michelle (magical reads)'s Reviews > I Believe in a Thing Called Love
I Believe in a Thing Called Love
by
rep: Korean-American protagonist and side characters, lesbian Mexican-American side character; (Korean-American author)
cw: mentions of death of a parent (mother)
I've been waiting to read I Believe in a Thing Called Love since I first heard about it, and after (finally) reading it, I was not disappointed. This book was so cute and fun to read! It's definitely one of my favorites this year.
Desi Lee is a high school senior awaiting her acceptance from Stanford, the university where her deceased mother went to. Her dad is addicted to Korean dramas, but Desi finds them cliche and annoying. Desi is the girl who does everything: student body president, soccer team president, etc. However, she's never had a boyfriend, a fact that she decides to change when she meets Luca, a new (hot!) student who's a well-known artist. Desi enlists the formulaic plotlines of her dad's favorite, K-dramas, to help her win Luca over.
First off, I LOVE DESI, okay. She's hardworking and doesn't let anything get in her way, truly a girl after my own heart. Usually I'm not really about those Asian characters who are super smart overachievers, blah blah blah, because of the stereotypes surrounding Asians, but I think Maurene Goo writes Desi as a real person, not just a two dimensional, flat character. Goo also writes Luca as a real teenage boy too; he's not some perfect love interest who has no flaws. His actions are actually things a teenage boy would do. I loved Desi's friends, Fiona and Wes, and their willingness to help her with her K-drama plan. Also, Fiona is a latina lesbian and is never treated like, OH MY GOD A LESBIAN.
The book is so well written too; Desi writes a list of steps to follow for her plan, and the chapters follow these. In fact, even after Desi and Luca start dating, the chapters still follow the steps, which is a clear example of the well-thought-out structure of the whole book. I loved all the direct references to the K-dramas too. I always smiled whenever I saw one that I recognized (although I've only watched a couple; my ability to watch is pretty much limited to whatever's on Netflix :/). Another part that I really related to was when Desi sees Violet's (another Korean character) parents and thinks, now I have to act all Korean now. This is honestly me whenever I see Vietnamese parents, especially because I don't speak Vietnamese and don't really know how to greet people properly without my parents.
I was a little put off by some of Desi's drastic measures; some of them seemed to go way too far, but she recognized this at least. I was a little upset by her and Violet's relationship and the lack of actually really making up. So yeah, the book had a couple of :/ things, but I still love it so much.
I Believe in a Thing Called Love is one of the cutest books that I've read this year! I got to attend a panel earlier this year where Maurene Goo talked about the importance of writing books with people of color and not focusing the whole story on them being of color. She definitely wrote this book with that in mind, and I am so happy she did! If you're a fan of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before, you should definitely check this book out.
by
michelle (magical reads)'s review
bookshelves: 2017, reviews, 2017-again, 2018, 2022
Jun 18, 2017
bookshelves: 2017, reviews, 2017-again, 2018, 2022
Read 4 times. Last read May 19, 2022.
read on my blog
rep: Korean-American protagonist and side characters, lesbian Mexican-American side character; (Korean-American author)
cw: mentions of death of a parent (mother)
I've been waiting to read I Believe in a Thing Called Love since I first heard about it, and after (finally) reading it, I was not disappointed. This book was so cute and fun to read! It's definitely one of my favorites this year.
Desi Lee is a high school senior awaiting her acceptance from Stanford, the university where her deceased mother went to. Her dad is addicted to Korean dramas, but Desi finds them cliche and annoying. Desi is the girl who does everything: student body president, soccer team president, etc. However, she's never had a boyfriend, a fact that she decides to change when she meets Luca, a new (hot!) student who's a well-known artist. Desi enlists the formulaic plotlines of her dad's favorite, K-dramas, to help her win Luca over.
First off, I LOVE DESI, okay. She's hardworking and doesn't let anything get in her way, truly a girl after my own heart. Usually I'm not really about those Asian characters who are super smart overachievers, blah blah blah, because of the stereotypes surrounding Asians, but I think Maurene Goo writes Desi as a real person, not just a two dimensional, flat character. Goo also writes Luca as a real teenage boy too; he's not some perfect love interest who has no flaws. His actions are actually things a teenage boy would do. I loved Desi's friends, Fiona and Wes, and their willingness to help her with her K-drama plan. Also, Fiona is a latina lesbian and is never treated like, OH MY GOD A LESBIAN.
The book is so well written too; Desi writes a list of steps to follow for her plan, and the chapters follow these. In fact, even after Desi and Luca start dating, the chapters still follow the steps, which is a clear example of the well-thought-out structure of the whole book. I loved all the direct references to the K-dramas too. I always smiled whenever I saw one that I recognized (although I've only watched a couple; my ability to watch is pretty much limited to whatever's on Netflix :/). Another part that I really related to was when Desi sees Violet's (another Korean character) parents and thinks, now I have to act all Korean now. This is honestly me whenever I see Vietnamese parents, especially because I don't speak Vietnamese and don't really know how to greet people properly without my parents.
I was a little put off by some of Desi's drastic measures; some of them seemed to go way too far, but she recognized this at least. I was a little upset by her and Violet's relationship and the lack of actually really making up. So yeah, the book had a couple of :/ things, but I still love it so much.
I Believe in a Thing Called Love is one of the cutest books that I've read this year! I got to attend a panel earlier this year where Maurene Goo talked about the importance of writing books with people of color and not focusing the whole story on them being of color. She definitely wrote this book with that in mind, and I am so happy she did! If you're a fan of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before, you should definitely check this book out.
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Quotes michelle (magical reads) Liked
“I believed, and still believe, that you can build your dreams brick by brick. That you can accomplish anything with persistence.”
― I Believe in a Thing Called Love
― I Believe in a Thing Called Love
Reading Progress
September 28, 2016
– Shelved
September 28, 2016
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 17, 2017
–
Started Reading
June 17, 2017
–
22.32%
""When it's a /girl/ making dramatic gestures for a guy, it's /creepy/."
go OFF, desi!!"
page
75
go OFF, desi!!"
June 18, 2017
– Shelved as:
2017
June 18, 2017
– Shelved as:
reviews
June 18, 2017
–
Finished Reading
August 1, 2017
–
Started Reading
August 1, 2017
–
7.44%
""Luca. Who the hell was actually named Luca?"
well, based on the sheer amount of hot luca's/luka's in YA lit, a lot"
page
25
well, based on the sheer amount of hot luca's/luka's in YA lit, a lot"
August 3, 2017
– Shelved as:
2017-again
August 3, 2017
–
Finished Reading
June 15, 2018
–
Started Reading
June 15, 2018
– Shelved as:
2018
June 15, 2018
–
Finished Reading
May 19, 2022
–
Started Reading
May 19, 2022
– Shelved as:
2022
May 19, 2022
–
Finished Reading