Somewhere Only We Know by Maureen Goo

*Spoiler free*

10 00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger. 11 00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She’s very cute. He’s maybe curious. 12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same.

This was actually my first Maureen Goo book! I know a lot of people love her contemporaries and I’ve been wanting to read them! I have one on my shelf, but I was lucky enough to win a giveaway (thank you Fierce Reads!) for this one! I don’t know much about K-pop, but I have seen it here and there and it looks awesome! So, this book sounded like it would be awesome too.

I understand why people love Goo’s other books. Her writing is really good. It was easy to read, the characters were relatable, and everything felt very real.

Because I’m a dork, I actually didn’t read the synopsis of this one. I saw K-pop and a chance encounter with a reporter and pretty much left it at that haha. I thought I had looked up more, but I guess not. So, I didn’t realize this would be a book where everything happens in a very short amount of time. For me personally, I’m not the biggest fan of those books. It’s just not my cup of tea and I think it affected my enjoyment of this book.

I actually enjoyed the shortness of it! I always feel like the emotions are off with so little time for development, but it was really good. Lucky and Jack’s relationship was fast, but deep and I really like how they connected. It felt natural and honest and really good. Though, I do think I would have liked it more if it took place over a longer period of time. I think certain aspects could have been highlighted more and made the story stronger.

There is a lot jammed packed into around 36ish hours (I think?). While things did flow smoothly, some stuff kinda got caught in the current. Lucky struggles with anxiety, but it’s a very small subplot and there were instances where I felt like it could have been discussed or fleshed out more. I also would have liked to see Jack’s emotional journey a bit more than I did. I guess the point was about them coming together and growing from that, which I can appreciate!

I loved that this book was set in Hong Kong. So many YA books are set in the US and it was amazing to be in a different country! I liked seeing this setting and all the food!

Overall, this wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was a fun, enjoyable book! I know a lot of people are going to love it!

Somewhere Only We Know comes out May 7th, 2019! You can add it on GoodReads and pre-order a copy in the meantime!

Thank you for reading!