Made in Korea

This book HAS MY HEART!! It's been so long since I read such a good Young Adult romance. Valerie and Wes' rivals to lovers journey is absolutely swoon-worthy. And not only that, I love how Valerie is the absolute boss lady in the book and Wes is the one who's high-strung. It makes their relationship so adorable.Made in Korea not only explores the student business scene in high school, but also complex family relations. Wes' strained relationship with his father, because of the expections hovering over him and Valerie's relationship with her mother because of the constant comparison with her ideal older sister, are all too real as it can be when you see how Asian families usually are.For 300+ pages, author Sarah Suk builds up Valerie and Wes' competition-cum-relationship, giving us a umpteenth moments to feel the tension between them and absolutely go feral when these two didn't understand that they are actually in love with each other. I loved how they both have a very distinct personality. And not only them, every secondary character, including Charlie and halmeoni, gets their special characteristics. BTW, I absolutely loved Charlie! He's my favourite character in the book.I think Wes is capable of being anyone's book boyfriend. He's a classic nerdy-but-cute male protagonist. His social awkwardness, his overthinking nature and his adamancy to follow his passion for saxophone makes him such a likable character. Wes' charm is the opposite of Valerie. She's portrayed as the absolute bad-ass, will-bring-anyone-down-if-they-challenge-me character who might get onto your nerves sometime but you can't help but admire her strength and tenacity (just like Wes did).Charlie needs a special mention in this section because he's the fun, dorky, ever-supportive cousin who is absolutely smitten by a classmate but is unable to confess his feelings. Every Charlie moments in the book were super fun to read and I absolutely adore him (did I already mention it before?)Add Made in Korea into your TBRs ASAP!! Especially if you are into K-pop boy bands or K-beauty products. It will definitely bring you closer to the book!

Cute romance of two Korean-American teens, who each are running a beauty product business at their high school. And, as so often happens in romances where the two are revivals, they end up falling in love. But it totally works, in this case, and isn’t InstaLove.I love that it is a #ownvoices and words that are Korean are not translated, but used in context for clarity. I love that they are the main characters, and I love how real the problem of having immigrant parents want you to be doctors and lawyers, and not artists and musicians is brought up.Good book.

This was a fun summer book with an adorable love story. I really enjoyed the references to korean food and culture.