Author: Katie M. Stout
Genre: YA, contemporary
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: June 9, 2015
304 pages, hardcover
Check out the full synopsis on Goodreads.
Hello, I Love You was really cute. Grace is running away from her family, and she decides to head to the complete opposite side of the planet to a school in Korea, where she meets a Korean musician who is brooding and…even rude at times. Grace has to navigate a country and culture completely different from her own as well as potential love.
When I first finished this book I was kind of…angry? Grace is not a nice person. She was ignorant, patronizing, judgmental, and just flat out rude to a lot of the people around her because they were different than her. Now that I’ve had time to think about it though, I realize that a lot of that was because of how she was raised – her family shaped her and influenced her thoughts on other cultures. While I do think she began to break out of that by the end of the novel, I don’t think it was quite as much as I wanted her to. But it was a start.
The romance was cute at times. I got a little annoyed by Jason (the love interest) as he continued to flip flop about his feelings and I wanted to reach in and shake him. Well, honestly, both Grace and Jason were hot and cold for each other throughout the novel. There were several times when I questioned WHY they even liked each other. However, this did kind of remind me of KDramas a LOT, which I know Katie is a big fan of, so I guess it makes sense.
I wouldn’t recommend this book to you if you think this a book about KPop or Korean culture because those themes are almost non-existent. Differences in American and Korean culture/customs/food/etc. were mentioned occasionally but not explored in depth like I was hoping. I was pretty disappointed with that. However, if you’re looking for a book that really resembles a KDrama (emphasis on the drama bit), Hello, I Love You is for YOU! The end of the book will give you all the feels.
Rating: 5.5 – take it or leave it (some people could really dig this one)
Caught Read Handed 
I’ve been really disappointed seeing reviews about this one although I’m glad to hear it was still mostly a good read for you. I recommended this book before it was published to a friend who is a big KPop/KDrama fan. Your review reminds me that I should follow up and see how she felt about it.
Let me know what she thought if you ask her. I’d be interested to know.
I’m a lover of all things KPOP but still really enjoyed this book. It’s written sort of like a Kdrama so I found that really fun and flirty.
It definitely did remind me quite a bit of KDramas, and there WERE parts of the book I did enjoy. I just don’t think it was really “KPOP” inspired, like it was advertised.
That I can completely agree with.