A surprisingly sweet k-pop secret romance about finding your second home
—Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
XOXO by Axie Oh
Jenny lets her guard down and takes a spontaneous night out with mysterious Jaewoo, only for him to disappear without a word. Three months later, she travels to Korea to take care of her grandmother and finds out she is attending the same school as Jaewoo. What will he think?!
🍃 Easy Reading 📖 Couldn’t Put It Down 💞 Young Love 🎓 High School
- Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Book Review
Sweet, exciting, comforting, heart-warming, fun, feel-good, adorable
XOXO was one of my favorite contemporary romances that I’ve read all year, and I’ve read a lot. I knew it would be sweet going in, but it surprised me just how delightful it could be. Every moment of this book made me so happy. This book is not just a love story between Jenny and Jaewoo, but a love story between Jenny and Korea and her music. It is a love letter to Kpop fans and an exciting secret romance. I devoured this book so quickly, I just couldn’t put it down.c
Jenny has been working her entire life to get into a prestigious music conservatory. She is calm, collected, and immensely skilled. When her uncle tells her to live a little, and the very same night a mysterious boy named Jaewoo walks into her uncle’s karaoke bar, she lets her guard down and lets him pull her into an unforgettable night of spontaneity before he disappears. Three months later, Jenny goes to Korea with her mom to take care of her grandmother, and finds out that Jaewoo attends the same school as her… and he’s a famous up-and-coming k-pop star!
This story has such an incredible way of showing you multiple groups of friends who care about each other so deeply. We get the pleasure of seeing this in multiple friend groups, and it’s incredibly heartwarming. XOXO as a group look out for each other in every way possible. They make sure they are making the right decisions, that they are happy, and that they are hanging out with the right people. We also get that tight-knit, supportive friend group with Jenny’s friends. I think that sometimes friend groups in fiction can be so underrated. Especially ones that are not built out of trauma and especially in more realistic fiction. We all love a found family in our fantasy stories, but finding a found family in a high school fiction can be such an incredible impression on school-aged kids. I am so happy we get to see it here.
Speaking as an Asian American like Jenny, her story made me so happy. The stories that I usually see are full of struggle and not belonging. Though those stories are not unrealistic, they are not always the most joyful to read. Jenny’s journey to Korea touched my heart because when she went she fit right in. She didn’t have many struggles finding friends, she spoke Korean already, she truly found a home away from home in Korea. I found myself getting emotional at her experience, wishing that could happen for everyone. As a member of the Asian diaspora, there can be this feeling of intense longing for a place you have maybe never been. But of course, there can also be a fear that you will not find your home in the place that you have felt drawn to your whole life. As a mixed Asian woman, I know that I will never find what Jenny found in Korea quite so easily, but seeing her find that place so easily made me realize that it is possible.
XOXO is a love story not only between Jenny and Jaewoo but Jenny and Korea. I was giddy reading this book and I couldn’t put it down one second. The heartwarming friend groups, the sweet romance, and finding a home away from home is the perfect recipe for an incredible comfort read.
