Résumé :
When her friends gift her a 23-and-Me test as a gag, high school senior Chloe Kang doesn’t think much of trying it out. She doesn’t believe anything will come of it—she’s an only child, her mother is an orphan, and her father died in Seoul before she was even born, and before her mother moved to Oklahoma. It’s been just Chloe and her mom her whole life. But the DNA test reveals something Chloe never expected—she’s got a whole extended family from her father’s side half a world away in Korea. Her father's family are owners of a famous high-end department store, and are among the richest families in Seoul. When they learn she exists, they are excited to meet her. Her mother has huge reservations; she hasn’t had a great relationship with her husband’s family, which is why she’s kept them secret, but she can’t stop Chloe from travelling to Seoul to spend two weeks getting to know the Noh family.
Chloe is whisked into the lap of luxury, but something feels wrong. Chloe wants to shake it off—she’s busy enjoying the delights of Seoul with new friend Miso Dan, the daughter of one of her mother’s grade school friends. And as an aspiring fashion designer, she's loving the couture clothes her department store owning family gives her access to. But soon Chloe will discover the reason why her mother never told her about her dad’s family, and why the Nohs wanted her in Seoul in the first place. Could joining the Noh family be worse than having no family at all?
Mon avis :
Anglais :
I wanted to enjoy this story so bad but sadly it didn't happen. I'm not saying it wasn't likable; it just wasn't very memorable.
It was basically, the script of a badly written K-Drama.
The overall idea of the plot was great. It's typically the kind of story I love to read so although the "long-lost family" trope is extremely overused and cliché, it didn't really discourage me from reading the novel.
The plot was very straightforward and unsurprising. It was pretty predictable. The story has so little action, at one point I was contemplating stopping my reading.
Chloe, the main character, was too naive for her own good. I get that's the entire point of the story, she's supposed to be idealistic and trustful and because of that, she ends up being wronged and disappointed by her newfound family blablabla... But still, even if it was done on purpose, it was painful to read! She lacks any sense of rationality, or skepticism and just makes stupid choices one after another and it gets boring very quickly. To be completely honest, I didn't like Chloe.
As for the other characters, I wish they were more developed they were too flat; really they all did, even the antagonists. They were bland and ridiculous as well. Their ultimate goal is to make Chloe stay in Korea, yet they don't put any effort to do so. Respect is not in their vocabulary. The shit they do Chloe is so lame. They are the epitome of selfish assholes. In fact, if I were her, I wouldn't have stayed with those people for even a week. Being treated like trash isn't really my vibe you know...
Now, let's talk about one of the most disappointing part of this book. The romance.
The love interest, Mr. Kim, is almost nonexistent. I genuinely feel like we see him 5 times, no more no less. Being marketed as K-Drama-like book, I was expecting it to have way more romance in it because for me romance is a big part of what makes a K-Drama a K-drama. Maybe it's just my misunderstanding...
Don't get me wrong, I get why the romance didn't play a much bigger part in the plot, the focus of the story was the family dynamic.
For me, either you put romance in your book and you do it right, or you don't. Here, it feels like the author started to develop her romance but gave up the idea halfway through the book.
Overall, the story felt unfinished even if an explanation was given for the behaviors of some characters, there are parts of the plot that ended on dead ends. The book really had potential, but sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations.
I can conclude this review by simply saying: Interesting premise, but fell flat, not enough drama vibes.
It was basically, the script of a badly written K-Drama.
The overall idea of the plot was great. It's typically the kind of story I love to read so although the "long-lost family" trope is extremely overused and cliché, it didn't really discourage me from reading the novel.
The plot was very straightforward and unsurprising. It was pretty predictable. The story has so little action, at one point I was contemplating stopping my reading.
Chloe, the main character, was too naive for her own good. I get that's the entire point of the story, she's supposed to be idealistic and trustful and because of that, she ends up being wronged and disappointed by her newfound family blablabla... But still, even if it was done on purpose, it was painful to read! She lacks any sense of rationality, or skepticism and just makes stupid choices one after another and it gets boring very quickly. To be completely honest, I didn't like Chloe.
As for the other characters, I wish they were more developed they were too flat; really they all did, even the antagonists. They were bland and ridiculous as well. Their ultimate goal is to make Chloe stay in Korea, yet they don't put any effort to do so. Respect is not in their vocabulary. The shit they do Chloe is so lame. They are the epitome of selfish assholes. In fact, if I were her, I wouldn't have stayed with those people for even a week. Being treated like trash isn't really my vibe you know...
Now, let's talk about one of the most disappointing part of this book. The romance.
The love interest, Mr. Kim, is almost nonexistent. I genuinely feel like we see him 5 times, no more no less. Being marketed as K-Drama-like book, I was expecting it to have way more romance in it because for me romance is a big part of what makes a K-Drama a K-drama. Maybe it's just my misunderstanding...
Don't get me wrong, I get why the romance didn't play a much bigger part in the plot, the focus of the story was the family dynamic.
For me, either you put romance in your book and you do it right, or you don't. Here, it feels like the author started to develop her romance but gave up the idea halfway through the book.
Overall, the story felt unfinished even if an explanation was given for the behaviors of some characters, there are parts of the plot that ended on dead ends. The book really had potential, but sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations.
I can conclude this review by simply saying: Interesting premise, but fell flat, not enough drama vibes.
Français :
Étant une grande amatrice de K-dramas, j'étais super contente de trouver ce livre mais je suis désolée de dire que je n'ai absolument pas aimé cette histoire... Je voulais tellement aimer ce bouqin mais malheureusement ça n'a pas été le cas.
On dirait le scénario d'un K-Drama mal écrit.
L'idée générale de l'intrigue était excellente. C'est typiquement le genre d'histoire que j'aime lire, alors même si le trope de la "famille perdue" est extrêmement surutilisé et cliché, cela ne m'a pas vraiment découragée de lire le roman.
L'intrigue était très simple et sans surprise. C'était assez prévisible. L'histoire a si peu d'action qu'à un moment j'ai même envisagé d'arrêter ma lecture.
Chloé, le personnage principal, était trop naïve pour son propre bien. Je comprends que c'est tout l'intérêt de l'histoire, elle est censée être idéaliste et ne voit que le bien dans l'être humain mais à cause de cela, elle finit par être lésée et déçue par sa nouvelle famille blablabla... Mais même si c'était fait exprès c'était pénible à lire ! Elle n'a aucun sens de la rationnalité, elle vit clairement dans le monde des bisounours, et fait des choix stupides les uns après les autres et ça devient très vite ennuyeux. Pour être tout à fait honnête, je n'ai absolument pas apprécié Chloé.
Quant aux autres personnages, j'aurais aimé qu'ils soient plus développés, ils sont plats, ils n'ont aucun attrait réel. On aurait dit des personnages en 2D, ils disaient leurs dialogues mais il n'y avait aucune originalité derrière ces personnages... Et vraiment, ils sont pratiquement tous mous, même les antagonistes. Ils étaient fades et ridicules aussi. Leur but ultime est de faire en sorte que Chloé reste en Corée, mais ils ne font aucun effort pour y parvenir. Le respect ne fait pas partie de leur vocabulaire. Les embrouilles dans lequelles ils mettent Chloé sont tellement nulles et malsaines. Ils sont la quintessence des connards égoïstes. En vrai, si j'étais à sa place, je ne serais pas restée avec ces gens ne serait-ce qu'une semaine. Être traitée comme un déchet n'est pas vraiment mon délire...
Parlons maintenant de l'une des parties les plus décevantes de ce livre. La romance.
Le mec, M. Kim, est presque inexistant. J'ai vraiment l'impression qu'on le voit 5 fois, ni plus ni moins. Étant commercialisé comme un livre de type K-Drama, je m'attendais à ce qu'il contienne beaucoup plus de romance, car pour moi, la romance est une grande partie de ce qui fait d'un K-Drama un K-Drama. C'est peut-être juste mon cas...
Ne vous méprenez pas, je comprends pourquoi la romance ne joue pas un rôle beaucoup plus important dans l'intrigue, le focus de l'histoire est sur la dynamique familiale.
Pour moi, soit vous mettez de la romance dans votre livre et vous le faites bien, soit vous n'en mettez pas. Ici, on a l'impression que l'auteure a commencée à développer sa romance mais a abandonné l'idée à mi-chemin du livre.
Dans l'ensemble, l'histoire semble inachevée. Il y a des parties de l'intrigue qui se terminent sans applications, même si quelques-unes sont donées pour le comportement de certains personnages, Le livre avait vraiment du potentiel, mais malheureusement il n'a pas été à la hauteur de mes attentes.
Je peux conclure cette critique en disant simplement : Prémisse intéressante, mais tombée à plat, pas assez d'action, pas assez "K-Drama vibe".
Seulement disponible en anglais !