Seoulmates by Jen Frederick | Book Review
Penguin Random House
Seoulmates by Jen Frederick
About the Book: When Hara Wilson lands in Seoul to find her birth mother, she doesn’t plan on falling in love with the first man she lays eyes on, but Choi Yujun is irresistible. If his broad shoulders and dimples weren’t
enough, Choi Yujun is the most genuine, decent, gorgeous guy to exist. Too bad he’s also her stepbrother.
Fate brought her to the Choi doorstep but the gift of family comes with burdens. A job in her mother’s company has perks of endless company dinners and super resentful coworkers. A new country means
learning a new language which twenty-five year old Hara is finding to be a Herculean task. A forbidden love means having to choose between her birth family or Choi Yujun.
All Hara wanted was to find a place to belong in this world—but in order to have it all, she’ll have to risk it all.
Review
Don’t judge a book by its cover about this story of boyfriend to brother. You read that right. At first, I was initially intrigued by the cute cover of this and the main character being a Korean transnational adoptee. Other than that, this story took a wild turn. On the first page alone, Hara Wilson is attempting to navigate her job in Korea, saying the words “ovary comradery” in a cringey admittance to women supporting other woman. Then she complained about being a nepo-baby as her birth mother was the CEO said high-profile company and the only reason she had the job in the first place. She couldn’t help but fall in love with Choi Yujun but things get complicated when it turns out he is her stepbrother.
The story was convoluted and confusing in the way that should be reserved for Game of Thrones or the Royal Family. I am not sure who to root for in this book because everyone seems quite two-dimensional. Perhaps the most interesting thing is the group of coworkers that are at odds with Hara as she bumbles around as a privileged nepo-baby American. I wouldn’t pick this one up again.