I love how fun Lyla Lee's teen novels are. This is very accessible to those who have basic knowledge of K-dramas. The fake-dating aspects of this one are enjoyable as well and I appreciate how effortless Lyla Lee makes her books queer.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for an eARC of this book!

This book was really sweet and I read most of it in one day because I was so engrossed in it. The characters are lovable and I was rooting for them so much! I really loved Bryan and Hana's friendship and how she got to see a side of him that most people don't. I wish we got to see more of Minjee, but her and Hana's relationship was so cute and I loved seeing their friendship grow into something more. Also, it was really interesting to go behind the scenes of how k-dramas are made. It was a fun read as someone who likes kpop and k-dramas because I got a lot of the references, so if you like those things, I think you'll really enjoy this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this book.

I loved, loved this book! I have been recently getting into K-dramas, so it was fun and interesting (and a little sad, at times) to see how that world worked, and I loved getting to travel a bit around Seoul with Hana. The queer rep was amazing. I loved that we learned over time who all was out and who wasn't. It was definitely a bit painful to see how homophobic the adults were in this book, but I also know that this is all too real, even outside Korea. The journey that each character takes in coming to terms with themselves and coming out or at least moving through the world is different and valid. I liked that there wasn't just one way to be out and proud shown in the book.

I highly recommend this book for teens (and probably a few adults, too).

'Flip the Script' has been described by the author as a love letter to K-Drama's and there couldn't be a more perfect way to describe the feeling this book gave me. At points it felt like I was reading one, it had such a perfect mix of romance and drama and shenanigans. It's also delightfully queer, with main character Hana being bi. There's fake dating, rivals-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, second chance friendship/relationship--everything you could want in a teen romcom set in a k-drama. Absolutely delightful!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.


Hana is making her big break in K-dramas, which has been her dream since she was a little girl. However, when the drama isn't doing so well in the ratings, the producers decide to set up drama behind the scenes by way of a relationship between Hana and her co-star, K-pop star Bryan. But the relationship is purely contractual, until Bryan starts developing feelings for Hana and Hana starts having feelings for her female onscreen rival.

Flip the Script is an ode to all things K-drama and, while I found it cute, it just didn't hit me like I was hoping.

While I loved the bisexuality representation, I felt that the chemistry lacked between Hana and her love interest. It was hard for me to connect with any of the characters and the dialogue felt stifled.

But, just because I didn't fall in love with the book, doesn't mean that it's a bad book. It just wasn't for me.

If you love K-dramas, K-pop or even just like Korean food, you should give this one a chance.

This book was a whirlwind, and I enjoyed every second of it! Lyla Lee is incredible at writing fun YA contemporaries that pull at real issues, and this book is no exception. With a cool insight to the K-Drama industry, the book isn’t one to miss. Any K-Pop or K-Drama fans should definitely check it out!

"Things like 'this is our day 1' seemed so corny when I saw couples talk about it in K-dramas, but getting that message from someone I care about makes my entire day."

This book was so sweet, like ice cream and milk tea and marshmallows! It was a really easy and fun read that felt light-hearted and free. Hana and Minjee are the cutest, I found myself feeling all those feelings of falling in love for the first time again🥺 And their little friendship trio with Bryan is so heartwarming to see. I found myself rooting for all three characters as they smash the homophobic patriarchy. 😤This story highlights young love in its sweetest, most innocence essence, and I haven't found myself reading characters that felt so young in a long time, so it just didn't stick to me as much, hence the four stars. They are such young, brave characters that I know will inspire so many people and I've never been so excited for a character to dominate their future! Lastly, I love the LGBTQ+ representation in this and adding it to a Kdrama setting just makes it even more perfect! 💖

'Flip the Script' by Lyla Lee is a clean romance novel set in modern day South Korea starring Jin Hana - a Koren-American teenager who moved to South Korea to pursue her dream of K-Drama stardom and is finally getting her big break. Unfortunately, her drama series isn't going so well which means the production company is suggesting she fake-date her co-star Bryan and bring on another female lead to create a love-triangle. Hana realises pretty quickly that it's Minjee - her friend and the second female lead - who she likes rather than the traditional choice of K-Pop star Bryan.

The romance in 'Flip the Script' is sweet and fluffy as the two girls come together through misunderstandings and rivalries. The background and politics surrounding each decision and the friendship/romance on display made this so interesting to read. As someone who is a very, very casual K-Drama/K-Pop fan a lot of the information was new to me - S.Korean fans are scary!

On the other hand, I did find the characters very flat compared to the tension going on with the show. Bryan falls in love with Hana pretty quickly for no reason and we see very little of Minjee’s conflict with her parents. Tensions are resolved pretty easily or not built into properly and everything is very pastel.

If you're looking for a fun, easy romance where two people take on the world then I think you will find everything to like in 'Flip the Script'. If you like more tension and inter-personal drama in your romance then I would give this one a miss.

I didn't love this quite as much as I'll Be the One, but it was still fantastic and I will be recommending it to lots of people.

Hana came to Korea a few years ago to become a k-drama star after being discovered in America. Her parents moved back to Korea with her to support her future career. Now she is staring in her first major role along side a k-pop idol, Bryan, who is taking some time away from music to concentrate on acting. But when the first few episode don’t do so great in ratings the producers ask Hana and Bryan to fake date to help the show out. Hana has no interest in dating Bryan, but as they get to know each other it is clear Bryan sees dating potential between them. Then the show brings on Minjee to play her rival on the show. Minjee has been her close friend and rival for parts since she moved to Korea. But they stopped talking when Hana got the part in the show over Minjee. But as their friendship rekindles, something more may be brewing as well.
There is a lot of LGBTQ+ representation in this book. Hana is Bi, Bryan is Pan and Minjee is a lesbian. There is homophobic backlash in the book, but Lyla lee has created another clean read that supports and uplifts LGBTQ+ characters while still being real with how people in todays crazy society react to things that frankly are none of their business. Yes they are actors, but that doesn't mean that their personal lives should be the subject of anyone else’s conversations. I loved the shout outs to her first book throughout this one. It made me smile whenever I read something that brought Skye and Henry up without even mentioning them by name. The romance is pure and simple and the friendship's help make the story so sweet. My only reason for not giving it 5 stars is that I wish like I knew the characters all better. They remind me a lot of the 2-d characters in books I read as a teen when books never got bigger than 150pages.

A big thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the pre-published copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded up. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for an eARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

Jin Hana has finally achieved her dream: to star in a K-drama. Sure, she's acting across the self-obsessed K-pop star Yoon Bryan, and the first episodes do worse than everyone thought, and she has to fake-date said K-pop star to boost ratings... but she’s living the dream! Enter her school rival, Park Minjee. As Minjee and Hana compete on-screen to be Bryan’s love interest, behind the scenes, they find themselves falling for each other. In a conservative society like Korea, can their relationship survive?

This was my first time reading a K-drama/K-pop romance, and I enjoyed it! Not only was it unapologetically queer, but it also unapologetically displayed South Korean culture. The descriptions of cultural landmarks were so vibrant and I found myself really wishing I could visit Seoul! The romance between Minjee and Hana was really cute, although I wished we could get more development. I also really like Bryan, though I don’t really understand why Hana doesn’t like him at first. I did think the ending was kind of cheesy, but Hana’s speech at the end had me tearing up. I want this book to become popular in K-pop and K-drama communities, because it addresses why queer representation is important, and how Korean society stifles it. Overall, while this book could have used more development of certain character relationships and plotlines, it was a cute and empowering read!

Thank you, Katherine Tegen Books, for allowing me to read Flip the Script early!

This was extremely fun and cute, with an interesting premise that delivered from every angle! I loved our two protagonists and the juxtaposition of love/hate between real life and the K-drama. Lyla Lee definitely crafted a splendid book.

In a place where everything you do is micromanaged, upcoming actress Hana has finally landed a leading role in a kdrama across from super famous Kpop star Bryan Yoon. When their show gets low ratings the higher ups propose a tactic to garner more attention for the show: Hana and Bryan fake dating... except Bryan starts falling for her and when Hana’s old classmate/ rival/ and best friend Minjee comes back into her life... Hana is starting to realize the reason she isn’t falling for the sweet K-pop heart throb is because her heart already belongs to the one person it wasn’t suppose to. In the Kdrama world the rule is : don’t fall in love with your costars... but how will Hana balance the line between her fake relationship with Bryan, her feelings for her best friend Minjee, and escaping the ordeals of paparazzi, crazy fans, and the pressures of the industry? Hana will have to find it in herself to be brave enough to stand up for who she is and who she loves in an industry that does not look kindly to queer individuals, especially when pressure from the higher ups could completely ruin her career but the career of those she cares about. This was a sweet and cute story about finding the courage to stand up for who you are and who you love. As a huge k-drama fan myself it was so much fun to see hints of other K-drama shows mentioned and how realistic the pressures Hana was under. Her relationship with Minjee was adorable and so sweet, seriously Minjee is amazing. Her friendship with Bryan was just as cute and fun! Definitely give this one a read!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

After absolutely loving Lee’s debut novel I’ll Be The One, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Flip the Script. In this story, we follow Hana, who has landed her dream role in a new K-drama. She’s about to make her big K-drama debut and things couldn’t be better. However, when things don’t go as planned and the series ratings and reviews drop, Hana and the studio need to come up with a solution to save the show. Suddenly, Hana not only finds herself fake dating her annoying male co-star, but also facing a problem at work when the studio hires a new girl to challenge Hana’s role as main love interest and it turns out to be none other than Hana’s former friend who she trumped in the casting process early on. Can Hana fight for her position on the school while falling in love for her on-screen rival in real life?

I really enjoyed reading a book that is set on the set of and surrounding a K-drama. While I’m not the most avid watcher of them, I felt like the vibes really represented the drama, glitz, and glam yet harsh downsides of being in the spotlight as a Korean actress. We also get to see so many different aspects of Seoul since Hana is taken to quite a few places on fake outings with her fake boyfriend and later on with Minjee while they’re trying to keep their relationship secret. Lee describes these lesser known places in Seoul with so much detail that you can really imagine what it must look like which I definitely enjoyed.

Now, Hana is struggling with the fear of disappointing her parents who moved to Seoul for her career and that influences a lot of her decisions throughout the book. One of them being the studio forcing her and her co-star Bryan to enact a fake relationship to make viewers guess at the outcome of both their characters’ arc on their K-drama as well as their personal relationship. I think this highlighted fandom craze and possessiveness of fans quite accurately as Bryan is also a known K-pop star and has very devoted fans who aren’t always…cordial to Hana. While I often didn’t understand Bryan’s motives and didn’t quite believe him falling for Hana in the few short interactions we get with them on their dates that always seem to end in chaos, I did really enjoy Bryan as a character and think he was such a sweetheart for the way he supported Hana when she came clean about her feelings for Minjee.

Speaking of Minjee, perhaps because of the book’s heavy focus on the somewhat initially reluctant friendship between Hana and Bryan, the rivals-to-lovers and overall romance aspect fell a bit flat. Minjee and Hana are friends and the only rivalry they really had was for the role that Hana snagged. Likewise, when Minjee first appears on the set, there is no sense of true rivalry and it’s glossed over pretty quickly as we learn that Hana has had a crush on Minjee for a while. Unfortunately, their friendship and eventual romance almost felt like an afterthought since so much focus was on Hana and Bryan and their struggle with pleasing the studio while also not alienating Bryan’s fans or making Hana the target of hate crimes, and we rarely get to see Minjee and Hana interacting beyond retellings of their phone calls or short bantery interactions. There was more potential to explore their relationship and their dynamic with Bryan that would have added more to the story. I also would have wished for a bit more depth to Minjee’s character as well because we often only get to hear what Hana thinks of Minjee and of the expectation Minjee’s parents and the studio have for her which felt like a missed opportunity. Nevertheless, the few moments we actually get between Hana and Minjee were absolutely adorable and I really liked their bonding on the set as well as their fight for more queer representation in Korean media.

The resolution of this story as well as how the script of the K-drama the three characters are on is flipped was super sweet and definitely made me wish that more K-dramas (and television in general) would give the spotlight to queer characters and change up the same old narrative. I think it’s so validating to see representation change and hope that life imitates art when it comes to how the K-drama ended, but no spoilers.

A love letter to K-dramas, Flip the Script is a fluffy, breezy romance, offering behind-the-scenes looks at K-dramas and a fun queer twist on the fake dating and secret relationship trope.

As an avid K-drama viewer, I was really excited to read Lyla Lee's new book, Flip the Script. I really enjoyed the book and getting a behind the scenes view of K-dramas. However, I wish the book delved deeper with the character development. I wanted to know more about Hana and how her feelings had developed for Minjee.

I appreciated the LGBTQIA+ representation in Flip the Script, considering this topic can often be viewed as negative and/or taboo in the K-drama industry.

I love the author’s previous work “I’ll Be the One,” so I jumped on the opportunity to grab the eARC for this novel. Her portrayal of the television/film industry is genuine and she really makes popular destinations in South Korea come alive (albeit more in a tourism guide sense). I enjoyed how the romance plot developed overtime , and Lee knows her craft so it was a good book purely from a craft angle. Probably something I’d recommend to younger teens or tweens though. I read it in one sitting and my only real nitpicky things were wanting some clarifications on kpop culture earlier on in the book instead of spread out over the course of the book. 5 stars.

Super cute. I was very intrigued by the look into the process of filming a K-drama! A light, fun read.

I absolutely adored this book. Lee provides fascinating insight into the kdrama industry. This title will appeal to a wide variety of YA readers- fans of rom-coms and kdramas, those interested in excellent lgbtq+ representation, and those who simply want a fun, heart-warming read. Highly recommended.

I really wanted to like this one, but I couldn't connect with the first chapter. The book just wasn't for me. Thank you for giving me the chance to read this.

This is a great upper middle grade lower high school read. I found this story a lot more interesting than Lyla Lee's first book, though I appreciated the references to that book's main character, Skye Shin. I loved learning about the K-drama world and how the fandom treats k-drama and k-pop stars. I didn't realize this book had an LGBT romance going into it, but I really shipped the romance and was delighted by their relationship. This book just brought so much joy to my heart and made me want to learn more about k-dramas.