sake of her friendship with Sophie. As the months go by and Grace adjusts to her new life in Korea, even she can't deny the sparks flying between her and the KPOP idol.
Soon, Grace realizes that her feelings for Jason threaten her promise to herself that she'll leave behind the music industry that destroyed her family. But can Grace ignore her attraction to Jason and her undeniable pull of the music she was born to write? Sweet, fun, and romantic, this young adult novel explores what it means to experience first love and discover who you really are in the process.
This book sounded so promising! It has been compared to Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins except set in Korea and features a hot KPOP star! UMM SIGN ME UP! But unfortunately, I was really disappointed with this book. The idea was so great and had just enough originality to separate itself from Anna and the French Kiss, but essentially, a quite few things let it down for me.
Firstly, I found the main character to be EXTREMELY unlikeable. She was rude, really nosey, judgmental, a little bit racist and extremely insensitive. She was so horrible to her new friends' brother and it wasn't even for a good reason! She would just straight up insult him just because he wasn't paying her the amount of attention she wanted. She also complained a lot and insisted on asking really personal questions to these people she hardly knew, in a blunt and insensitive manner. I just couldn't find any redeeming qualities about her to be honest. She did start to get better towards the end of the book, but I just really didn't like her.
Another thing I really didn't like (and is something that I have seen in quite a few YA novels) is that she purposefully lied to Jason and said that she basically didn't give a rats arse about him (when she clearly did). WHY HIDE YOUR FEELINGS? OR IF YOU MUST HIDE THEM, AT LEAST DO IT WITHOUT HURTING THE OTHER PERSON BY INSULTING THEM. It just didn't make any sense.
I also feel like even though KPOP and Korea are super important parts of the story, they weren't explored hardly enough. I honestly struggled to picture Korea just from the descriptions in the book and found myself googling what it looks like and I would've loved to delve further into KPOP but it's only briefly mentioned here and there.
I definitely wanted more of a backstory on other characters such as Yoon Jae. And I'm sad that what happened with Sophie and Tae Hwa?? I wanted more of a resolution with them!
The things that I really enjoyed about the book were definitely the supporting characters, especially Sophie. She was so cute and fun and a lovely person to read about, in contrast to our main character, who acted like a spoiled brat the majority of the time. I also thought that there were definitely some really cute parts of the book, but I definitely wanted more of them!
Overall, I would recommend this for a light and fluffy contemporary, but keep in mind that it has a really frustrating main character and lacks some other elements that I mentioned above.
I gave this 2 stars!
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