Made in Korea by Sarah Suk (ARC & Audiobook Review)

Title: Made in Korea
Author: Sarah Suk
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books
for Young Readers
Date published: May 18, 2021

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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.

⤖ My Review ⬻

I definitely had fun reading Sarah Suk’s Made in Korea! It was a quick read, and I listened to parts of it on audiobook while I was at work, so I’ll be providing feedback on multiple formats of this book. You ready?

The characters in Made in Korea were definitely multi-dimensional, and Suk’s writing made me feel as if I was watching a very well-funded TV show featuring young adults and their high school. I really liked Valerie as a character (and I say as a character because I likely wouldn’t have been friends with her in school because she’s blunt and has her shit together). I liked that she was family-focused and very business-minded and that the romance aspect of the plot kind of came as a natural and very organic addition/bonus.

Wes I wasn’t the biggest fan of. Some of his choices were questionable (not that all of Valerie’s choices were good). But I let myself enjoy the overall story in Made in Korea more once I reminded myself of how young they are and how, at their age, I also didn’t know any better. I probably knew even less. I also wanted to point out that I enjoyed the part of the audiobook that I listened to and found that the narrators really brought Valerie and Wes to life.

All in all, Made in Korea was a fun YA contemporary read ideal for any season and with a fresh take on a lot of elements that we see in YA contemporaries quite often. I look forward to seeing what Sarah Suk writes next!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Sarah Suk (pronounced like soup with a K) lives in Vancouver, Canada where she writes stories and admires mountains. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the water, taking film photos, or eating a bowl of bingsu. You can visit her online at sarahsuk.com and on Twitter and Instagram @sarahaelisuk.