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A review by kindredbooks
XOXO by Axie Oh
5.0
Let’s start with the obvious - the book cover of XOXO is absolutely gorgeous. But even I could not predict that it would be even more breathtakingly beautiful when you took off the dust jacket and revealed the full art covering the actual hardcover of the book. I already had high expectations for the story but the total aesthetics of the physical copy of the book only amped it up and I was really hoping that I wouldn’t be let down.
And I wasn’t. I started XOXO in the afternoon and read throughout the rest of the day. At a certain point of the day, I started feeling a bad headache coming on so I decided to take a break from reading. I figured that I’d just finish the rest of it the next day (I only had about 25% of the book left to read). I took a brief break getting ready for bed… and then I just gravitated right back to my reading chair and decided to power through my headache, finishing the book and having no regrets about doing so. Which is all to say, I literally couldn’t put the book down until I finished it because I felt so invested in the story.
Jenny and Jaewoo just had the cutest vibe going on between the two of them that you wanted to root for them. I found that I was really rooting for Jenny as she was navigating through moving to a new country, making new friends, figuring out her relationship with her mother, and trying to figure out what the deal was going on between her and Jaewoo. It definitely had a lot of Korean drama vibes and I am here for it! Also, just all the descriptions about Seoul and Korean culture had me feeling so nostalgic about the city. I was definitely missing the time I had when I was there for two years as well. Axie Oh does a really good job of describing the vibe and culture - in fact, I am craving all the Korean food at the moment. Jajangmyeon, kimbap, tteokbokki, yummy!
Definitely one of my favourite YA romance reads of the year. Not hard to predict as it’s got everything I like going for it - meet cutes, Seoul, K-pop, Korean food, cute friendships formed. If all of this sounds good, XOXO is the book for you.
And I wasn’t. I started XOXO in the afternoon and read throughout the rest of the day. At a certain point of the day, I started feeling a bad headache coming on so I decided to take a break from reading. I figured that I’d just finish the rest of it the next day (I only had about 25% of the book left to read). I took a brief break getting ready for bed… and then I just gravitated right back to my reading chair and decided to power through my headache, finishing the book and having no regrets about doing so. Which is all to say, I literally couldn’t put the book down until I finished it because I felt so invested in the story.
Jenny and Jaewoo just had the cutest vibe going on between the two of them that you wanted to root for them. I found that I was really rooting for Jenny as she was navigating through moving to a new country, making new friends, figuring out her relationship with her mother, and trying to figure out what the deal was going on between her and Jaewoo. It definitely had a lot of Korean drama vibes and I am here for it! Also, just all the descriptions about Seoul and Korean culture had me feeling so nostalgic about the city. I was definitely missing the time I had when I was there for two years as well. Axie Oh does a really good job of describing the vibe and culture - in fact, I am craving all the Korean food at the moment. Jajangmyeon, kimbap, tteokbokki, yummy!
Definitely one of my favourite YA romance reads of the year. Not hard to predict as it’s got everything I like going for it - meet cutes, Seoul, K-pop, Korean food, cute friendships formed. If all of this sounds good, XOXO is the book for you.