✨ jami ✨'s Reviews > Under the Lights

How many Asian actors did you see on the cover of Vanity Fair’s latest Rising Young Hollywood issue? When’s the last time you saw an Asian actor carry a movie that wasn’t about martial arts? My only shot at being in a rom-com is getting thirty seconds of one of those massive ensemble things like… St. Patrick’s Day. So, yeah, it’s hard for me, and I really don’t need anything making it harder.

I requested this arc from the publisher mostly because I'd heard the main f/f romance is really cute and fluffy which is definitely is. Under the Lights revolves around a group of young people in Hollywood and is split between chapters about Josh Chester, a bad boy player born into the Hollywood life and Vanessa Park, a Korean-American actress who finds herself falling for another girl.

I have to say I was much more invested in Vanessa's storyline than Josh's. Josh is a Hollywood bad boy and his arc is essentially him becoming less of a shit person. His character annoyed me so much and I don't think I ever felt he was redeemed. Calling Vanessa K-Drama was never called out and no one ever commented on it even though Vanessa says she doesn't like it at the beginning. It annoyed me every time I had to read it. He also made so many misogynistic comments. While I did hate him less at the end, I definitely don't think his growth made up for all the beginning.

However, I enjoyed Vanessa's storyline so much more. Vanessa is an actress on a teen drama who finds herself falling for a girl called Brianna. I thought the romance between the to girls was so cute and well done. There is instant chemistry and their interactions are sweet and fulfilling. I really liked how their relationship was slow burn and had a big focus on consent.

Under the Lights delves into many issues including representation in Hollywood and coming to terms with sexuality. I think these issues were definitely explored well with care and nuance. Vanessa's struggle to make it as a Korean actress, compared to Josh and Liam who are white is explored throughout the book and later what it means to be lgbt+ in Hollywood is also explored, as well as intersectionality.

I really enjoyed Vanessa's coming out arc and how her sexuality was dealt with. The exploration of how sexuality can be fluid and you can discover you aren't hetero at any age was really nice. I also think the sex scenes were so well written. They were tender and sweet without being overly vague, and they weren't cringey which was great. Brianna was also really good bi rep and I particularly liked this quote

“Like boys all you want, Park. It still won't fix this. I'm bi and I promise you, it's not a fucking light switch. You can't just set it on 'boy' because it's inconvenient that you like a girl right now.”

My one real big complaint about this book is that there are WAY too many characters introduced at first and it's soo confusing for a while.

But overall, I think this book was really fun. It delves into serious issues while having a fun "Hollywood drama" type plot line. I don't read Hollywood books, pretty much ever, so this was nice. I also liked that it was New Adult as that is a genre that appeals to me a lot as a 19 year old. I definitely recommend for a fluffy f/f romance and a fun Hollywood centric read. (Also, even though this is book 2 in the series you don't need to read book one. I didn't and it made perfect sense)

tw: misogynistic comments, racist and lesbophobic comments