Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

K-pop Confidential by Stephan Lee

11 reviews

catorureads's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Bullying

pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

While this was a very light read, I did struggle with this book a bit. It just seemed too ... unrealistic. And yes, I adore unrealistic stories. Books are places where fairytale dreams and reality can collide with no need for logical explanation ... But this was just a bit too far fetched.

I'm also highly intrigued how this segues into the second book. Given the current ending ... it seems even more implausible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Cultural appropriation, and Fatphobia

Minor: Homophobia, Mental illness, Grief, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

smalljoys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Dysphoria, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

inconsistent main character, boring love triangle, repetitive statements (we get that you the mc dated your gay bff for a week! move on!). unclear motive of the main character, did she want to be an idol? or not?

chloe_23's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Not the best book I've ever read, yet it's an amazing read for a K-pop fan. This is my second time reading it, and my reactions were either the same energy or even more energy when something big happened. I think I'll forever love this book, or at least as long as I stan K-pop. I started reading the second book the moment I flipped the last page in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Body shaming

Minor: Death of parent, Death, Cursing, Mental illness, and Fatphobia

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Oh my god! This might be the best K-pop book I have ever read (besides Jisoo Lee's). I could've read this in a day, but adulting, so yeah, two days. I love Candace Park, Binna, Jinjoo, Aram, and even Helena. I thought One.J was sus, Youngbae, you sweet thing. Eomma, you're the best!💕 *that speech* must be hard to do! Thanks, Stephan, for this beautiful book, and on to the next one. You better have the audiobook companion when you read this.✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Racism

pvbobrien's review against another edition

emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Bullying

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Eating disorder

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Stalking, and Suicide

chlostersays's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

foreverinastory's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this one a lot!!

Rep: Korean-American cishet female MC, Chinese-Korean cishet female side character, South Asian-Korean cishet female side character, Korean-American and Korean cast.

CWs: Body shaming, forced dieting, forced disordered eating, fatphobia, physical and emotional abuse (including sleep deprivation), sexism, bullying/hazing. Moderate: misogyny, sexual harassment, objectification of underage girls, medical content (MC's grandfather is hospitalized). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Body shaming, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Medical content

caelinsullivan's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

bookishcb_21's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

2021 book review: This was such a great read that I finished it in ONE day!! You get a lot of insight from this story about all of the pressure that gets put on trainees when it comes to making it big in the K-pop world, from appearances to body image to who you can interact with. I really liked Candace’s heartfelt message at the end and I was throughly invested in her singing dream/journey the entire way through. She knew what she wanted from the very beginning and followed through, making friends along the the way with her group mates (and all the 😍 for YoungBae). I can’t believe I have to wait until next year for the sequel, but it will definitely be worth the wait ❤️🤞❤️

2022 book review: Candace is still fierce and speaks her mind, YoungBae will always get 😍, and I’m still left wanting more! I need to know how Candace handles that cliffhanger of an ending 🎤 (her mic drop moment gets me still 🙌). Bring on the K-pop Revolution!!! 

Side note: shortly after reading this book last summer, Candace’s purple hair inspired me to try lavender hair, but it has since evolved around the holidays to a brighter purple. Looking again at the sequel’s cover today (in excitement since it will be released next month), I’m starting to feel that Candace and I are hair doppelgängers and I’m here for it!! 💜😍📚

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Bullying