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Hello, I love you Blog Tour: Author Interview, Review, and Giveaway

Interview:

Ali: What is your favorite book of 2015 so far?

Katie: This is such a hard question! I can’t pick just one, so I’m going to split it up by genre:

- Contemporary: Lock & Mori, by Heather W. Petty

- Fantasy: The Winner’s Crime, by Marie Rutkoski

- Historical: Lion Heart, by A.C. Gaughen

- Thriller: Daughter of Deep Silence, by Carrie Ryan

- Sci-fi: Salt & Stone, by Victoria Scott

A:  Did you always want to be a writer?

K: Oh, yeah. I’m totally one of those authors that’s like, “I wanted to be a writer ever since I

knew what the alphabet was.” It’s cliche but true.

A: What inspires your writing?

K: Everything! Countries I visit, TV shows I watch, friends I know. I think when you create things,

everything you experience inspires you.

A: What was the hardest part writing of "Hello, I love You"?

K: The self-doubt. That’s still hard, honestly. I tend to be a bit of a glass-half-empty kind of girl,

so I was convinced I was writing the book for nothing. I’m still a little bit shocked that not

only an agent but also a publishing house thought I was good enough to publish. Like whaaaa?

Sometimes, I wonder if maybe they’re all a little crazy and I’m getting the last laugh. LOL!

A: What was your favorite thing about writing "Hello, I Love You"?

K: My favorite part was totally Sophie, my main character’s best friend. She made me smile, and

I want her as my bestie.

 

 

Review:

Hello, I Love you" by Katie M. Stout takes place in the Republic of Korea. The theme of "Hello, I Love You" ultimately is about letting go of the pain in your past and embracing your future for all that it may hold. Grace decides to run away from her home and go to school in Korea where she meets Jason, a KPOP superstar. This book is definitely filled with the diversity that is be crazed in the young adult book community. Grace is the only character in this book that isn't Korean. There is so much Korean culture.

Grace is definitely flawed like any other teenager in the world. Grace wasn't a fan of KPOP. She seemed to be able to acclimate herself in the new Korean school just fine. Grace just wants to escape the reputation of her family. Her father is a legendary record producer and her brother is a famous country star who has ruined his life with drugs and alcohol. Grace just wants to start fresh and somewhere new. She doesn't want everyone to know her by her family's reputation. Grace didn't want to embrace the Korean culture and she had to learn how to overcome that obstacle.

The writing in this book is great. I think Stout did a wonderful job writing her debut novel. Hello, I Love You" has many great characters. I found that one of my favorite characters is Sophie, Grace's roommate. Sophie is the sister of Jason and becomes a very good friend to Grace. Sophie's family has to go through a lot too because of Jason being famous.

This is a very quick read. I was hoping that I would be blown away by this novel however I was not. There were too many things that were disappointing to me. I didn't like Grace's attitude towards the Korean culture. She seemed to complain and dislike everything and she was the one that chose to move to Korea. Grace may have been able to overcome her family's issues but I don't think she grew up in the fact of embracing the culture. She was living in Korea and didn't even seem to learn much of the language. It would have been nice to show what she had learned in Korea and how much of the language she had picked up.

The romance in the story was very adorable. There were times that Jason was very hot and cold with Grace but in the end the two of them were quite adorable together. There get together and hand holding. Everything was just so cute and adorable. It was hard watching them go through issues because of their family drama but they were able to make it through. I thought all in all this was a pretty cute story.

Giveaway:

I got this idea from a good friend of mine. I am going to be doing a giveaway, a little different this time around. For those that are interested in winning a copy of "Hello, I Love You" by Katie M. Stout, please leave a comment about why you would like to win and I will place everyone's name in a jar and draw a name to give to the publisher.

3 comments

  1. I was so excited to read this book but I feel a little bit wary now. Thank you for the review!

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  2. Hey Yun-A,

    I don't think this book was terrible. I'm just not as impressed as I wanted to be. If that makes sense? It was a fast read that had a cute romance in it, I just don't feel like it had everything that I was hoping for in it.

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  3. I used to not be that interested in kpop but now its the one thing that I listen to everyday! I really want to read this book it would be so cool! I hope I'll win!

    ReplyDelete