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yodamom's review
3.0
A dry quick read with facts, and more facts. It is based on the business side of the making of the band if that is what you are looking for. The emotional journey of the boys/men is not between these covers this is all about the business of BTS and it's members developed parts. it explains the difference that this band used compared to many other K-pop bands that may have made the difference. There is a little background on why the band wrote certain songs or theme albums. The author filled the pages with quotes from interviews the band had with other media sources. I'm not sure the author ever talked with them himself. It was a quick read, I finished it in two days.
annieb123's review
3.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Burn the Stage is a bio and pop-cultural commentary on the K-pop phenomenon. Written by culture biographer Marc Shapiro, it's a concise 110 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats. The book seemed to me to be written to a specific formula. The author clearly had access to earlier interviews and media releases with band members and entourage. It's not clear that Mr. Shapiro talked with or spent any time with the members of BTS himself. The photo appendices contain wiki commons free license images. There is a potentially useful/interesting discography timeline with international releases listed by country of release. The appendix also contains a comprehensive list of awards and nominations listed in alphabetical order by award name.
Very little here which will be new for fanatical K-pop fans. Possibly a good trivia crash course if you're taking your daughters to see BTS in concert and want to impress the other moms with your knowledge of the band members.
Three stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Burn the Stage is a bio and pop-cultural commentary on the K-pop phenomenon. Written by culture biographer Marc Shapiro, it's a concise 110 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats. The book seemed to me to be written to a specific formula. The author clearly had access to earlier interviews and media releases with band members and entourage. It's not clear that Mr. Shapiro talked with or spent any time with the members of BTS himself. The photo appendices contain wiki commons free license images. There is a potentially useful/interesting discography timeline with international releases listed by country of release. The appendix also contains a comprehensive list of awards and nominations listed in alphabetical order by award name.
Very little here which will be new for fanatical K-pop fans. Possibly a good trivia crash course if you're taking your daughters to see BTS in concert and want to impress the other moms with your knowledge of the band members.
Three stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
kalynau's review
4.0
This book is an interesting look at why it is that BTS managed to become such a phenomena both in South Korea and around the world. Shapiro examines the foundation of Big Hit Entertainment and how its philosophies around creativity helped to create the cradle in which BTS was formed. This book is great for both fans of BTS and those who are just curious about “that Korean band” they keep hearing about. It covers the individual members and how they came to be a part of BTS and what it is that they bring to the table in order to create the phenomena that BTS has become. I definitely recommend this book for any fans of K-Pop (and BTS in particular) as well as for the casually curious.
lucyp21's review
3.0
I requested this book from Netgalley because the only thing I knew about Bts was that they were a Korean pop group and they had been first for something to do with performing in America. Really, this book which goes back to basics, was perfect for me.
This is ultimately a very quick read and quite surface level. The book talked about each member of the group and how they came to BTS and then it looked at how the group came together. In the second half, the author runs us through BTS' schedule, especially the tours they did and the awards all over the world.
I found the first half a lot more interesting than the second half since it talks about the members and the group itself, while the second half is more numbers and facts, all of which start to blend together a little. It also doesn't look at their social media and how it had an effect on their success.
This book is almost relentlessly positive, not just about the band themselves but the company as well. It mentions some controversy but it quickly skates on to something else and it never talks about how BTS faltered with their rise to the top. I don't know whether they did massively or not, but they would have had setbacks and it would have been good to have seen more of that.
It is informative up to a point and gave me a basic overview of exactly why BTS are so big, especially in America. I would recommend this to someone who wants just to know, surface level, what is going on with this group but for someone who is a bigger fan of the group, I probably would look around for something a little more in depth.
3 stars
This is ultimately a very quick read and quite surface level. The book talked about each member of the group and how they came to BTS and then it looked at how the group came together. In the second half, the author runs us through BTS' schedule, especially the tours they did and the awards all over the world.
I found the first half a lot more interesting than the second half since it talks about the members and the group itself, while the second half is more numbers and facts, all of which start to blend together a little. It also doesn't look at their social media and how it had an effect on their success.
This book is almost relentlessly positive, not just about the band themselves but the company as well. It mentions some controversy but it quickly skates on to something else and it never talks about how BTS faltered with their rise to the top. I don't know whether they did massively or not, but they would have had setbacks and it would have been good to have seen more of that.
It is informative up to a point and gave me a basic overview of exactly why BTS are so big, especially in America. I would recommend this to someone who wants just to know, surface level, what is going on with this group but for someone who is a bigger fan of the group, I probably would look around for something a little more in depth.
3 stars
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