Be-au-tiful! ( )

Nerd turned rock start turns back to nerd. Cute story of how a nerd changes to impress the new girl, while risking his relationships with his best friends and trying to reconnect with his true rockstar older brother. Strong male protagonist with an amazing relationship with Jamal and Milo. These young men were not afraid to show their love for each other. Mom and Dad, talk about clueless. It took a bit to get into, but then it flew. ( )

Super Fake Love Song is about Sunny Dae, a Korean American teenager who is a mega-nerd trying to survive at his wealthy, white California high school. He is introduced to Cirrus Soh, a very cool, worldly, beautiful girl. To impress her, he impulsively tells her he is the front man of a rock band. He starts wearing his rocker older brother's clothes. He ropes his friends Milo and Jamal into forming a rock band to maintain the deception. Along the way, Sunny's perception of himself and those around him changes. He gains confidence. His relationship with his older brother and family improves.
Super Fake Love Song is hilariously, cleverly funny. Gut busting, roll-on-the-floor funny. David Yoon definitely has a way with words. Because I am an ancient, pre-internet fossil, I was a huge fan of the John Hughes movies from the 80s. In many ways this book echoes the themes of those movies: breaking down stereotypes, dysfunctional families, being true to, and standing up for yourself. Super Fake Love Song goes further and also addresses racism and diversity. The characters were relatable. I loved Sunny's friends Milo and Jamal. I thought they were the big heroes of the story in terms of standing by Sunny throughout all the insanity. Super Fake Love Song is a funny, fast-paced entertaining read that also makes the reader think. ( )

I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher (Penguin Teen). Since I received an ARC, my quotes from the book are tentative.

I had previously read Yoon’s other novel, Frankly In Love, and loved it, so I knew I had to pick this one up.

It should first be said that this book is different than Frankly in Love. This book is less serious and more light hearted, so don’t go into this book expecting it to be just like Frankly in Love.

I thought this book was so fun. I found the whole “fake being in a band to impress a girl” premise to be well executed. I loved seeing how it all came together.

As for the actual romance, it was not the most exciting thing. I didn’t find Sonny and Cirrus’s relationship to be all that interesting or compelling. I just didn’t see the chemistry. In terms of relationships and dynamics, the book really shined in regards to Sonny and his brother. I loved seeing them reconnect. I also liked the friendship dynamic between Sonny and his two best friends, Milo and Jamal.

I was really glad that Gunner, the school bully, was so much more than that. Oftentimes YA authors just use bullies as an adversarial cliche, but in this book we discovered that there was more lurking under his tough exterior.

Lastly, I just love Yoon’s writing style. It flows so well and is highly entertaining. He is also so good at making big points in very subtle ways. For example, there is a short mention of the racist background of the national anthem. He writes, “ the crowd groaned along with its hoary antiquated lyrics, as always omitting the third stanza threatening murder for free former slaves” (pg 107). It was a brief nod, but I liked how it brought attention to it.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading what he writes next! ( )

I read this in early December......I put off writing a review until now because, aside from laziness, what I had to say about it wasn't coming to me very easily. I read "Super Fake Love Song" quicker than I do most books. David Yoon has a very easy to read writing style that makes speed reading pretty easy.

It is what I was expecting, after reading the preview, and also Yoon's "Frankly in Love." In fact, it's just the kind of book I was looking for. Something fast and lighthearted and a bit predictable with a happy ending, maybe something that was an improvement on "Frankly in Love," which, while I liked, I had a few problems with...

In the end I think I feel about the same with both of them. "Super Fake Love Song" is the solid, lighthearted narrative I was looking for, but nothing amazing. Aside from a lot of the humor not landing for me, my one big issue is that Cirrus is underdeveloped to a point that I find ridiculous. Also maybe it's just me but I was more interested in a story about Gray lol.