I never thought this book would brighten my day this way! It would be described as sweet and funny with a dash of sarcasm and fierceness. 😂
- Title: Made In Korea
- Author: Sarah Suk
- Genre: Contemporary, Romance, YA Fiction
- Publishing Date/Publisher: May 18th 2021 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Isn’t the cover cuuuute! (since when did I become a person who started calling things cute? This is so not me 🤦♀️) And the treble clef is gorgeous!
Valerie Kwon has one dream. Bring her grandma to Paris this year. Along with her cousin, Charlie, they both run V&C K-BEAUTY, the school’s most famous and successful enterprise run by students. It has been almost three years now and Valerie has been saving all her share of profits in order to fulfil her grandma’s life-long dream.
Wes Jung is a new kid in school who dreams of pursuing a music career when he finishes school. The problem is? His parents have totally different plans for him and they want him to be a doctor. Knowing that he will have to earn his own money and pay music school, he is also trying to find ways to save money. Until the very golden opportunity comes right in front of his eyes. When his classmates find a stash of lip-balm in his bag, given by his mother in order to help him ‘make new friends’, he finds himself with 100 dollars and all the lip-balms sold out. Thus, the idea came to him, start his own student-run K-BEAUTY business.
What he doesn’t realize is that there is also another K-BEAUTY business in school and he became their biggest competitor and Valerie’s personal rival.
Wes and Valerie try their best to outsell each other and be the best business in school but things turn a little different. Some sort of fire set both of them alight and keeps on growing but Valerie knows that if her sales drop and Wes wins, she will lose and her Grandma might never be able to see Paris. Wes knows that if he doesn’t outsell Valerie, he will not be able to go to music school. The game is hard and none of them seem to be able to completely ignore their growing feelings for each other.
About The Author:

Sarah Suk (pronounced like soup with a K) lives in Vancouver, Canada where she writes stories and admires mountains. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the water, taking film photos, or eating a bowl of bingsu. You can visit her online at sarahsuk.com and on Twitter and Instagram @sarahaelisuk.
[picture and text taken directly from Goodreads]
My Ratings: 4.5/5
My Thoughts:
First thing…do they sell bingsu in Mauritius because I want to taste this dessert right now! Yeah….bingsu is mentioned a lot in the book so you may understand why.
Let’s get back to the book. This book was way heart-warming than I thought. I was constantly thinking about what if it had a sad ending or one that made me cry? Oh no, it was definitely perfect and this is the first book written by Sarah Suk.
Valerie… her confidence, fierceness and bravery… I could totally feel her anger when she learnt that Wes was starting his own K-BEAUTY business. She makes some good decisions as well as bad ones so she isn’t the perfect girl with a perfect life. She is the youngest daughter in her family who is overshadowed by her sister, Samantha. Her mother is always wanting her to be like Samantha and always criticizing the decisions she makes for herself. This is one of the reasons why Valerie wants to bring her grandma to Paris; to prove to her mother that she can do some great things too. I loved Valerie’s determination and courage in what she wants and the way she focuses in her goals and her self-confidence and occasional cold-heartedness.
Wes…is the type of boy who’s mostly soft and calm and who is also determined to win. He has a soft heart (and that includes saving his rival) and very good-natured. He is almost totally the opposite of fiery and fierce Valerie. He’s the person who’d settle an argument by talking rather than simply ditching that person out of your life (that is Valerie I tell you).
Sarah Suk’s style of writing is extremely beautiful and she definitely knows how to portray Wes and Valerie exactly and clearly. In such a way you can picture them in your mind (the cover helps as well).
I also have to say that the story is told in Wes and Valerie’s point of view and when you think about all the problems they both have and how they each want to succeed….you can’t really want only one person yo succeed. Throughout the book, I was constantly shipping Valerie and Wes the WHOLE TIME AND IF YOU READ THE BOOK YOU’LL DO THAT TOO. MARK MY WORDS!!
It is an enemies-to-lovers romance if you consider it that way but it was more Valerie who wanted to crush Wes into pieces at the beginning….
Have I written enough? Well, I guess I have written too much but I have one last thing to say….it is perfect for people who want a light read and are feeling sad for no reason right now. It will definitely cheer you up and draw a big smile on the face. I was constantly smiling throughout the book!
Okay, I’m stopping right now!
-Hermione💙