I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee

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Title: I'll Be the One
Author: Lyla Lee
Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: June 16, 2020
Format: ebook
Pages: 336
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »fat shaming, background homophobia « Hide Spoiler
Source: Overdrive
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Spring, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else.

When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho.

But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.

My Review:

4.5 stars — OMG!  The cuteness!  I can’t even!  I love YA’s like this, that make me feel uplifted and light even though they deal with some tough subjects.  I felt a mix of emotions while reading it, for sure, but my overall feel was one of sparkling happiness.

Can I just start by saying I totally checked it out because of the cover??  I MEAN RAINBOWS AND HAPPINESS!!  I love rainbows and happiness!  And it fits Skye so well!  The cover gave me a promise, and it was a promise fulfilled by the contents IMO.

As someone who is actively trying to put out body positive vibes into the world, and who has been more and more interested in fat activism, I really appreciated the way this story tackled those subjects.  I will warn that the fat shaming Skye encounters, particularly from her Mom, is HARSH at times.  But it didn’t feel unrealistic or hyped up.  There was that balance of terrible people with people who were inspired by her journey.  And I loved that while Skye is generally accepting of her body, she has slips just like we all do — it’s hard to undo a lifetime of conditioning.  As a plus sized woman, I rooted for her and understood her and felt like it was respectful without pulling punches.

And while I’m not a K-Pop or K-Drama gal, I LOVED the music and dancing aspects of this story!  I could feel the excitement and energy and hard work of the show.  It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but it wasn’t all harsh either.  It was balanced, like real life.

Skye was a pretty fun heroine to follow.  She’s obviously way more competitive and ambitious than I am, but I felt like I understood who she was and it fit her.  She was sassy, and bold, but not without her vulnerable moments.

I think part of what made her journey so fun to watch was seeing all the people she was meeting and relationships she developed.  I love the friendships she made on the show, and the friendships she already had.

And then there’s Henry.  I loved seeing her relationship develop with him, and see the different kinds of things he was dealing with in his own life.  I loved the way they balanced one another and brought out the best in one another.  They had a lot of missteps, but I shipped them almost from the start.  One of the things I really appreciated is that Henry never excused his attraction to her, never had a “reason” for finding her, as a plus sized girl, attractive.  I NEEDED that.  It just was, and I was like YES!

I also appreciated that the conflict wasn’t wrapped up in a neat bow — it felt more realistic.

Shout out to Skye’s Dad — he was an absolute delight, and I just wish he could have been around more.

All in all, I was definitely expecting fun, but I really ended up delighting in this story.