Warning: So We Meet Again by Suzanne Park will make you want bulgogi real bad. I haven’t stopped craving Korean food since I started this novel.

So We Meet Again introduces us to Jessica Kim, right as she’s getting fired from her fancy banking job on Wall Street in New York City. She moves home to Nashville, Tennessee to pick up the pieces and figure out her next move. But, she’s not the only one spending a little quality time with their parents.

Daniel Choi is also back in Nashville to take some time off from his fancy venture capital job. Jessica and Daniel were constantly competing against each other as kids, and that hasn’t changed as adults. Jessica is constantly comparing her problems with Daniel’s perceived success, and trying to ignore how hot he’s become since then. Daniel helps Jessica hone her new entrepreneurial idea of hacking meal kits to make them taste better with Korean flare. (This is where the hunger part kicks in.)

I loved the first two-thirds of the book. It was fun and flirty and explored an area of struggle that a lot of people are facing in this mid/post-pandemic world. I cracked up about lines and references most people wouldn’t catch, but as someone who lived in Nashville for a couple years up until a few months ago, I understood and loved it.

Now, I’ll warn you, where it took a turn for me is going to sound silly. At one point, Jessica gets approached about an interview on tv. Park specifically mentions a very real news station in Nashville, which just so happened to be my competitor. (Granted, I worked for the dominant #1, so we were winning that competition, but still. There’s a piece of every journalist that scoffs at the stations across the street. It is what it is.) So, upon seeing those call letters, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

I could look past that with a bit of annoyance, but the scenes allegedly taking place at the tv station were so off-base I couldn’t just gloss over it. Sorry to burst your bubble, but local news stations don’t have breakfast spreads out for guests and we most certainly don’t have makeup artists to get people ready for air either. Heck, our own on-air talent don’t have makeup artists or wardrobe, and on the rare occasion there is free food in the building, we pounce like we haven’t had anything to eat in a week. I’ve worked at five different stations and that’s been true everywhere. Those details plus what allegedly happen on air are unrealistic and drove me bonkers.

Sadly, that snapped the suspended reality for me and I never really recovered. The ending wasn’t enough to overshadow the annoyance of those few chapters. It’s frustrating to see false stereotypes of news media again and again. Just ask us what it’s really like. We’ll tell you, but you’ll be disappointed in the lack of glamour in the truth.

Stepping off my soapbox now….

I loved reading this diverse story and getting a glimpse into the world of Korean-Americans that lived in my neighborhood in Nashville. (What up, Antioch!) I loved how Jessica finds her way to passion, both in business and a partner, but man, that little bit bugged me. If you can look past the inaccuracies of news world, then you’ll probably really enjoy So We Meet Again, and I’d still recommend it as a solid read outside of those chapters.

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