2021 Reading Challenge: The book that discusses body positivity

I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Skye Shin has spent the majority of her life dealing with the fact that she is not the ideal image of a Korean-American teenage girl. Specifically she is not rail thin or straight. Her from Korea mother is constantly harping on her about her weight. She hides her orientation from everyone she knows because she's Bi. She's been bullied at school.

But Skye is actually happy in her skin. She fully believes she's cute and at times beautiful. She also knows she is talented and she's going to show the world that Fat Girls can Dance and sing. So despite not having the right look, she enters into the K-Pop competition "You're a shining star" (think American Idol and So you Think you can Dance for K-Pop) to prove to herself, her mother and the world that talent is not contingent on looks.

Through the competition she finds an inner strength, friends and possibly love.

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I will be honest... the only reason I know anything about K-Pop is because you really cannot turn on the TV these days without hearing a BTS song in a commercial.

But I actually liked how this book dealt with fatphobia, the LGBTQ+ community in minority cultures and standing up to emotional abuse.

This was a fun book. I found myself smiling throughout the quick listen (just over 8 hours) and would recommend if someone wanted a contemporary light read.



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