Review: Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

Title: Hello, I Love You

Author: Katie M. Stout
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: June 9, 2015
Pages: 304
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: Hardback

A teen escapes to a boarding school abroad and falls for a Korean pop star in this fun and fresh romantic novel in the vein of Anna and the French Kiss.

Grace Wilde is running—from the multi-million dollar mansion her record producer father bought, the famous older brother who’s topped the country music charts five years in a row, and the mother who blames her for her brother’s breakdown. Grace escapes to the farthest place from home she can think of, a boarding school in Korea, hoping for a fresh start.

She wants nothing to do with music, but when her roommate Sophie’s twin brother Jason turns out to be the newest Korean pop music superstar, Grace is thrust back into the world of fame. She can't stand Jason, whose celebrity status is only outmatched by his oversized ego, but they form a tenuous alliance for the sake of her friendship with Sophie. As the months go by and Grace adjusts to her new life in Korea, even she can't deny the sparks flying between her and the KPOP idol. 

Soon, Grace realizes that her feelings for Jason threaten her promise to herself that she'll leave behind the music industry that destroyed her family. But can Grace ignore her attraction to Jason and her undeniable pull of the music she was born to write? Sweet, fun, and romantic, this young adult novel explores what it means to experience first love and discover who you really are in the process.

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MY REVIEW

Disclaimer: This review MAY contain SPOILERS.

This book really surprised me! I have to say that it's certainly true that no two people read the same book. Based on the reviews that I have seen about this book, I was skeptical if I would gain anything from it other than a headache. As luck turns out, I am on the outside of the fence when it comes to the consensus on this book. I rather enjoyed it a lot.

I think that what I liked most about this book was the two main characters' individual journeys. Grace and Jason, who are also the love interests in this book, are both running from something. They are each dealing with some serious issues and the end up being the only person in each other's corner to help them through the tough spots. And for Grace, it is even harder when she is falling in love with a man that she feels reminds her of every man that has ever betrayed her, abandoned her, and hurt her. They are forced to deal with some sensitive issues like depression, suicide, guilt, alcohol abuse, substance abuse, neglect, and some severe family issues. They are also forced with making decisions for their own lives instead of letting others dictate their lives and futures for them. And then they have to deal with the consequences of their choices, both for themselves and for those they care about. In the end, they both realize that they both have problems, but they aren't anything that can't be fixed. 

I did like the display of Korean cultural within the book. I don't really know how accurate they are, especially when it comes to KPOP since that's not my thing, but I felt things were adequately portrayed. My husband is Korean American and both his mother and grandmother are from South Korea so I have picked up some things here and there. I liked Grace's journey with the Korean culture as well as her personal journey. She struggled a bit at the beginning with some culture shock but adapted well enough. Though I will be honest that I found it hard to believe that she lived all that time in Korea without ever learning the language. She takes a Korean language class at school and makes passing grades, but she still can't carry on a conversation with locals? Overall, I felt the world building was excellently crafted. I truly felt like I was living in Grace's shoes traversing a foreign country.

I found Grace's personality a bit unlikeable at the beginning of the book. She comes off as a bit of a snob and sometimes even came across as disrespectful. By the end of the book I could see that she had changed from the beginning, and her personality traits from the beginning of the book make more sense the more you get to know her, what her family life was life before moving to Korea, and the things that transpired in her life prior to moving to Korea. It is easy to see someone that has gone through so much pain and had an upbringing such as hers act the way that she did at the start. 

I loved the representation of friendship in this book. Especially the female friendship that Grace had with her roommate, Sophie. It was also present in Grace's emails and texts with her sister back home in Nashville. 

I thought that the romance was adorable. Very believable and a delight to watch the characters fall in love with each other over their shared love of music, their similar "famous" status, and ultimately their shared pain and helping each other through the other's pain by being there for them and being a friend when no one else was there for them. 

Overall, I felt that this was a fun and entertaining read that also touched on some sensitive issues along the way. While I felt that they were tackled very plainly, they also gracefully. The overall theme was to be able to move on with your life after dealing with serious issues and also being able to be in control of your own life and your own future. I feel like this book is definitely worth reading and I have so much praise for it!

THIS BOOK CONTRIBUTED TO THESE 2018 READING CHALLENGES

- Beat the Backlist Challenge
- Tackle My TBR Challenge
- Contemporary Romance Challenge
- Popsugar 2019 Reading Challenge

Check out my 2019 Challenge Page to see my progress!

This book is about an American girl moving to South Korea and going to boarding school there. Do you find that books with similar tropes that are written by a person not from that particular culture to be accurately portrayed in terms of the culture? If not, where do you think they are lacking? Or feel free to recommend a contemporary title! I am on a contemporary kick at the moment and have been searching for just the right one.