Review: I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

Publication Date: May 30th, 2017
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux 
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance 
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Synopsis: Desi Lee knows how carburetors work. She learned CPR at the age of five. As a high school senior, she has never missed a day of school and has never had a B in her entire life. She's for sure going to Stanford. But—she’s never had a boyfriend. In fact, she’s a disaster in romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation-magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. She finds her answer in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It's a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study. Armed with her “K Drama Rules for True Love,” Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and fake car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

I Believe in a Thing Called Love was absolutely adorable. It has a intelligent main character, funny storyline and a swoon worthy romance. Any fans of K-dramas and high-school romance books will love this one.

Desi Lee is the closest thing to perfect. She's intelligent, popular, athletic, involved in multiple extracurricular activities, and is well on her way to her dream University of Stanford. The only thing Desi Lee isn't perfect in, is talking to boys. When the handsome Luca Drakos joins Desi Lee's school, Desi makes it her mission to get this boy to like her, so she can finally experience whats its like to have a boyfriend. The plan, follow the steps Korean Dramas use to make Luca fall in love with her.

The first thing I said about this book, only a few chapters in, was that I seriously wish that my future children are exactly like Desi Lee. I fell in love with this character right from chapter one. Not only is she an amazing main character, but she's also extremely relatable. I especially loved her relationship with her father, it is so adorable to read about, I haven't read many book where a parent figure is in the book so much, and is depicted in a positive way like her dad was. Desi Lee will go down as one of my all time favourite main characters.

The romance in this book was really cute. While it wasn't my all time favourite romance, I did ship the main characters. Desi Lee and Luca make a perfect pair, and it was wonderful to watch them fall in love. The only thing I didn't like, was the predictability. It is so easy to tell what will happen to the story, and there weren't any crazy twists to make it interesting.

The main problem I had with this book was the ending. Fair warning, SOME SPOILERS AHEAD. One of the main reasons that I loved Desi Lee was because of her intelligence. I could relate to that, and I really admired it. Watching Desi Lee throw away her future, for the university she's always dreamed about going to, all because of a boy... that honestly broke my heart. Desi Lee had such a bright future ahead of her, and she literally threw away her chances of attending the university because of Luca. I think I would have taken this a different way, if it wasn't for the fact that the main reason Desi and Luca ended up together at the end was because Luca found out she did that for him. I am all for relationships where your partner helps you become a better person and achieve your goals, but this relationship was the opposite. 

This book was so close to being perfect for me. Minor changes and I would have given it 5 stars. I still highly recommend it, especially to fans of Korean Dramas and anyone who loves YA Contemporaries. Desi Lee will rock your world.

Happy Reading,
Aneta