I'll Be the One (Realistic)
Name: Samantha B.
Book Title: I'll Be the One
Author: Lyla Lee
Genre: Realistic/Romance
Number of Pages: 323
Rating: 5/5
You are beautiful. Don't let anyone, not even yourself, tell you any different.
Character List:
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Skye Shin - Skye Shin is a bisexual, plus-sized teenage girl of Korean heritage who wants to become a part of a K-Pop reality show. Skye overcomes many obstacles along her way such as encountering homophobia, biphobia, fatphobia, racism, and sexism towards her as she auditions for this show. Along her journey, Skye learns to accept herself and love herself for who she is without people constantly bringing her down.
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Skye's Mother - Skye's mother is a fatphobic person who constantly puts Skye through so much trauma through this story. Skye's mother would often give her supplements and certain foods to help her lose weight, even though she was completely healthy. Skye's mother would also throw hurtful words and phrases at her to make her thinner. Skye's mother treated her terribly because she didn't fit the normal Korean "beauty standards."
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Henry Cho - Henry is one of Skye's competitors who is very supportive of Skye along her journey. He is a very sweet character and they both have similarities. Henry Cho is also Skye's crush.
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Tiffany - Tiffany is one of Skye's friends who is in a relationship with Lana.
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Lana - Lana is also one of Skye's friends who helps Skye find her way throughout the book. Tiffany is her girlfriend.
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Jang Bora - Jang Bora was one of Skye's judges at the audition who insulted Skye for her weight, which included throwing pig emojis at her, and has said some other discriminatory remarks to Skye.
Review:
This story is about a Korean teenage girl named Skye Shin who wants to audition for a K-Pop reality TV show. Skye Shin loves to sing and dance. All her life she has been hearing, "fat girls shouldn't dance" or "fat girls shouldn't bring attention to themselves." So Skye's goal is to break all of society's norms. Along her journey, Skye meets two supporting friends that are in the same boat as her because the three of them are a part of the LGBTQ community. She also has a crush on Henry Cho, who supports Skye through her journey. Even when Skye nailed her audition for the K-Pop show, one of her judges, Jang Bora, and Skye's mother constantly insult Skye about her weight and put her through emotional and physical trauma throughout this story. But the most important thing is that Skye never gives up on herself and wants to win that competition so bad. As you read the story, you find yourself rooting for her to win almost as if you are living in her life.
This book, I'll Be the One by Lyla Lee, is very uplifting, positive, and sends a very good message to the audience reading this to never change who you are for other people and to always do what makes you happy. Even when you look at the cover of the book, you can already tell the vibe of it which is pretty amazing. Therefore, I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. If anyone is struggling with confidence in their body or looks, I would for sure recommend this book to them because it will show them how special they truly are. I would also recommend this story to those who are interested in teen drama and romance because there is a lot of it throughout this story.
