Book Review: Bias – A Kpop Romance by Lucy Gold

We got another Kpop book review, y’all! 

I wasn’t expecting to do another one of these so soon. Jessica Jung’s follow up to Shine will be out this September. But in the meantime, you can get your idol romance kick with Bias – A Kpop Romance. 

Lucy Gold, author of the new book Bias – A Kpop Romance, reached out to me to share my thoughts on their debut book. I was gifted a free copy. But my thoughts on the book are my own. Just a heads-up.

I don’t want to give too much away, so this review will be spoiler free. Well, unless you consider the short summary of the book a spoiler…then avert your eyes now. 

Okay, you can look again. I have mixed feelings on Bias – A Kpop Romance. For a new fan of Kpop looking for a story about an idol and a fan falling in love without having to read y/n every other sentence or wait for random updates, Bias – A Kpop Romance is perfect. Congratulations, your new identity is Madison. 

I love fanfics. I read them often. Do whatever you want with that information, lol. I kept finding it difficult to get immersed into the story.

I felt like I was watching two awkward teens getting to know each other. Everything happened so fast. And then I had to remind myself that Madison is 22 and Wooyeong is 23. They’re 3-4 years YOUNGER than me. 

Me almost being 30 (I’ll be 27 at the end of May) didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the book, but it kinda did. I found myself rolling my eyes at young love and heartache.

I’ve been there. I get it. But I couldn’t turn off my old lady life experienced brain off. I’m joking about being, old age doesn’t bother me. I still get asked what high school I go to. Team baby face forever. 

I kept coming up with my own ideas on how I wish things had gone. And then it hit me. I’m not the target demographic for this, and that’s okay.

I gave up on What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, but tons of people love it. It was very popular during its original run. Still might be idk. 

Now, I rolled my eyes continuously while reading Shine. But I was in it for the tea. I didn’t expect it to be that great. And it really wasn’t. But there was a certain charm to it. I felt like Jason and Rachel had time to flush out their relationship and see the chemistry between them.

It was natural. Now, Shine is totally a young adult book. But I still had fun with it. While reading Bias – A Kpop Romance, I already knew what was going to happen. Madison and Wooyeong’s relationship felt forced. It was too predictable for me.

 I don’t know if it’s because I’ve seen first hand as a fan idol relationships and how the public can turn against or support them. But things seemed to go a bit too well for Madison. In fact, I feel like we got to know Wooyeong and his group mates more than Madison.

I wasn’t expecting her to have a 360 transformation, but I wasn’t expecting her to mostly stay the same either.

I’m not sure if there will be a sequel to Bias – A Kpop Romance, but if there is, I’d like to see more flavor in Madison. What exactly is her job in Seoul? Do any of her friends like Kpop? Or did she make friends online?

What if she accidentally befriended a saesang fan and Madison and Wooyeong got caught up in a major scandal because of that. Idk. Just a few of the many thoughts I while reading Bias, then I shared with my mom because I had to talk to somebody about it.

I would have also liked to seen more Kpop fan experiences mentioned too. Nothing too babies down. Something like birthday events, fan meetings, concerts. From what we learn in Bias – A Kpop Romance, Madison was from a town that didn’t have many Korean offerings like BBQ, Kpop stores with albums and merch, or concerts.

There’s no way she got all that out of her system in the first two weeks of moving to Seoul. Was she just a solo fan, or did she follow other groups? This was another question I had about her. 

My favorite part was the playlist at the end of the book. I wasn’t expecting Wooyeong to have such great taste in music. I wished we had learned about more about his group’s music. Are they mostly known as ballad kings, like BTOB?

Are they a hip hop heavy group like iKON? Do they rely on edm and dance songs like KARD? Ya girl just has a lot of questions. 

Bias – A Kpop Romance is Lucy Gold’s first book, and I don’t want to be too harsh. But I’m also not one to hold back from the truth. If you’re looking for a quick trip to Seoul to fall in love with your bias without leaving your house, get this book now.

I know it sounds like I’m not a big fan of this book, but I’m really looking forward to what they come up with next. Lucy Gold has a lot of potential.

I hope we get more books soon. I’m always here for supporting small authors and creators. We can’t keep letting Disney create everything for entertainment. We can still win this battle! 

But let me know what y’all’s takes are on Bias – A Kpop Romance. It’s available now on Amazon. If you wait a bit from February 22-24th, you can pick up an e-book copy for free.

I hope y’all check it out and see how it makes you feel. Then report back, I still need someone to talk about this story with. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

Take care,

Ash ♥♥♥