I finally read this after seeing it all over Bookstagram - the title really doesn't do this book justice. I read it in three days and even read the paperback while walking to a park because I didn't want to put it down.

All I can say is "........huh."

From the book description it sounds like this is a "woman searches for birth parents in Korea and falls in love along the way" situation, but it was actually more "woman searches for birth parents in Korea, is betrayed by a lot of people but doesn't really address those feels, has to make an admittedly difficult choice, and also manages to fall in love with a man in two weeks, story to be continued..."

It felt like 90% of the plot happened in the last 20% of the book. I did quickly zip through this book because the dramatic twists were quite unexpected towards the end. The protagonist switches back and forth quickly between "I am a pawn in the game of life" to "It's time for me to make grown up, difficult decisions," to "Life is unfair and I can't believe this is happening to me." I feel very unclear on how she actually feels at the end - and it's fine if she doesn't know how she feels but if that's the case it was not communicated in the prose.

Also, there was no indication that this was supposed to be a duology so the lack of resolution was quite surprising. To be clear, I will most likely read the second one when it comes out in 2022 (charming named Seoulmates).

Picture this: a Pride & Prejudice retelling but make it YA, Asian, and baking-themed. At times a bit unrealistically theatrical, overall this was a sweet (get it?) read. Plus, have you ever seen a cuter cover?

I would have never guessed this was a P&P retelling except for one review on the back cover, but once I realized that it was fun sussing out who the characters were - I quite enjoyed the discovery of Mr. Wickham. I will say it is quite challenging to make high school boys seem mysterious and broody, they don't quite have the panache yet and are more awkward and fumbling. I do wish the protagonist, Liza (fittingly named after Elizabeth Bennet), wasn't so clumsy which is a classic romance novel heroine trope I don't particularly enjoy and was utilized as a plot point more than I felt was necessary.

I enjoyed the baking contest theme and learning more about Taiwanese desserts - catch me stopping by an Asian bakery to get a red bean custard bun ASAP.

When I see “gay royal romance” my usual response is “say no more, I’m sold.” But I was not sold with this one. It’s fine. It’s a lark. It seemed quite implausible. And not implausible in a “would the heir to the throne of England really end up with a some random event planner from NJ” way which would be 100% acceptable/expected in a romance like this, but more in a “would the heir to the throne of England really take a verbal poll of his security staff if he should sleep with some random event planner while in front of said event planner?” Would the chief of staff really call his employer, the prince, a “repellent little sex rodent” to his face?? No, no he would not.

The other issue I have with this book is that I have no idea WHY they like each other, let alone how they make it all the way to love. We learn a lot about Carter because the bulk of the writing is dedicated to his hilarious and snide tangents, but rarely covers anything deeper than surface level thoughts of rugby, wedding gowns, and how hot the prince is. For the first half of the book, the protagonists’ conversations are not described at all, just glossed over broadly, so it doesn’t seem like they know each other very well but apparently it’s well enough to invite a prince to your sister’s wedding. After two days of knowing this prince. With no prior security protocol in place to ensure that someone doesn’t try something with the literal prince of England.

It’s clearly written to be quite funny, and it is a lark, but this book missed the mark for me.

I wasn't prepared to like a celebrity "autobiography" about masculinity as much as I did, but I quite enjoyed it. I talked about it a lot with my brother, which led to some really thoughtful conversations about topics we don't normally touch on. It was the first book about masculinity I've read but because it was so good, it won't be the last.