I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Seventeen.com Best YA Books of 2017A Publishers Weekly's Best YA Book of 2017A New York Public Library Notable Best Book for Teens 2017A 2018 CCBC Choices Book"Hilarious." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"Powerful messages of inclusion and acceptance.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewDesi Lee believes anything is possible if you have a plan. That's how she became student body president. Varsity soccer star. And it's how she'll get into Stanford. But she's never had a boyfriend. In fact, she's a disaster at romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends. So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi finds guidance in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It's a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study. Armed with her "K Drama Steps to True Love," Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and staged car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.

A Margaret Ferguson Book

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo hits ALL the right spots for me. Initially, I had this book on my want to read list but had to bump it up when trusted blogger Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner recommended Goo’s books as great for people who loved To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. She’s never steered me wrong, so I was really ready to commit to this book. Friends, I took the plunge and read it SO quickly. I am quite glad I got to it and am now ready to devour everything else Maurene Goo has ever written.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by April | Good Books & Good Wine (@booksandwine)

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo is a story about a high school senior named Desi. Desi lives with her mechanic father. She’s class president, a soccer star, and on track to be valedictorian. Her plans are to go to Stanford. It would seem like everything she touches turns to gold. Only, ha, that’s not the case when it comes to love. She’s never had a boyfriend. Her friends believe that her flirting is so bad that they call her a flailure. As in failing to flirt correctly.

One day there’s a new guy in Desi’s class and he’s basically the best looking guy she’s ever seen. His name is Luca Drakos. He has recently moved to the OC where Desi lives and is an artist. The two connect but Desi ends up embarrassing herself. Dismayed by her awkward situations, Desi goes home and decides to binge some K-dramas with her father Appa. This is where she sees that there’s kind of a recipe to every K-drama romance. She writes down the different steps and decides to follow them to the letter in order to get the man of her dreams.

Desi is totally a type A and I loved that. She likes to be in control and when she’s not, well that is when flailures happen. I loved how she just breaks her problem down into solvable steps. She’s a girl after my own heart for sure. ALSO OMG her relationship with her dad is the sweetest. Her dad is probably the breakout star of this book and now that I have a kid, I relate more to him than any other character. He’s so kind to Desi and so supportive. I think the role he plays in Desi’s life rings pretty true – as a parent he’s very involved but a little bit hands off for somethings.

Luca is sort of an interesting love interest. He has the whole semi juvenile delinquent thing going on. Also, there’s that whole opposites attract thing when it comes to Desi. He’s artistic. Luca does not really get along with his dad, which is quite different from Desi. I think that his reactions to different events in this book come across as realistic.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo is a good palette cleanse sort of read. It’s a light, breezy story with the addition of K-Drama obsession to keep it interesting. I am glad I read it between heavier tomes because it is the sort of book that puts you in a good mood. And well, now I know I have a couple more books by Goo to check out and enjoy.

Other reviews of I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo:

• Bookworm Everlasting – “a cute and hilarious book“
• Word Revel – “it made me laugh so hard“
• Girl In The Pages – “a cute, contemporary read“

Purchase or Preview I Believe In A Thing Called Love:

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Latest posts by April (Books&Wine) (see all)

• Ex Marks The Spot by Gloria Chao | Audiobook Review - February 7, 2025
• An Academy For Liars by Alexis Henderson | Audiobook Review - January 20, 2025
• Ami by S. Jae-Jones | Book Review - January 19, 2025