I love the Korean culture. Ever since I started watching Korean dramas, I’ve found myself sucked into their world: the music, the celebrities, the food, oh my goodness, the food. This is probably the biggest reason why I’m so excited for Hello, I Love You, by Katie M. Stout! Add in the fact that it’s said to have the feel of Anna and the French Kiss (which I loved) and Pride and Prejudice (which I loved) and I’m completely sold on the book.
Grace 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.
The cover of this book has this cutesy feel to it with the animations which is really part of the Korean culture – the cutenesss, or aegyo as they call it. Hello, I Love You, feels like it’s going to be a light and fun romance that will have been grinning the whole way through. I’m hoping that the romance or attraction between Grace and Jason takes center-stage in this book, because that’s really what I’m most looking forward to in this book. I have no apprehensions about this book, I just can’t wait to see how their love blooms!
Katie M. Stout is a self-proclaimed Korean drama enthusiast (like me) so I have complete faith that Hello, I Love You, will be a great YA contemporary debut for her!
My Bibliophile Mind 
Yesss. The best part about Korean dramas is legit the food. They eat so deliciously too. I’ll be watching them eat like cup ramen in a convenience store, and I’ll have this desperate need to eat cup ramen, regardless if it’s like past midnight, hahahaha.
This book does look really cute. I’m excited to read it, although I’m weary to see how believable it will be. I know, I know…it’s fiction…but come on people, a Korean pop star??? If he’s in a group like Exo, this girl would be stoned (Exo fans are terrifying). Also, because I’m Korean-American, I’ll have that extra sensitivity towards genuine & accurate portrayal of Korean culture. (It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it needs to be genuine, you know?) Anyway, I’m keeping an open mind & am obviously thrilled that a book like this is being published –#weneediversebooks
P.S. What are you favorite dramas?!?!?
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YES! THE RAMEN! If I could eat Korean food all day, I feel like my entire life would be complete. These’s a Korean restaurant in my city, and it’s like the best thing I’ve ever discovered in my city. Really authentic, soo good. My search for apartments is concentrated in that area, haha!
I’m actually a little worried about the fans, because if this book is true-to-life, yeah, the fans definitely will be terrifying. I definitely agree about the book being genuine. I don’t want the book to come off as silly or totally unbelievable. I’ll be looking to you to see what you think about that!!
P.S. I just finished watching Pinocchio, and I was actually pretty happy with the end. It wasn’t rushed (like the late Pride & Prejudice) and I always like seeing what happens after the “main story” is over, so that really made me happy. Some of my favourites are Secret Garden, I Hear Your Voice, Master’s Sun, and more recently It’s Okay, That’s Love and I Need Romance 3. Clearly I’m all about the romances and rom-coms :p What about you???
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Rom-coms are the bessssst, so I totally understand. I haven’t watched many recently (epic sad face), but my favorites are School 2013 (LOVE Lee Jong Suk & Kim Woo Bin), Shut Up Flower Boy Band, My Girl, The Princess’ Man, Gaksital & Goong/Palace. I NEED to watch I Hear Your Voice & Okay, Thats Love. I hear those are really well done.
Recently I’ve been watching We Got Married & Running Man….those are my to-go shows, haha. ❤ Korean variety.
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Lee Jong Suk is awesome! He’s amazing in Pinocchio, you’ve got to watch that! My Girl was really cute too but I havent finished it yet. I’ve also been watching Running Man! I actually started at the very first episode and I’ve been making my way up. On ep 207, so I’m almost all caught up. We Got Married was the variety I was goin to start next!
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This sounds interesting. I’ll give it a go. Thanks for spotlighting it I would of probably never of seen it. Thanks Barbara xoxo
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I can’t wait to read it, and I hope you like it too! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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God I’m SO EXCITED for this book!! I very rarely pay attention to debuts, but because the author is super into Korean culture (and therefore has done a lot of bookish posts that link up with said topic) I’ve been totally on board with this book for…god it’s probably been close to a year now. IT’S ALMOST HERE!! Have you stopped by her blog? She does a bunch of posts on K-pop and she and a bunch of other bloggers did casting of all sorts of different books if they were done as a K-Drama which totally sounds up your alley!
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Omg, that sounds amazing!! I have t had a chance to look at some of her posts but I definitely will now!! This is making me even more excited!
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