Chocolat Volume One
Kum-ji is an ultimate fan girl, and she’s in love with D.D.L, a boy band. Unfortunately there are no more membership openings to the D.D.L fan club. So, Kum-ji pretends that she is a fan of another group called Yo-I, hoping that by following Yo-I she can be near D.D.L which is in the same shows. What I like most about this book are the characters. They are really fun and distinctive especially E-soh, a member of Yo-I, and Kum-ji. E-soh is very manipulative and blackmails Kum-ji and nearly everyone else. The story is conveyed from the viewpoint of Kum-ji and her dynamic personality makes the story fun to read. The art is really great: It’s beautiful and organized. The character design is well done.
The book contains no mature themes, but a few things are offensive such as language and questionable jokes.
This is a cute story geared to teenage girls. I’m looking forward to the next volume.
Chocolat Volume Two
Besides meeting her favorite idol, Jin, Kum-ji has even more worries in volume two of Chocolat: hate letters, E-wan’s mother’s death, and E-soh’s confession, just to name a few. Chocolat volume two leaves you with more hijinks and laughter than before.
Volume two starts with Jin’s hospitalization because of a car accident, and then moves on to Kum-ji admitting to everyone that she joined Yo-I’s fan club so she could be close to D.D.L–stopping E-soh’s blackmailing. Kum-ji starts to leave the dorm angrily leaves the dorm, but E-soh stops her and said he likes her and says he is serious this time and the time he confessed previously. But, Kum-ji turns him down and still leaves. After she goes, the others also announce their secrets–freeing themselves of E-soh. E-wan is the last to talk and says that his mother has died.
Thanking Kum-ji for helping him at the funeral, E-wan takes her to the hospital to meet Jin, where Kum-ji thoroughly makes a fool of herself. At the hospital, Kum-ji leaves her cell phone. Jin gives it to E-wan to give to Kum-ji, but he’s not giving it back. Instead, he challenges her to do all in her power to get it back.
The book ends when Barbie, the president of the Yo-I fan club, offers to give Kum-ji a ride. But, Kum-ji is too clueless to see that Barbie hates her. Will she be safe with her in the car?
Unlike other books, this one makes me really excited and want more. If I could describe Chocolat in one word it would be “fun.” It has really improved since the first book. There are no more bad jokes, it’s much more funny, and the characters have more depth to them than before.
I think most teenage girls (its target audience) will enjoy it. But, like before, the language is a bit objectionable.
The second installment of Chocolat is funny, sweet, cute, and more than worth sticking around for.
