“I really meant it when I told Charlie that I loved this business. Whether it was matching someone with the perfect product or figuring out a really sweet deal, I liked the feeling that I had a presence, that everything I did mattered and made an impact.”

A 17-year-old senior at Crescent Brook High School, Valerie Kwon is a self-inspired entrepreneur. Selling merchandise out of her locker, Valerie and her cousin, Charlie, run and manage V&C K-Beauty, a Korean beauty-products business. Since sophomore year, Valerie has been saving her profit, hoping to accomplish her dream of bringing her grandmother to Paris. But she also wants to prove something to her mother. 

Valerie and her mother do not have the best relationship; constantly compared to her sister, Valerie feels like she is “not enough” in her mother’s eyes. Not ambitious enough. Not responsible enough. But maybe, if she can save this money to bring her grandmother on a trip, she can prove that she is much more than her mother gives her credit for.   

Valerie was certainly a complex character. Though I admired her directness and ability to speak her mind, she was also very stubborn and opinionated. There were several instances of miscommunication throughout the book, and Valerie was almost always the cause for them. She also sometimes did very irritating, selfish things at the expense of others. Usually, I do not mind a flawed character. But in this case, I do not think her character was as well-developed as she could have been, which made her flaws much more difficult to ignore.  

Throughout almost the entirety of the novel, Valerie keeps the same mindset, and it is a severe detriment to her. Only in the last ten percent of the book does Valerie truly begin to realize the harmfulness of it.

Having recognized that at the end of the book, her character did not genuinely develop. It just immediately shifted. And, quite honestly, this led to me disliking several aspects of her. 

“[M]ost of the time, I just felt painfully awkward in my own skin. I wasn’t immune to the whispers that followed me. It was definitely flattering, but it was also equal parts panic-inducing. I could never figure out a way to be myself. Sometimes I wasn’t even sure who myself was.”

Wes Jung, the new student at Crescent Brook High School, is used to moving around. Having been to four different schools in the past ten years, he hasn’t been able to put down roots anywhere. Instead, a large part of his identity has become his passion for music. He wants to go to school for music, eventually working in an orchestra, but he knows his father would never approve. 

Through a string of miscommunications, Wes ends up selling K-pop lip gloss to his classmates, earning over a hundred dollars. 

Struggling to pay college admission fees and the repair cost of his broken saxophone, Wes comes to realize that this accidental exchange could become a real opportunity as a side-hustle.

His only issue is V&C K-Beauty. 

Wes was a very kind, conscientious person. Sometimes, his consideration for others’ emotions prohibited him from speaking his own mind and expressing his opinions. Unlike Valerie, I believe his development from this mindset was well done. Throughout the book, several people tell Wes that he cannot always agree with what others say for the sole purpose of making them happy, especially if his opinion is contradictory. And, by the end, he realizes that himself. 

I didn’t have any issue with him. He made mistakes, but they were realistic and understandable. I didn’t even mind his strangely-formal texts, as it kind of fit his awkward persona. 

Set in the Pacific Northwest, two Korean-American teens vie for the most successful Korean beauty-product business in their high school. Rivals from the start, Valerie and Wes engage in a bet: whoever can make the most money by the end of the school year gets to keep the other’s profit. From there, the competition ensues. 

The romance in this book was light-hearted and sweet. A true YA romance, it was full of small, charming moments that lead to the blossoming of the protagonists’ relationship. 

Wes and Valerie’s interest in each other was certainly not insta-love, which was refreshing. They acknowledged that they found each other attractive, but it wasn’t the only feeling one felt toward the other. 

Made in Korea, by Sarah Suk, is a fun, light-hearted read about two outsiders finding their place within each other. With realistic, relatable characters and an intriguing plot, this book had a lot to love. 

Also, it’s enemies-to-lovers. So--duh.