
Shine
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Narrated by:
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Joy Osmanski
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By:
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Jessica Jung
About this listen
An instant New York Times bestseller
Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl by way of Jenny Han in this knockout debut about a Korean American teen who is thrust into the competitive, technicolor world of K-pop, from Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of one of the most influential K-pop girl groups of all time, Girls’ Generation.
What would you give for a chance to live your dreams?
For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy, right?
Not so much. As the dark scandals of an industry bent on controlling and commodifying beautiful girls begin to bubble up, Rachel wonders if she’s strong enough to be a winner, or if she’ll end up crushed… Especially when she begins to develop feelings for K-pop star and DB golden boy Jason Lee. It’s not just that he’s charming, sexy, and ridiculously talented. He’s also the first person who really understands how badly she wants her star to rise.
Get ready as Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of Korea’s most famous girl group, Girls’ Generation, takes us inside the luxe, hyper-color world of K-pop, where the stakes are high, but for one girl, the cost of success—and love—might be even higher. It’s time for the world to see: this is what it takes to shine.
©2020 Jessica Jung and Glasstown Entertainment. All rights reserved. (P)2020 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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cute story but poor naration
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Jenny didn’t get to be an award-winning, classically trained cellist without choosing practice over fun. That is, until the night she meets Jaewoo. Mysterious, handsome, and just a little bit tormented, Jaewoo is exactly the kind of distraction Jenny would normally avoid. And yet, she finds herself pulled into spending an unforgettable evening wandering Los Angeles with him on the night before his flight home to South Korea.
-
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cute story but poor naration
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Intern with Korea’s number one record label? Yes, please. Find out there’s a huge scandal I need to help “manage”…not so much. Add in the fact that I don’t recognize the “superstars” of the label and think they’re interns. And my dream job quickly becomes more of a nightmare. But I’m in Seoul, the one place that is beginning to feel more and more like home. Except it isn’t home, and the drama surrounding the biggest K-pop group in the world, SWT, is consuming my every moment.
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solid idol story
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Overall
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Performance
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Now that Candace is a star, her life is suddenly filled with glamour. She's known everywhere; she has adoring fans who worshipher and her boyfriend, YoungBae; and she has unlimited access to her label-mates SLK, who happen to be the top boy band inthe world. Even more important, her company, S.A.Y., tells her they've heard her message of change loud and clear. They promise to makesweeping changes to become a more humane and compassionate place for artists.
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Wonderful Kpop story and reader
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Performance
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Elena Soo has always felt overshadowed. Whether by her more successful older sisters, her more popular twin brother, or her more outgoing best friend, everyone except Elena seems to know exactly who they are and what they want. But she is certain about one thing—she has no interest in going to prom. While the rest of the school is giddy over corsages and dresses, Elena would rather spend her time working to save the local community center. So when international K-pop superstar Robbie Choi shows up at her house to ask her to prom, Elena is more confused than ever.
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Very sweet, straightforward
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The Characters, Plot and Ending .... Everything!
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It was cute but….
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The voice artist did a fantastic job
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Story
Thanks to a tiny transgression after school one day, Melody is shocked to discover that her parents have decided to move her and her mom out of New York City to join her father in Seoul—immediately! Barely having had the chance to say goodbye to her best friend before she's on a plane, Melody is resentful and homesick. But she soon finds herself settling into their super-luxe villa, meeting cool friends at school, and discovering the alluring aspects of living in Korea. Life in Seoul is amazing, until cracks begin to form on its glittering surface....
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Enjoyed it!
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I didn't know I needed this book in my life.
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Emery Jung is living his dream. Known by his stage name M, he is loved by millions of fans around the world as a member of the rising K-pop group NEON. But all fame comes with a cost, especially when one slip-up can have viral consequences.
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Awesome!
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If there’s one thing you should know about me, other than that I swear a lot, it's that I believe in destiny. Which is why when the opportunity of my career gets within my reach, I not only know it’s meant to be, I feel like my entire life is about to change. And I don’t just mean my relocation to Seoul, aka K-Pop Central. You see, there’s this guy...I mean, isn’t there always?
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A must read for K-pop/romance fans!
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Entertaining enough
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Ariadne Hui thrives on routine. So what if everything in her life is planned down to the minute: That’s the way she likes it. If she’s going to make partner in Toronto’s most prestigious law firm, she needs to stay focused at all times. But when she comes home after yet another soul-sucking day to find an unfamiliar, gorgeous man camped out in her living room, focus is the last thing on her mind. Especially when her roommate explains this is Choi Jihoon, her cousin freshly arrived from Seoul to mend a broken heart. He just needs a few weeks to rest and heal.
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I LOVED this!!!
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When Elijah Ri arrives in New York City for an internship at his father’s massive tech company, Haneul Corporation, he expects the royal treatment that comes with being the future CEO—even if that’s the last thing he wants. But instead, he finds himself shuffled into a group of overworked, unpaid interns, all sharing a shoebox apartment for the summer.
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Cute story, needs a better...
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Overall
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Performance
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If I Had Your Face is a riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, South Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.
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incredibly enlightening
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Woke Up Like This
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Story
Planning the perfect prom is one last “to do” on ultra-organized Charlotte Wu’s high school bucket list. So far, so good, if not for a decorating accident that sends Charlotte crash-landing off a ladder, face-first into her obnoxiously ripped archnemesis J. T. Renner. Worse? When Charlotte wakes up, she finds herself in an unfamiliar bed at thirty years old, with her bearded fiancé, Renner, by her side.
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Sweet story.
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Critic reviews
"Narrator Joy Osmanski provides a spirited performance of a novel about the cutthroat world of K-pop. Rachel's talent and ambition led her family to uproot themselves and move from America to Korea. Her dream-come-true quickly diminishes as she faces bullying from the girls she competes against and relentless pressure for perfection from DB Entertainment, the label that recruited her. Tension mounts as heartthrob and K-pop star Jason begins to take an interest in her. Osmanski's youthful narration captures the emotional intensity of a forbidden romance and brings to her performance the energy that K-pop performers are known for. This contemporary romance will delight K-pop fans." (AudioFile Magazine)
What listeners say about Shine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jena Tambe
- 12-08-22
I love it
Omg so awesome very interesting and informative into the kpop world and I love kpop ofc so yeah I’m so proud of what Jessica has achieved
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- Ruth Williams
- 05-21-21
Awesome book waiting for the sequel!
Loved the story and a look behind the scenes into the world of K-pop. Only reason I didn't give a 4 star rating is because of some major cursing here and there throughout the story.
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- Ginalis R.
- 12-06-22
Behind the Scenes of Kpop
Great story! Nicely Narrated! Enjoyed it thoroughly! Can't wait to get started on the sequel.
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- Miles C.
- 11-22-20
Stick with it, even during it's cheesy moments.
This book is the clash between the K-pop fantasy and the dark human reality.
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- Peach
- 11-20-20
Would Recommend for New Fans, A Little Disappointed As Old Fan
The narration is good I like her emotions and stuff. Her Korean is a little bit hard to understand but it’s okay. The narrator did a very good job.
Story wise, Jessica did a really good job on shining the lights on the Kpop industry; the nature of this industry and what is demands of you as well as the uncertainty the you feel during trainee days. It’s perfect for most Kpop fans. But for me since I know about how hard being a Kpop star or trainee is, it was a little disappointing and it’s mainly because I expected more from this book. More competitions and all but all I can feel from this book is fantasies, with the super unrealistic schools and events, and teenage romance, a cringe one at that too. I do recommend this books to new Kpop fans and no offense but the toxic fans as well so that they know what Kpop trainees and Stars go through. I love Jessica and I hope her next book will be better.
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2 people found this helpful
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- maria
- 10-25-22
A great surprise
I’ll be honest. I have serious doubts a k-pop superstar with no experience in writing could write this book completely alone and without any other help from any author. But oh well… maybe she is perfection on Earth?
The beginning of the book is too cheesy and boring and the romance is cringy. And the book needed serious editing. There are so many repetitions in terms of vocabulary (she swallowed, she rolls her eyes…) Mina is little one sided character and too flat. Jason… I’m not sure what to make of him.
Rachel is great. I loved her backstory and why she loves k pop. Her character arc was pretty enjoyable.
So yeah… not an amazing book by any means- it feels like a rom com with a cheesy romance and a way too many short trips that don’t add anything culturally relevant to the story. Also, the capital of fashion is Paris, not New York. It is still enjoyable, and the cliffhangers at the end of chapters are good. Curious to see it on screen though. Maybe if this “author” had asked some bestselling author to write her book the characters could have been better developed, and the story could have felt more intense and important, not just some mean girls drama and cheesy romance.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-04-20
Chick-lit for K-POP fans!
I consider it a chick-lit for K-POP fans. Love it! Well done Jessica, and the narrator too!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kilby Blades
- 06-07-21
Entertaining Story and Well-Done Audio
I really like this narrator, Joy Osmanski, in every book she narrates. I would read another book by this author.
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- Richard
- 05-07-21
I'm not a KPop fan, but this book was so good!
I was shocked at how good this book was! I got so invested in the characters. It was a very unique story which was refreshing.
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