Review of Susan Lee's Seoulmates

 Seoulmates by Susan Lee

Title: Seoulmates

Author: Susan Lee

Number of Pages: 309

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Publication Date: 20 Sept 2022

Genre: Fiction, Romance

Age Recommendation: 13 and up

My Rating: ★★★★☆

    

    Hello, friends! I'm reviewing the book Seoulmates by Susan Lee!

    If you all think that the title is misspelled, it's not. Seoul is the capital of South Korea, a country in eastern Asia. This book's two main characters, Jacob and Hannah, are Korean-American.

Blurb

    Her ex-boyfriend wants her back. Her former best friend is in town. When did Hannah’s life become a K-drama?

    Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out—the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends.

    But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do—he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs.

    But someone who does know K-dramas—so well that he’s actually starring in one—is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs…that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.

My Opinion (no spoilers)

    Here's my opinion about the book: I know I put four stars up there, and that's because while the writing was on point and the characters superb, the plot felt a little repetitive in the end. To put it simply, there's a point where Hannah's relationship with Jacob grows dangerously distant, and the actions taken to save their relationship feel very cliche. Of course, that's likely to be expected from a typical romance novel, but I digress. My point is, I feel like there were some parts of the novel that did not need to be there to progress the two's relationship. But other than that, I really enjoyed this novel. It had a lot of tension and kept me wanting to read more. The author's writing style was simple and easy to read, while also exploring a lot of Korean words and expressions. All in all, it's a great novel I would recommend to anyone looking to find a romance novel to spice things up in their life.

My Opinion (spoilers!)

Warning: Major spoilers abound! Please proceed at your own risk!

    Let's begin. First of all, as mentioned above, I would give this book four out of five stars. In complete honesty, I really enjoyed this novel and would certainly reread it just for the fun of it. It was very gripping and kept my attention for a while. It didn't drag, but it didn't move too quickly, either. Everything was explained. Also, it had a lot of fun Korean words and expressions, which I thought was a nice touch and helped introduce me a little to Korean culture. However, as I've said before, there were some parts of the novel that could've been taken out or at least been made less dramatic. I've covered this more in-depth in the plot section. For now, let's discuss character development!

Character Development

    Our main characters, Hannah and Jacob, are very well-crafted and I thought that both of their backstories were discussed enough to give us context about their personalities, but also was left for the readers to figure out on their own so that connections can be made at the right time. I really enjoyed their character arcs at the end! It was wonderful to see Hannah grow from a serious, protective, hotheaded girl who hides herself behind the idea of America, and into a girl who's willing to listen to others and try new (and old) things. Likewise, Jacob grew from a boy who pitied himself constantly to a guy who realizes that he can have what he wants. In conclusion, character development was spectacular!

Plot

    Let me begin by saying that the plot in Seoulmates is very fleshed-out and I didn't find any major mistakes. I think the way the tension was slowly built up by Hannah and Jacob, then slowly relaxed was well done and written at the perfect speed. The pace was good. Nothing dragged much, but nothing was too fast. However, there was a point that it reached when Hannah saw Jacob with his costar in the show he's doing, Heart and Seoul. (This is not an actual Korean show.) Hannah grows jealous and runs back to her ex-boyfriend, Nate. And don't get me wrong, I understand her jealousy. But at the same time, I feel like she didn't truly stop and think that the whole "my costar and I are together" act might be a sham (which it was, as seen in Jacob's perspective). So, all the drama and fear and tension surrounding that event could've been dialed down a lot, or the scene could've been taken out completely. I just feel that Hannah and Jacob had reached a point in their relationship before this incident that, yes, Jacob hates his co-star but has to act like he adores her, but that shouldn't stop Hannah. It just felt a little unnecessary. But all in all, plot-wise, I thought the book's plot was great!

Description/Explanation/Worldbuilding

    Not much on worldbuilding here, as this novel is set in our world. However, in the parameters of our world, there are some new things. I appreciate that the author decided to portray fame as something less desirable. Everyone nowadays wishes to be famous, and it's understandable, but it's hard to be famous. So I liked that the author pointed out various things that a young, popular actor would go through. The author also does a flawless job of setting things up quickly for us: we get our characters, family, and setting right away, and soon we're comfortable enough with our characters to have a conversation with them about the stupidest of things. In general, I thought that worldbuilding was perfect.

Conclusion

    I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a little Korean drama, a little romance, or just something new and fresh. I really enjoyed this book and thought that it was as unpredictable as these kinds of love stories can get.