XOXO

In Axie Oh’s XOXO, Jenny has spent the majority of her life with no time for anything other than her cello. However, her life as she knows it drastically changes when she meets K-pop idol Jaewoo. Despite their immediate connection, they are forbidden to date each other and must navigate their new realities.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Jenny and Jaewoo. The novel begins in a very realistic fashion yet true to the YA genre, with both denying their brewing feelings for each other. Not only does Jenny and Jewoo’s relationship develop throughout the novel, the relationships between Jenny and her friends and Jaewoo’s friends also develop slowly and carefully. Some of the friendships are unexpected it helps maintain the book’s pace. Axie Oh spent a long time thickening the book’s plot to make the characters more relatable and exciting. The k-pop backstory integrated makes the novel more culturally detailed and gripping as well, similar to a Kdrama TV show. Overall, XOXO is a fun, cute novel that will transport you to the world of K-pop and a forbidden love as the novel runs its course.