Thank you Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins Children’s Books for this eARC via netgalley.

Hana has landed her dream role. Hana is about to make her big K-drama debut with her lead role in a new series. However things do not quite go as planned once the series ratings and views begin to decline. Hana and the studio must come up with another solution to save the show. Hana soon realizes that sometimes things change and new discoveries are to be made.

I enjoyed reading a book with a cast centered on the K-drama industry. I think this perspective is an interesting one to follow with this type of book. I also like how this book really makes people think about situations and topics for young teens. I loved seeing support strengthened throughout the novel.

Overall this book was an okay read for me. I think things could have been detailed a bit better. I feel like sometimes the characters were rushing things a bit too much which led to less of a connection to them for me. I also found the romance to be way too rushed and sudden which made a lot of those parts seem a bit awkward. I wish some of the inclusions were strengthened more for a more immersive reading experience. I would have also loved to have gotten more of the K-drama inclusion with better detail. It was a bit hard to feel fully a part of things at times.

First review of 2022 and cue all the heart emojis!! ❤️ This was such a great book that features behind-the-scenes K-drama action, positive representation, and bravery to stand up when the script needs changing. I loved the relationships formed by all of the MCs and the wonderful aftermath that came out of everything they all went through 💕 Thanks again to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books/Katherine Tegen Books for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for feedback.

This story showcases the process of what it takes for Hana to achieve her goal as an up-and-coming actress in her first K-drama lead role. She loves watching K-dramas and once she gets the chance to star alongside a famous K-pop star, she doesn’t want to let her family down (especially since they helped her get to where she is today). However, Hana gets involved in a fake relationship with her co-star, all the while trying to deal with actual feelings for another lead from her show. I loved that this novel provided positive representation and was very inspiring! The MCs are all trying to live their best lives and when they saw a chance to stand up for what they believed in, they took a leap and never looked back! I look forward to more uplifting novels by this author! 🤗

Really liked this book! Had a great array of representation. Being a fan of K-drama and K-pop this checked all the boxes for me. It was a sweet easy to read book. I thought the plot was a bit predictable and the characters were likeable but didn't jump out at me. If you're a big contemporary romance/kdrama fan I think you might really love this book! Overall I do recommend.

I like Lyla Lee, she has a way of writing about characters that need to gain more light in the world.
But I wanted more from Minjee and Hana's friendship before they became something more.
I liked how there was mention of the characters from her first book, because I really loved those characters.
I liked Hana and the chemistry between her and Bryan. But I felt like there were things between her and some of the other characters that needed to be more fleshed out.
I know the teens in my library are going to like this one!

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Disclaimer: Review will be up on pop-culturalist closer to review date!!

I adored this book! The K-drama feels is so freaking good!!

overall:
flip the script is a really fun and light ya romance novel!! i liked it and thought it was a good book. the concept was fun and i really liked seeing bryan, hana, and minjee’s dynamic play out. however, i wouldn’t describe this novel as a love triangle, or a rivals-to-lovers. instead, i saw it more as a friends-to-lovers story.

plot:
the plot follows hana jin, a korean-american, as she stars in one of the biggest k-dramas of the year with bryan yoon, a kpop idol getting into acting. when ratings slip, they bring on a new girl, minjee, to play hana’s love rival. i liked the plot. this novel is really light-hearted, and the story reflected that.

writing:
the writing didn’t have too much to note about. i do wish that we could’ve seen more of their individual personalities. i did feel that bryan caught feelings for hana really quick, and moved on really quick as well, and it would’ve been nice to see more about that.

characters:
i really liked the dynamic of this trio. they all played off each other really well, and bryan and hana’s dynamic was fun to read. i also liked hana and minjee’s relationship. they’re cute. what’s their ship name? haejee?? i stan.

misc:
bryan should end up with a korean boy!!! fuck them white boys (i’m joking)
hana and minjee should be the korean lesbian billionaire couple!!!

final thoughts:
i raced through this book, and i liked it! it was a lighthearted, fun novel. i did wish we could’ve seen more of bryan and hana’s relationship, as well as minjee and hana’s relationship, but i liked the characters and the plot. 3.75-4 stars!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

2.5 stars

Flip the Script was a fun, easy to read book that had me finishing it in one sitting, which is a feat that I haven't accomplished for months. I especially enjoyed the main friend group that we get to see develop over the pages! It was super fun and made me very happy to see three queer teenagers fooling around and teasing each other. I really liked Bryan as a character, and he has to be my favorite, though it took me a while to warm up to him.

However, the book really wasn't what I was expecting, and not in a good way, I'm afraid. The characters fall flat to me and I couldn't form a strong connection to any of them. I've read the author's debut novel, and I felt a stronger connection to those characters because they simply felt more original. What I mean is that I think the author could use a little more practice in developing unique voices for each character, because while Hana has had a very different life than Skye, it feels like the same narrator speaking, and I couldn't get a feel for Hana's personality at all.

I also don't think Minjee and Hana's friendship was very well explored before they started developing feelings for each other, since all the screentime was used to develop Hana and Bryan's friendship instead, which in turn makes Minjee feel like an incredibly underdeveloped character. Flip the Script was also marketed as a rivals to lovers romance, but we got none of the animosity one would expect, and rather quite the opposite. Minjee and Hana were friends and continued to be happy and close friends all throughout the book. the rivalry was not expanded on at all Plus, Bryan's feelings for Hana developed extremely quickly, with no build up or chemistry at all which I get is part of his character but the blurb on the book made it seem like it would be different. Did not deliver on the implied promise of unrequited angst that comes with the trope of Bryan being in love with Hana like it was marketed, not even for a second since Bryan seems to just brush his feelings away easily, which didn't cause much conflict at all. In fact, a lot of the characters seem very passive.

lastly, one last complaint: Minjee is a lesbian, but the only time the term lesbian is ever used in the book is to describe Hana in what feels like a negative way. I just wish authors would use the term lesbian to describe their lesbian characters. It's really not that hard. For a book all about not being ashamed to be queer and uplifting queer voices, the author does a pretty good job of tiptoeing around a prominent identity in the community-- my own identity -- like it's a dirty word. I hope in the final book that this will be changed.

all in all, I'm sad to report that I didn't enjoy the book as much as I wanted to, especially since I was excited for a kdrama based sapphic romance. however, i would recommend it if you would like a fun, breezy ya sapphic romance, but this really wasn't for me at all.

This definitely wasn't what I was expecting, but it was cute! The bi (and pan and more!) rep is great, but I wanted to read it because I read a description that said the main character falls for the actress hired to be her on-screen rival. Which is true, but I thought that meant we'd be dealing with love/hate. Instead, the two actresses already know each other and are very good friends (though they haven't been talking for the past few months). It's all very sweet but it's very much friends-to-romance rather than love/hate, and I was a little disappointed in that arc. But the fake dating was fun -- Bryan was one of my favorite characters -- and the plot was engaging. Quick, fun read!