The Name Drop - by Susan Lee

Jessica Lee and Elijah Ri both travel to NYC for summer internships with Haneul Corporation, a massive tech company that Elijah’s father runs. As future CEO, Elijah was not expecting to be placed in a tiny apartment with a group of unpaid and overworked interns. Jessica can’t believe her executive-in-training position comes with an amazing brownstone. When the two realize the mix-up happened because they have the same Korean name, they decide to keep the switched positions. Jessica needs the connections for her college applications and Elijah, with no interest in becoming CEO, wants the relief from being under his father’s control. Can they pull it off without getting caught? Will they catch feelings in the process? There are things about THE NAME DROP that are pretty absurd if you take them at face value, but suspending disbelief provides for a really enjoyable read. I loved how the story tackled topics of classism, misogyny, privilege, nepotism, and the education system. The social commentary throughout was spot on. Jessica and Elijah’s characters complemented each other well and NYC provided a great setting as well as taking a role as a character in and of itself. I wouldn’t jump to label this as YA romance as the romance aspect really took a backseat to everything else that was going on. I think that worked really well though. If it had been more prominent, I worry that the tone would have changed too much and undermined the exploration of the important topics discussed. THE NAME DROP felt a lot stronger overall compared to SEOULMATES. I really enjoyed THE NAME DROP and would recommend to fans of YA fiction. I look forward to future books from Susan Lee. Thank you to Inkyard Press for the gifted copy.

Such a sweet YA romance! The pressure of parental expectations and the thrill of a summer in New York add depth to the story. A great follow up to Lee’s debut novel, Seoulmates!