Intense dieting, body-shaming, and pressure to get plastic surgery (gross, gross, gross). Gruelling physical punishment for anyone who can’t keep up. Label execs control every aspect of trainee life: no dating, no social media. Trainees move into a house together so they can practice from sunup to sundown, perfecting their voices, dances, bodies, and images. ✨ But Shine also explores the brutal standards of the K-pop industry. What if I need more from life than a stage and a song? At one point, Rachel and her sister even fly on a private jet to Tokyo for a day trip. There were secret cafés for celebs-hidden within rundown warehouses designed to look like a slice of Paris-and engagement parties DJ’ed by Diplo. It was pure wish fulfillment fun to read about luxury hotels on Jeju Island and swanky international schools in Hannam-dong (that invite athletes like Adam Rippon to teach figure skating!!!).
She straddles two worlds, never quite belonging to either: too Korean for America, too American for Korea.Īs the story progresses, we’re thrown into Rachel’s glamorous but cutthroat world. Shine follows seventeen-year-old Rachel Kim as she trains to become a K-pop star in Seoul. Maybe that helped things, because I wasn’t anticipating anything when I cracked this book open. I think most people are generally wary of fiction written by celebs, and I’m no exception (not to mention the cover looks like something I might’ve whipped up on PicMonkey circa 2012). ✨ Not gonna lie to you: I went into this with really low expectations. All to fulfill my dream of becoming a K-pop star. The constant feeling of never quite belonging somewhere you desperately want to be. All the training, the lost weekends, the family sacrifices. Is it worth it? That’s a question I ask myself every day. If these are things that are triggering or uncomfortable for you, I would suggest passing on Shine.
I understand wanting to realistically represent the toxicity of the K-pop industry, but this wasn’t something the book critiqued nearly enough (if it all). I don’t condone fatphobia, and there is a not-insignificant amount of body-shaming and calorie-counting in this book that made me really uncomfortable. Not to mention ALL THE TORONTO REFERENCES 💖💖💖be still my Canadiana heart!īefore I go any further, though, I want to say that parts of this book are definitely problematic. Tropes galore and angst that could put a K-drama to shame: I devoured this book in a single day and honestly had fun with it.
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