Review: The Anti-Fan and the Idol by Rachel Van Dyken
SYNOPSIS:
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a new story in her My Summer in Seoul series…
Make it or break it…
Or maybe just break them?
Ah-Ri has been training under YK Management in Korea for two years without any results. She doesn’t fit the typical mold for a successful K-POP idol image, literally down to her blood type. She has six more months before college entrance exams which means she only has six months to make it as an idol before her dreams are crushed.
Things take a turn when two of the most famous male idols break away from their group and decide to form their own co-ed group, a rarity.
And wonder of all wonders, they need one more girl.
It would be the perfect opportunity, except she hates them.
They are arrogant, entitled, rich little snobs who want the world to worship the ground they walk on. To make matters worse, the only reason they came to her was because they are desperate, which means she needs to prove herself even more.
Tempers and personalities collide when she’s forced to either accept the position or give up on her dream.
But what happens when you suddenly go from anti-fan and enemy number one to stuck in a love triangle between two boys you were born to hate but are somehow falling in love with? And will the group survive the heartbreak that follows when she finally makes her choice?
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
Disclaimer, there is nothing remotely love triangle-y about this story. As someone who actively avoids love triangles, the synopsis is incorrect. Also while you don’t have to have read My Summer in Seoul to enjoy this story, there is a little character overlap and band overlap.
Now into the review, I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it. I think the challenge here was the novella tries to tackle some really heavy topics and the short story length makes it difficult to do those topics justice. There is suicide, eating disorders, and depression but they are all lightly mentioned as just struggles and challenges that the characters have to navigate through or around. It might have been easier to pick one of these topics and then dive into it to give the gravity of the situation the attention it deserves.
In terms of romance, as I mentioned, no love triangle here and thank goodness for that. Ah-Ri and Ryan have some tension between them. While it does give enemies-to-lovers vibes, it feels mostly one sided. As in, Ah-Ri is jealous that Ryan and Haneul are financially well off and successful while she can’t even afford shoes and has been a trainee for years. After she gets over the jealousy, there is definitely some undeniable chemistry between the two. The romance flowed pretty fast from there with the chaos of the Showcase, it lacked the depth and substance but that isn’t surprising given the fact it’s a novella.
The ending felt a little rushed and that Rachel was trying to get in everything, but I did enjoy all the Sookie appearances. I think this story would be best for those who aren’t into k-pop (which is the majority of Rachel’s fanbase). Or if you are a fan of k-pop (like me), just remember its fictional because the probably of a co-ed group ever existing to BTS levels of success is slim to none. Overall, it was just a nice dip back into this world.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
