Heart and Seoul is Jen Frederick’s latest novel and the author borrows from her own experiences as a Korean-American adoptee to tell an emotional story full of ups and downs. We follow the main character, Hara, a Korean-American adoptee that decides to go on a journey to her birth country to search for her birth father. However, she discovers more about her roots, her identity, and herself than she imagined before embarking on this trip.

Hara doesn’t have an easy start. When we meet her, she has just lost her adoptive father and after receiving a certain message, she decides to fly to Seoul to find and confront her birth father. However, that does not go as planned and very early on—as in her first day in the city—she discovers a harsh truth that will set her in motion to investigate even more on her birth family. But in the city she also has some heartwarming and fun moments where she gets to learn more about the Korean culture, even if they clash with her American customs. These moments come from her roommates but also from the charming boy she met upon her arrival at the airport… A boy that completely enchanted her.

If we’re being honest, romance is not the main focus of the story, and you certainly will not get a Happily Ever After ending. This is more of a self-discovery journey, the story of a young woman who wants to find herself and her roots, a girl in her 20s that is so desperate to belong. Heart and Seoul focuses a lot more on family relationships and dynamics. It’s about the secrets that people keep from one another thinking they’re protecting each other and themselves. On the romance side, the story is missing something and it can cause mixed feelings on readers as much as it does on the main character. However, the initial friendship between Hara and Yujun is quite sweet and endearing. Yujun teaches Hara a lot about Korean culture and reassures her that she is indeed Korean, which is a part of herself that she had always tried to erase in the past.

Hara’s journey towards finding herself is the main highlight of the book. It’s interesting to see her thoughts on her own identity, on how people perceive her, and also the struggles that adoptees face: how she “looks Korean but feels American”, how she felt too Korean on the outside whilst she lived in America but when she was in Korea she felt too American the moment she opened her mouth, and how she feels this “otherness” no matter where she goes. It’s a very introspective read and the truth is that Hara comes so far throughout the book and her character development is beautiful. She goes from being a timid woman who bottles up her emotions to being a bold, strong, and assertive woman who stands up for herself. What’s also great about this emotional growth is that it goes in hand with Frederick’s writing, since we’re seeing the story from Hara’s POV, we can feel this growth as we read and that’s all thanks to the author’s words and the way she describes and phrases everything.

The other main strong point and highlight of the book is the setting. South Korea is a beautiful country with a rich culture and lots of different customs. Whether you are familiar or not with these, Heart and Seoul will be an enriching read. Seeing Hara navigating through the city of Seoul, the place she was born in but that she knows nothing about, is very interesting: from the city landscapes, to the language itself, the customs (drinking customs, how to address people, etc) and even the way adoption is seen in Korea.

The story itself is also interesting as this is not your usual adoptee story. There are a lot of ups and downs and plot twists that one would not expect, but they keep you hooked and it’s all very intense because Hara is presented with some harsh truths that nobody would find easy to deal with. The story in general has a great pace and flows well; however, the ending does feel a bit abrupt and with a slight lack of resolution on some points. That being said, even if the ending isn’t the one one would hope at the beginning of the book, there is a glimmer of hope as Hara does find some peace with herself.

All in all, full of twists and turns, Heart and Seoul is an addictive, emotional, and tense read that will keep you hooked from the very beginning, much like a K-Drama!

Heart and Seoul is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up Heart and Seoul? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

From USA Today bestselling author Jen Frederick comes a heart-wrenching yet hopeful romance that shows that the price of belonging is often steeper than expected.

As a Korean adoptee, Hara Wilson doesn’t need anyone telling her she looks different from her white parents. She knows. Every time Hara looks in the mirror, she’s reminded that she doesn’t look like anyone else in her family —not her loving mother, Ellen; not her jerk of a father, Pat; and certainly not like Pat’s new wife and new “real” son.

At the age of twenty-five, she thought she had come to terms with it all, but when her father suddenly dies, an offhand comment at his funeral triggers an identity crisis that has her running off to Seoul in search of her roots.

What Hara finds there has all the makings of a classic K-drama: a tall, mysterious stranger who greets her at the airport, spontaneous adventures across the city, and a mess of familial ties, along with a red string of destiny that winds its way around her heart and soul. Hara goes to Korea looking for answers, but what she gets instead is love —a forbidden love that will either welcome Hara home…or destroy her chance of finding one.

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One Small Thing is the newest novel by Erin Watt, the pseudonym for authors Jen Frederick and Elle Kennedy. Previously they have co-written The Royals, a New York Times Bestselling series, and a stand-alone novel, When It’s Real.

This novel follows Beth as she deals with life two years after the passing of her older sister, Rachel. Along with her own issues of struggling with a brand new family structure, overprotective parents, and senior year drama, she meets a mysterious boy who will help her distract herself and be her one well-kept secret. Or so she thinks.

While sneaking away to a party, she meets Chase, a dark figure who has his own problems to deal with at a new school. Beth and Chase will proceed to have what can be considered as a complicated and infuriating romance. It may be so infuriating to some readers that could cause them to shut the book just to take a breath from it all.

Let’s break down why I consider their romance to be so infuriating. Chase isn’t just the new bad boy fresh out of a juvenile detention center, but he is the bad boy fresh out of a juvenile detention center for running Beth’s sister over and killing her. At first, their brief hook-up at the party seems fair, both characters were out of their comfort zone and they didn’t recognise one another initially. However, when school starts and Chase and Beth start sharing classes, they discover who each other really is and Beth is very conflicted. Everyone in school is enraged that they have to go to school with Chase and all vow to protect Beth and keep her away from him. Even Chase apologises and runs away when he realises her identity and the role he played in the death of her sister. Except Beth keeps insisting that she might have feelings for Chase, mainly it has something to do with the fact that she lost her virginity to him. This seems to reinforce the standard of virginity and the value that is put on a belief of the purity involved in women’s sexuality.

Chase seems detached through a majority of the book and doesn’t seem to care about spending too much thinking about Beth. In fact, at no point throughout the novel do we get to really gauge how he feels about Beth, other than regret for her sister’s death. He just got out of juvie and therefore has other things on his mind, mostly that everyone at school hates him for killing a fellow student. It is explained further on in the book that it was, in fact, an accident and that Rachel had run out onto the street. That being said, Chase was recklessly driving a stolen car, so he’s not a super great guy to begin with.

It’s a cute romance, and I like the idea of it being an against all odds love story, but this book is very problematic. The fact that the main couple of the story start off as both being reckless and then continue on being full of regret and apprehension. For most of it, Beth has repressed emotions about her sister’s passing and feels like her parents will forever make her live in her shadow. Along with that, Chase and Beth spend a good portion of their relationship being triggered by the mention of her dead sister. This significant subject was completely avoided, although it was a very important subject in their relationship, and in fact really the only reason they connected at all. The only time Rachel’s death is addressed is during a secret meet-up between Beth and Chase. Beth breaks down about her loss and cries at the fact that her sister abandoned her. After a few minutes, Chase tries to console her, but then realises, “Your sister never left you, Beth. I took her from you.” Chase then runs away whilst Beth is left having a breakdown. This is not the portrayal of a happy long-term relationship or a relationship that can be in any way successful.

We’ve all had our guilty pleasure readings, especially when it comes to contemporary love novels. At some point though, the YA genre began to be filled with these ridiculous love dramas that are not helpful and instead portray problematic relationships and disguise it as love stories. A love story should not be a girl rebelling against her family and friends then finding happiness by completely leaving them all behind. Nor should it be a relationship built on secrets and hurt, and a lot of repressed guilt. This is the story of two characters that were damaged with a lot of emotional baggage that gets resolved by running away to another state and starting a new life together.

All in all, this book is a short nice read and this book definitely still has its moments, and they were good, funny and heartwarming at times. It might be infuriating, and definitely should make you question its problematic plot as a reader. As with all books, we want to find ourselves in the characters, especially in their flaws. Instead, what is done by Erin Watt is a transmission of two overly traumatised characters that solve their problems by being awkwardly pushed together and labelled as love. The reader is left wondering, is that really what love is supposed to look like? If the YA genre and its authors keep insisting it is, maybe we should all take a hard pass.

One Small Thing is out now and can be found on Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.

Have you read One Small Thing? Will you be checking it out? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Her parents try to lock her down, believing they can keep her safe by monitoring her every move. When Beth sneaks out to a party one night and meets the new guy in town, Chase, she’s thrilled to make a secret friend. It seems a small thing, just for her.

Only Beth doesn’t know how big her secret really is…

Fresh out of juvie and determined to start his life over, Chase has demons to face and much to atone for, including his part in the night Beth’s sister died. Beth, who has more reason than anyone to despise him, is willing to give him a second chance. A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for senior year, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings get.

Now Beth has a choice to make—follow the rules, or risk tearing everything apart…again.

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