Shine

Author: Jessica Jung

Genres: Contemporary, romance, young adult

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

TW: body shaming, bullying, sexism

In this story we follow Rachel, a KPOP trainee under DB Entertainment as she attempts to debut. Along the way, she meets Jason Lee, the shining star from popular boy group NEXTBOYZ.

I really appreciated the insight we got into the trainee life, how harsh the conditions are to train for a chance to debut. I also really liked the multiple references to Korean culture, especially the food!

Being a fan of KPOP, it was also really interesting to see how different females and males are treated in the industry itself. The double standard was really ridiculous but also the sad reality :')

However, I didn't really like the romance that happened. I just didn't really like Jason in general lmao.. I'm not sure whether the thing with Akira would be developed further in the second book, but if not, I think the whole subplot about Rachel's deteriorating friendship with Akira was too underdeveloped. Also, it overall read a little young, such that even though I understand that there's so much to talk about in the KPOP industry from being a trainee to after debuting, I probably would not be picking up the second book.