This book reads more juvenile than what I expected, more like a teenager love story that also reads like unrealistic fanfiction. I wish I could have enjoyed this one more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had such high hopes for this one—the cute cover, the intriguing blurb, plus the comp titles/authors were ones I've loved in the past! While the execution wasn't quite for me, I'm sure this book will find its audience.

The good: I really love the diversity in this—right off the bat, the MC, love interest, and best friend are all established as bilingual, and this is kept consistent throughout. Especially in the wake of the current controversy re: the whiteness of the Goodreads Choice Awards romance picks, it was really nice to read a romance with this sort of diversity. The premise is super cute, and there are some swoonworthy moments.

What didn't work for me: the writing in this overall just felt a bit too juvenile for my tastes. Two main culprits: 1) lots of "telling not showing"/glossing over important moments, and 2) unnatural dialogue (that often veered a bit too cheesy for my tastes). Additionally, the blurb feels misleading, in that the main conflicts of the book aren't quite what was described in the blurb.

That said, those thing that didn't work for me are just that: things that didn't work for me! I think there are lots of people who will be charmed by the dialogue, enjoy the quick pace of the writing, and overall really like this book.

2.5 stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

Looking for a love story featuring a hot k-pop idol and a down-on-her luck Italian-English aspiring actress? Still Unwritten is the book for you, and it's a lot deeper than the initial premise sounds. Whilst the blurb makes this book sound quite light hearted (and it is, to a degree), it covers some really heavy topics emotionally including anxiety, stress, parental abandonment, dementia, panic attacks, and much more.

Both our main characters have a lot of issues that they work through, and they're not all 100% resolved by the end of the book. Francesca is living in London, and trying to become an actress. Her mum left her and her dad in Italy when she was 12, and she's never quite got over that. She's got 48 hours to nail an audition for a Netflix show which will launch her to stardom.

Jae-seung is the lead singer of the k-pop band JYNKS - a certified heart throb who can sing and dance. Yet he's randomly in New Malden, working in his uncles cafe instead of doing idol things in Seoul. So what's going on?

The blurb of this book only covers like...a third of the story. There's a LOT more that goes on after that section is done. As in, our main girl travels to 4 different countries in the span of like...a month or so. How she's not wrecked in terms of jet lag is a mystery. It certainly keeps the pace of the story going, and the plot is never left to stew for too long in any one place.

Jae-seung was an interesting character with a tragic back story. It only tentatively touches upon some of the trials and tribulations of the k-pop industry, and if anything he seemed to get off quite lightly. There was a severe lack of sasaengs (extreme stalker fans in the k-pop world) for someone who's recognisable to the general Korean tourist, but it would've got in the way of the plot so I'll forgive it. Also, forgive me for being petty but the idea of JYNKS being a support act for BTS was bizarre for me, as k-pop doesn't do support acts for their shows (I've never heard of one with a support act). Not important, but that still made me raise my eyebrow.

Francesca, bizarrely, was pretty poor as a main character. Not because she was badly written, but because everything else in her life was more interesting than she was. Her relationships, her past, her friends and family were all more vivid and realistic than her. She just felt like a vessel to move the story, and I didn't feel hugely connected to her.

My main criticism of this is that it didn't fit any genre in terms of age range. The writing felt solidly YA most of the time, veering into NA, yet the characters were all solidly adults. Jae-seung was 26, Francesca was 28 and so forth, yet the vibe of the whole story felt very young. They never felt like their age, and if you'd told me that they were 19 and 21 then I'd have believed you.

Still, it was an easy read and enjoyable!