Thank you so much to the publishers, Harper360, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out—the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends.
But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do—he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs.
But someone who does know K-dramas—so well that he’s actually starring in one—is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs… that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.
After reading a lot of mystery books I was in the mood for a romance book. So, I picked up Seoulmates and thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. It is a lovely friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story.
Hannah Cho has her next year all planned out. That is until her now ex-boyfriend dumps her, claiming they have nothing in common. In particular the fact that Hannah doesn’t enjoy K-dramas.
Someone who does know K-dramas is Hannah’s former best friend, Jacob, who is actually a K-drama star. He is desperate for a break from fame, so a family trip back to San Diego is just what he needs. Hopefully Hannah and Jacob can figure out what made their friendship fall apart and navigate the new feelings they have.
Hannah and Jacob are excellent main characters. I enjoyed that this story is told from dual POVs. We get to see Hannah’s perspective of a situation and then Jacob’s perspective. I always like dual POV as it gives a bit more of an idea on both characters feelings and thoughts about the same events.
Hannah and Jacob are well-rounded characters with so many relatable layers. I was rooting for the pair of them the entire way through. Also, their mothers being best friends was adorable and I loved their part in the book.
At times, I struggled with the K-drama and K-pop references. I’ve never watched or listen to either. That being said, Susan Lee does a lovely job of explaining everything to the readers.
This book is similar in my opinion to XOXO in the way it tackles a number of things and also in its storyline. For that reason I found myself comparing the two whilst I was reading. Unfortunately, I felt that XOXO told the similar story in a better way. That does not mean that I didn’t enjoy this one though. I will be picking up more books by Susan Lee in the future as I did enjoy her writing.
Overall, I would recommend Seoulmates to all those looking for a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers YA with K-drama references throughout. It is a lovely romance story that I’m sure many people will enjoy.
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