Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2017
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A funny young adult novel about a Korean-American girl who uses K-Drama techniques to snag the boyfriend of her dreams.
Desi Lee knows how carburetors work. She learned CPR at the age of five. As a high school senior, she has never missed a day of school and never had a B. But in her charmed school life, there's one thing missing - she's never had a boyfriend. In fact, she's a known disaster in romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation magnet. When the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides it's time to tackle her flirting failures.
She finds her answer in the Korean dramas her father has watched obsessively for years - in which the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. Armed with her "K Drama Rules for True Love," Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos. All's fair in love and Korean dramas, right? But when the fun and games turn to feelings, Desi finds out that real-life love is about way more than just drama. Maurene Goo's I Believe in a Thing Called Love is a fun, heartwarming story of falling in love - for real.
"Starred Review. Goo simultaneously honors and deconstructs romantic tropes, both in general and specific to K dramas, and does so using a wonderfully diverse cast." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Plot-driven as the K dramas Goo's protagonist seeks to emulate, her funny, engaging narrative also delivers powerful messages of inclusion and acceptance." - Kirkus
"Readers who crave believability with their fun and wit will be satisfied with the way the plan works out." - VOYA
"A humorous romantic comedy with a Korean drama twist that should be on all YA romance shelves. Purchase where Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han are popular. Grade 7 and up." - School Library Journal
This information about I Believe in a Thing Called Love was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Maurene Goo grew up in a Los Angeles suburb surrounded by floral wallpaper and piles of books. She is the author of Since You Asked.. and has very strong feelings about tacos and houseplants. You can find her in Los Angeles with her husband and two cats - one weird, one even more weird.
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