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

My Rating: 4 Stars

Date Read: June 2015

Publication Date: June 9, 2015

Hardcover, 304 pages

Summary From Goodreads:

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.

My Review:

I’m rather fond of stories where the super famous person falls for the sweet, small-town girl {or boy}. I don’t know why, I just am.

This book was slightly reminiscent of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins, which is okay with me because I thought that book was fantastic {and for those of you who haven’t read that book yet either, it’s not raunchy like the title makes it sound. It’s rather sweet, actually}

The relationship between Jason and Grace was funny, sometimes sweet, but ridiculously frustrating at times. They spent the majority of the book fighting with each other, determined not to let the other know their true feelings. But I think all that tension is what made them getting together at the end much more satisfying.

There was a twist in the book, close to the ending, that kind of took me by surprise. And, looking back now, it really shouldn’t have. I guess I was just so focused on other things that were happening 

and I missed all the clues.

One thing I didn’t like about this book, was the way things were left between Grace and her Mother… I needed more closure on that, especially after finding out what really happen. But it seemed like the issues that they had were just swept under the rug, or pushed into the corner to be ignored…

Overall, I think this book is a cute, quick, summer read, though I wouldn’t suggest reading this if you are a die-hard K-Pop fan, because I’ve heard that it doesn’t represent the awesomeness that is K-Pop.

This was a promising debut from Katie M. Stout’s, and I am definitely looking forward to what she writes next