I’ll Be The One is the K-Pop, non-toxic body positivity book of my dreams – and it is going to have at least one sequel! IBTO is about a girl named Shin Haneul – American name Skye because Haneul in Korean means sky (A+ naming choice, I love meaningful names!), who decides to enter a K-Pop competition based in LA to win an opportunity to become a trainee at a company. The competition is split into those auditioning for dance or those auditioning for vocals, or people like Skye who are auditioning for both. Immediately we are told that Skye is fat – blunt, straight out, no shame. When I read the description of this book in early 2020 before it was released I knew I wanted to read it because this could either go horribly wrong and become toxic positivity or body shaming, or it could be the most amazing thing. IMO – AMAZING.
Now before I continue with my review of the book, I want to give some background of the Korean music industry for those who might not know or understand how it works, feel free to skip this part if you are already familiar with it.
This industry is a *very* image focused industry. While K-Pop is blowing up all around the world as we speak, many people still don’t understand how brutal it is to be a K-Pop star, to have your every move monitored, and your appearance scrutinized to the point that plastic surgery is not just common but shocking if it hasn’t happened. The standard of beauty in Korea is extreme for both males and females, with it being common to hear of celebrities going to the hospital because of collapsing from malnutrition and exhaustion. Also, competition shows are becoming increasingly common for those interested in breaking into the industry. The Korean music industry is unique compared to those who are only familiar with Western music because companies are the ones who create groups, not individuals. The process is as follows (generally): you audition for the company to become a trainee, you train for anywhere between 3 and 7 years to hopefully get assigned to a group, once assigned to a group with other trainees you debut, once you debut you hope your group is successful. Obviously this can vary a bit per company and group/artist, but the big name artists (think SHINee or BlackPink) are all formed through companies creating them. Then there are artists who are part of companies and then go on competition shows in order to try and debut, become part of a group, perform with that group for a while, and then disband since the show is done, with the hopes that their own company will then debut them (Produce 101 is a huge show for creating these groups for example). This industry is cutthroat like most entertainment industries are; you need to be insanely talented, and have the looks that can match, because Korean fans will shred you to pieces if they do not like what they see. Celebrities have had to sue fans over the things they say online about them or the actions they have taken because it has caused actual tangible harm. This is just a little bit of background on the industry, it is a huge and complex beast – so next time you are enjoying that BlackPink/Lady Gaga collab, take a moment to appreciate what BP might have had to go through to get to that point (especially since they are under the YG company and that is a different story for a different day).
Back to the review!!!
This book follows Skye as she goes through the competition, making friends with & being fat shamed by competitors, and continuously butting heads with one of the judges (and her mother) who cannot see past her body to the talent she has. As this is a YA book there is a level of romance in it but not only was it not the #1 priority of the book, it was such a backburner concern that I almost wanted there to be more plot development of the relationship (shocking, I know). The relationship conversations that did exist however were well thought out, and perfectly written to balance both the relationship nuances of being 16 with the cultural conversations that need to occur with coming from specific backgrounds – in this case Korean. It was interesting to see how social media played a factor in the competition and with Skye’s self-esteem, because, as a child of the 90’s, social media wasn’t starting to become commonplace until I was almost out of high school, while kids these days are growing up with that as all they know. This is not hating on social media – I think there are some great positives to it – but I know as a plus-size girl myself, if I grew up with the amount of access to my personal life available for the world to see my entire childhood, I would not have nearly the amount of self-confidence that Skye shows in this book. She is inspiring. She gets the nickname Queen Skye and I think it is perfect. The book shows that even as a plus-size person you can be healthy and do everything that you want to do, while also being realistic and showing that you cannot love yourself 100% of the time if people are negative to you always. It is a great reminder of what words can do to people. I am not going to get into specifics of what Skye says to show she has self-confidence, or what happens when that wavers, because I think those moments are so pivotal in the book, but just know that I was inspired by this fictional 16 year old. I wish I had a 10th of her confidence.
End result: Read this book. It is not too long, coming in around the normal YA length at 336 pages, and while I would have liked certain aspects to have been explained more, it didn’t feel rushed. This book is fun and light while talking about heavy issues in a nice balance. I am excited for the sequel, and considering how this one ended, I think I know where it is going which will be a fun adventure. Final review – 9.5/10
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53098416-i-ll-be-the-one