Gorgeous Gruesome Faces

August 15, 2023
A cutthroat competition becomes haunting. It's been two years since Mina Park, Sunny Lee's best friend, died, and although her death was ruled a suicide, Sunny was there that night. While she's not sure exactly what happened, she knows something much darker was going on. Mina's passing, following a scandal around leaked nude photos, was the final blow to Sweet Cadence, their all-girl Asian American pop group. After descending into obscurity and relocating to Atlanta from Los Angeles, Sunny is ready to try a workshop that offers a chance at K-pop stardom. She's also motivated by the chance it offers to be face to face with Candie Tsai, who will also be participating. Former close friend and bandmate Candie was also there when Mina died. Seemingly flawless Candie has the perfect idol persona, but Sunny knows she is dangerous--and that she knows what really happened to Mina. Sunny will do everything in her power to get to the truth. As the days blend together, Sunny's night terrors become reality, and strange things start happening to the girls in the program--and it all leads back to Candie. The narrative is haunting and magnetic, and an example of masterfully executed psychological horror that readers will find difficult to put down. True to its title, the gore is disturbing. Sunny's parents are from Taiwan and Hong Kong; Candie's family came from China, and Mina was Korean American. Immensely and terrifyingly satisfying from beginning to end. (Thriller. 14-18)

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September 18, 2023
The mysterious circumstances behind an Asian American pop star’s death spell disaster for the group’s remaining members in Cheng’s debut, a thrilling psychological horror. Two years ago, Sunday Lee, who is of Taiwanese and Chinese descent; Chinese American Candice Tsai; and Korean American Mina Park made up the all-girl musical group Sweet Cadence. But when nude photos of Mina are leaked online, Mina supposedly dies by suicide, and the group disbands. Now 18 and living in Atlanta, Sunny learns that Candie—from whom she’s estranged—is arriving from Los Angeles to participate in a prestigious workshop from which a few candidates will be chosen to become K-pop trainees in Korea. As Sunny inserts herself into the workshop, she determines to unravel the mystery of Mina’s death and reckons with the increasing instances of injury among her competitors, all while grappling with her ever-shifting relationship with Candie, who still seems to yield an inexplicable power over her. Alternating chapters titled “Then” and “Now” weave flashbacks from the height of Sweet Cadence’s fame with harrowing behind-the-scenes looks into the world of K-pop and fascinating, eeriely rendered supernatural horror elements . Ages 14–up. Agent: John Cusick, Folio Literary Management.

December 22, 2023

Gr 9 Up-Sunny used to be a member of Sweet Cadence, a hit musical show and K-pop group where she found friendship with her fellow stars, Candie and Mina. After a scandal hit the group and Mina died a horrible death, the group disbanded and Candie hasn't spoken to Sunny in two years. Upon seeing that Candie is joining a local K-pop workshop to restart her career, Sunny decides to join in hopes of rekindling their friendship and her own career-that is, until several of the girls start falling prey to the same destructive and strange behavior that befell Mina the night she died. Sunny must figure out what is happening before she ends up another victim to the limelight. This book goes back and forth in time, starting with Sunny at the auditions for the hit show. Readers will be hooked by the shocking death at the very beginning and will want to continue with how fast-paced the dark reveals of Sunny's K-pop stardom are intertwined with the current day paranormal thriller of the sinister workshop. The story wraps up in just over 300 pages, making it an excellent quick pick, and there is some sapphic romance as well. VERDICT Cheng's debut is an excellent purchase for secondary school library collections where a well-done, fast-paced K-pop horror will be welcomed by many teen readers.-Molly Dettmann

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 22, 2023
Grades 9-12 Back then, Sunny had everything: fame, as a member of the pop group Sweet Cadence, and true friends in costars Candie and Mina. But now, Sweet Cadence is over, a highly publicized scandal has destroyed Sunny's life, Candie and Sunny don't speak, and Mina is dead. When Sunny learns that Candie is doing a K-pop competition, she rushes to sign up for it, too, though recapturing their old fame is the last thing on her mind. She's determined to reconnect with Candie and learn the truth about the strange, spectral energy that the three girls once harnessed that may have led to Mina's death. But as the cutthroat workshop goes on and Candie continues to hold Sunny at arm's length, eerie and violent occurrences threaten not just the workshop but Sunny's very reality. Cheng infuses the narrative with dread, skewering a culture obsessed with fame and disinterested in the safety of the girls it claims to love. At the same time, Sunny and Candie's journey to reconnection, romantic and mystical, is propulsively readable. A noteworthy debut.

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