I’ll Love You Forever: Notes from a K-Pop Fan

This perceptive debut from food writer Kwon folds piercing examinations of fandom and Korean pop culture into a candid self-portrait. In five sections, each named after a notable K-pop performer, Kwon nimbly interweaves descriptions and critiques of the K-pop machine with her memories of growing up as a second-generation Korean American in 1990s Los Angeles. With her punchy and accessible prose, Kwon delivers a primer on the intensity of K-pop fandom, sharing how the thinness and plastic surgery–enhanced beauty of the genre’s stars affected her body image as a teenager (“I just didn’t have the perseverance these girls did, and isn’t that what was wrong with me?”). Along the way, she also catalogs the friendships she’s formed with “found family” who share her passion for the music. While the focus stays mainly on K-pop, Kwon’s digestible overviews of Korean history—including the continued cultural fallout from Japan’s colonization of Korea in the early 20th century—and her fluency in broader pop trends lend the proceedings extra dimension and relevance. This entertaining blend of criticism and personal history will captivate even those who’ve never pressed play on a K-pop track. (Mar.)