This was a cute read that I enjoyed, especially all things K-Pop lol. It was enjoyable, wholesome and fun, and those who love/are curious about all things K-Pop will come to love (or at least like) as well.

This is a quick and light hearted read. It wasn’t for me - I absolutely know nothing about K pop. I think younger teens who are more familiar with it would enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a sweet story about love and heartbreak. Merilee “Meri” has just returned from her summer vacation when she meets her neighbors nephew, who has come for an unexpected visit. Lee is an angry, private Korean boy and Meri is immediately infuriated by his rudeness. Meri is just fine ignoring his existence, content to return to school with her best friend and her boyfriend. That is until Meri catches them kissing. Finding herself as sullen sand angry as Lee, they form an unexpected friendship which begins to blossom into something more. Pretty soon Meri discovers that Lee is more than just a simple Korean boy, he is a favored member of an insanely popular K-pop boy band known worldwide.

At first I struggled with this book. Lee felt very stereotypical and the depiction was not very flattering to the Korean culture. Some of that does lessen as Meri gets to know Lee better. Additionally, Lee was a somewhat flat character early on but did fill out a bit later. I wish we could have seen a reunion scene but I’ll be hopeful to see more in later books.


Trigger warnings- mental illness and mental health are large focuses of this book.

It was a bit too immature for my taste. And I had a hard time getting into the book in the beginning but it soon picked up and I started enjoying it.
It was a easy read.

I found this book very adorable and giddy - and yes a bit ove the top sometimes.
I really liked it, i know that there are issues that they don't talk that much about korean culture and keep saying deh, aigoo and more and i really disliked the kpop-star for a while, but he kind of grew on me. But i also got used to it, because honestly? it felt like a k-drama just in bookform, and k-dramas are supposed to be wierd, adorable, over-the top sometimes. But nontheless. I liked it :)

I could not get into this story. I love, love, love, kdramas and Chinese dramas, and I assumed this would be close to that. It honestly fell short for me. I like the idea of a kpop star moving in next door. A hot kpop Star at that. The writing just seemed a bit too immature.

Do you like Kpop, Kdramas? Do you fantasize “What would it be like to meet a kpop member or a korean actor. Not as a celebrity, but as a person I can greet across the street?”. Yes?, you’ll love this one, get.it.right.now. If you are still reading this instead of squealing while getting a copy of this book, you are probably hoping I’ll tell more about the romance and story in general:

Merilee Hart is a teenager living with her father, escaping reality and her life troubles through art. One day, she meets the nephew of her next door neighbor. Their first encounter starts off on the wrong foot. As both of them struggle to deal with their personal life’s circumstances, they become close and learn to lean on each other. With some bumps and twists along the road, their sweet and innocent love begins to bloom.

The story was entertaining. I never get tired of lighthearted romance with all of its clichés and typical plots (shoujo manga readers are well used to this). Fair warning, it can feel like a fan fiction at times. It might make you cringe if your experienced heart and brain can’t handle it. It has dialogue bits in Korean and many references to their culture, but I’m not well-versed in Korean affairs, just general knowledge, so I can’t say much about it. I’m pretty sure that any K-fan would love to indulge in this romantic story between a Kpop star and an ordinary girl.

A bit silly. A bit cliché. Maybe a bit of a guilty pleasure. That said, it wasn't too bad but had room for a multitude of improvements.

I'm definitely bias, and I will not apologize, I will only shove this to everyone and shout "REEEADDDD IIIIITTT!!!!" 🥰

Recommended: YESSSSS
For accurate and hilarious cultural misunderstandings, for anyone who loves Korean entertainment (kpop, k dramas...), for a lighthearted and entertaining read!

Thoughts:
Oh my GOD, was this just a fangirl's heaven. It's a lot more than that, too, but man if you like Korean entertainment and young adult novels, this is the book you never knew you were missing.

I'm in a somewhat unique position, I think, of having experience actually living in Korea. That's relatively common for Americans, but maybe not Americans my age. So I had a lot of moments reading this where Merri is completely baffled or insulted by something Lee does (*snicker* SHE CALLS HIM LEE) and I can see both side of the situation. I get why Lee is doing it, and I get why Merri is baffled. It's like I'm in on the secret and get to watch with double enjoyment!

Even without that experience, though, this book is really funny. I feel like anyone could pick it up and get right into it. It was written with the deliberate intention to filter everything through how Merri would understand it, which is how most Americans would understand it as well.

The romance was somewhat whirlwind-y, which is pretty standard for a young adult novel. Everything happens within a few months, so the pace is rather quick. The wrap up is predictable but sweet, so I'm not mad.

My favorite aspect is how Burnham embraces so many tropes of Korean entertainment and fandom and slides them in with a cheeky self-aware grin. It's positively delightful, and made me want to rewatch Boys Over Flowers - I'm just not sure my heart can take it!

This is a five-star read for me because of the intensely critical personal connections I have in common with it. However, I still think it will be delightful and fun for anyone who picks it up. Also, can we PLEASE get more books in this niche?! I have Korean tv and Korean music, but no Korean books!! (I gotta get back to learning that...)

Thanks to NetGalley and Mascot Books for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was AMAZING!! The best part was the ability to live vicariously through Merri and pretend to have a relationship with a k-pop star (I mean, with Lai Guanlin in real life though). Their relationship was SO cute, and this book really gave it all. I laughed and I cried, and it was one of the best emotional rollercoasters I've been on. ;)
I particularly loved how he called Merri "Christmas" and the scene where she described him driving. My friend was literally describing how they drove in Korea right before I read this book, so that scene definitely stood out to me--it was so accurate!
If you like k-dramas, and Wicked Fox by Kat Cho, or I Believe in A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo, you DEFINITELY need to check this one out. You won't regret it!

I tried several times reading this book. I love the premise and the Korean culture added in. But I just couldn’t make it through more than a few chapters.

I think this book fell a bit short for me, the characters were lacking and the storyline didn't keep my interest unfortunately. I wouldn't recommend it.

I have been trying to finish this book for about a month. I have dropped and picked this book up quite a few times. I think it’s about time to call it quits and DNF. I did like the idea of the book, but the execution wasn’t very good for me.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Mascot Books in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this book since I am a huge fan of K-Pop, even though I tend to listen to more K-Pop girl groups than boy groups. Sometimes, I like to read these type of rom-com novels to take a break from the fantasy/historical fiction novels I usually read.

This book was an easy to follow, engaging read that I finished pretty quickly. I really appreciated how this book addressed some of the major issues in K-Pop right now: this obsession with the dating lives of idols and how that can be a scandal (which I think is ridiculous, i.e. Jennie/Kai and Jihyo/Daniel); the absolute control companies have over their idols, including forcing them to have plastic surgery to meet certain beauty standards; and especially the issue of suicide. I really appreciated that this book did not gloss over the "dark side" of the K-Pop industry.

There were only a couple of negatives with this novel. There were a few spelling and grammar mistakes, but nothing major that distracted from the overall story. I also felt that it leaned a little more YA than I would have liked, but that's probably an issue only because of my age.

Overall, a 4 star read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mascot Books for sending me a free advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review. Hart & Seoul debuted June 4th.

I’m digging all the Korean- and K-pop-themed YA recently; this is the first of them that I’ve read, but I have a whole slew of them on my TBR. I used to be a big K-pop fan back in middle and high school–ya know, a hundred years ago or thereabouts–so it tickles me pink that everyone’s feeling the Korea love nowadays. 🙂

Anyway, Hart & Seoul is a cute, fast read that is not without its flaws. I enjoyed the MC’s voice, and I especially liked the banter between her and her K-pop star love interest. The details about the K-pop super fans were tons of fun, and I was so craving Korean food by the middle of this book that I had to make a pit stop at Bonchon on the way home from work.

However, I had some difficulties with this book. First off, I initially had a hard time placing Hart & Seoul as a YA book; for some reason I was getting the impression that it was New Adult from the first chapter, then had to walk back the age of the MC in my mind by a couple years. I also found all the plot twists very predictable, most of them by at least fifty pages. Reading was still enjoyable, but I was forever waiting for the very obvious other shoe to drop. I also wasn’t satisfied with the love interest’s explanations for some of his behavior at the end of the book. His words seemed cheap–no spoilers, but I wouldn’t keep dating this guy. Of course, I’m also a thirty-year-old lady, so I’m not exactly smack dab in the middle of this book’s target audience. 😉

I think if you’re into the K-pop scene or interested in Korean culture then you should really consider reading this book. I had fun with it, but that’s fun** with a couple asterisks attached. Now let me wrap up this review quick, before I start craving Korean barbecue again. 😀

This three-star rating is GENEROUS..... this was something else.

I knew this wasn't going to be the best book in the world. But this was just a mess. I can see what the author was attempting to do, but this fell very, very very short.

I've read books before with Korean words in them, but this book annoyed the crap out of me with its use of "deh." The overuse made me want to stop reading. Actually, all of the Korean words looked like it was lifted off some k-drama.

The whole book felt like it was someone who knew very little of K-pop but did know sorta who BTS is and thought okay well... I bet I can google what it means to be an idol and I'll write a book about it. Like hey I watch K-dramas, so I guess I know the formula right.

The plot was PREDICTABLE. Every single character was beyond selfish. Merri was mad her mom left for art, but pushed people away for art. Bree was trash. Ema was I guess an okay friend but she also only wanted to hear about Merri's relationship with a K-Pop star. This was like no character development at all. If anything everyone stays the exact same.

My last annoyance with this book was the author's note. Throughout the book Merri is curious about Lee's wristcuffs. Yes he was self-harming, but he goes to a counselor twice a week. That's it. That's all this book goes into about Lee's anxiety and self harm. The cuffs are mentioned from the first moment Merri meets Lee to the very end. But they just say he goes to a counselor. There's so many way this could have been handled. Many idols have said they suffer from anxiety and depression from the rigorous life of an idol. Could have been a really great teaching moment. Instead, the author just throws a note at the end of the book to talk about the actual death of Jonghyun from SHINee. BRUH.....

Not only is the mention of Jonghyun insulting to all of his fans, but it was also done in such an offhand manner that it was actually opposite of what the author probably wanted to do. You didn't even try to have Lee's anxiety be a huge part of his character, and then you're just going to compare his struggle you NEVER TOLD THE READER ABOUT to a real-life event. Lee's struggle with anxiety was just like the mention of Jonghyun.... thrown out there just to keep people reading. That ain't it chief.

The more I think about this book, the angrier I get. If you want to read a book that has a little k-pop/k-drama feel, I can probably recommend you 5 other books off the top of my head before ever recommending this.

This story was super cute and just what I needed! It was exactly as I expected, but with some added serious themes too. I'd highly recommend it for a fun, light, quick read.

I really really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately the writing style was not for me. I didn't feel drawn in and instead felt like it was more "tell not show" than I was experiencing the story alongside the character. I'm going to give it another go in the future but this just couldn't capture my attention.

Rating : 4 / 5 ⭐ OMG I LOVED IT

The culture mixing which is Korean culture and American culture are totally amazing. I'm an Asian, so I don't really familiar with American culture ( even though I watched a lot on TV but still ) It's more a culture introducing for me.

And oh yes, Lee Hyung Kim probably my new fictional boyfriend from now on. He is so charming and talented, he even has Aussie accent which is uwu 😻 more reason to love him.

But overall, I don't really agree with the ending. It's not like what I expected. So yeah, if I have a chance I'd write myself the ending that I want. Okay just kidding no offenses here 😂 but still it's the ending that I want, but not in the way I want it to happened.

So definitely check out this book. Not gonna lie though, Hart & Seoul made me rolling on my bed for hours, smiling and laughing like an idiot. 😆

I love famous person falls for civilian books and YA romances (less sex, more actual relationship). I've also recently got into watching kdramas (and now Boys Over Flowers is on my list!). So I was looking forward to reading this - and I'm please to say I wasn't disappointed!

I liked Merri and Lee and I thought the author did a good job of showing their personalities and how they dealt with the various challenges they face over the course of the book. Both also have had past issues currently affecting them. Merri's mother abandoned her family and Merri's love of art is causing problems with her father. Lee's fame should mean he's on top of the world, but it's clearly not all it's cracked up to be.

Neither's impressed with the other when they first meet when Lee comes to stay with his aunt, Merri's next door neighbour. Thrown together by proximity, it's lovely to read as they start to appreciate each other and become friends, then something more.

I really enjoyed the Korean attitudes, food and expressions added to the book, they really added something.

A lovely book.