Super Fake Love Song

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.

While this was a pretty quick read, there were several things that annoyed the heck out of me. First off, being a nerd and liking things like LARPing and playing D&D and other similar things is not the pariah that it used to be. The way that Sunny goes on and on about how uncool it is, while still doing it with his friends, Jamal and Milo, really irritated me. Also the way that he kept pushing his friends to go along with his lie about being in a band, The Immortals, to impress his new girlfriend, Cirrus and pushing his other commitments to the back (Livestreaming with Lady Lashblade, etc). I did like how one of the other characters, a seemingly typical football jock, turned out to have hidden depths. It is too bad Cirrus did not have any depth to her character though, besides being the besotted girlfriend who thinks the world of her guy and nothing else. This book did have cute moments and I did enjoy reading about the band practices. It kinda made me want to hear the Beauty is Truth song. And the making of Esmeralda's Veil, etc. If you want a light, quick read that has humor and not much depth and a neat, tidy not surprising at all end, then this is a good choice. I could definitely see this as a teen romcom movie.

Witty Coming of Age Story After enjoying Frankly in Love last year, I anticipated that this book would also be a winner for me. Yoon once again gave me characters to fall in love with and a storyline and narrator voice that felt authentic. I enjoyed the message of finding your identity and trying to decide how much of your real self you want to show the world and what parts you want to keep hidden. The story line tackled friendship drama, family relationships, and tough issues such as bullying. Although the motivation for Sunny to put on a false image was romance (a realistic reason people pretend to be something other than themselves), this was the weakest part of the book for me. I never really enjoyed Cirrus and Sunny together and would have preferred them to develop a strong friendship first or even instead of becoming romantically involved. The surprise relationship for me turned out to be the sibling one between Gray and Sunny. I enjoyed how they worked through their feelings and renewed their strong bond that had been lost when Gray left home. This deepened the meaning of this book for me. Another favorite part of this story was the male friendships Sunny, Milo, and Jamal formed. Unlike other novels with male friends, these boys broke the stereotypical male bonds--they dreamed together, worked together, supported each other, and best of all, shared their feelings and fears. This book was overall a fun read that I never wanted to put down. Sunny's sarcastic humor and cynicism made me laugh out loud often (I appreciate more laughter in my life) and I am looking forward to reading the next book by Yoon.