The story is told through Rachel’s perspective. There’s a lot of information out there about what it’s like to be a K-pop star, but not a lot of people know about the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to become a K-pop star, and what you go through to get your chance to debut. Is there a reason you chose to set the book during the pre-debut period, when Rachel is a trainee? Over Zoom, Jung spoke to TIME about what motivated her to write Shine, how she incorporated personal experiences into the book and who she hopes will be cast as Rachel in the on-screen adaptation-currently being developed by the team behind To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. The vivid novel focuses on Rachel Kim’s time at the fictional company DB Entertainment, where strict rules like no dating and a zero-tolerance social media policy are enforced. With Shine, she makes her literary debut. Widely heralded as one of the most influential K-pop acts that helped introduced Korean music to the world, Girls’ Generation became the first K-pop group to reach 100 million views on YouTube in 2013-with the hit song “Gee.” Jung departed from the group in 2014, and has since released music as a soloist, starred in movies and continued building her fashion brand, Blanc & Eclare.

The elder sibling spent seven years as a trainee, the term used to describe aspiring artists in the Korean music scene, before debuting in 2007 in the nine-member group Girls’ Generation. Jung and her younger sister Krystal Jung were scouted in 2000 by SM Entertainment, a major label that’s home to some of the biggest K-pop groups.

Shine jung novel