Made in Korea by Sarah Suk Book Review

“The air was charged between us, silent static like the moment when the conductor raises his baton, right before the music begins. The moment that says, Hold your breath. The show’s about to start.

Ms. Jackson lifted her arms, the wings of her astronaut suit rising with her.

‘Let the sales begin!'”

(pg. 75)

About

Author: Sarah Suk (pronounced sou-k)

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance

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Synopsis

There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris.

Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover…

What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor.

Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for.

But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To the business minded,

When I was in high school, people would sell food under the table—literally and figuratively—and if the school caught you, you had to go to the principal’s office because it was a big no no. Honestly, everyone still did it anyway. I remember distinctly that I sat in the seller’s corner where a person could buy musubi’s, brownies, chocolate bars, or candy 😂. Gosh, that was such a fun time! The best part was because I sat in that corner, I got free samples all the time because the sellers were my friends. But you know, my friends sold food because they were trying to make money—I respected their hustle.

I just never understood why it was contraband in our school because selling things teaches valuable business skills—-selling appropriate things, of course.

Suffice to say, I liked that Valerie and Wes’s school allowed them to sell products. The school was teaching life lessons to its students and I respect that. I think schools should allow students to sell things under the permission of the school and with mentor support. My friends just sold whatever whenever 🤪, but it would have been funner and more meaningful for them if our school supported student ran businesses. Anyway, I really liked that aspect of the story.

But the one thing that kept popping into my mind with the businesses going on was WHERE THE HECK did these kids get all this money to buy K-beauty products???!!!!?! 🤪

A sis wants to know!

When I was in high school I didn’t have any money, yet alone enough money to buy makeup products each week. Makeup costs a foot and a hand these days! These students were RICH or something because gosh knows K-beauty products had to be even more expensive! I know Valerie, Charlie, Wes, and Paulina gave discounts because their products came indirectly and some of their products were small, so they probably didn’t cost a lot, but still . . . how much were these entrepreneurs charging???? I bet they could have jacked up the prices and people would still buy 😏

I respect the hustle.

I respect Valerie. . . to an extent.

I respected Valeria as a business woman—-an icon, a guru, a passionate, dedicated future entrepreneur. I love to see it 👏🏼!! I loved how she knew what she was doing with her business—-making deals sound like steals, knowing her customers, knowing her products, social media marketing, and sticking to her morals and values. You couldn’t say she wasn’t devoted to her business because it brought her passion and happiness—-I do think that as much as her businesses started out to achieve a goal, she really found herself enjoying what she was doing. I would have liked to see more of that though—that connection or emotion of Valerie feeling intrinsically happy with her business or loving doing business. Because I don’t know if she liked business entirely because it was a way for her to prove herself or because she genuinely liked it over time. I’m thinking the latter, but again, I would have loved to explore more of that. I think she will start a wonderful and thriving business in the future. Honestly, I also would have loved to explore why Valerie was into selling K-beauty products. I know Charlie’s dad sent them samples to sell, but I think people sell things that they have a connection or a liking to. I would have liked some moments of Valerie putting on a face mask or using her products to do her makeup so we could see how much she believed in the products she sold. It would have also been cooler if she made her own K-beauty or her own beauty products in general. Maybe that’s her larger goal? I think that would be cool for her.

But Valerie started her business to save enough money to take her Halmeoni to Paris. I loved loved loved that because it emphasized the relationship Valerie had with her grandma. The Grandma’s greatest dream was to travel the world, specifically Paris, which I can completely understand. I mean, it’ s Paris! I loved that Valerie wanted to do something sweet for her Halmeoni 💙. But there was also the underlying reason: Her mom SUCKED 🙃.

How many books do I have to read to get to good parents?????? 😂 I mean, what is in the fictional air with all these parents who suck butt.

Would it hurt anyone to support their children these days and not treat them like trash 🤪. It’s the bare minimum people! Gosh, if I ever become that parent, someone write a story about me because I need to slap myself upside the head to come back to reality so I can be a good parent one day.

Here’s the thing, I understand why Valerie and Wes’s parents weren’t supportive of them nor were the kindest people. But it doesn’t excuse not supporting their child or being the adult to talk things through. I just don’t feel like it’s fair to place expectations, pressures, or condescension on a child just because they are not living out what a parent wants for them. It’s a kid’s life, let them live! Let them do what they want and if a parent can do anything, be there for the child to encourage their dreams and passions because that’s their CHOICE.

If I had a dollar for every parent I read in a book that tried to vicariously live through their child or pass down these expectations, I would have enough money to put the child in the therapy they obviously are going to need down the line. And in Wes’s case, I would have enough money to send him to the college he actually wanted to go to 🤪.

GEEZ.

But I’ll get back to my rant later, I still need to talk about Valerie’s mom. Valerie’s mom was highly condescending and patronizing and I didn’t appreciate the way she spoke to Valerie. She made Valerie feel invalidated and inferior for her dreams—-like it was a “cute” little side hobby thingamabob or a whatcha-ma-call-it. Just the utter way that Valerie felt shizzy about herself and her business because her parents’ condescension made my heart ache for her 😢. If they loved her, they wouldn’t have made her feel like donkey poop nor would they have written her business off as nothing. Also, calling something “cute” can be very passive aggressive depending on the situation and I just felt like their dialogue with their daughter wasn’t cute. I mean, Valerie would literally feel doubtful and hurt whenever her parents dismissed her business because it made it seem like her accomplishments were significant. I understood why Valerie didn’t even want to share business things with her parents anymore. Charlie and Valerie had a conversation once about why she never talked about her business to her mom and dad and Valerie said something about how it was better to just not talk about it to her parents because she knew what they would say. There is something absolutely repulsive and wrong that Valerie felt terrible enough to not share the joy of her business because she knew her parents were going to rain on her parade. That’s so sad 😢. I understood what she felt though. When a person accomplishes something or has a dream and they share it with someone and they under react or they dismiss the dream, it hurts because it’s like the person we share our dreams with doesn’t care or doesn’t believe in us, so it makes us feel like we can’t share our dreams with anyone because no one will care. And that makes us hold in our dreams and not tell anyone because there’s these negative emotions that we have felt before. I know when I told people I wanted to be a teacher, I got negative reactions because you know “teachers don’t make much”—like I didn’t know that. I was nervous—-terrified—to tell people I wanted to be a teacher because I knew I would get the “teachers don’t get paid much spiel.” After I did get the spiel, it did make me reluctant to share with others my dreams because I felt terrible about opening up about it in the first place.

I would just like to say if someone makes you feel like shiz for a dream or passion you have, they are not the right person or people in your life. Someone who loves you will support you. And if someone shares their passion or dream with you, please remember how hard it must be for them to open up about something so personal. Please be kind and considerate, and maybe you don’t see the vision then, but be open-minded and kind because you never know how an under reaction or no reaction might be received. Choose kindness and consideration.

I just didn’t appreciate the parents’ lack of support.

Because the parents didn’t support her, Valerie constantly felt like she needed to prove herself—-like her dream/business was worthwhile or important. She had absolutely nothing to prove.

Nobody should have to prove their worth to the people they love.

I truly don’t think so.

But this goes back to Valerie’s goal because if she could raise enough money to take her Halmeoni to Paris, it would emphasize to her parents that she was responsible and successful enough to achieve such a huge feat. I also understood why Valerie felt the need to prove herself. It’s kind of like a silent revenge. It’s the big F and U to everyone who doubted her 🤪.

But at the same time, if there’s one thing I learned about creative dreams is that no one is going to believe in you as much as you have to believe in yourself.

“When you choose the path of an artist, nothing is promised, but everything is possible.”

(pg. 71)

One of my other dreams is to become a published author. I haven’t shared this dream with many people because the people who I have shared it had no reaction to my dream—kind of making me feel ignored for it. I continue to write because I still believe in my dream, but writing is already a very isolating passion. While writing over the years, I have found myself constantly doubting my writing and my dream. I used to crave the idea that someone will believe in me when I was a published author. Or people will believe in me when I am a teacher. I always thought people will believe in me when I prove them wrong. Of course, I want to achieve my goals, but not for other people—-not to prove them wrong. I want to achieve my goals for me to prove to myself that I worked hard, I did my best, and I did it all by believing in myself. When you grow older, you have to be your number one cheerleader. You have to be the person who will stand on the side of your field with waving pom moms and chants to help you through all the doubt. No one will believe or support you as much as you do for you. It’s not easy because we are also our biggest critics—a very contradictory position to being our greatest cheerleader. However, believing in yourself and your passions is worthwhile. Sometimes—-many times—it will be what keeps you motivated and inspired to keep going when no one else is cheering you on. I am cheering you on and I believe in you. You got this!

But Valerie learning to believe in herself was something I really loved that Valerie learned at the end of the book; she knew could never be enough for her parents and that she should be enough for herself. It’s a hard lesson and a sucky lesson, but it’s a real lesson. Sometimes people will always see you as one thing no matter how hard you try to change their mind—-some people are set in their perspectives. I still hurt for Valerie because she deserves to be supported by her parents at the end, but I’m also happy that she found peace in being proud of herself and all she created.

She should be incredibly proud.

She also constantly compared Valerie to Samantha.

Whenever the mom would praise Samantha, I could not stop thinking of Olaf in Frozen II 😅. That’s my Disney fanatic mind for you. Valerie and Samantha were a classic case of the grass is always greener on the other side sister relationship. Valerie was somewhat jealous by her successful, filial piety, perfect, obedient daughter who did everything the parents wanter. Samantha got good grades, got into a wonderful college, helped out around the house when she should have been dorming, and woke up early. She was everything the parent’s wanted in a daughter. It made my heart hurt for all the moments Valerie would walk by her mom and Samantha and they would be bonding because it made Valerie feel left out. Especially that moment when Samantha and the mom were making a special Korean dish and the mom could have asked Valerie who lived right at home for help, but noooo. Instead she called freaking Samantha to help her because the mom knew Samantha her perfect daughter would do so. The mom would also poke pins at Valerie with whatever new accomplishment Samantha had as if that was the way to encourage her daughter to work hard. Competition, sure, can make people work harder, but not in a positive way because I think people learn that they always have to beat someone or that they have to be more than enough to win. If we make things a competition for kids, it should be a competition against themselves to better themselves, not to make them feel worse for not matching up to someone else when everyone is different. I don’t think it’s fair to compare anyone because again, we all differ. The mom’s rude comments were hurtful rather than helpful and I don’t know how many times I need to say that.

Most comments that are intended to be helpful are mostly helpful. Be careful with how you speak to others.

I could tell though, that there was a part of Samantha that envied Valerie’s freedom. I could understand that. Samantha had immense pressure on her as the first born to be the perfect daughter, leaving Valerie to be whoever she wanted to be because the parents didn’t really care. Or well they cared, but because they had perfect Samantha, the parents weren’t too bothered by Valerie’s bold personality. That had to suck though on Samantha’s part because I bet she wanted to be her own person and do her own thing, but she knew if she messed up or did something out of line, her parents would definitely look at her differently or think poorly of her. I feel sucky for her because she shouldn’t have to feel trapped being someone she’s not, living up to expectations that she doesn’t need to live up to, and for having all these pressures on her back. Let the girl live too! *shakes head at the parents* Something I also noticed about Samantha was how she didn’t seem to have many friends. She was in her first year of college and should have been doing other things besides being home most of the time with her mom. I mean, I don’t judge her because gosh knows the first year of college can suck and a person can get homesick. The first year of college can also be very lonely and being home feels like a semblance of peace and consistency in the changes of life. Or that’s how I felt about my first year of college and I have a handful of blog posts about that 🙈. So Samantha being home wasn’t strange, I just questioned it because it seemed like she didn’t have many friends. I don’t know if that was because she wasn’t on campus as much or if she felt like she had to be the dutiful daughter and had no time to make friends. I also wondered if she went through what most people in their college or adult years go through—the difficulty of making friends. I don’t know. But I would have loved to explore that.

Samantha also envied Halmeoni and Valerie’s relationship. When Halmeoni was in the hospital at the end and asked to see only Valerie, Samantha must have felt punched in the gut because she probably loved Halmeoni just as much as Valerie, but her grandma didn’t want to see her as much as Valerie. I could understand Samantha’s hurt 😕. However, Samantha’s hurt was similar to Valerie’s hurt whenever Valerie saw Samantha with the mom—they both wanted the other’s close relationships. They thought the grass was greener on the other side. I liked that they had that succinct conversation at the hospital about how they felt. However, I would have liked more resolution or a longer conversation because I still feel like they don’t understand each other. I also hold out hope that they could form a stronger sister relationship and would like to see that one day.

“‘We don’t really talk about problems in our family, do we?’

‘Never.’

‘What do you think would happen if we did?’

‘Honestly?’ Samantha said, waving back with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. ‘I think things would stay exactly the same.’

(pg. 297)

When Samantha said this is the brief heart-to-heart with Valerie, I couldn’t help but agree.

As an Asian, I can say my family never talks about things either. We never talked about much growing up or when we were teens or when we are now adults. Nothing. Nada. We like to bottle things up or hide them under the rug until someone slips up or explodes in emotion 🤪. I’m partially joking. But yea, we hide things under the rug, primarily emotions or important things we should be talking about but we act like haven’t happened. It’s not a healthy tactic, so I don’t recommend it, but it’s a reality I have lived with and it’s not easy. My parents divorced when I was young and no one really talked to me about what divorce meant or what would change. I just knew one day my parents were together and then the next day they weren’t and we were going to move. No conversation, just a tacit that divorce was happening. We never talked about it for years, and we still don’t talk about what happened. My siblings and I had to all figure out our own issues and mental health effects of the divorce—-we had to navigate a lot. Growing up, I had to navigate a plethora of life things no one talked to me about and I had to Google.

I don’t know why some Asian families don’t talk about important issues and why we tend to pretend that things haven’t happened when they did. I don’t know if it is a sign of respect or a way to hide shame or embarrassment or discomfort. Maybe it’s an amalgamation of all those reasons. What I do know is that generational trauma or hurt is real. If we don’t talk about issues, life goes on, but people are still slipping on rugs or on the brink of explosion. Life goes on and people have scars that have never fully healed and when they are re-opened, it can hurt twice as much as the scar did the first time. That is not healthy. We need to heal. We need to make sure the ground is steady. We need to make sure our emotions do not destroy us or the people around us.

We need to have conversations.

“‘Yea, but it never is just about the one conversation, is it? It’s about being brave enough to start it, wise enough to choose the right words, and self-aware enough to know what’s going on inside your brain. that’s a lot of things to have to line up all at once. It’s kind of a miracle that people are able to communicate properly at all.'”

(pg. 238)

We do need to be brave enough to initiate uncomfortable conversations because nothing will change if nothing changes. Uncomfortable conversations don’t even have to be uncomfortable, they can be healing.

What makes me sad though is how many times, even if we have conversations with people, things don’t change. It’s a pattern I’ve seen in some Asian families because I think it goes back to not wanting to talk about things that can be shameful or difficult. I also think this connects back to the idea that some people are set in their beliefs or ways that they don’t change or they don’t want to change. I still say open up the conversation and make your feelings known because that’s braver than bottling everything up and acting like things are okay when they are not. Trust me, all those bottled up emotions can turn into resentment and hate down the line and that’s something else that can be said in a family dynamic—-something else that complicates the dynamic. Hate and resentment almost came between Charlie and Valerie because Charlie only felt like a business partner to Valerie rather than family. He bottled all those emotions out except when he was crying drunk, but when he was crying drunk, he let those emotions go and it made me understand how he was sort of angry at her. Anger can turn into hate the more someone keeps that anger in.

When Charlie opened up to Valerie about how he didn’t feel respected as a family member to her, I could feel that anger. I also thought it was insensitive of her to make him feel bad that his dad was coming home after all these years. She only cared about the beauty products that would stop coming in. Valerie, your cousin’s dad—your uncle—was coming home. Be happy for him 😣!

This is something that also rubbed me the wrong way with Valerie—the way she treated people like a business.

I didn’t like the way she viewed people—customers and non-customers. When she straight-up told Paulina that she was questioned why she never bought from V&C K-Beauty because that made her a non-customer, I was like, who the heck talks to someone like that. Paulina was a person! Also, Valerie didn’t know why Paulina didn’t buy from V&C K-Beauty so she didn’t have any reason to judge her choices. I also want to add how if someone didn’t buy from Valerie, I don’t see how it makes them the “enemy” because that’s what it sounded like—anyone who didn’t buy from her was the enemy. That didn’t seem right. When Paulina clapped back at Valerie at the party, saying she didn’t buy K-beauty products because her skin was too sensitive, I was like good for you Paulina! You tell her straight 👏🏼! Other people talked about Valerie in a negative light too because they thought she was too business-minded or she was unapproachable. They weren’t entirely wrong because Valerie did give off the air that you either had to buy from her or else. I respect her focus on her business, but I also felt she needed friends. I hoped we could see her step back from her business mindset to make friends with the people around her because I think it would have been nice to see Valerie grow in that way. We never see Valerie make true friends 🙁. I was sad about that because I think if Valerie didn’t have her business, I think she would be a good person to hang out with, or I hope. However, since Valerie’s change came later in the book and she was graduating, I understood why it didn’t make sense that she make friends her senior year 😅. But still, I hope Valerie does get some friends because I believe she would feel more supported if she had more people in her corner.

But going back to the mom, it made me really ticked off for Valerie was when she tried to have a conversation with her mom about how the mom made her feel and the mom deflected the conversation. Even when the mom was listening, she didn’t see what was wrong with how she treated Valerie. Sometimes I feel like parents or people get angry or defensive back because they know they were wrong and they just don’t want to admit it. But I think if someone treats a person wrong, they should have at least have the decency to be like, “No, you’re right. I am sorry for the way I treated you and I will work on being better.” Or something like that because we both know that person was wrong. When Valerie screamed in desperation to her mom that she wanted to be treated like she was worth something, I shook my head in tears 😢. How the heck did it come to the point that Valerie needed to beg her mom to treat her like she was worth something? That made my heart ache 💔.

She should have been treated like she was worth something all along. That’s a fact.

I just want to give Valerie a big old hug. Gosh, being worth something is also connected to love. Valerie felt unloved because she felt worthless to her mom. She wanted her mom and her dad’s love, support, attention, care. Was that too much to ask as their daughter?

THE AUDACITY of this woman to say let’s talk about this later as in NEVER 😡 was beyond me. Valerie was literally grasping at thin air to have this conversation with her mom and her mom wanted to walk away from this. Valerie needed her mom to be there to work this through with her. I thought adults were supposed to be the mature ones ☹️. I could not with the mom. But I understand the mom too because she came from a generation that probably swept emotions and experiences under the rug as well. When the mom also came to America, her job was to survive and build a better life for herself and her family—-emotions probably wasn’t her main priority, so much success. I get it, it’s what many immigrant families have experienced—survival and assimilation in a new country. That doesn’t come without hardships—-mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, financially, or politically. It’s not easy. So as much as I seem like I’m raging and bagging on the mom, I don’t dislike her. I just hoped she would treat Valerie better because Valerie deserved people who loved her.

But you know what, I was proud that Valerie had this one-wall conversation with her mom because she said her piece. It was up to the mom to do what she wanted with what Valerie expressed. She should feel proud of herself for speaking up.

I really wanted more resolution between Valerie and her parents at the end because there was more that could be said or fixed. I mean, leaving Korean pears (which are super good!) for Valerie and cooking her favorite food was kind of a step in the right direction, but it wasn’t an apology or an admission. It also didn’t fix anything, which I know sometimes doesn’t happen. But still, I’m a sucker for a long heart-to-heart, nitty-gritty conversation and that’s what I would have liked to have had happen.

Either way, I was happy that Valerie finally believed in herself and knew her worth.

Now let’s talk about Wes.

Wes, Wes, Wes . . . this boy was too PRECIOUS for this world .🥺

Wes is the definition of a cinnamon roll.

He’s such a sweetheart and he’s such an endearing character. I genuinely want to applaud him for how thoughtful, caring, sweet, and wholesome he was. Just an all around good guy. They don’t make them like that anymore 🤪.

What made him even better was how he faced so much pushback and adversity like Valerie, but he didn’t let those challenges change him for the worse.

He changed for the better.

I am a bit like Wes—we don’t like confrontation or speaking up for ourselves. We’re also a bit socially awkward and we don’t like to make anyone uncomfortable or mad. We tend to hide what we’re doing because we don’t know if the people in our life will support us, so we do things that we believe are right for us—we follow our heart. We also care too much about people to truly have a rival because gosh knows this was an enemies to lovers romance, but I don’t think Wes thought of Valerie as his enemy, more like a challenge. I just don’t think Wes looks at anyone and deems them an enemy. He has too good of a heart for that.

Ultimately, Wes wanted one thing in life: to go to Tobile music school for college. However, like most Asian families, a creative job was frowned upon compared to being a doctor or a lawyer.

“He wanted me to study science and become a doctor, his personal dream that got sidetracked when he married my mom and had a kid. It was like he believed that his dreams were just another gene that got passed down to me.”

(pg. 27)

I just want to laugh at this point because parents shouldn’t pass down their dreams to their children and expect them to want the same dreams or things. If the child does, then wonderful. If not, we should let our children grow up to be what or who they want to be—to achieve their own dreams.

However, I do understand why the parents, specifically the dad, wanted Wes to have a stable career. The dad had to take care of his younger brother, Hojin—Uncle Hojin—who went into music. Uncle Hojin had been known for struggling to get by on his music career and the dad, being the eldest, has sent money to the Uncle in the past to help him. Being the eldest holds many responsibilities in the way that the eldest feels like the parent to the younger siblings. Sometimes being the eldest can feel like wanting to see your siblings—or anyone that person loves—do well. Since the Uncle was noticeably struggling, the dad didn’t think highly of creative careers and didn’t want a similar path for Wes. He wanted a better—a stabler—-path for his son. I understand that completely because many Asian families immigrate around the world to create a better life for themselves, their families, and their successors that they want their successors to create better lives than they had—a life with more opportunity. That can sometimes mean a life of greatness, and in most cases that’s why most say being a doctor, lawyer, etc. are the career paths to go. However, I believe that people should do what they want to do with their life and no one should place pressure or expectations on someone on who they can and cannot be. The one thing I didn’t like was how no one asked what Wes wanted. The dad kept telling Wes to apply to all these prestigious colleges for these prestigious degrees, but no one asked Wes what he wanted. It was his future and no one was thinking about him.

Wes was thinking for himself and I loved that for him. He knew what he wanted and he chased after it even if no one around him believed in him. I LOVED that. I respected his unwavering belief because sometimes people are lucky enough to click with something they know—they feel—they are meant to do. Wes felt that with playing saxophone and I thought if he felt this undeniable belief that music was his path, he needed to follow it for him.

I also loved when he emailed his Uncle Hojin because Wes needed to hear from someone that his dreams weren’t crazy—Wes needed the green light to go chase his dreams. I say chase your dreams because there is more regret in not having gone after something you wished you had. I liked how the Uncle gave Wes support and comfort when Wes needed it.

Can I just CACKLE my head off at how Wes thought university was only $1,000 😂? That’s a hefty HAHHAHAHAHHAHA!!! You WISH.

Broooooo, university isn’t just $1,000. That’s hilarious 🤪.

Books?

Room and board?

Application fees?

Other funds?

Tuition in general for each class?

YEA, THAT’S GOING TO BE MORE THAN A $1,000! If he wanted to go to his music school and pay for it by himself, he needed to be saving and making that coin since day ONE 😂. For the life of me, he couldn’t make all the money to go to music school in a year! Enough money to go for his first year??? Unless he was getting a loan, a grant, a scholarship, or planning to rob a bank . . . I didn’t see it happening.

Also, I felt personally hurt for Wes that he felt the need to raise all this money to go to his dream school because he knew his parents wouldn’t support him, nor pay for him to go to a college he actually wanted to go to and achieve a dream he actually wanted. You know how messed up that sentence sounds? Wes’s parents need to take their heads out their prideful butts and support what their son wants. Is that really that hard 😅?!

*shakes my head*

Idiots.

I felt terrible.

I give Wes credit though for wanting to do it on his own and actually trying. Thus, was Wes selling K-pop beauty products.

Poor dude, accidentally sold K-pop beauty products and had no clue what he was doing. He’s such a cinnamon roll! But I also loved how he could be a feisty cinnamon roll too! When Valerie confronted him about starting a business, he tried looking for other jobs, but then the k-pop beauty business fell into place for him and he just naturally started a business at school. You know, I say if things were meant to be, they will fall into place or they will be. This was one of those moments and I was happy for Wes. I thought it was sucky that he did steal Valerie’s customers, but business was business. I also didn’t feel all that bad because Wes was making honest money to help him fix his saxophone and get into his dream school. He was hustling for the coin.

Wes realized he couldn’t make enough money quickly at the rate things were going with his sales, so he devised a bet with Valerie that whoever made the most money at the end of the year—by prom—the winner gets to have the other person’s earnings.

I thought that was a dumb idea.

Also, Wes deploying the “are you chicken” rouse on her was a low, an interesting low for our cinnamon roll.

The bet just seemed too high stakes and unfair for me because if Valerie won, she would take all his money—-money she didn’t earn—and vise versa. The bet sounded like a taking-candy-from-a-baby kind of situation. It just felt wrong. The bet also didn’t make sense because if Wes lost, then there went all his money that could have gotten him into music school and there goes most of Valerie’s earnings that could have gone towards her trip. So they both would lose more than they would gain. Also, I really didn’t like how she made this decision without Charlie because it was partially his business and I would have felt betrayed or inferior if I was Charlie. This bet affected him too.

One thing I kept wondering though was why didn’t they just, I don’t know, WORK TOGETHER 😅 to sell their products? I don’t know why they wanted to compete with this whole bet because in my eyes, they could make more money together. Valerie could do her deals and steals things for Wes’s products and they could drive up the money or something and then at the end of the day they could split the money. If they also wanted to make more money, I don’t know, they could get a side job or bake cookies or something to sell with their beauty products. Maybe sell things on Etsy 😂. Or I don’t know, have like a benefit donation concert thing. Anything besides a freaking all-or-nothing bet.

But a bet made for a good story that’s for sure.

I liked how whenever Wes didn’t know what to do, he would ask himself, what would Valerie do?

It was like the equivalent to WWJD 😅. I thought it was funny Wes would think in this way, but also endearing because he respected Valerie enough to aspire to be like her. I also thought it was strategic and clever to use Valerie’s skills or tips to his advantage when running his own business. Wait, did Wes even have a business name? 🤔 Hmm, I don’t think so. He should have had a business name. I didn’t think it was smart that he told Kim and other girls that he would give them a discount to not shop at Valerie’s store. That’s not ethical and kind of petty, but I didn’t blame Wes because gosh knows he didn’t know what he was doing more than half the time .🤪

One of my favorite moments in the book was when Wes asked Valerie to help him with his social media page for his business after he gave her a ride in the rain. I still don’t know why Valerie couldn’t just take his chivalry and run with it without thinking that she had to owe him in some ways. Not everything has to be a business transaction, sis.

“Everything has a cost. Everything has to be earned.”

(pg. 176)

I didn’t mind it though because the moment was sweet. I loved loved loved how sweet, precious Wes bought all these Korean snacks specifically for their “date/get together.” Ahhh, and the fact that he bought Hi-Chews because he knew she loved them . . .my heart 💙🥺. There was a quote I read recently, and for the life of me I can’t remember which book I read this from—but the quote said something along the lines of how people love you in quiet ways or how the things they notice or do can show how they love someone. I just adored that quote—gosh I wish I remembered what it said verbatim—but I remember thinking how right that quote was. When people notice the things you love or like to do and they show you that they noticed these things, it takes on a whole different meaning to love because they took the time to get to know you. I just loved that 💙. I loved how Wes and Valerie tried the tropical Hi-Chews together and deemed the pineapple Hi-Chew for when things are right in the world. I love when two characters create a meaningful connection or meaning behind something because it’s grounds for us to return to that thing later. I had a hunch that sometime in the book, we were going to come back to this pineapple Hi-Chew because things would be going right in the book. Gosh, whenever Valerie would eat a Hi-Chew, I was taken back to when I was eight or ten years old and I would go to a quaint ballet shoe shop next to my dance studio. They would sell dance bags, shoes, skirts, leotards, and small snacks. After class everyone would take their loose change and simple dollars to buy candy bars, pretzels, cotton candy bags, chocolate, and gum so they could eat it as they waited to be picked up from dance or to stave themselves until their next class. I would go into that shop like the big grown-up girl I thought I was and I would buy candy, specifically Hi-Chews. I would tear the tab wrapper thing on the top and then unwrap the white clear wrapper and pop the white (with a bit of color in the middle) candy in my mouth. Bliss. Flavorful, incomparable sweetness and chewiness. THere’s nothing like a Hi-Chew. My favorite flavors were strawberry, green apple, and mango. Grape tastes like medicine to me 😂. It’s been a while since I had a Hi-Chew, but gosh was I taken back to such sweet, simple times.

It was also super cute that Wes asked her about the Korean first snow myth. I have never heard of this myth before, but I like a romantic myth 😅. This myth knew what was up!

Can we also give Wes a FREAKING round of applause for being the gentleman who asked Valerie if she got home safely?! 🥺💕

HE’S👏🏼SO 👏🏼PRECIOUS 👏🏼.

My gosh, get you someone who asks you if you got home safely. Also, check on your friends and family—especially if they are traveling late at night—-to make sure they are okay!

Another moment I liked was Valentine’s Day. My sweet cinnamon roll was sooooo nervous to get a Valentine’s Day gram for Valerie 🥺! I just loved how he even considered getting her a rose after they had one good hangout. I mean, I love a bold and confident Wes! Let’s go! My heart swelled for him when he saw Valerie at the end of the school day and his heart was frozen in place before he skittered into the theatre closet to hide. Poor thing 🥺. He was petrified. Gosh, I would be petrified too if I wanted to give a rival who I liked a rose in person. Sending someone a Valentine’s gram is one thing, but giving a person a gram in person is a whole other level and I was proud of Wes for having the guts to want to give Valerie a rose in person. Valeria obviously saw Wes and followed him into the closet where they had their “shipwrecked” moment as Nicola Yoon would say. It’s the moment when two people are stuck together, primarily for the characters to bone or share a special moment 😉.They got locked in the closet where he gave her the rose and they macked out 😅. I loved that for them. When Charlie came to rescue them, I think he knew what was up, if you know what I mean. 

After that, they both wanted to call off the bet, but they had to tell each other first.

The thing was, a lot happened in the time they kissed to their next meeting.

With the bet, both obviously wanted to win. To help her win, Valerie hired a friend, Taemin—who was trying to better himself by helping others— to get close to Wes to know what Wes would be selling on a certain day. When Taemin met Wes, they easily became friends and that made Taemin feel terrible for using Wes to help Valerie. Honestly, I felt bad for Wes too because he constantly moved and didn’t have many friends, and here Taemin was the first male who didn’t hate him and who was his friend, but was also a spy. I liked that Taemin played double spy because Wes asked him to see what Valerie’s business was up to too, but he didn’t know Taemin had been a double spy. Taemin really was playing the middleman and living it up! Also, I felt like Taemin played both of them, but it was on Valerie and Wes because they both asked him to spy. When hanging out with Wes and Paulina one afternoon, they talked about Valerie and how Wes seemed to be getting close to her. In a panic to hide his true feelings, Wes said he was doing the classic keep-your-friends-close-and-your-enemies-closer thing to Valerie. Taemin told this to Valerie when they had their meeting to call off all the spy business. I respected that Taemin was honest with Valerie about what he heard because he was just trying to be a good friend, but what Wes said wasn’t the truth. However, to Valerie, I could understand how betrayed she would feel to think she let Wes in and then he was just using her or distracting her. It went against everything she worked ardently with her business. She really closed herself off after that and I don’t blame her because she didn’t know the truth. I loved how Wes sort of popped off at her when she shut him out the day after. He said, “Let me freaking explain.” You know, if characters just let the other character explain things, there would be a lot less lingering sadness in the in between portions from the fall out to the end 😅.

But alas, things went to shiz, as they do in books.

Valerie overworked herself to forget about how hurt she was by Wes. But I also felt like she was disappointed by herself that she let a boy distract her. Heck, she’s a teenager, she shouldn’t be too hard on herself if she fell for someone she liked. I didn’t think it was healthy how she was running herself to the ground trying to bury her feelings because gosh knows that’s not healthy. I also knew it wasn’t right for her to sell counterfeit products because it went against everything Valerie stood for. I loved the desperation we felt in Valerie because she was at an all time low. Not that I wanted her to be miserable, but I could feel her agony and confusion on not knowing who she was or what to do.

I liked that Wes told Ms. Jackson about the products because if Valerie went through with it, things would have been even worse for her. He was also just trying to help her because he knew the real Valerie wouldn’t sell products she didn’t believe in. If Valerie wasn’t already going through the gutter, she also didn’t get into one of the colleges she applied to, which had to suck. Rejection sucks in general no matter who it’s from.

When Valerie was going through an all time low, I loved the special moment she had with Halmeoni at the hospital. Valerie broke down because she felt like a failure because she probably couldn’t raise enough money to take her Halemoni to Paris. I felt for Valerie because she had all these dreams and they came crashing down in a grand sweep. She probably also felt disappointed in herself that she couldn’t do something more for her grandma or that she wouldn’t be “enough” for her parents. She just had a castle on her chest that her parents built on her heart the day they didn’t believe in her. What I liked about Valerie and Halmeoni in this moment was when the Halmeoni talked about how much she loved where she was at now. Halmeoni did have all these dreams to travel, but now her dream had been accomplished in other ways—her family got to achieve their dreams and so did Valerie. That was all the Halmeoni wanted.

“‘To see you live your lives to the fullest, to take every opportunity, to meet all different kinds of people, and to see a whole new world grow inside of each of you. The world out there is big, Valerie, and of course I would love to see more of it. But you halmeoni is so, so content to be by your side and watch the world grow inside of you.'”

(pg. 284)

I loved loved loved the Halemoni 💙.

We have to love all the people who came before us who paved the way for us to have the lives we do have and can have. Truly.

I love the sentiment of how the world is big, but no matter where we go, we create our own world inside us and how the world opens up with us the more we grow. Valerie was creating her own world as a Korean-American and she would create an even grander world when she goes off and achieves all these business goals. I loved how sometimes we do want to see the world, but we also know that the world is with us when we create life with those we love.

After her conversation with Halmeoni, Valerie had one person to talk to after everything . . . Wes. They met at prom where they both apologized to each other, but I would have liked more said between them because there were other things that didn’t seem resolved in their relationship—things that could have been said.

But what got me laughing was how they were both LOSERS 😂.

I don’t mean that in a bad way, I was more like, “They went through all of this to both LOSE?!” 🤪. Serves them right, though.

Honestly, I felt like Wes’s mom should have let him keep all his sales except the one where he sold the unreleased products because bro, that was his money! She didn’t sell anything 👏🏼. Shame on the mom for taking his money 😂.

While we’re on Wes’s parents, how DARE they be insipid little jerks to Wes! They stood in the back of this showcase like they didn’t care to get there early to support their son. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for them to be supportive of their son? And the fact that they weren’t even going to help him pay for college—even just a little bit—after he told them his piece and after he got in . . . I WAS SEETHING 😡. I swear, they must have a college fund for him or something. Where was it going if they weren’t going to use it on Wes’s dreams? They are TRASH. I could not. I was happy for Wes though that he got a job playing saxophone at a restaurant. Good for him. His parents could suck my toes.

Also, when Wes popped off on them . . . ICONIC. I was screaming like I was watching a smackdown where Wes was winning. Because it did feel like he won. He stood up to his parents. I loved how we saw Wes grow more confident and assured with standing up for himself. I loved that tidbit where he felt proud of himself when his dad asked him what he wanted for dinner and Wes was like, “Wes, make a decision!” He thought if he talked to himself into being decisive and more confident in what he wanted, it would help him with speaking to his parents. When Wes smiled to himself in that scene, I smiled to myself. It truly is in those little wins that are momentous in building a person. I was happy for Wes. I also felt like a proud mom when he stood up for himself because his parents needed to hear what he wanted. I knew that everything connected to the dad’s fears and Hojin. When the dad said Hojin’s name, I swear you could hear a pin drop in the room with how aka-awkward it was. I really feel like the dad needs to hash it out or talk to Uncle Hojin about how he felt because the dad was dealign with very serious hurt, expectations, or maybe trauma that he needed to work through rather than take it out on his son—his son who just wants to live out his dream and have his parents in his life. Because if his parents didn’t support him in the future, I know Wes wouldn’t hate them or drop them, but he would grow distant from them in some ways, if only they believed in him too. They could grow with him or be left behind 😕. I thought the mom was a tad bit more supportive of Wes, or at least I felt there was a sliver of her wanting to be supportive of Wes. I mean, I didn’t’ understand why the mom didn’t voice her support to her husband. Did they talk about Wes’s dreams after Wes told them he got into music school? The mom should have talked to the dad because maybe she could reason with him so Wes could go to music school. Also, I was elated that Wes got into Tobile because he earned it through his hard work and unwavering belief. Good for him that he didn’t let his shizzy parents ruin his happy moment 👏🏼.

At the end, they showed up for his showcase. I get it, at least they showed up. But I still didn’t like them because I’m not going to praise the bare minimum of their lack of support 🤪. They really were going to tell Wes to pay for ALL his years of college?! Nope.

They don’t get respect from me. Wes is too sweet to be bitter at his parents, so I’ll be bitter for him.

Besides my blinding rage for Wes’s douchey parents, I liked the ending scene where Samantha and Valerie brought Paris to their Halmeoni because she couldn’t travel due to her diagnosis. I was happy that Valerie, Samantha, and Halemeoni could bond at the end 😊.

I barely talked about Charlie, but I liked his platonic relationship with Paulina. I liked how we saw a crush that didn’t work out but the two people stayed good friends because we don’t really see that in books. I would have liked for Charlie and Paulina to date because they would seem cute together and I could tell they liked each other, but I also didn’t feel like they liked each other as more than friends—-or at least, in Paulina’s case. That was fine though because she said how she felt and he respected that. Charlie was a good guy and he would find someone one day.

After reading Made In Korea, I still wondered what Ms. Jackson whispered in Valerie’s ear when she gave Valerie the best business award. Why did Ms. Jackson give her the award after suspending her business? I don’t know. I would have liked more heart-to-heart conversations because I felt like there wasn’t enough said between characters in how they felt. I also would have liked a bigger makeup (see what I did there 😉) between Val and Wes at prom because again, there were too many things unsaid that they needed to talk about—-the business, the secrets they kept, their motives for the deal, etc. I thought it was cute though how the story needed with the pineapple Hi-Chew moment. I knew we were going to come back to that.

Overall, Made in Korea was a lighthearted and cute read. I adored Wes through and through. I also liked the idea of two young entrepreneurs. However, there were some moments I would have liked more of, but the story was definitely cute, sometimes frustrating because of their ridiculous parents, but cute. I thought the title was clever though, Made in Korea like how things are made in China, but Wes and Valerie both sold Korean products 😉. I see you, Sarah Suk.

Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part?

What is your favorite Hi-Chew flavor? Or what’s your go-to beauty product?

Anything I mentioned that you want to discuss more about?  Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Review

3.87 Full Boom Flowers

Characters: I think we should bake Wes into a cinnamon roll. Valerie can be a Hi-Chew, sweet in the middle, part hard and chewy on the outside.

Plot: Made for those who like young love, entrepreneurs, complex family relationships, and cuteness.

Writing: I loved the dual perspectives because it was interesting to be inside both of their heads and to feel their doubts and insecurities. It helped me understand them as people. Also, I’m a big Wes fan 💙.

Romance: Wes is a pure gentleman with a pure heart. We need more people like him.