I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

This is one of those rare times when I write a review literally right after I finish reading the book so everything is still really fresh. When I first read the synopsis, I was like omg, must read since I am a huge Kpop/Kdrama fan. Not so much into Kpop these days since all the new boy bands out these days are too young for me (this is how I know that I’m mad old) and the ones I love (Super Junior, Big Bang, etc.) are showing up less and less. But anyways, I was excited and right before I picked up this book, I had the worst idea ever – I went to read the reviews on Goodreads and by golly, they were terrible. They ranted that Grace was as this hypocritical, disrespectful and somewhat racist white American girl. They threw water on the book itself stating that the book was extremely culturally ignorant and presumptuous. And so that basically threw water on my excitement. Thus I went into this book with very low expectations. I suppose, in a way, because I knew what to expect, I ended up not being as disappointed as some of the other reviewers were.

Let’s talk about Grace. Yes, she was extremely hypocritical, disrespectful, culturally ignorant and basically racist without coming forward and calling herself racist. But. And there is a but here, she changed. I feel like this book had two parts to it: the beginning when she first went to Korea, didn’t know what was going on, and basically anything she knew came from stereotypical books or the Internet. And then there was the second half where she finally became acclimated (somewhat) into her new everyday life and she became more culturally aware of her surroundings. That being said though, the first half was painful. She came across as this rich, snobbish American girl who basically had her life fed to her on a silver platter. There was this incidence when she first got to Korea and got on a taxi and thought that she had to take her shoes off in the car. What. I mean, yes, Asians have a tendency to take off their shoes in the house but in a car? WTF. Or the scene where she basically called the Korean language “dumb” for having different levels of formalities for respect. Or the scene where she judged Jason for googling himself and whatnot when she would often do the same thing for herself and her family. And the most annoying part was that she knew she was being hypocritical – she basically stated that “even though I do the same thing but I don’t want him to know that”. Something along those lines. I literally put the book down and went off to pick up the other book I was reading at the time. I didn’t pick this book up again until the day after. What I really wonder is where the hell did the author get her information from? I’m genuinely curious about this because I know that the author watches a lot of Kdramas so did she do her research base off those dramas or what?

Jason, Sophia and the other Eden boys were more like secondary characters. They all played a major part in helping Grace feel welcome in Korea but for some reason, I always felt as if there was a slight shade between Grace and everyone else. I’m not sure if the author was purposely putting a distinction between the “American” and the “Koreans”. Because it was mentioned a lot. Jason seemed cute and everything but I don’t understand how he managed to put up with Grace in the beginning or how he came to love her. To me, it’s baffling. If anything, being friends would probably be the most I could handle with her.

Another major aspect I want to touch base on is the plot. I read somewhere that if you enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss then this book should be in your TBR list. I found that false. Yes, they both have that chicklit romance thing going on but I found Anna to be far more interesting and realistic than this book. To be perfectly honest, I felt that the author was trying to write some sort of drama here (probably due to her love for Kdramas) but I personally think there is a difference from a book and a drama. I personally think that dramas are much more dramatic than a book and Grace’s hesitancy to be in a relationship and trust Jason seemed much more dramatic than it was necessary. It was drawn out and much too fake and ridiculous. Those little “but I don’t know if I can trust him...” and then she goes off and cries to herself made me want to just give her the “wtf are you doing” face.

Anyways, I still haven’t decided what I want to rate the book because there’s a part of me that really enjoyed the second half (though somewhat cliché) but then there’s a large part of me that hated the first half and more importantly, Grace. (OMG, her mom was also so atrocious and rude to that Korean waitress – for someone who is in the “upper-class” and supposedly more culturally aware from traveling and whatnot, she was so horribly rude. I can see where Grace got her snobbish attitude from.) So right now, I am stuck somewhere in the middle. I guess I would recommend this book to those who aren’t really familiar with the Korean culture because for those who are, this book would just seem much more ignorant and stereotypical than what Korean culture really is all about.