Overall: 3/5
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Characters: 3/5
Entertainment: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Storytelling: 3/5
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Recommend: Yes
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*Minor Spoiler*
I found this book to be entertaining and an easy read.
I thought the budding romance between the lead characters was organic and well-paced, but the multiple break-ups were tiring. However, I thought their last reconciliation came together nicely.

I really enjoyed the Stand In by Lily Chu which inspired me to listen to this book. I loved the little nods to the Stand In that were present in this book. However, I feel like this book was too long which made it kind of repetitive. Within the last 10 chapters I found myself really losing interest. I loved Hannah & thought Phoebe was an awesome character to help show Ari's character growth. Overall I liked the book but felt it was just too long. 

Honestly, it was okay.
But God the protagonist was annoying!
It didn't help that the plot was absolutely predictable and the characters took forever to make the choices I already knew they were going to make.
I do give it a point though, for the important issues this book brings to light. Racism, the feeling of inadequacy that comes from looking like you come from a culture you've never known, the abuse and exploitation of the music industry. All of that is very important and was treated with the care and respect it deserves throughout this book. I'll give it that much.
But that's basically all I liked. The rest of the time I just wanted everything to move along and everyone was dragging their feet to the inevitable and quite obvious destination.
Excellent narrator though!
All in all, I didn't hate it. But I won't be reading any other works from this author.

The first 3/4s of this book had me giggling and kicking my feet like a little girl. It was so stinking cute. I loved the Stand-In and I wasn't sure if this was going to be for me, but it was adorable. 

I got a bit frustrated with Ari's inability to communicate toward the end. I wanted to scream at her to just talk about it before making rash decisions, but that was a big part of her personality, so I can hardly blame Lily Chu for the choice.

A wonderful story.
Light enough to not feel stifling, serious enough to not come off as irrelevant. 

A great read for people who love KPop and want a light love story that's not dumbed down. 

I enjoyed the romance between Ari & Jihoon, and how it started slowly but grew quickly due to their sudden roommate situation. They're both loveable, sweet though flawed characters and their story is more than how they come together but how they also grow as people. This is my second Lily Chu book and, so far, I love how she writes grounded characters in outlandish set-ups.

As in The Stand-In, The Comeback also has a subplot centred around family dynamics and in this book Ari has to deal with her strained relationship with her older sister and managing the expectations of her workaholic father. I mostly enjoyed this subplot as well though I was hoping for a more cathartic confrontation between Ari and her older sister Phoebe. 

To be blunt: Phoebe came off as a hypocrite when she was calling out Ari's issues. I get that the focus is on Ari's growth and Phoebe's presence & tough love are supposed to push that but all I could think was "Who is Phoebe to get on Ari's case? Also, Ari's not wrong in reading Phoebe's comments as judgment because they read like passive-aggressive judgment and are condescending". 

Hana also has a similar role, being the friend to push Ari out of her comfort zone and voice certain truths Ari doesn't want to hear. I think Hana does it better because she's more respectful of Ari's boundaries and less dismissive compared to Phoebe. So I feel like this role could have just been filled by Hana rather than dividing it between Hana & Phoebe.

Even with that minor issue, it was still an enjoyable read and an interesting look at the world of K-pop. I've already added Chu's next book to my TBR and can't wait to read more of her work.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked that it’s set in the same universe as The Stand In and I liked that made me fall in love with Toronto even more.

I think Ariadne as a character is AWESOME. Her motivations just make sense and I liked that I never thought she was stupid for feeling something or for having a particular reaction. 

The reason I gave it 3.75 stars however, is because the main love interest wasn’t that interesting to me and I felt like I questioned why he was worth a lot of the madness. I get falling for someone though and I’m sure in the in between parts we didn’t see, their love flourished more beyond him finding her smart and pretty and her doing the same.

I honestly was way more invested in the story between Ariadne and Phoebe, Ariadne and her father, Hana and her mother, etc. 

I also felt like the ending dragged a bit. I wanted to see them be happy sooner. 

I still really enjoyed it.