Frankly in Loveby David Yoon
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 10th, 2019
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Coming-of-Age
Format: ARC
Source: Kindly provided by publisher in exchange for honest review. Thank you!
Summary from Goodreads:
High school senior Frank Li is a Limbo–his term for Korean-American kids who find themselves caught between their parents’ traditional expectations and their own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance–“Date Korean”–which proves complicated when Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful–and white. Fellow Limbo Joy Song is in a similar predicament, and so they make a pact: they’ll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks it’s the perfect plan, but in the end, Frank and Joy’s fake-dating maneuver leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love–or himself–at all.
Review
Frankly in Love is a romantic coming-of-age story centred around a young teenage boy growing up and accepting his family as well as his own identity. The author, David Yoon, adds from his Korean-American experience to this story and writes about the challenges Frank faces regarding identity and the feeling of not identifying fully with the Korean or American culture.
The romantic aspect of this story centres around the parental disapproval of Frank and his sister's relationships with anyone that is not Korean. For instance, Frank's sister was disowned for dating a black man. When Frank himself falls for a non-Korean, he is scared of facing the possible ramifications it may cause with his parents that he creates a plan with a Korean girl friend of his to pretend to date her in front of their parents while secretly seeing his real white girlfriend.
The romance in this story has to be one of the weakest points of the overall story. Frank doesn't treat either Brit, his white girlfriend, nor Joy, his Korean girl friend, quite justly. He falls for both without really knowing either of their characters, leading to a sudden and face-paced relationship that felt lacking at times. This fake-dating trope is entirely unnecessary to this story.
Nonetheless, if one simply forgets the romance aspect of this story in its entirety, Frankly in Love makes a spectacular coming-of-age telling of a young boy trying to find himself and accept his identity. The exploration of the Korean community was extremely enlightening and entertaining to read and learn more about. Especially Frank's journey in accepting both parts of his identity as well as his parents, no matter the obstacles faced.
Rating
★★★
About the AuthorDavid Yoon grow up in Orange County, California, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Nicola Yoon, and their daughter. He drew the illustrations for Nicola's #1 New York Times bestseller Everything, Everything. Frankly in Love is his first novel.
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