K-Jane made me feel so seen. As a transracial adoptee, I’ve always struggled with identity. And K-Jane made me tear up! It’s a gorgeous book about belonging and friendship. Keep reading this book review of K-Jane for my full thoughts.
Summary
Jane Choi is a typical Nebraskan teen—a corn-fed lover of Husker football. But lately, she feels like she’s missing something. Her non-Korean classmates—that’s everyone—are immersed in K-pop, K-dramas, K-beauty . . . basically, K-everything. But for Jane, kimchi? Not a fan. Bibimbap? What is that? Her mom even named her after the very not-Korean Jane Eyre.
Everyone seems to know more about Korean culture than Jane. And she isn’t sure whether she’s more annoyed at them, or herself.
With a baby brother on the way, Jane is determined to save her new sibling from enduring the same humiliation. a totally foolproof plan to become the K-Jane of her dreams. What better way than to start a private social media account about all things Korean so her closest cousins can learn from her?
But Korean heritage and identity are more complicated than taste-testing multiple varieties of kimchi in front of a camera. And when online virality crashes into real life, Jane’s plans might just go K-boom in her face.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
K-Jane is a heartfelt story about identity, about heritage, and being enough. K-Jane examines identity in a multi-generational family, the thing we forget, and history we never knew. It explores the history of oppression and the intersection of culture as well as the ways identity develops with migration and new influences. I remember growing up as one of very few Asians and how deeply ‘uncool’ it was then, but to see the resurgence now especially with K-Pop has been such a change. For Jane, I felt her complex feelings about people knowing so much more than we do, how it feels to be on the outside and with so many others who have this almost elusive membership already.
K-Jane stars as a reclamation of identity. Of her trying to find something she lacks, filling in the gaps of herself, and thinking of herself as lacking. But it ends a story of knowing we are enough as we are. That we don’t have to have all the ‘bases’ covered to be ‘enough’. About the confidence we need to know that we are enough the way we are, that identity isn’t like a card that can be taken away from us. K-Jane is also a story about friendship and becoming absorbed in something entirely. About being honest with our friends, looking not at our intentions but the results, and taking advantage.
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K-Jane moved me and is something I’d recommend to everyone. Find K-Jane on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.