Somewhere Only We Know - Maurene Goo

Title: Somewhere Only We Know
Author: Maurene Goo
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.5 Stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10:00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.

11:00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She’s very cute. He’s maybe curious.

12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same.

With her trademark humor and voice, Maurene Goo delivers a sparkling story of taking a chance on love―and finding yourself along the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This felt like a total meet cute book.  Lucky, the lady of the story, comes out of her room in search of food because her manager never lets her eat real food. She stumbles across Jack, a tabloid employee (read paparazzi) in search of a story.  He doesn't realize who she is at first, because she's not wearing her usual wig, makeup, etc.  What follows is a meet-cute romcom that is just as adorable as Maurene Goo's other books.


So: The book!

The Characters:

Lucky (or Fern!) and Jack were wonderfully written and well developed characters. The side characters were great as well, but there weren't really any standout secondary characters.  What I mean is, they were there, but they were just kind of fillers put in to help move the story from beginning to end - they didn't have to be well developed because they weren't *that* important.  And it worked for this book.

There was some good development with Lucky especially because the book showed how she struggled with the fame that comes with being a famous pop star, and her feelings about if she wanted to keep doing that or not.  She gets homesick, she misses her family, but she loved doing K-Pop and that was all she wanted when she was younger.  I will obviously never know what it's like to be a K-Pop star, but it was interesting to learn about it from Lucky's life and see what her struggles were like as part of that life.

I think Jack had some good development in the story. He was this obsessed photographer who has to get these photos of famous people, and you see him making small changes and realizations even through the short time that he and Lucky knew each other - like when they are eating shawarma and he realized he just couldn't keep badgering her about her forced diet because he realized she had all the feelings and hated the diet she had to be on, and he didn't feel it was right to disrespect her like that. 

The Plot/Story:

The whole plot was just cute and well developed.  The writing is good, and the story kept me hooked from beginning to end.  I don't know much about K-Pop, so it was interesting to learn a bit more about that as well.  This is a delightfully written, well developed story that teens (and YA loving adults) will totally enjoy. 

The Cover:

I have to mention the cover.  The covers of Maurene Goo's book are always pretty simple and clean: BUT I LOVE IT!  I think it works, and fits with the whole book so, so well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you like cute romance books that are meet-cute with fun characters and a good story, get your hands on this book.

And if you've already read this book, let know what you think in the comments. 

Top Ten Tuesday: Platonic Relationships In Books

Hey reader friends!  Welcome to another round of Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

This week, we're talking about Platonic Relationships in Books!  So, here are my favorites:

Maurene Goo's books I Believe In a Thing Called Love and The Way You Make me Feel have main characters that have THE BEST relationships with their dads! 

Desi in I Believe in a Thing Called Love and her apa are just so cute and they love to watch K-Drama together.  They talk about lots of stuff (except how Desi is using K-Drama to get a guy.)  They have so much fun in the way they talk to each other.

Clara and her dad in The Way You Make me Feel are even funnier than Desi and her dad!  They joke around with each other so much, and are so honest with each other (usually), and they have just tons of fun together when they are working on the KoBra - even though Clara is there because she got in trouble.

Hagrid and Ron, Harry, and Hermione.  Hagrid can be a little rough around the edges, but I mean, he loves those kids and they love him - and the four of them do have some awesome, crazy times and adventures together. 

The Way You Make me Feel - Maurene Goo

Title: The Way you Make Me Feel
Author: Maurene Goo
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 5 Stars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?

With Maurene Goo's signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the second book that I've read by Maurene Goo, and I have to tell you: I loved it as much as the first one.  The Way You Make me Feel is the book I wish I'd had when I was a teenager!

Let's just dive right in!

This book is filled with all the humor and fun I would expect from Maurene Goo's books.  Her main character - Clara - has all the makings of a class prankster.  She gets nominated for prom queen (maybe as a joke, maybe not), and at prom, she pulls a Carrie type prank that leads to a fire.  Now, don't get me wrong - I do think a prank that leads to a fire is serious, and Clara's dad was right to punish her.  HOWEVER, I do appreciate Clara's more mild pranks and her sense of humor.  I mean - she's teenager for pete's sake! She's allowed to have some fun before she grows up and has to deal with all the seriousness of being an adult, right?

Anyway!!!  I appreciate that Clara is so well developed.  She appears strong and self-confident, but there's also that typical thread of self doubt that I think every teen experiences as some point in their lives.  I like that Clare was open to giving Rose a chance.  They had some issues when they first started working together at the KoBra, but they were able to put them aside so they could get to know each other.

I like how honest Rose was about how people who seem successful right off the bat have failed a lot to get their success.  Clara seemed to have a very naive idea that everything was so perfect for Rose - and it was good to see Rose correct that and let Clara know that successful people have failed a lot before getting their success.

All the characters outside Rose and Clara are well rounded as well.  They all have good ideas of who they are, and what they want.  The only character I didn't like was Clara's mom.  That's just because she was a selfish brat who probably never should have procreated in the first place.  She only cares about herself, and it was really sad to learn about and see the way she treated Clara.  Clara was lucky to have a dad who cared about her so much, since he was the only stable parent in her life.

There is enough tension and big events in the story that made me want to keep reading so I could find out what happened.  There is also enough light hearted, funny moments in the book that I laughed a lot. The story was well developed and well written as well - the author really did a great job of keeping up the pacing and story throughout the entire book.

I love that Clara's dad has a food truck and dreams of opening a restaurant.  He is very dedicated to his truck and his daughter, and you can tell he really cares about doing what he can to move towards his bigger dream!

If you are looking for a great book that's full of fun, romance, food trucks, and great characters - this is the book for you.