Cute, but not my cup of tea. K-Dramas are all the rage right now, though, so I can see the appeal of this one. Perhaps I didn't connect or enjoy reading it as much because I'm not a K-Drama fan myself. Nonetheless, it's sweet and I know teens will love it.

I never posted this review:

tl;dr review: The cringe factor nearly made me give up a few times—there are so many movies and TV shows I can't watch because of my wussy tolerance to it—but I'm glad I persevered because this is so super cute.. Desi is ridiculously adorable and enthusiastic and diligent, and I want to adopt her dad.

P.S. I recommend this book ALL the time.

I was really excited to read this because it was very K-dramaey! I enjoyed every minute of it and I thought it was a very cute read.

This one was cute. I enjoyed learning about K-dramas and that it was actually a funny book. I found myself becoming frustrated at times, but all in all, it was an enjoyable romantic comedy that will be easy to recommend.

As soon as this book was announced, I was so excited for it! Demi sounded so much like me when I was in high school and as a lover of K dramas, I knew this was going to be a wild ride. And maybe it was a little too wild for my taste. While I appreciated that Maurene Goo really stood by the K drama inspiration leading to a lot of drama, I found myself tired of it after a while. It's probably because I'm so much older but certain incidents that happened in the book made me pause.

There's a reason we love K dramas and other types of shows: they aren't real and allow us to escape into their worlds. Taking that to heart, even when she knew deep down it was a bad idea, led Desi to do some very riciduclous and dangerous things. I understand in so many ways that she was a teenager and teenagers do ridiculous things but there were circumstances that just made me shake my head. I wanted to shake her and protect her from the bad and it just left me feeling some type of way. I guess it's because even when I was in high school, I was always the mom friend of the group so looking out for people has always been my thing.

But the shining light of this entire book, for me, was the relationship that Desi has with her father. For one. he's so present in her life and I loved that. Being Asian myself, I found so many mannerisms about her father to be so like my own but other aspects of her father made me envious as well. I appreciated that Maurene Goo wrote a father-daughter relationship that wasn't seeped in traditional Asian parents stereotypes. Showing the depth of differences in parents of the same culture was exceptionally done and extremely important.

I have a copy of this book in my classroom library, which has been very popular with my students. I have a copy of this book in my classroom library, which has been very popular with my students. I have a copy of this book in my classroom library, which has been very popular with my students. I have a copy of this book in my classroom library, which has been very popular with my students. I have a copy of this book in my classroom library, which has been very popular with my students.

I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE BY MAURENE GOO | BOOK REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 LEAVE A COMMENT
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo | Book ReviewI Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
on May 30, 2017
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Social Themes, Dating & Sex, Family, Parents, People & Places, United States, Asian American
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
ISBN: 9780374304072
Goodreads
four-stars
A Seventeen.com Best YA Books of 2017A Publishers Weekly's Best YA Book of 2017A New York Public Library Notable Best Book for Teens 2017A 2018 CCBC Choices Book"Hilarious." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"Powerful messages of inclusion and acceptance.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewDesi Lee believes anything is possible if you have a plan. That's how she became student body president. Varsity soccer star. And it's how she'll get into Stanford. But she's never had a boyfriend. In fact, she's a disaster at romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi finds guidance in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It's a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study. Armed with her "K Drama Steps to True Love," Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and staged car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.

A Margaret Ferguson Book

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo hits ALL the right spots for me. Initially, I had this book on my want to read list but had to bump it up when trusted blogger Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner recommended Goo’s books as great for people who loved To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. She’s never steered me wrong, so I was really ready to commit to this book. Friends, I took the plunge and read it SO quickly. I am quite glad I got to it and am now ready to devour everything else Maurene Goo has ever written.


I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo is a story about a high school senior named Desi. Desi lives with her mechanic father. She’s class president, a soccer star, and on track to be valedictorian. Her plans are to go to Stanford. It would seem like everything she touches turns to gold. Only, ha, that’s not the case when it comes to love. She’s never had a boyfriend. Her friends believe that her flirting is so bad that they call her a flailure. As in failing to flirt correctly.

One day there’s a new guy in Desi’s class and he’s basically the best looking guy she’s ever seen. His name is Luca Drakos. He has recently moved to the OC where Desi lives and is an artist. The two connect but Desi ends up embarrassing herself. Dismayed by her awkward situations, Desi goes home and decides to binge some K-dramas with her father Appa. This is where she sees that there’s kind of a recipe to every K-drama romance. She writes down the different steps and decides to follow them to the letter in order to get the man of her dreams.

Desi is totally a type A and I loved that. She likes to be in control and when she’s not, well that is when flailures happen. I loved how she just breaks her problem down into solvable steps. She’s a girl after my own heart for sure. ALSO OMG her relationship with her dad is the sweetest. Her dad is probably the breakout star of this book and now that I have a kid, I relate more to him than any other character. He’s so kind to Desi and so supportive. I think the role he plays in Desi’s life rings pretty true – as a parent he’s very involved but a little bit hands off for somethings.

Luca is sort of an interesting love interest. He has the whole semi juvenile delinquent thing going on. Also, there’s that whole opposites attract thing when it comes to Desi. He’s artistic. Luca does not really get along with his dad, which is quite different from Desi. I think that his reactions to different events in this book come across as realistic.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo is a good palette cleanse sort of read. It’s a light, breezy story with the addition of K-Drama obsession to keep it interesting. I am glad I read it between heavier tomes because it is the sort of book that puts you in a good mood. And well, now I know I have a couple more books by Goo to check out and enjoy.

Straight up adorable YA - loved it! Loved the father-daughter relationship, the K drama storyline, the awkward romance. I will read anything that Maurene Goo writes!

Maurene Goo’s debut Since You Asked was great, and she’s only improving with her sophomore novel I Believe in a Thing Called Love. No surprise that I really enjoyed the contemporary romance based on kdramas lbr.

Actually, though, the biggest weakness of I Believe in a Thing Called Love was the kdrama aspect. Goo does a great job doing a send up of some of the silliest kdrama romance tropes, but they aren’t the ones used in my favorite kdramas. There’s so much high level embarrassment in this book that sometimes I had to set it aside because I couldn’t deal. Like, seriously, when Desi first meets her love interest, she accidentally pantses herself. That actually happens.

The plot is that of the studious girl who is absolutely horrible at flirting and decides to study up on kdrama to catch her new crush Luca. It’s over the top and ludicrous in the way that a lot of the romance kdramas are. Unless you’ve seen a kdrama, some of it might be hard to swallow (and even if you have), like the bit <i>where Desi intentionally causes a car accident or her attempt at a grand gesture, which would have made me get a restraining order probably</i>. Goo really commits to the concept, and she does a great job with her goal. Still, I would have enjoyed the actual romance more if the kdrama hijinks had been toned down.

Luca and Desi don’t really make a ton of sense to me as a couple, though I do appreciate that they really start to bond later on. Initially, it’s Desi insta-crushing mega hard on him for no apparent reason aside from his cuteness. It’s not a ship ship ship, but it’s a convincing high school romance. Secretly, I wanted her to hook up with her best friend (curse you, second love interest syndrome (even though he’s not actually a love interest)).

The strongest elements of the book for me were Desi’s relationship with her dad, herself, and Violet. Initially, Violet’s an antagonist love rival, but back story comes out and they become friends, tentatively at first, which is really sweet. Desi’s dad is completely adorable, an auto mechanic addicted to kdramas. They love each other so much, and I just love getting to see those healthy parent/child relationships in YA. Also, I think one of the most touching elements of the whole book is how Desi comes to realize that, though she was milking her mom’s death when she was a kid as her “tragedy” for the kdrama plot, she actually did have issues associated with having lost her mom young to work through. In some ways, all the needless drama did help her process.

I Believe in a Thing Called Love is clever and funny, but do be aware that this is one that’s all about the concept, so sometimes Desi will make choices that don’t necessarily seem like something Desi would do. That kind of stuff happens in kdrama all the time, as sensible heroines go bananaballs around their love interests (I prefer the ones where the girls stay pretty sensible and the dudes go bananaballs haha). Read this one in the right mood, and you’ll have a grand time!

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

Such a cute contemporary that I genuinely enjoyed! I'm not much of one for YA contemporary but the synopsis of this one really caught my interest so I wanted to give it a shot. I'm so glad I did! I loved the characters and the storyline and the writing was so easy to get lost in, which is unusual for me when it comes to books in this genre. I can't wait to read more from this author!

3.5 / 5 stars

This was such an adorable story! While I’m not familiar with Korean dramas, I got the sense from this story that these shows usually force you to suspend your disbelief and I would say that is certainly the case for I Believe In a Thing Called Love. If you took the narrative at face value, you would think that all the scenarios that Desi gets into are completely outlandish – and that’s exactly what I thought until I caught myself.

I loved how casual the Korean culture was infused into every aspect of this novel. It was obviously a lot to do with K-dramas, but the day-to-day cultural aspects felt seamlessly ingrained in the story and, where necessary, was explained throughout in a way that fit the narrative. Similar to books by Jenny Han and S.K. Ali (among many others), I really enjoyed that this story made another culture more accessible to the masses. It showed that other races don’t have to be a “foreign” story that’s told. It’s set in a present day North American city, encountering common teenage highs and lows.

It was also a nice added bonus that, after reading this story and you’re intrigued with K-dramas, Goo included a “Guide to K Dramas” at the end. I Believe In a Thing Called Love is a fun, cute YA novel for fans of contemporary romance!

This book is so sweet and charming! If you're in the mood for a book that's completely delightful, grab this. You won't regret it.

Funny and sweet, this is a delightful read. I really loved all the characters, but her DAD IS SO GREAT. This is a perfect choice if you're looking for a book that will leave you smiling and give you a craving for kdramas.

2 stars

I had heard so, so many good things about this novel, so I was quite disappointed by the time I was finished with it.

The best part about this novel was the fact that there was a Korean main character, a beautiful and healthy father/daughter relationship, and plenty of Korean culture and references.

Desi was a well written, but completely unlikeable character that possesses intolerable qualities, manipulative and abusive tendencies, little regard for the feelings of others, and was flawed to a fault.

There’s not really a lot I want to say about this novel other than the fact that Desi is a complete psycho and genuinely needs help. She doesn’t seem to grasp the concept that endangering someone else’s life or manipulating them is NOT a healthy way to begin a relationship and it her abusive tendencies are not cute or endearing, they’re gross and shouldn’t be portrayed in a young adult novel where impressionable teenagers will read it and think her behavior is okay. Sure, that kind of behavior is exaggerated to the point of comedy in K-Dramas, but that doesn’t make it all right for the author to encourage.

I’m giving this book two stars and that’s ONLY because there was good Asian representation and healthy father/daughter relationship.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing for providing me with an ARC of I Believe In A Thing Called Love.

Really cute. I enjoyed learning about the K-dramas. Sometimes a little over the top, though.

This book was like reading a K-Drama, complete with all the gooey romance and cringe-y bits you expect from a good K-Drama. I enjoyed reading about Desi but wish there had been a bit more with her friends Wes and Fiona.

Desi Lee never has a boyfriend. Her attempts to flirt have become a funny joke for her circle of best friends. Desi is more talented as a student body president and on the Varsity soccer field. And her good grades and hard work at high school will certainly lead to an acceptance at Stanford, right?
But then Luca Drakos walks into her high school and into her life. And that's the point that Desi decide to bid farewell to her flirting failures. Inspired by the Korean drama series her widowed father watches all the time, Desi is now armed with her 'K-Drama Steps To True Love' which she uses as her flirting guidance and manual which next step to take to steal Luca's heart. Will it help her succeed just like the heroines in the series to end up in his arms in episode ten? First she seems to tackle some obstacles and some clumsy events, but in the end, it seems to work out! But then she finds out that true and real love is so much more then just some soapy drama and she has to figure out if this is what she really wants, if Stanford is what she really wants, and to be honest to Luca, who seems to be just the right guy for her..

The book starts out slowly, but just before the half part it really takes up speed and it becomes a better and better book! The story was fun and just very cute and adorable. Every chapter starts with a K-drama task that Desi wants to fullfill, which leads mostly to a fun, romantic or clumsy moment. It really was just sooo nice that Luca started to fall for her too, so Desi's work wasn't for nothing. In the end though, some serious struggles appear though when Luca finds out what Desi is doing, and he is seriously wondering that she doesn't like him for real, which leads to even more clumsy moments. But in the end, everything falls into place though, which was a nice wrap up!

This is just a very entertaining and fun read for fans of the books by Jenny Han, or books with a Korean twist to it, I enjoyed reading it!!

So sorry but this one wasn't for me. Thanks for letting me try it!

Very cute story. The embarrassing scenes were cringe worthy in a good way. You really felt for the character.