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The Beautiful Dead: A Tale of K-Pop, Ghosts, and Nine-Tailed Fox Women
Yubin knows she’s different than the other girls in the pop group SIITY. Yes, they all got sucked into the same machine, giving up schooling and signing ridiculously long contracts with no guarantee of success, but that's how Korean stars are made. Yubin is supposed to be thankful for that, but she isn't. She doesn't even like the girls she performs with.
She’s more connected to her former schoolmate Jieun, even though all they ever do is text. Over the last two months, Jieun has become her confidant and best friend, connecting Yubin to the real world in a way she desperately needs. Now that SIITY is going to appear on the reality show Incredible Asia, Yubin will need that connection more than ever, which is why she’s devastated to discover Jieun has been dead five years and is actually haunting her.
If that weren’t enough, Yubin’s not the only SIITY member with issues. Rena’s father is emotionally abusive. Somi has a learning disability, and after a near death experience, Tae-eun becomes a nine-tailed fox woman. The only way they’ll survive the show, each other, and the supernatural currents buffeting them is to work together and win the hearts of their fans. Because if they don’t, they have nothing to go back to even if they survive what's trying to kill them.
She’s more connected to her former schoolmate Jieun, even though all they ever do is text. Over the last two months, Jieun has become her confidant and best friend, connecting Yubin to the real world in a way she desperately needs. Now that SIITY is going to appear on the reality show Incredible Asia, Yubin will need that connection more than ever, which is why she’s devastated to discover Jieun has been dead five years and is actually haunting her.
If that weren’t enough, Yubin’s not the only SIITY member with issues. Rena’s father is emotionally abusive. Somi has a learning disability, and after a near death experience, Tae-eun becomes a nine-tailed fox woman. The only way they’ll survive the show, each other, and the supernatural currents buffeting them is to work together and win the hearts of their fans. Because if they don’t, they have nothing to go back to even if they survive what's trying to kill them.
346 pages, Paperback
Published September 29, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 23, 2018
The Beautiful Dead: A Tale of K-Pop, Ghosts, and Nine-Tailed Fox Women is a unique novel that exposes the chaotic and dark world of Korean K-pop and reality TV, while interweaving the unnatural world of Korean ghosts and supernatural creatures. While it may seem an odd mix, it totally works to allow us, the readers, to view the star's lives both from the girls' perspectives, and from the wider perspective of the creatures of the ether.
We meet the four members of the girl K-pop group SIITY -- Yubin, Tae-eun, Rena and Somi -- each of whom has her own set of struggles stemming from the regimented cultivation of their pop stardom. A jealous ghost, Jieun, imposes herself into their crowded and lonely lives, and at times helps them survive exploitation, manipulation, insecurities, and, above all, loneliness. Some scenes are dark and unnerving, others are playful and lighthearted, and all of them tug at your heartstrings.
"They were all in it together. Together, they could all savor success. They all labored under the same exhaustion. It was therefore a shame she felt so alone."
Each girl's challenges are totally relatable -- they are so easy to visualize, since the writing is creative and colorful -- and we ache to see them survive this off-kilter life each has chosen (or been bullied) to live. I do not know if this is a standalone novel, or if it might be the beginning of a series, but I would love to read more about these wonderfully flawed girls and delve deeper into Korean culture and mythology with them.
If you decide to try the Audible version of this book, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Amy Landon does a superb job with the Korean names, words, exclamations and accents. As unfamiliar as I was with the Korean culture, especially with K-pop, I was relieved to hear her navigate it so skillfully for me.
We meet the four members of the girl K-pop group SIITY -- Yubin, Tae-eun, Rena and Somi -- each of whom has her own set of struggles stemming from the regimented cultivation of their pop stardom. A jealous ghost, Jieun, imposes herself into their crowded and lonely lives, and at times helps them survive exploitation, manipulation, insecurities, and, above all, loneliness. Some scenes are dark and unnerving, others are playful and lighthearted, and all of them tug at your heartstrings.
"They were all in it together. Together, they could all savor success. They all labored under the same exhaustion. It was therefore a shame she felt so alone."
Each girl's challenges are totally relatable -- they are so easy to visualize, since the writing is creative and colorful -- and we ache to see them survive this off-kilter life each has chosen (or been bullied) to live. I do not know if this is a standalone novel, or if it might be the beginning of a series, but I would love to read more about these wonderfully flawed girls and delve deeper into Korean culture and mythology with them.
If you decide to try the Audible version of this book, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Amy Landon does a superb job with the Korean names, words, exclamations and accents. As unfamiliar as I was with the Korean culture, especially with K-pop, I was relieved to hear her navigate it so skillfully for me.
November 28, 2017
Things I Liked
When I first received the invitation email to this blog tour, I was super interested and signed up right away because A BOOK ABOUT A K-POP GIRL GROUP? SIGN ME THE HECK UP! (Speaking of K-Pop girl groups... recently I got brainwashed by my friends and started listening to Black Pink. I'm not exactly a fan, but BRUH HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THEIR MUSIC? IT'S SO GOOD!)
The setting is very realistic. Everything is just so accurate. I've been to Korea several times and I could tell that the author had done a lot of research (he lived in Korea I think?) In the book, the girls go to Baskin-Robbins (those stores are all scattered over South Korea - they're everywhere!) and the author even wrote very briefly about Family Mart and GS25. This is 100% *tries to find a synonym for realistic / accurate but fails* realistic!
This book is written in the POV of different band mates. Through getting into the heads of different characters, I got to learn more about their insecurities and worries and found out that life as a Korean idol isn't so perfect after all.
My favorite character is definitely Somi. She has the same name as my Produce 101 Season One bias - Jeon Somi (SHE IS SO FREAKING TALENTED), deaf in one ear and has ADD. She tries her best to fit in and sometimes feels that her band mates pity her because of her disability. I want to hug her and tell her that's not true! Somi's super outgoing, bubbly and nice and honestly, if I got to meet her in real life, I would love to be her friend!
Tae-eun's grandma is the coolest! She's a foxwoman and she knows how to perform magic. She is very mischievous and performs tricks all the time. She's actually Tae-eun's great great great great great great... grandmother, but she doesn't act like an old person. Instead she's full of energy and super cheeky!
Another thing I like about this book is that the friendship between the SIITY girls. At first, Yubin doesn't really trust her band mates, and I enjoyed reading about how they get closer and endure difficulties together. They support each other and aaahh girls supporting girls is just something I don't see very often in books I LOVE IT SO MUCH THIS HAS TO APPEAR MORE IN BOOKS.
Also, I got to learn more about Korean mythology! I am totally unfamiliar with it and turns out there are mythical creatures called Gumiho which are nine-tailed foxes. When I was young, I read about its Chinese counterpart, Huli Jing. I didn't know that nine-tailed foxes exist in Korean folklore as well!
Things I Disliked
I didn't like Jieun. She's so selfish and sadistic. Later in the story she becomes Yubin's friend and (tries to) stop harming people. However, she's still violent and calls Yubin terrible things ("whore", "b*tch", etc.) Also I find it creepy how she calls the girls hers. It makes me feel that she treats them as her possessions, which is just wrong.
Overall Rating
★★★.5
When I first received the invitation email to this blog tour, I was super interested and signed up right away because A BOOK ABOUT A K-POP GIRL GROUP? SIGN ME THE HECK UP! (Speaking of K-Pop girl groups... recently I got brainwashed by my friends and started listening to Black Pink. I'm not exactly a fan, but BRUH HAVE YOU LISTENED TO THEIR MUSIC? IT'S SO GOOD!)
The setting is very realistic. Everything is just so accurate. I've been to Korea several times and I could tell that the author had done a lot of research (he lived in Korea I think?) In the book, the girls go to Baskin-Robbins (those stores are all scattered over South Korea - they're everywhere!) and the author even wrote very briefly about Family Mart and GS25. This is 100% *tries to find a synonym for realistic / accurate but fails* realistic!
This book is written in the POV of different band mates. Through getting into the heads of different characters, I got to learn more about their insecurities and worries and found out that life as a Korean idol isn't so perfect after all.
My favorite character is definitely Somi. She has the same name as my Produce 101 Season One bias - Jeon Somi (SHE IS SO FREAKING TALENTED), deaf in one ear and has ADD. She tries her best to fit in and sometimes feels that her band mates pity her because of her disability. I want to hug her and tell her that's not true! Somi's super outgoing, bubbly and nice and honestly, if I got to meet her in real life, I would love to be her friend!
Tae-eun's grandma is the coolest! She's a foxwoman and she knows how to perform magic. She is very mischievous and performs tricks all the time. She's actually Tae-eun's great great great great great great... grandmother, but she doesn't act like an old person. Instead she's full of energy and super cheeky!
Another thing I like about this book is that the friendship between the SIITY girls. At first, Yubin doesn't really trust her band mates, and I enjoyed reading about how they get closer and endure difficulties together. They support each other and aaahh girls supporting girls is just something I don't see very often in books I LOVE IT SO MUCH THIS HAS TO APPEAR MORE IN BOOKS.
Also, I got to learn more about Korean mythology! I am totally unfamiliar with it and turns out there are mythical creatures called Gumiho which are nine-tailed foxes. When I was young, I read about its Chinese counterpart, Huli Jing. I didn't know that nine-tailed foxes exist in Korean folklore as well!
Things I Disliked
I didn't like Jieun. She's so selfish and sadistic. Later in the story she becomes Yubin's friend and (tries to) stop harming people. However, she's still violent and calls Yubin terrible things ("whore", "b*tch", etc.) Also I find it creepy how she calls the girls hers. It makes me feel that she treats them as her possessions, which is just wrong.
Overall Rating
★★★.5
January 4, 2018
I really enjoyed this entertaining and unusual audiobook. The unique storyline easily draws you in and takes you into a world of pop idols, ghosts, empaths, vampires and nine tail foxes. I knew nothing of the Korean k-pop culture before listening to this book and I found that fascinating in itself, as well as it having a great storyline. The story is told from various individual POVs, showing the thoughts, fears, insecurities and emotions of each character with a few unexpected twists mixed in. I loved that all his idols were not model perfect and that he showed some of the nastier side of show business too. The narrator did an excellent job. She brought out the unique personalities and gave the characters individual voices. Her clear delineation of characters helped me greatly, as I did struggle a little with the various names at first, but that speaks more to my lack of knowledge of Asian names than it does the writing or the narration. This is an unusual and very enjoyable story and I will look forward to other books by this author in the future.
November 10, 2017
Yubin never imagined how much her life would change when she accepted becoming a member of the pop group, SIITY. Part of her wants to be grateful of the life she's been given, yet she finds it hard to do just that. Everywhere she turns, pain and heartache follows. To make things worse, the only person she can count on has been dead for years. When the group's world is torn asunder, she soon realizes she'll need to rely on the rest of them if they're all to survive the chaos hounding their every move.
The Beautiful Dead is unlike any story I've ever read before. It opened my eyes to the all things surrounding the world of K-Pop. Though I've heard about K-Pop and do have quite a few friends that are fans of it, I've never been one to dive deeper into that world. Nevertheless, I like the way the author broadens the horizon for those of us who are a tad unfamiliar with everything K-Pop entails.
Jun gives us a story about a group catapulted into the spotlight. A group who's been given the opportunity to capture the hearts of millions out there. These are people who are going through so much within their everyday lives, yet they're banding together to follow a dream they never truly imagined. All of them have to contend with said pain and heartache in order to use it to their advantage.
I've always been intrigued by the supernatural. Books that focus on it always pique my interest. Once you dive into this book, you honestly find it hard to put down. The continuous flow of action makes it so that you really want to know what happens next. I've also enjoyed the vivid pictures the author paints with every action the characters take and the places they go to. I definitely recommend this book.
The Beautiful Dead is unlike any story I've ever read before. It opened my eyes to the all things surrounding the world of K-Pop. Though I've heard about K-Pop and do have quite a few friends that are fans of it, I've never been one to dive deeper into that world. Nevertheless, I like the way the author broadens the horizon for those of us who are a tad unfamiliar with everything K-Pop entails.
Jun gives us a story about a group catapulted into the spotlight. A group who's been given the opportunity to capture the hearts of millions out there. These are people who are going through so much within their everyday lives, yet they're banding together to follow a dream they never truly imagined. All of them have to contend with said pain and heartache in order to use it to their advantage.
I've always been intrigued by the supernatural. Books that focus on it always pique my interest. Once you dive into this book, you honestly find it hard to put down. The continuous flow of action makes it so that you really want to know what happens next. I've also enjoyed the vivid pictures the author paints with every action the characters take and the places they go to. I definitely recommend this book.
September 17, 2018
K-pop, Gumihos, ghosts, psychics, and more? Freaking amazing. Not to mention the book isn't scared to approach problems within the Korean entertainment industry.
Loved it!
Loved it!
September 26, 2017
I am a huge fan of supernatural, paranormal novels. Lately, I've been looking for something different within this genre. Something unfamiliar and unique. This book really caught my attention by it's artistic and impresive cover to be honest. I was instantly drawn to it and I am so glad I gave it a read. I am not familiar with K-Pop, but reading this, I enjoyed learning more about it. But it is so much more. Yes, it is a unique story revolving around the members of a K-Pop, all female band called SIITY Girls. But the story goes much deeper. The characters are forced to deal with many different struggles many will be able to identify with. Challenging parental relationships, a learning disability, sexual exploitation and haunting, inescapable childhood memories are all incorporated in the story line. You are taken on a dark supernatural journey through their lives. They face many relatable challenges, and each character has a well-developed and intriguing back story. In addition to their personal histories, Prince writes of supernatural experiences and paranormal activities with a visual component that is like none I have ever read. Strange, clever and unusual creatures are among the many well crafted components of his spirit world. I also enjoyed the modern day back drop with a peek into reality television, and the combined use of texting and personal computers as a means of communicating with the dead. Kept it socially relevant in today's world. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for something fresh and new. This story posseses the elements of tragedy, humor, fantasy, conflict and love all woven together in a masterful way. I couldn't put it down! This novel is a great beginning to what I hope will be a series of books. I can't wait to see what happens next!
March 10, 2018
Now here’s the void in my reading life that I didn’t realise I had: K-pop paranormal drama.
Prince is an amazing writer, she gave each character their own distinctive voices and personalities which, though I didn’t really like them all, made them a pleasure to listen to/read.
Yubin, one of the main character, is an empath and presumably one of the characters we should like the most but I didn’t like her mentality at all – she openly admits to herself that she doesn’t socialise with her bandmates or anyone else because they’re not worth her time and she’s superior to them. Yeeeesh, even if she does get better over time I’m not a huge fan of her attitude.
Her bandmates all have their own issues going on, both supernatural and real-world. I really liked the fact that Somi, one of the bandmates, has ADHD and only has partial hearing which are both presented as character traits rather than exploited or used as a cheap plot device.
It’s funny that I could really empathise with all of the characters apart from the empath!
In terms of violence and action, this book starts off with mild supernatural content and then works its way up to a wonderfully violent conclusion, with some mild gore, which I really enjoyed. These young women are finally starting to bond when they find out the have the weird and wonderful in common. You get to meet shapeshifters, magic, poltergeists and psychic powers which are presented in a way you may not have read before.
I listened to the audiobook version of this story and Amy Landon did a brilliant job of narrating, she does a variety of different character voices with Korean accents and does so convincingly and without overdoing it (a pet hate of mine). Her reading voice is both interesting and relaxing which I enjoyed. This is an 11.5 hour audiobook and I listened to it in long chunks without any loss of attention!
Fingers crossed there’ll be another book out with these characters but I’ll be waiting for the audio to get the full effect.
**Thank you to the author for a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest and unbiased review**
Prince is an amazing writer, she gave each character their own distinctive voices and personalities which, though I didn’t really like them all, made them a pleasure to listen to/read.
Yubin, one of the main character, is an empath and presumably one of the characters we should like the most but I didn’t like her mentality at all – she openly admits to herself that she doesn’t socialise with her bandmates or anyone else because they’re not worth her time and she’s superior to them. Yeeeesh, even if she does get better over time I’m not a huge fan of her attitude.
Her bandmates all have their own issues going on, both supernatural and real-world. I really liked the fact that Somi, one of the bandmates, has ADHD and only has partial hearing which are both presented as character traits rather than exploited or used as a cheap plot device.
It’s funny that I could really empathise with all of the characters apart from the empath!
In terms of violence and action, this book starts off with mild supernatural content and then works its way up to a wonderfully violent conclusion, with some mild gore, which I really enjoyed. These young women are finally starting to bond when they find out the have the weird and wonderful in common. You get to meet shapeshifters, magic, poltergeists and psychic powers which are presented in a way you may not have read before.
I listened to the audiobook version of this story and Amy Landon did a brilliant job of narrating, she does a variety of different character voices with Korean accents and does so convincingly and without overdoing it (a pet hate of mine). Her reading voice is both interesting and relaxing which I enjoyed. This is an 11.5 hour audiobook and I listened to it in long chunks without any loss of attention!
Fingers crossed there’ll be another book out with these characters but I’ll be waiting for the audio to get the full effect.
**Thank you to the author for a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest and unbiased review**
January 13, 2020
I did enjoy this (despite the following review) well, I was compelled to finish it at least. 2.5/5. I’m not a critic by any stretch but it was the problems that it had that really stuck with me.
It reads like fan-fiction or other free internet writing. I found it hard for the first half to remember which girl was which until their primary trait was mentioned (jealous ghost/loner psychic/dad problems etc).
Some of the similes and descriptions reminded me of things I might have come up with in the school sports hall during an English exam in my youth. Some of the writing was just clunky, mostly it needed a proof read. For example, at one point the girls are discussing AFC brand fried chicken and on the next page it turns into KFC. The Englishified Korean words were a bit jarring as well. Things like ‘yobuseyo’ not spelled in the usual romanization way and in a couple of instances possibly don’t have enough context to derive meaning for any readers who are not k-pop fans or k-culture types
One of my favourite sentences was: (minor spoiler)
‘The only way Yubin recognised Michi was that the creature apparently fought on their side and she doubted there were any other half human, half great whites on board.’
One: That’s two things!
Two: In summary she recognised her because she is instantly recognisable!
Wacky, not too deep and enjoyed my time with it. Like a cheesy B-movie I suppose. Also the ending tied nothing up at all.
It reads like fan-fiction or other free internet writing. I found it hard for the first half to remember which girl was which until their primary trait was mentioned (jealous ghost/loner psychic/dad problems etc).
Some of the similes and descriptions reminded me of things I might have come up with in the school sports hall during an English exam in my youth. Some of the writing was just clunky, mostly it needed a proof read. For example, at one point the girls are discussing AFC brand fried chicken and on the next page it turns into KFC. The Englishified Korean words were a bit jarring as well. Things like ‘yobuseyo’ not spelled in the usual romanization way and in a couple of instances possibly don’t have enough context to derive meaning for any readers who are not k-pop fans or k-culture types
One of my favourite sentences was: (minor spoiler)
‘The only way Yubin recognised Michi was that the creature apparently fought on their side and she doubted there were any other half human, half great whites on board.’
One: That’s two things!
Two: In summary she recognised her because she is instantly recognisable!
Wacky, not too deep and enjoyed my time with it. Like a cheesy B-movie I suppose. Also the ending tied nothing up at all.
June 9, 2019
This is the first book I've listened to by this author as well as this narrator and I didn't really know what I was getting into. The book took a little while to get into due to my listening scheduled but it takes at least a few chapters to get into the book and a few more before you start to really distinguish between the characters and their points of view despite their names being listed at the beginning of each chapter. Once you've started to see the differences in the characters you also start to pick up on the narrators subtleties in all of the characters voices and realize just what a fantastic job both she and the author did with the character creation. The story is largely a paranormal slice of life (if that wasn't a thing it is now.) with exciting scenes and some action to keep the story interesting. There aren't really any pacing issues but there some short time skips however they are used in a comfortable way because you know not every day in someones life will be interesting even if they are idols. The story is told primarily from a first person point of view and I didn't really feel any points that were disjointed or would remove me from the story. All of the characters are interesting and most have pretty fleshed out back stories but the one I think was the most well done and was who had the chapters I enjoyed the most was Moon Somi. Overall I really enjoyed this and would give it a 4.4/5 The story was enjoyable and unexpected and the narrator has a fantastic voice. I really hope the author resumes this series at some point and that more people pick it up.
February 9, 2018
More than expected
I was really surprised at all that happened and overflowed well together. Hoping to get to the next book soon.
I was really surprised at all that happened and overflowed well together. Hoping to get to the next book soon.
August 25, 2024
My thoughts on starting this were that the translation left something to be desired and it seemed kind of choppy and nonsensical at times. I got used to this and started actually enjoying the plot for a while...
The ending was absolutely ridiculous and it came out of nowhere.
The ending was absolutely ridiculous and it came out of nowhere.
December 22, 2017
This is a difficult review to write. I’ll tackle the two main issues I had with this book.
What caught my eye was that this book
was a Kpop and Korean ghost story. I wanted to enjoy to this. I WANTED this to be a book to get excited to read. I expected a light paranormal ghost story with perhaps a touch of romance worthy of a Kdrama. The book was not that. I felt lied to by the cover and blurb.
The book had some minor grammar issues, mostly the lack of commas. Especially on dialogue tags that precede the quote. Other than that, it was just the common errors that you can also see in traditional published books.
There was some adult language and sexual situations. I feel this book needs a trigger alert.
GRAPHIC WARNING ALERT:
This novel depicts sexual abuse, multiple times. (The first one was the idol manager had her, and told he she had to choose between her and another girl. He was the number one person she had to make happy. He had her alone, model outfits, then a bikini, then says something along the lines of, “Aren't you going to take that off?" Which she does, even though she doesn’t really want to, and then it's a bit graphic about where he touches and what he does. All the writer needed to do was stop with his moving behind her as she undressed. Readers are not dumb. We did not need the description of her body hair or what the evil vile manager did. And we most certainly didn’t need it multiple times.
What caught my eye was that this book
was a Kpop and Korean ghost story. I wanted to enjoy to this. I WANTED this to be a book to get excited to read. I expected a light paranormal ghost story with perhaps a touch of romance worthy of a Kdrama. The book was not that. I felt lied to by the cover and blurb.
The book had some minor grammar issues, mostly the lack of commas. Especially on dialogue tags that precede the quote. Other than that, it was just the common errors that you can also see in traditional published books.
There was some adult language and sexual situations. I feel this book needs a trigger alert.
GRAPHIC WARNING ALERT:
This novel depicts sexual abuse, multiple times. (The first one was the idol manager had her, and told he she had to choose between her and another girl. He was the number one person she had to make happy. He had her alone, model outfits, then a bikini, then says something along the lines of, “Aren't you going to take that off?" Which she does, even though she doesn’t really want to, and then it's a bit graphic about where he touches and what he does. All the writer needed to do was stop with his moving behind her as she undressed. Readers are not dumb. We did not need the description of her body hair or what the evil vile manager did. And we most certainly didn’t need it multiple times.
September 10, 2020
I really wanted to love this book. I am a huge fan of Korean dramas, and a book that ties Korean K-pop with the paranormal was instantly alluring. But the book itself felt different from what I read in the synopsis. It's a lot darker than I hoped. If I had written the book explanation, I would have added a hint about the book's darker contents.
Unfortunately, I also found it hard to follow at times, which made the book less exciting.
Spoiler Alert:
I also wasn't expecting the graphic scenes of rape. To me, this took away from the actual story instead of adding. Being someone who watches a lot of Korean dramas, I was expecting a cleaner story with the classic innocence mixed with suspense and intrigue. In most K Dramas, the worst characters do is kiss, so the intense, graphic rape scenes took me by surprise. However, this may be a wonderful story for those who don't mind a darker tale with gruesome details.
Unfortunately, I also found it hard to follow at times, which made the book less exciting.
Spoiler Alert:
I also wasn't expecting the graphic scenes of rape. To me, this took away from the actual story instead of adding. Being someone who watches a lot of Korean dramas, I was expecting a cleaner story with the classic innocence mixed with suspense and intrigue. In most K Dramas, the worst characters do is kiss, so the intense, graphic rape scenes took me by surprise. However, this may be a wonderful story for those who don't mind a darker tale with gruesome details.
April 27, 2018
Very interesting subject, ok execution
I was drawn to this story because of the subject matter. A K-Pop girl group with supernatural powers? How cool and unique is that? This book certainly had lots of things I've never seen before in Fantasy literature. I was fascinated by the introduction to Korean folklore, and by the inside look into the world of K-Pop.
That being said, the book had its issues. It suffered from the lack of an editor, who might have caught grammar mistakes (like using through for threw, for example). There also didn't seem to be enough build up for many events - things just happened with no warning or explanation. Too often I found myself thinking, "wait, what's happening here?", and not in a good way.
This was the author's debut novel. Hopefully they will learn to write a tighter story for the next one. I'll read it when it comes out!
I was drawn to this story because of the subject matter. A K-Pop girl group with supernatural powers? How cool and unique is that? This book certainly had lots of things I've never seen before in Fantasy literature. I was fascinated by the introduction to Korean folklore, and by the inside look into the world of K-Pop.
That being said, the book had its issues. It suffered from the lack of an editor, who might have caught grammar mistakes (like using through for threw, for example). There also didn't seem to be enough build up for many events - things just happened with no warning or explanation. Too often I found myself thinking, "wait, what's happening here?", and not in a good way.
This was the author's debut novel. Hopefully they will learn to write a tighter story for the next one. I'll read it when it comes out!
January 5, 2020
Audio book review
First book in the series . First by the author I listened . What caught my eye is this story is not only is it a fantasy and a paranormal, but it has it all . There are ghosts it’s a Korean fantasy book that has a group of girls together, the four members of the girl K-pop group SIITY -- Yubin, Tae-eun, Rena and Somi are the heroine. The ghost is jealous ghost, Jieun, who imposed herself to the girls life’s . Sometimes Jieun, helps the girls and sometimes she likes to have fun with the K-Pop group of girls .
Amy Landon performance was great . She nailed down the accent , Korean , her tone for the fantasy group of characters were spot on .
First book in the series . First by the author I listened . What caught my eye is this story is not only is it a fantasy and a paranormal, but it has it all . There are ghosts it’s a Korean fantasy book that has a group of girls together, the four members of the girl K-pop group SIITY -- Yubin, Tae-eun, Rena and Somi are the heroine. The ghost is jealous ghost, Jieun, who imposed herself to the girls life’s . Sometimes Jieun, helps the girls and sometimes she likes to have fun with the K-Pop group of girls .
Amy Landon performance was great . She nailed down the accent , Korean , her tone for the fantasy group of characters were spot on .
November 30, 2018
Korean pop stars sometimes are friends,sometimes aren't.They don't know as much about each other as one would think.As it turns out,some have overbearing dads,shapshifting grandmas,entertain ghosts or want to go to college.More of a YA tale,this is a really good book with a lot of twists and turns. Amy Landon was the perfect narrator. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.
December 2, 2024
I found this book rather slow and when we were speeding up in the last quarter of the book I was excited to see what was going to happen to find out this is the first in a series and there aren't any other books out and assuming there won't be with this now being 7 years old. I do think if this had a sequel I would have enjoyed it more and raised my rating but there is too many things left unanswered
March 20, 2026
I was genuinely so excited for this based on the synopsis, but I ended up feeling let down by the actual book pretty quickly once I began reading it.
I might try and come back to it and give it another go to see if it gets better beyond what I've currently read, but for now, it's a no for me.
I might try and come back to it and give it another go to see if it gets better beyond what I've currently read, but for now, it's a no for me.
March 30, 2025
Worst book I've ever read and I don't say that lightly. The only thing I loved about it was the cover.
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