Jenny didn't get to be an award-winning, classically trained cellist without choosing practice over fun. That is, until the night she meets Jaewoo. mysterious, handsome, and just a little bit tormented, Jaewoo is exactly the kind of distraction Jenny would normally avoid. And yet, she finds herself pulled into spending an unforgettable evening wandering Los Angeles with him on the night before his flight home to South Korea. With Jaewoo an ocean away, there's no use in dreaming what could have been. But when Jenny and her mother move to Seoul to take care of her ailing grandmother, who does she meet at the elite arts academy she’s just been accepted to? Jaewoo. Finding the dreamy stranger who swept you off your feet in your homeroom is one thing, but Jaewoo isn't just any student. Turns out, Jaewoo is a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world. And like most K-pop idols, Jaewoo is strictly forbidden from dating anyone. When a relationship means not only jeopardizing her place at her dream music school but also endangering everything Jaewoo's worked for, Jenny has to decide once and for all just how much she's willing to risk for love. XOXO is a new romance that proves chasing your dreams doesn't have to mean sacrificing your heart, from acclaimed author Axie Oh.
I loved XOXO for so many reasons—the first of which being how easy it was to read. I literally read this book in one sitting (pausing only to get food, because Oh's descriptions of Korean food put me in a snacking mood)! Overall the writing felt so effervescent and youthful. I felt like I stepped into the shoes of my younger self reading it, and I truly felt like this novel captured the essence of what it's like to be a young person. Jenny is consumed by her desire to be the best cellist she can, but also worried about her family and desperate for friendship and connections. All of this combined to create such a relatable voice, making the novel one so easy and quick to read.
This book reminded me of so many other of my YA favorites. The one-day meet cute reminded me of Nicola Yoon's The Sun is Also a Star—as did its focus on important cultural elements. Jenny's trip to go to school and be immersed in Korean culture for a few months reminded me of Laura Taylor Namey's A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow—and both books made me hungry for how they described all the delicious treats within their pages. Finally, Jenny's going to school to be a musician and the element of performance arts and competition reminded me of Abigail Hing Wen's Loveboat, Taipei—both heroines are dedicated to their craft, while also learning how to balance family and friends and romance in their already-busy lives. I loved how I felt like XOXO was contributing to a wider story that YA literature is working to tell; I can't wait to see how this blooms even further.
This book is definitely for the fangirls out there who have daydreamed about dating their favorite band member. Oh not only dives into the perfectionist culture of young women (which is especially prevalent in the Asian diaspora). She also dives into a niche element of that: teenage celebrities, and being in the spotlight so young. Her main character, Jaewoo, a famous K-Pop star, is only a teenager, and faced with the same balancing act as Jenny: how does one balance school, family, friends, and romance in the midst of developing a career? Not only does Oh tell this story, but also dives specifically into K-Pop culture, and the nuances that exist in this type of atmosphere. In this way, she's able to bring to light multiple viewpoints, and demonstrates that all young adults feel the same pressures as Jenny and Jaewoo (even if it's not in the same way).
I love Axie's writing, in both this lighthearted contemporary novel, but also in her standalone fantasy. I highly recommend XOXO and The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea for your next YA reads. You can find Axie online at axieoh.com. You can find more of my reviews of Axie's work here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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