Why? Because at 24 she’ll be un-debutable according to the eternally-youth-chasing world of K-POP that borders on creepy. Rachel has to debut before the DB Family Concert in fall or else she’ll get cut and won’t have another chance. There’s rumors around the company that DB Entertainment is debuting a new girl group in six or seven years. At the beginning of the book, Rachel is 17 and thus the window of her debuting before she ‘gets too old’ is closing fast. So this book is about Rachel Kim’s journey from trainee to debut. Okay, so now you want the good stuff, right? But I would say that it feels more like an interesting set up for what will no doubt be a far more intriguing sequel, which will give us more insight into the K-POP world after you debut-a world with a million times more pressure and backstabbing.

It’s a very fast read-took me a little over 3 hours to finish. The language and pop cultural references are current, the prose is as simple as possible, and the first person present POV makes the reader feel like they are right in the character experiencing everything she is at that moment. The story is basically about the plucky and relatable 17-year old Rachel Kim’s trainee life as she readies herself to debut. And who better to give that insight than a legendary K-POP idol from one of the most legendary K-POP groups of all time. Shine is essentially a very fun, zippy contemporary YA read that gives some insight into the K-POP world. My own trilogy, The Effigies Series (Sailor Moon meets Pacific Rim) is inspired a lot by the K-POP world, so this was a must read. As a K-POP fan, and as a YA author published under the same publisher and imprint, I just had to pick up this book.

Jessica book snsd