I picked this up for the 2024 Popsugar Reading Challenge, which has a prompt for a book about K-pop. Other than knowing that BTS is a huge band, I have no real grasp of the global phenomenon that is K-pop, and so had no idea where to start. Well, XOXO was the perfect entry for me, and it was so damn sweet I’m gonna need to call my dentist.
Jenny is a cello prodigy, who is working hard toward her goal of admission into a demanding music conservatory. So Jenny’s life is pretty constrained; school, cello, working at her uncle’s karaoke bar. Until one evening when she meets Jaewoo, a ridiculously handsome boy hanging out in the karaoke bar, and finds herself accompanying him on a fun romp through the city that ends with him getting into a black van and disappearing from her life.
A few months later, Jenny and her mom are on their way to South Korea to care for Jenny’s ailing grandmother, and Jenny is enrolled at the best performing arts school in Seoul. On her first day she bumps into Jaewoo, and realizes she had a meet-cute with one of the biggest K-pop stars on the planet. Unfortunately for them both, K-pop idols aren’t allowed to date, and any hint of a relationship could spell disaster.
I don’t want to spoil the rest, so I’ll leave it there. But seriously, this whole book just made me happy. The characters are great – Jenny reminds me of being a teenager myself – the story itself is charming, and the descriptions of Korea (culture, cities, geography, food) make me wish I could book a flight tomorrow.
I finished this book with a grin on my face and a warm feeling in my chest, and that’s definitely enough to earn 5 stars. And now I’m gonna go listen to some K-pop.