Collaborative Book Review: Shine by Jessica Jung

Summary of Shine: 

Six years ago, Korean American Rachel Kim 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. 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 Jason Lee. Luckily she has a sweet sister (Leah) and good friends outside of the industry to keep her going. 

SushiRainbow is a book, manga, and anime reviewer who occasionally listens to K-Pop. We did a buddy-read of Shine, so we decided to write a collaborative book review. Make sure you check out her blog post today! (P.S. It’s a look at the Korean culture discussed in Shine.)

Jenny’s Rating:✭✭✭/5

SushiRainbow’s Rating:  /5

***Everything below this will contain spoilers. Proceed with your own discretion.***

Jenny’s Initial Thoughts: The love “story” reminds me a little of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. The teenage drama is similar to situations in Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard or Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar. The K-pop trainee competition is reminiscent of The Selection by Kiera Cass. I also would recommend it to readers who loved The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. If you liked any of those novels, I recommend Shine by Jessica Jung. 

Sushirainbow’s’s initial thoughts: There were times when I felt lost with this story just with there are so many tiny conflicts on top of somewhat a romance plot. I mean yes I understand the point is that the main character is trying her best to become a K-pop star and the ins and outs of that. However, there were moments where I was unsure what the point of everything was. I also wanted something, a glossary or translation or some explanation, on some of the Korean cultural aspects since although I am a K-pop fan, I do not know everything about South Korea. Because of these points and most likely more I have to give this novel a 3 out of 5 stars or 3 sushi . If you are looking for a K-pop star novel that has a lot of knowledge of Seoul check this out. 

Here are 6 more things in Shine we want to discuss. 

1. “I watched K-pop music videos constantly, memorizing the lyrics to my favorite ones and putting on little shows for Leah on the weekend. The music made me feel proud to be Korean” (45). 

Jenny: Right before this moment, young Rachel had been bullied in an American school. Koreans are very proud of their K-pop and rightly so! Jessica Jung shows the intense reality of being a trainee in the music industry. I thought it was a sweet moment that motivated Rachel and showed her something special in her cultural identity. 

Sushirainbow: I could definitely agree that this was a sweet moment, especially for someone who is a fan of K-pop, it was definitely nice and refreshing to see the ins and outs of the K-pop music industry especially in the training sense. I wonder if Koreans ever anticipated their music to be this popular though especially in America. If those bullies of Rachel’s could see her now!  

2. “‘[Koreans] love adding cheese to everything. Cheese ramyun.’
   ‘Cheese kimbap.’
   ‘Cheese dak-galbi.’
   ‘Cheese sausage.’
   He laughed. ‘Can you add extra cheese to your cheese sausage?’
   ‘Of course! This is Korea. You can get a cheese-cheese sausage-sausage’” (102-103).

Jenny: I cheered a little to myself as I read this, and then went and got myself some string cheese. Us midwesterners agree- you can never have enough CHEESE! 

Sushirainbow: Where I am from, it’s the same way. For me though, when it came to the food, I wanted more description than what was received in the story. I wanted to feel like I was seeing what they were eating. In this particular quote, I only imagined cheese and sausage kolaches lol!!  

3. “Our first stop at Lotte World is the toy stall where they sell balloons, bubble wands, and inflatable hammers that squeak as you bounce them off other people heads” (223).

Jenny: Koreans value cuteness (things like going on a date and carrying around your bubble wants) more than in the United States. This totally speaks to American middle school students (10-12 year olds). But Rachel and Jason are 17-18! 

Sushirainbow: I think that applies to most Asian countries doesn’t it? At least from my pop culture research. I wish there was more description here as well although I surmised it looked like a regular theme park. 

4. “Leah’s favorite episode of Oh My Dreams is the one where Park Dohee and Kim Chanwoo go on their first date” (298).

Jenny: Oh My Dreams, a Kdrama, is constantly getting mentioned in this book (5 times?). It’s a fictional Kdrama, and I spent over an hour trying to look online and see what I was missing. I did live in South Korea for 4 years, so I do know the words Halmoni, Umma, Uni, tteokboki, pojangmacha, etc. Here’s the thing, by using these fictional Kdrama references (leaving readers to wonder if they’re missing something) and words with often no extra definition/description, Jessica Jung alienated a decent portion of her audience. I understand that she was describing the lifestyle in South Korea, and used a character that had the lifestyle of a K-pop trainee. So, while many fans of Jessica Jung will understand these references, those uninitiated in K-culture might feel left out or unable to grasp the full meaning. 

Sushirainbow: I completely agree Jenny. There were just too many references to keep up with. I know some of Korean culture but not enough to be engaged in some of the jargon or terms. When it came to the description of Oh My Dreams though, it was described enough to feel like a legit K-drama which was nice, however, there were moments when it took me away from the story we were already discussing. 

5. “I grab the bottle of tequila and pop it open. Still slouched over the table like a sloth refusing to let go of its tree branch, I take a big gulp straight from the bottle” (318). 

Jenny: Wait a second. Weren’t they just at Lotte World shopping for bubble wands? Yes. And now, Rachel is drinking, and this is not the first or second or even third time alcohol is discussed. Jessica Jung might be a role model for many teens, but the numerous mentions of alcohol and use of swear words (F%$# and B@#$% – and not with the symbols or abbreviated), will have many American parents keeping this away from their middle school children. 

Sushirainbow: I agree plus there was a lot of bullying and girl hate which is not recommended for middle school readers. Surprisingly the alcohol doesn’t affect their weigh-ins which I found weird??? Plus you would think how restricted the K-pop industry is, that they would prevent alcohol from going in and out of their training house??? Just me? Anyway I would not recommend this for anyone lower than 16 years old. 

6. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world. And I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon. Remember, we’re family. And family is forever” (334). 

Jenny: Rachel Kim chooses K-pop over her love interest and her friends, and honestly it was a surprising and almost refreshing ending. I never expected so much drama, but I loved it. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series Bright. 

Sushirainbow: This part reminded me the most of Japanese anime with the family dynamics both negative and positive. I was glad though as far as the family dynamic was concerned that it was resolved especially since the industry stuff has not as of the ending of Shine. Because of that though, the story got a lot more bogged down with too much drama all at once. I do appreciate though that it will now focus more on the industry and I probably will appreciate it more. 

Jenny’s Final Thoughts: This is a fun YA book that I would recommend to someone with previous knowledge of Korean Culture. 

Sushirainbow’s Final Thoughts: This is a drama filled YA book that I would recommend to someone that has previous knowledge of Korean Culture who thrive on gossip.