Elska Bee reviewed Shine by Jessica Jung
Review of 'Shine' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
A fun read overall, but it was a pretty mediocre book.
The good:
- The actual writing was pretty decent, not standout, but not bad for a cheesy teen novel
- Not as childish as I was worried. there's teen drinking, swearing, and real-world problems among all the over the top k-pop drama
- Much of the 'over the top' drama was pretty entertaining despite being unrealistic at times
- The main characters weren't entirely one dimensional throughout
(notice how the praise is very measured?)
The not so good:
- With all the over the top drama, it felt like it would've worked better as a k-drama (which based on the acknowledgments at the end seems to be the goal). It couldn't decide how realistic it wanted to be and made for a bit of a confused tone. It could have been an entertaining melodramatic story OR it could have …
A fun read overall, but it was a pretty mediocre book.
The good:
- The actual writing was pretty decent, not standout, but not bad for a cheesy teen novel
- Not as childish as I was worried. there's teen drinking, swearing, and real-world problems among all the over the top k-pop drama
- Much of the 'over the top' drama was pretty entertaining despite being unrealistic at times
- The main characters weren't entirely one dimensional throughout
(notice how the praise is very measured?)
The not so good:
- With all the over the top drama, it felt like it would've worked better as a k-drama (which based on the acknowledgments at the end seems to be the goal). It couldn't decide how realistic it wanted to be and made for a bit of a confused tone. It could have been an entertaining melodramatic story OR it could have been a more realistic story of a girl struggling to achieve her dreams depending entirely on the chapter. I don't mind a mix, but I wish this novel had a clearer identity.
- VERY fan-ficcy. By which I mean there were many tropes that were distractingly cliche. For example: describing outfits constantly, random insertions of Korean language that seemed out of place, describing luxury experiences without having any real meaning behind them. All three of those things at the very least could have been worked into the story better or even just left out 50% of the time.
- Although the main three characters (Rachel, Jason, and Mina) were not 1D they weren't exactly 3D either. The other background characters suffer more, almost all of them being very 1D throughout. This book subscribes to the notion that in teen media every character is the best friend or worst enemy and it gets tired pretty quickly.
- Short. I don't think I would want it longer, but some things felt rushed, especially the ending. I know there's a sequel planned for next year and some of the stuff at the end could have been pushed into the sequel rather than being tacked on in the last chapter.
Overall:
I didn't hate reading this book and at times could be entertaining, but it has a confused identity and some tropes that stop it from being a more unique and interesting story. I'd probably read the sequel when it comes out out of curiosity, but I wouldn't be rushing to recommend this to anyone. I think the target audience of teen girls interested in kpop may find it more enjoyable than I did though.