I couldn’t get into this story as much as I would have liked! Her other book The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea was my top read of 2022 so maybe I went in with too many expectations. The love story felt too fast paced and one dimensional. And the characters didn’t feel totally developed. Personally, I think the story would have been stronger if the side characters Ama and Alex had been the main characters. I loved the giant robot/Pacific Rim energy though!

Love is a country. It’s vast and endless and full of an unbreakable hope. Maybe this love is a love that’s worth dying for, I don’t know. All I know is that it’s worth living for, again and again.

Rebel Seoul is a romantic dystopian novel set in futuristic South Korea where war wages in different states. This has been pegged as, "Pacific Rim meets Korean action drama." It's similar to Pacific Rim in a way, it's set in a world where war is their norm. Like Jaegars, they have invented a mankind developed weapons. Though, the similarities end there. It's more truthful to Korean drama.

The characters are fleshed out, you couldn't help but root for all of them. They're the heart of the story. There's a great buildup on their writing and camaraderie which is my most favorite thing. I love the tone of the novel. It's equally heartwarming, funny, and heartbreaking at the same time. Even though it can be gritty and dark, it's constructed very lightly. I love all of the characters and I hope they all get a book of their own at some point.

Of course, this review wouldn't end without me gushing about romance. There's not only one romance there are two. CATHCT THAT. It's both forbidden trope as well. *cries in despair* I want more of them especially the second top. This is why I need a sequel.

Overall: I love love Rebel Seoul. It contains everything I want in a book. There's found-family dynamics, fleshed out writing, romance. It's a perfect homage to my love for K-drama.

I loved this a lot.

I think I bought it on a friend's rec, but I ended up enjoying it so much more than I expected. See, giant robots aren't really my jam. But in this book, I loved it. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the robots are much less important than the characters, and characters are almost always the most important things to me.

I loved loved loved the characters here. Tera and Jaewon are one of the only straight ships I care about (sorry, not sorry?). I loved that we got an unapologetically physically stronger female character. There was a lot of saving each other and thinking it's hot (on both sides). It was just a really good relationship AND it wasn't actually a big romance-y book. There's definitely romance here, but it's subtle and doesn't take over the plot. It was really really lovely.

The side characters are as good as the main ones. I loved Ama and Young, and ended up loving Alex so much more than I thought I would (arrogant rich boy who makes terrible decisions from the very start). I'm super excited about Rogue Heart because he'll be more important in there!

Friendships and family were also very important, and that's definitely My Thing. So you get what I liked the book. Good characters, solid focus on platonic relationship, excellent romance that isn't the main subplot. It was just. Really great.

The plot and wolrdbuilding were a lot of fun too! It had a lot of classic dystopian-ish "rebellion against an authoritarian regime" premises and beats, but it managed to be really original in the execution.

Honestly, my only problems were: some cisnormative language & the fact that I guessed a lot of the twists. It didn't make the book any less enjoyable, though.

TW: cisnormativity, violence/blood/death, human experiments, child abuse, mention of parental death, gang violence, alcohol, drugs.

Read my review at Bookish Adventures.

That was a fun dystopian set in Seoul with a military dictatorship and giant robots. The characters and romance were well done. The battle scenes were fun and did not drag too long. The ending felt complete even as it clearly is part of a series. I liked all the main characters and how there were surprises along the way.

4.5 stars

well.

2.5 /5

Really disppointed that I didn't like this one.

Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.

This book was enjoyable, but missed the mark for me on a few levels. The synopsis promised Pacific Rim meets K-Drama, and I definitely picked this book up for the Pacific Rim part, as I don't watch K-Dramas. I think this book would be so much better for people who do watch them, but I found the teen drama/lovesick parts a little much. I did enjoy the big robot fights though.

4.50