This is the story of Rachel Kim, a Korean-American girl who dropped everything to move to Korea and enter the intense and mysterious world of Kpop idol training. She spends half her childhood following rules, intensively training and juggling an attempt at regular schooling and her commitment to becoming a celebrity.

Shine explores everything about idol training that you don’t get to see on social media: the insane hours of effort, the impossibility of dating bans, the extreme dieting, the falsities and manipulation that go into achieving your dream at the expense of the people you’ve grown up with, and, of course, the pure talent and determination that it takes to become an international superstar.

Rachel is a likeable and inspiring protagonist, but she is absolutely not afraid to do what’s necessary to achieve her aspirations as she realises that she is rapidly approaching being ‘too old’ to be a trainee. She is nowhere near as harsh as some of the other trainees (some of whom are downright brutal), but she’s aware of what she needs to do and will obviously sacrifice plenty to achieve her goal.

It’s likely because of her history in the industry and the fact that she went through kpop training herself, but Jessica Jung has written such a realistic and believable story that I forgot multiple times that I was reading a work of fiction. I fully believe that the way Rachel is treated is the way trainees are treated in major Korean entertainment companies, and it was scarily realistic. I felt like I appreciated kpop idols before, but this book has taken my awe of them to an entire new level.

Basically, I recommend that anyone who likes kpop reads this book. It has an entertaining amount of romance, a healthy dose of drama, and a very strong, very committed female protagonist who doesn’t allow herself to be beaten down when circumstances are so clearly against her. It was funny, dramatic and eye-opening, and I’m so glad that it was everything I hoped it was going to be.

Rating: 5/5

Shine publishes on 15th October⭐