It’s not every day a fan can find a novel that dives into the exhilarating but also dramatic world of K-Pop! Lovers of Korean culture and K-Pop will be excited to know that a book by Axie Oh, an award-winning author AND K-Pop fan, is releasing this week! The book transports readers to Los Angeles and then to Seoul, right into the whirlwind of secret young love and the struggles of growing musical artists.
As much as XOXO is a love letter to K-pop, it’s also a love letter to the city.”
Axie Oh’s new young adult novel XOXO is about a Korean American cellist named Jenny who falls in love with a K-Pop idol! One day, Jenny runs into the mysterious Jaewoo in her uncle’s karaoke bar. Romantic sparks fly until Jaewoo vanishes and Jenny doesn’t hear from him again. Three months pass by and Jenny travels to South Korea with her mother. It isn’t long before she discovers that Jaewoo is attending the same academy as she is. Not only is he a student there, he’s also a member of a popular boy group! Crossing paths once again, Jenny and Jaewoo start to fall in love. But as fans of K-Pop know, it’s beyond difficult for idols to date.
We had the pleasure of interviewing the writer of this exciting novel. Miss Axie Oh made her debut as an author in 2017 with “Rebel Seoul,” which also won the New Visions Award for science fiction. Axie grew up in New Jersey and then moved to California to do her undergraduate studies at the University of California in San Diego. For graduate school, Axie returned to the east coast where she earned her MFA in Writing for Young People at Lesley University. Axie now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with her dog, Toro. Aside from reading and writing, Axie is a huge fan of K-Pop and Korean dramas, and she provided us great insight on the formation of her K-Pop immersed story, XOXO.
KPOP-TV: Why did you decide to write a story based around K-Pop specifically?
Axie Oh: I’m always looking to write about topics that I’m genuinely interested in or care about and I’ve been a K-Pop fan my whole life, so it seemed like a homecoming to write this book!
KPOP-TV: What was your favorite thing about writing this book?
Axie Oh: Definitely “traveling” to Seoul through writing. As much as XOXO is a love letter to K-pop, it’s also a love letter to the city.
KPOP-TV: What inspired you to write this story?
Axie Oh: I thought a romance set in Seoul with K-drama vibes featuring a K-pop idol as a love interest was the perfect recipe for a [young adult] romcom!
KPOP-TV: Not everyone knows the hardships K-Pop trainees commonly endure, nor how idols live their private lives. Did you have to research much? Did you base some elements on any particular people?
Axie Oh: I actually didn’t do much “active” research in writing XOXO besides looking up things I already put into the book to see if they were accurate, like figuring out the difference between the “lead singer” and “main singer” of an idol group. Most of the K-pop related content was from 20+ years of being a fan—going to concerts, visiting Seoul, watching variety shows, etc.
I definitely put Easter Eggs into the book for K-pop fans. For example, one of my fictional boybands is called 95D, which stands for 9 High-Five The Dream, a nod to the OG of K-pop idol boybands, H.O.T, which stood for Highfive of Teenagers. I also named the tabloid in my novel Bulletin after Korea’s Dispatch and the variety show “Catch Me If You Can” after “Running Man.”
KPOP-TV: If you were Jenny, which K-pop idol would be your Jaewoo? And why?
Axie Oh: I have a particular bias in each group, but I wouldn’t want to secretly date any of them—too much stress! The K-pop groups that were popular when I was in high school included Big Bang, SHINee, and 2pm, so maybe G-Dragon, Onew, or Taecyeon?
KPOP-TV: Which character was the most difficult to develop? And why?
Axie Oh: For every book I write, the most difficult character to develop is the protagonist because they have to undergo an entire arc within the novel. So for Jenny, I needed her to learn and grow as she experiences the events of the book. Hopefully that was a success!
Besides Jenny, the most difficult character to develop would have to be her mother. Since the book is told in Jenny’s [point of view], I had to balance Jenny’s misunderstanding of her mother with a read-between-the-lines portrayal of her that isn’t clouded by Jenny’s feelings.
KPOP-TV: Although the book mostly takes place in Korea, we first meet Jenny as a Korean American in California. What struggles did you foresee Jenny going through as an international student even though she is ethnically Korean?
Axie Oh: I definitely felt like the most difficult struggle Jenny faces is adjusting to Korean societal standards. American society celebrates individualism, while Korean society is more of a collectivist society, upholding the needs of the family (or group) over an individual’s needs. In the book, Jenny and Nathaniel, the other Korean American character, push back against this at times, especially when it comes to the people they love who they perceive as struggling against societal pressures.
KPOP-TV: Family and following your passions are important themes in the book. How have your own experiences with this influenced your writing?
Axie Oh: I relate to Jenny in that I followed my passion—writing! And like Jenny’s family, my family supports me.
Family and following your heart will always be themes in my books because they are themes I’m passionate about and relate to in the media I consume—books, K-dramas, films, anime, etc.
KPOP-TV: What’s a piece of advice you’d give to fans who aspire to be YA (young adult) authors one day?
Axie Oh: Persistence is key! Just keep reading books, working on your craft, and putting your work out there!
KPOP-TV: Do you have any plans to continue writing books that involve K-Pop?
Axie Oh: I would love to write a follow-up novel to XOXO focusing on different characters~
KPOP-TV: What do you hope your readers will take away from “XOXO”?
Axie Oh: I hope readers who already love K-pop come away from it feeling happy, and that this book was written for them, because it was. And I hope the readers who don’t know anything about K-pop are now curious and go on to discover some new artists! If you’re interested, check out XOXO’s book playlist.
XOXO will be released on July 13th, 2021. The book is available for purchase at: Barnes and Noble Amazon Epic Reads
To stay up to date with Axie’s future works, follow her on social media:
This article was written by K-POP TV Staff Writer Galcy Lee
