Shine - Book Review

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Shine is a 2020 young adult romance novel by K-pop idol Jessica Jung, published by Simon & Schuster.

Shine was released on the 29th of September 2020.

Shine became an instant hit, becoming a New York Times Bestseller, debuting at No.5 on the Young Adult Hardcover List.

Jessica Jung is a former member of the South Korean girl group girls' generation, and was inspired to write the book based on her experiences as a K-pop trainee and idol, having spent 13+ years working in the industry.

The novels sequel Bright is set to be released September/October time in 2021.

All's fair in love & K-pop...

What would you sacrifice for a chance to live your dream?

For 17-year-old Korean-American Rachel Kim, the answer is: everything.

The rules at DB Entertainment - Seoul's largest and most successful K-pop label - are simple. Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don't date. Easy, right? But then Rachel gets the chance to duet with DB golden boy Jason Lee. And he's exactly the kind of distraction Rachel can't afford to have...

Get ready as Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Korea's most famous girl group, Girls' Generation, takes us inside the twisted, technicolor world of K-pop - where the stakes are high, and the cost f success even higher.

This is what it takes to Shine!

I've been a fan of Jessica Jung for pretty much half of her career in the idol industry, having been a Girls' Generation fan for the past 8 years, so when I heard she was dipping her toes into writing a book, I knew I had to get my hands on it and give it a read.

I saw many mixed reviews for this book, with some loving it and some saying she was using her fame as a former Girls' Generation member to talk about the girl group, but the way I saw it, was while she was writing about the K-pop world, she was writing about what she knows and has personally seen and possibly witnessed and gone through herself. I personally don't think any of the characters are meant to be fictional counterparts of her former members, but you can some of of the characters are moulded from her own personal life, for example our main character is Korean-American which many people know Jessica is, our main character also has a younger sister, which we know Jessica has a younger sister, that also entered the K-pop world. I will be honest and at times when I saw similar names, I could see why people were saying it was about her past and she was using a fictional novel to tell her story, but I decided not to read too much into it and read it for what it was a romance novel about the K-pop world.

I absolutely loved Shine, I thought it was well written, and had me hooked from the very first chapter, it took turns that I really wasn't expecting and I think it showcased how hard it actually is for trainees, trying to debut and working 24/7 in all aspects of their training.

I personally felt all the emotions that Rachel Kim was feeling, and often found myself holding my breath, thinking is this really happening, what will happen now.

I'm glad we're getting a second book and I can't wait to see how Rachel's career goes, as well as how she grows and overcomes her past trauma's from within DB Entertainment, I'm curious to find out how her relationship with main bitch Mina changes and if we see more from Jason Lee and if he tries to right his wrongs.

I've seen many wonder if Jessica has indeed written this book herself or if she's used a ghostwriter, as a fan of Jessica I'm hoping it's the former, and I hope her success continues with the 2nd book, there's also been articles that Shine will be made into a movie too, so I'm excited and looking forward to seeing the book on the big screen and hope they don't change too much like they normally do with films adapted from a book.

Have you read Shine?

What were your thoughts on the book?

Let me know in the comments below?

See you soon!

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