Book Tour & ARC Review: Hello, I Love You + Giveaway(U.S/CAN)!♥

Book Tour hosted by St. Martins Griffin.

• Hello, I Love You
• Katie M. Stout
• 
  
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (June 9, 2015)
• ISBN-13: 978-1250052599
• Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Nobles
• Source: Review Copy was sent free of charge via St. Martin's Griffin. Thank you Michelle.
• Synopsis: Grace Wilde is running--from the multi-million dollar mansion her record producer father bought, the famous older brother who's topped the country music charts five years in a row, and the mother who blames her for her brother's breakdown. Grace escapes to the farthest place from home she can think of, a boarding school in Korea, hoping for a fresh start. She wants nothing to do with music, but when her roommate Sophie's twin brother Jason turns out to be the newest Korean pop music superstar, Grace is thrust back into the world of fame. She can't stand Jason, whose celebrity status is only outmatched by his oversized ego, but they form a tenuous alliance for the sake of her friendship with Sophie. As the months go by and Grace adjusts to her new life in Korea, even she can't deny the sparks flying between her and the KPOP idol. Soon, Grace realizes that her feelings for Jason threaten her promise to herself that she'll leave behind the music industry that destroyed her family. But can Grace ignore her attraction to Jason and her undeniable pull of the music she was born to write? Sweet, fun, and romantic, Katie M. Stout's "Hello, I Love You "explores what it means to experience first love and discover who you really are in the process.

• Grace Wilde decides to escape from her home, she finds refuge in a boarding school in Korea. She's hoping for a fresh start after her mother blames her for her brother's breakdown and depression. She does not want to be around her famous father who's a record producer, she's tired of the fame and spotlight and now she wants to hide. She wants to ignore everything about music, but her roommate Sophie has a twin brother name Jason who is the newest Korean pop star, apparently he also has an oversize ego according to Grace. The physical attraction towards Jason exists for Grace, but she refuses to acknowledge it. Now, they're forced to make an alliance. Jason will tutor Grace in Korean language, and Grace will help him develop his music more. Hello, I love You explores a coming of age story with first love.

• Hello, I Love You is a coming of age debut novel. It reminded me about the book Anna and The French Kiss except I hated Anna's book, it was just a super cliche novel with the weirdest love triangle. I couldn't help but feel similar vibes but Hello, I Love You is a much better coming of age story. It is also about female friendships, Korea, first love, family and conflict. Ultimately. this is love story, but does have many themes going on around it. I had to finish this novel in one setting, the writing is just beautiful. I was smiling and laughing along with the characters. The writing is lovely and compelling.

• Grace comes off rather immature and shallow as you first read about her. She's not a snob exactly, but her ego is huge. She speaks her mind, but she does seem rather nosy in other people's business. She's quite an honest person, but she can actually be brutal. She can be bitter, but I do feel it's because of her traumatic past. I winced at some of her ignorant comments about Korea, maybe it's cultural shock - At times, she's even a jerk to the hero just because he doesn't give her the time of the day. Someone's ego is bruising.. Grace does reach character growth halfway into the novel. She goes from a young girl into a mature woman. She's a flawed character, but she does change eventually. Ignorance can be annoying in a character, although, I can forgive it when the character matures and gains knowledge. It was adorable when she started defending Korean's and sticking up for them! Jason was a unique character to read about, well, hello to diversity in young adult. Jason is an Korean character and he comes across as dreamy and charming. He is the quiet, brooding type - not a bad boy at all. I thought he was actually a sweet male lead. I do wish he wasn't so handsome as emphasized in the book. I kept checking the model on the cover to see he matched the description of Jason. It would be nice to read about average looking characters once in a while. The romance was steamy, and swoon worthy, although I do wish there was less teenage angst. They had a love hate relationship which was adorable at times. The characters have their flaws, but they ultimately are likable.

• The romance was enjoyable, but I preferred the family drama much more because that's what I was more interested in. I love the Kpop factor in the novel, for those who aren't aware it stands for Korean Pop music, I actually learned about it myself when I was reading the novel. The storyline was amazing though, the foreign setting and the friendships in the novel were lovely. I do wish there was more talk on Korea, it sounds like a beautiful place. This does have a good story and a couple of plot twists that completely threw me of.. in a good way. The secondary characters were intriguing as well, I really liked Sophie too. Nevertheless, Hello, I love You is a beautiful novel - it does have its flaws but the plot was fantastic. 
  

Recommended for fans of Anna and The French Kiss.

• 1) Describe your book in three words.
• KPOP. Romance. Forgiveness.

• 2) There are not many Young Adult books out with diversity. How were you inspired to write a novel with a Korean male lead?
• Well, I knew I wanted to write about Korean pop music, so it only made sense for my K-pop star to be Korean. It would be weird if he weren’t… ;-)

• 3) Can you describe the heroine of your book, and is she relatable to young girls?
• Grace is what could be described as an “unlikeable” heroine. She’s opinionated, judgmental, critical, and bitter. She’s also in a lot of pain and going through extreme culture shock. She’s gotten a lot of criticism from reviewers because they think she’s too critical and too judgmental, but that was intentional on my part. She’s dealt with a lot of bad stuff in her life, and she’s incredibly jaded. I think that’s realistic.

• Also, culture shock is a very real, very hard thing. I know that first-hand. I had a legitimate panic attack when I moved to Thailand, terrified to leave my room when I first got there. When I moved to England, I hated everything about everything for months. But actually, that’s all normal. Your brain has to cope with such a huge upheaval. That’s something Grace goes through, and because the book is told from her first person POV, the reader hears all the messy, embarrassing, judgmental thoughts that 99.9% of people would be having in her position.

• I think “unlikeable” heroines are relatable to girls because no one is perfect. We’re all mean sometimes. We’ve all been hurt by people and our pasts. But that doesn’t mean we can’t change. That doesn’t mean we can’t recognize our flaws and choose to get better. That’s what Grace’s journey is about, and I think a lot of young girls can relate to that.

• 3) What are some of your favorite books?
• I grew up reading the “classics,” so some of my favorites are The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Wuthering Heights, Sherlock Holmes, The Great Gatsby, and Peter Pan.

• More contemporary books that I love are Rick Yancey’s 5th Wave series, the Percy Jackson books, and Holly Black’s Curse Workers series.

• 5) Last question: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

• Obviously, write a lot. But also, I think it’s important to live your life. Go have adventures. Books are great, but there’s also a big world out there for you to explore. Your best stories will come from your personal experiences. You can write about something you don’t know or haven’t experienced, but it’s easier (and often, more genuine) if you write about something you know.

The giveaway is hosted by St. Martin's Griffin.

The blogger is not responsible for shipping the book.

The more entries you enter for the giveaway, the better. 
However, they are not required though - there is a free entry for everyone. 

-The winner will be selected randomly by Rafflecopter! 

-Please enter only from one email. The giveaway ends on June 15 at 12 a.m
This giveaway is for US/Can only. Sorry!

-The winner has 24 hours to reply, before I randomly chose another winner. 

Best wishes :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for reading this! Have an amazing month of June - Leave your blog links in the comments & I'll be sure to check them out & drop by :) Stay in tuned pretty creatures..

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” —Nora Ephron 

Personal Instagram | Beauty Instagram | Tumblr | Bloglovin | Goodreads

femmmefatalee@gmail.com