Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

WHO GAVE THIS BOOK THE RIGHT TO BE THIS CUTE! I am angry this isn’t my literal life.
True rating: 4.5/5

Following Jenny, a classic cellist, who has a random encounter with a handsome young man following the words of her Uncle to “live a little,” XOXO takes you on a journey of self discovery, self assurance and growth with romance thrown in.

I love this book. Really truly love this book. How do I even describe how much? Not only did this make me want to go to a performing arts school, it definitely made me want to travel to Seoul when I go back to work. This story is rich with culture, music and so much fun. It also has a lot of self discovery and growth, with an adorable romance thrown in. The relationship Jenny developed with Sorin especially, but all of her new friends made my heart swell. I love found friends/family and this gave me that vibe. I don’t want to give a whole lot of spoilers, but this may be one of my favorite YA couples ever. Rivaling Laura Jean and Peter.

This book is authentic, genuine and full of heart swelling, show stopping moments that will leave you wanting more. I HIGHLY recommend this.

XOXO is a fun, fast-paced YA contemporary romcom, perfect for fans of kdramas. It was sweet and lighthearted, featuring level-headed characters who take a chance to pursue their romance. I loved the cast of characters and seeing Jenny's and Sori's friendship grow. Given the circumstances that lead Jenny to Seoul, the book could have explored a little more about the reasons for the strain on her mom's relationship with her grandmother. There were some opportunities for Jenny to reflect more about her relationship with her mom towards the end as well. Overall, I found the book very enjoyable and would recommend it.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Perfect for fans of Maurene Goo and Lyla Lee, this adorably complex novel is rife with level-headed characters, an incredibly setting (Seoul), and diversity. I wish every book on the YA Romance shelves read like this one. The voices were so refreshing, upfront, and they communicated! It was so so good. Highly recommend.

I loved this so much. This was one of the cutest and most heartwarming books I've read in a while. I won't bother to reexplain the plot of this book because I'm <b> A.</b> no good at it and <b>B.</b> it feels more like a jumping-off point of the story. This is a story that I feel like you can enjoy more knowing only that much. There are so many elements to this story and I don't want to accidentally spoil any of them.

I will admit that I'm not a huge K-pop fan but I do like the stories that can arise from the premise. In the past, these stories have turned into some of my favorites. So when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. This book was so much fun. I found all of the characters to be engaging and full of personality. Even the ones we spent little time with felt alive and personable. I also loved the setting. It may have just been Seoul but Seoul is an amazing place.

This book just spoke to me. It was something that I was looking for that I was unaware of. I feel like this is going to be a standout book of the coming year and I personally need to look into more books featuring K-pop stars.

XOXO was a cute young adult romance. Jenny was adorable and I was hoping she and her K-pop idol would have their Happy ending. I can't wait to read another book by Axie this one was very good!!!!!

The premise of this book and my familiarity with Axie Oh's work drew me in, although I *don't read much YA contemporary.* While reading, I aimed to be as forgiving as possible because I'm not the target age group, and I am sure there are quite a few genre conventions that I can't fully understand or appreciate.

XOXO hits some good beats and adds fresh elements to what might have been a standard YA contemporary. The choice of setting and Sori and Nathaniel's characters were standouts, as well as Jenny's relationship with her family, and I will literally never get sick of descriptions of Korean food and food culture. Like Jenny, I am Korean-American, and I saw a lot of myself in her character. I think a lot of Korean-American teens will value the representation here.

Unfortunately, although these elements were excellent and pointed toward a story that a younger version of myself might have enjoyed a lot more, I couldn't fully engage with the book in the way I'd hoped. Namely, I couldn't stop noticing what I felt were missed opportunities. Promising side characters, interesting subplots, and even Jenny and Jaewoo's characterization were readily abandoned at the drop of a hat. This is particularly prevalent at the end of the book, where the resolution comes without any of the book's main conflicts being resolved and feels unearned as a result.

One thing I really didn't understand was why Jenny's family backstory wasn't explored more. There was room for this character to learn so much about herself and her roots through the grandmother—why set the story in the motherland otherwise?? This along with a general lack of curiosity about Seoul, Korean culture, and Jenny's roots in general made the setting feel inconsequential, which is a shame because it was one of my main reasons for picking the book up in the first place. I really don't think every book about 'diaspora character goes back to the motherland' should be forced to explore themes like heritage and family roots, since boxing diaspora writers in like that is wildly unfair. But since Jenny and her mother go to Korea specifically to take care of the estranged grandmother, there is some expectation that the reasons for said estrangement will be explored. And that it would mean something to Jenny's character? The grandma is cute, but she really feels like more of an occasional plot device than a person of any significance to Jenny.

Ultimately, I believe this book will fare better with its intended age group, and I genuinely appreciate it for what it's trying to be. The Ownvoices Korean representation and the Seoul setting made it significantly more enjoyable than many of the YA contemporaries I've picked up over the past couple years, and I have no doubt that younger readers, particularly Korean-American ones, will be able to see past everything that bothered me and enjoy this book as it was intended. It just really, really wasn't for me, and I can't fault anyone but myself for that. (Although I definitely wouldn't mind a Sori/Nathaniel spin-off.)

Oh my goodness, this book was amazing! I loved it, the story and the cover! XOXO by Axie Oh is a book about an Korean-American girl who goes to Seoul. Jenny Go is the perfect daughter, a cello prodigy, who has spent years planning for the future. Jaewoo is a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world, and he is forbidden from dating. Will they risk their perfectly laid plans for love or were they never meant to be?
Jenny was such a fun character, I liked how she was both American and Korean. I thought that it was really cool how she could play the cello. She was such a nice girl and she was really genuine. I connected with her from the beginning. It was so amazing to read about her experiencing Seoul and reading about her Korean heritage. She was strong, but she was also lonely and she really wanted to prove herself to her mom. Jenny was the type of person who stuck to a plan, but meeting Jaewoo kind of threw everything off kilter.
Jenny had to figure out what she really wanted and find that spark within herself. Meeting her grandmother and going on an adventure in Seoul will really help her find herself, but life and relationships take work and Jenny will have to decide if she is going to chase after what she wants. She will have to make the choice if loving someone is worth the hurt they can bring.
Jaewoo was sweet but he was also reserved. I liked him, but I also wanted to shake him at times because of the trouble he put Jenny through. He tried his best, but he was stuck in the expectations of others and himself. He wanted so badly to do the right thing, that he didn't really know what to do with Jenny. However, Jaewoo will have to realize that being with Jenny is better than trying to follow the plans he made for his life.
I liked seeing Jaewoo grow more confident in himself and reading about him fall in love with Jenny. He learned how to be young again and how to just enjoy life. But he can’t get away from being an idol. Will he be able to stand firm when things start to get crazy? Or worse, their relationship doomed from the start?
I wanted Jaewoo and Jenny to find their happy ending so badly. I didn’t know how they could be together and I ended up staying up way too late to read it! Jenny and Jaewoo had to overcome many obstacles in order to make their relationship work. It was not easy especially when combating fans and paparazzi. But they had friends to help them along the way. Nathaniel, Angela, Gi Taek, and Sori were so funny and I loved them. The friendship between them was not all smooth waters, but they made it work. They made this book so much better!
I actually usually do not like teen books even though I am a teen myself, because of all the unnecessary drama. However, XOXO was the exception, I couldn’t have picked a better book to read! I was especially excited for XOXO because it was written by an Asian American about an Asian American girl. I love finding books that represent Asian Americans. I couldn’t recommend this book more than enough! XOXO is a clean contemporary YA novel, but there are a couple of innuendos and cursing.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

I posted my review on Bookbub, Goodreads, and Barnes and Nobles on 12/22/2020. I will post on blog and Amazon when it releases.

The perfect K-drama in book form. As I was reading, I could picture everything happening. Two small niggles: I wish there had been a bit more about her cello ambitions, it didn't seem to be tied in to her character (why does she love it?), and more about her orchestra class, which is only mentioned in passing. The romanization used for the Korean words is not the one I'm used to (more "eo" spellings), so sometimes it took me a minute to recognize words. And one word at the end in hangul that is not translated. Really small things, though. This book has all the great kdrama tropes and characters, and like them is really addictive. I've finished it, but I still want more. More time with the culture, more time with the cute romance and the drama.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. This was a great book and I enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend reading this book.

4 stars

Big thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for this e-ARC! All opinions and ratings expressed in this review are my own.

This was a pretty solid 4 star book for me and I actually really enjoyed it. It reminds me a lot of Crazy Rich Asians but in Korea and I really loved some of the characters. I sometimes found the main two (Jaewoo and Jenny) a bit insufferable but I loved Sorin, Nathaniel, Angela and Gi Taek so much. It was a pretty quick read and its easy to follow, but I still felt like their relationship was rushed.
The pacing of the story itself I didn't mind, it was mostly the relationship. I also found myself enjoying the side characters a lot more than the main two.
I would recommend this book for a fun, quick, contemporary romance (being based in Seoul made it all the better) the cover is also so beautiful??!?!!

If theres going to be a book two about Sorin and Nathaniel (SIGN ME UP!) they were my favorites by far :-)