They are heiresses to the Molly Folly corporation, a makeup company, but the twins each hold a different interest outside of that. The Cho Twins (Hyeri and Juhyun): Rachel’s best friends from Seoul International School. She also fancies being an idol towards the end of the book. Leah is a pretty typical K-pop fan as well who dreams of marrying oppa and also consumes a healthy diet of K-pop MVs and K-dramas. She is very VERY supportive of Rachel’s dream and is basically her personal cheerleader. Leah Kim: Rachel’s 12 (or 13 in Korean age) year old younger sister. She is intent on Rachel focusing on her education, specifically college. She is not supportive of her daughter’s K-pop dreams and views it has just a hobby. A former English Literature professor at NYU but now works at Ewha Women’s University. He is supportive of his daughter’s dream and rather laidback (or too tired to be assertive). This has lead him to take night classes to receive a law degree for a better job (this is important for a later major plot point!). A former boxer who owned a rather successful gym back in New York but a less fruitful one in Korea. (Note: Korean terms are used in this book namely so I am copying from there with translation in parentheses).Īppa (Dad): Rachel’s dad. Quick rundown of characters in this chapter: This is the “let’s introduce Rachel’s family and friends” chapter, so don’t skip this one if you pick up the book yourself. Quick profile of main antagonist, Mina Chapter 2 I’ll try to keep the summaries short (lies).

I organized it that way for clarity and to make it easier on me. This book is Young Adult Fiction, not an autobiography (though Jessica has admitted that Rachel Kim, the protagonist of Shine, shares many similarities with her, of course).Īlright, I think that’s enough dallying, I’ll commence the “review.” I’ll warn you now, this will be a chapter by chapter run down.

Jessica herself said in interviews that the events that take place in the book were inspired by things she experienced as a trainee and an idol and that I don’t disbelieve but I wouldn’t put it past her to spice some things up for the sake of fiction. I’ll tell you now, as I read it, it felt quite fanfiction-like. The novel itself is catered to young adults, specifically K-pop fans and more specifically fans of Jessica. I’m here to try and give a kind of thorough summary of the novel with my opinions and thoughts interspersed here and there. Part 1 of one of those K-pop guide videos (yes, Jessica specifically is covered in this video)

Shine jessica