such an EASY 5 star decision! the beginning of this book definitely had me hooked, but by the end my jaw was PERMANENTLY on the floor. the last 25% or so i kept being like “oh my god what an ending!!” just for it to KEEP GOING!! 
i loved the characters, i loved the story line, i loved the ending. truly such a fun listen. i would absolutely recommend listening to the audiobook version of this book because, like i said, it made the ending even better not quite knowing when it was going to end or how much was left. 

this book was… an experience. i think it’s important to read queer media from time periods that aren’t here and now, as it’s important to see the growth but also see (sadly) how similar things are. this book is heavy in some places, but i think it reflects the time period well. 
go into this book expecting to be hurt by some of the things being said, and you’ll experience all kinds of emotions. 
(i was raised religious, but have distanced myself from that as i’ve grown and been allowed to find my own path, so i’m grateful i never experienced anything like the religion in this book.) 

I LOVE JLB books, but going into this I was expecting to not vibe with it based on the description. I wanted to give it a shot anyways, but it’s just not my cup of tea :). The writing was good, the idea was cool, just didn’t vibe with it and i’m here to read for fun and good vibes! 

I received an e-ARC of this book from Atria in exchange for an honest review. This book was… interesting. I’m not one who is super into K-Pop, so I definitely don’t think I am the target audience. However, I was able to learn a lot about the culture behind K-Pop fame, various Asian communities, and the pressure that comes with fake. 
Again, I am not super into K-Pop so I found myself being slightly confused through parts of the book, and for sure think it would be more enjoyable to read in physical form. There were a lot of footnotes that were harder to follow in e-book form, but I appreciate the author added them in to explain certain aspects of the book, character, culture, etc. I also was a bit confused with the changing POV’s, timelines, etc at points and wish that the shifts were done more clearly with more purposeful intent. 
Might not have been the book for me, but I know anyone who enjoys K-Pop would LOVE this book and it’s characters.