The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee

Colliding Worlds #1

by Ellen Oh

When a Korean American teenage artist gets sucked into the world of her own web comic, she must find a way out with the help of a cute boy all while facing off against a villainous corporation. Inspired by the A-ha's "Take on Me" music video, this entertaining YA novel is a grounded speculative fiction adventure from the co-founder of We Need Diverse Books.

Mina has become the hero of her own story. Literally.

When Mina Lee woke up on Saturday morning for SAT prep, she did NOT expect

       1. Nearly be fried by a superhero who turned out to be a supervillain.
        2. Come face to face with Jin, the handsome boy of her dreams.
        3. Discover a conspiracy involving the evil corporation Merco that she created.

And it’s all happening in her fictional world . Mina is trapped in the story she created. Now it’s up to her to save everyone. Even if it means losing Jin forever.

From the award-winning author of Finding Junie Kim and co-founder of We Need Diverse Books, Ellen Oh. In the speculative fiction adventure Colliding Worlds, a teenage artist grapples with her first love, grief, and learning how to take charge of her own life.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary, Science Fiction, Fiction, Contemporary Romance

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 23, 2024

About the author

*Hi friends! I'm not often on Goodreads so if you want to keep up with me, the best place to do so is on instagram! I'm at elloecho!

Ellen Oh is a former adjunct college instructor and lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. She loves K-pop, K-dramas, and eating good food that someone else cooks for her. She is fueled by Diet Coke. Ellen is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity in children’s literature. Originally from New York City, Ellen lives in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband, three children, two dogs, and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel.

Reviews

[Hannah B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m definitely not a fan of the ending bc WHAT??? If we get a sequel I’ll bump this up to 4 stars. It was also a pretty heavy book and I’m kinda just confused. It tried to explain some things but then left some other holes.

TWs for childhood cancer, child death, fatal car accident, death of a parent, medical experimentation


Thanks so much to PRHaudio for an ALC. All opinions are honest and my own.

[April (Aprilius Maximus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG OMG OMG PLEASE TELL ME THERE IS A SEQUEL PLEAAAASSSSEEEEEEEEEEE

[Tobias · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many beautiful parts in this story, and all the characters were really cool and so likable.

Given the concept of the book with the parallel world and all, I am so happy that the story was not over-engineered and complicated, but instead straight forward, and focussed so well on all the character interactions. :)

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really enjoyed this dual timeline/alternate reality YA romance that sees Korean American, teen Mina Lee getting sucked into the world of her own webcomic and unable to figure out if or whether she wants to return to real life. Perfect for comic book fans, this was a pure delight to read and I was sad to see it end, especially with that cliffhanger ending! I really hope there is a sequel in the works!! Many thanks to @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!!

[Brennan Klein · Rating 2 out of 5]

The exposition and dialogue are like being hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer. And while the concept is fun, many of the cooler elements feel like afterthoughts. And the third act has next to no stakes thanks to a hyper-powered character. Also yikes, the main character is perplexingly slow on the uptake half the time.

[jo ୨୧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to send a step by step detailed letter to the publisher and ask them what on earth made them decide to use the font they chose in this story.

It was big but not big enough, small but not small enough, bold but not bold enough. A little bit like a secondary love interest.

The story wasn't horrible! Just didn't hit.

[Tabby {Genie in a Novel} · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This story was definitely an interesting one, and for the most part, I liked it. Mina was a fun character to follow and I enjoyed her little mutterings to herself. Though it was never said, she definitely struck me as an introvert who just kept close to a couple of friends. She was definitely resourceful, which proved to be a good thing when she got stuck in her web-comic, and she reacted very differently than I would’ve expected.

The story itself was really intriguing and kept me from putting the book down. There were times when the writing was a little more “tell, not show” than “show, not tell” and it gave me the feel of this being more of a younger YA type of book, which is fine. It was just hard to remember sometimes that the characters were 17 years old rather than 14-15 years old. Maybe it was just me though.

What I really liked about this book was its focus on handling grief and following your passion in life. Mina really loved art and felt like it connected her to her mom, who had died when she was fourteen, and she wanted to pursue it, but of course her dad wanted her to go study something more practical. Mina creates her web-comic thinking that if she can get a solid following on it, she can convince her dad to let her go to art school.

The grief dealt with in this novel wasn’t just in Mina grieving her mom, but also an old friend who died, yet is alive in her web-comic universe. In a way, she has to grieve her friend again when she goes back to her universe. There were a lot of moments when Mina remembered something her mom said to her, or had a dream of a memory with her childhood friend, and they were sweet and emotional. That’s what I felt was the real juice in this story (other than the cool aspect of being sucked into the web-comic part).

The romance felt kinda “meh” to me because I was more focused trying to figure out how the alternate universe thing works, and I mean, hi… everyone had superpowers. Superpowers over romance any day. Plus, you knew it was doomed from the start because, again, they were in alternate universes.

Overall, this was a fun read. I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes web-comics, diverse reads, and alternate universes.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC copy!

[Mai H.]

ANHPI TBR

Valentine's Day TBR

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Books for Young Readers

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

'At that moment, a breeze sent the leaves above Mina fluttering, and she caught the play of light on the ground. She watched it for a long moment, absorbed in its rhythmic motions. It calmed her. There was a Japanese word for this. Her mother had taught it to her. Komorebi.'

I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR SUCH EXTREME LEVELS OF PAIN OMG?

The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee ended up being extremely my shit what with the sci-fi elements (BOMI, ILY) and a romance trope that had me in so much pain that it ended up being a surprise fave. Plus, not one, not two, but several X-Men references including one Wolverine one are also my shit. Not a The Princess Bride reference, though akdhak. At least it was 'Inconceivable!' and not 'As you wish'? LOL

There's a very strong touch of grief of losing a parent and the book has an undercurrent of unease throughout. It's all written so well, though and I couldn't help but feel for Mina.

I can't really directly quote most of the stuff because spoilers but it all had me yelling OTP SHIT. Jin coming on too strong and Mina being completely ill-equipped to handle it didn't really help, though. HIM TRYING TO [REDACTED] TO HER AND THEN THAT ENDING, I WAS NOT OKAY. I STILL AM NOT

🗣️ You better give us the sequel, Ellen Oh. Imagining dumping, 'A Gen Xer who grew up with MTV, Ellen credits A-ha’s iconic “Take on Me” video as the inspiration for The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee.' in the Acknowledgments and then just stopping there. Nope, I refuse aahh

[nora⁷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2 ☆

I REFUSE THIS ENDING! Joking not joking.

With an interesting concept, k-drama vibes and lovely characters, I couldn't help but enjoy this book. Fits perfectly for young adults as it includes a lot of heavier messages while being a light read. The true star of this book was the themes of grief, and how the characters deal with it.

And I desperately need a sequel, but totally understand the ending as it is. Just gonna cry myself to sleep bye.

Over and out. -Nora<3

[Arwyn Hager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so the ending gave me chills for some reason, but most of this book just didn’t work for me. However, MARYLAND MENTIONEDDDDD🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀

[andra · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked this! it has a creative concept - the creator getting sucked into her own webtoon and finding out the mc she drew is actually evil and that her old best friend is there - and although honestly i feel like it did go overboard at one point i was still a very fun read and i actually really liked that ending???

[shree]

dnf at 29% - was listening to the audiobook while doing some work because it was recommended in a penguin article mapping books to kdramas and this one was understandably linked to extraordinary you. i don't think the tone or plot execution was for me / what i was looking for but it might've been burdened with expectations

[vy (laufey’s version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was intrigued by the plot and was pleasantly surprised of how much it reminded me of scott pilgrim vs. the world, another one of my favorite comic-related media pieces. i love the korean-american representation, and i didn't seem to have a problem with any of the characters here. the central romance was also cute enough to keep me hooked and rooting for our protagonists. overall, a very short and sweet read, would definitely recommend to comic/webtoon fans <3

[Sarah Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 - Felt very juvenile for my taste.

[Nox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is so 'W TWO WORLDS' coded except it happened so fast. Idk how to properly describe it but the whole book felt like it's in a rush or smth???

[t s a r · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Sometimes a face has yet to develop its story; sometimes you have to capture the promise of one.”

Thank you, Ellen Oh, Crown Books for Young Readers, and TBR Beyond Tours for giving me a digital advanced copy of The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee in exchange of an honest review.

The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee ★★★★

Trigger warnings: bullying, death, human experimentation (mentioned), violence.

The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee introduces the titular heroine, a senior high school with big dreams of going to an art school and becoming a successful webcomic artist to prove her skeptical father wrong, finds herself trapped inside the superhero webcomic she has created. As Mina discovers that she is no longer in control of the narrative she builds, she must find a way to correct her mistake and get out of the comic before she becomes fully integrated with all the panels and destroys herself before it's too late.

While the author claims that the inspiration comes from the infamous A-ha's "Take on Me" music video, the plot seemingly leans more toward the typical tropes of isekai genre animes, such as Log Horizon or the recent release The Rising of the Shield Hero, where the protagonist must go on a quest or solve an improbable mystery as the term and condition to return to the real world. And such isekai anime has the tendency to use quests as a metaphor for the coming-of-age journey of the protagonist, as what Ellen Oh does with Mina Lee in her adventure; a rediscovery of self-worth, the things she has lost and can get back, and the things she has to let go—paralleling most key events that Mina experiences in her comic to the reality that she lives in, which makes Ellen succeeding in pushing the narrative to be the metafiction that it aims to be.

The clever use of metafiction points out the complex relationship between artists and the world they create; as written in the novel, artists like Mina become something akin to omniscient deities that can move chess pieces as they see fit, yet, seeing her losing her authority over the universe she's built could also be seen as an interpretation of artists losing their touch or meaning as the burden of expectations reaches their self. It is evident in the way Mina keeps trying to reset the story as how she envisions versus the invisible hands that rework the story as divergent as it is. At the same time, it can also serve as a metaphor for how life can be unpredictable, and there are other paths to follow to get to the goal we have in mind, which fits the theme of coming-of-age and self-discovery that Ellen pushes in this novel.

Mina is vibrant and explosive as a protagonist, shaping herself as the perfect example of a Generation Z teenager who copes with dry humor and creative means to go through their lives. Ellen writes her as someone who never stops thinking, not even when she rests—she always has something fast coming out of her mind, finding ways to deal with the issue at hand, and being a persistently imaginative young adult as she tries to navigate her way out of the isekai world.

On the other hand, I don't find Jin to be as stellar as Mina in this novel. I will not deny that Jin is a charismatic and charming character, a perfectly handsome and friendly person typical of popular kids at school. But it seems that Jin's standing as the other protagonist as well as the main love interest looks clueless and useless most of the time as if Jin is a non-playable character (or NPC) suddenly comes out to life instead of an active, living character of Mina's created world. Therefore, his more engaged role towards the end of the novel feels quite abrupt, and yet, it also ends up with the feeling of him not doing enough to help Mina in saving the world.

The last thing that I feel to be a wasted potential is the appearance of the true villain in the novel that serves as the real obstacle for Mina's mission; she might be the one creating the antagonist, yet as she enters the isekai world, his existence is merely whispers and stories without corporeal form, which makes the mission is slightly too easy to finish. I would have loved an actual showdown between Mina and her constructed villain character, watching how they try to outwit one another as the only people who completely understand the depth of the botched webcomic and how it will severely affect everyone, including Mina as the artist. And accounting for the reveal of Mina's in-story superhero power, I bet it will be a total knock-out. Ellen Oh might be saving all of this for the sequel, per the news she had mentioned, but it is actually unnecessary to wait for every explosive scene to appear in a sequel when the first book still has more than enough potential to squeeze them in.

Nonetheless, The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee is not a disappointing book by any means. It's a delightful reading, packing an energetic punch that keeps the readers entertained in following Mina's journey. Most of all, the twist ending at the end of the novel is enough to form the 'what-if' open ending that leaves to the readers' imagination, and if it's true that there will be a second book, it is adequately exciting to set up more unexpected adventure based on the ending alone.

So, yes, please grab a copy of The Colliding Worlds of Mina Lee from your nearest bookstore or borrow it from your library, and savor this thrilling isekai adventure of Mina during your leisure time.

[donutdot · Rating 4 out of 5]

i will get this out of the way. at first i was so annoyed by the writing. i couldn't tell if it was because it was from the pov of a seventeen y/o teenager that made it so annoying but it felt like everyone was a stereotype of a character, especially Mona being the rebellious artist whose parent disapproves of. yes it is pointed out and i realised that this is the point, kind of. this story is told like a superhero webcomic and after accepting that it got a whole lot more enjoyable.

i will talk about the plot first. it is pretty predictable at times with Mina trying to get home in the world of her own making, classic isekai. at the same time i appreciated the efforts to spice things up by having the plot get totally derailed and the characters having actual very different lives before they started getting steered in the direction of the webcomic. Sophia actually being such a nice person before she thought she was meant to be with Jin was actually sweet, and the false romances as well!!

the twist that the Jin she wrote into the comic is the Jin that died when they were six in her timeline is wild. i love the quantum theory and alternative timelines story going on, though the thing about Mina being able to go back as long as she really wanted to all along was a bit ehhh.

okay but in all honesty i wasn't completely sold on the romance at first. Jin was a golden retriever who was crushing hard on Mina right from the start and it was a little wild until the twist^^ was revealed and his memories started flooding back. there wasn't too much angst even when Mina told him the truth, but genuinely the part where she was leaving to go back to her world to save Ms A. and she had to leave him behind was devastating (for a ya novel). i frankly am not 100% sure what the ending means but Jin is going to baltimore in his world to look for her and he remembers her. that means... something?

the fact that a now inanimate Bomi and the polaroid of Jin and Mina on homecoming survived the trip back to their world though. :"

i'm gonna read the rest of Ellen Oh's bibliography, trust.

[Josefin · Rating 1 out of 5]

VART SKA JAG BÖRJA

Dummaste boken jag läst. PUNKT.

Herregud det finns ju typ ingen handling??? Dem pratar hela tiden om handlingen men den händer aldrig?

Och när nåt väl händer så händer det i TRE KORTA KAPITEL??? OCH SEN ÄR DET ÖVER???

(Sidenote på det, hon blir kidnappad och ingen bryr sig att kolla vad hon har i fickor etc. För det bryr man sig ju såklart inte om, vad spelar det för roll om dem man tillfångatagit flyr liksom)

Huvudkaraktären har såklart typ alla superkrafter någonsin och klarar alla hinder utan minsta problem vilken är så trovärdigt och superkul😃

Och bokens antagonist är med i en scen?? Va hände med honom?? Han ska va den onda i historien och han är med i EN SCEN. Och han gör knappt något där? Den sekundära antagonisten (som dessutom skadar människor enbart för att hennes drömkille inte är kär i henne) är bara med i början för att sen gö comeback typ tre kapitel innan slutet för att "höja spänningen" genom att inte göra någonting och sen ångra sig och bli god.

Sedan är den här boken så himla corny också.

Alla säger och gör så fåniga saker. En favorit är när ett par säger att dem är kära i varandra och nästa mening är "And everyone around them started cheeering" SLUTA.

Påtal om hur den är skriven är den skriven som av en 10åring. Jag fick panik på det under hela boken. Jag har läst självutgivna böcker som haft stavfel pågrund av det faktum att dem inte gått igenom ett förlag, OCH DEM ÄR SKRIVNA BÄTTRE.

Vårat love interest är huvudkaraktärens drömkille hon designat själv, utefter hur hon tror att sin barndomsvän som dog vid 6 års ålder hade sett ut om han växte upp???????? DET ÄR JÄTTESKUMT??? HALLÅ?????

Och slutligen. Hon tar aldrig av sig sin magväska. MAGVÄSKAN ÄR MED NÄR HON GÅR PÅ BAL.

[Liv Delinicolis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3🌟, maybe more. I can’t even speak I’m that shook. THAT ENDING, I haven’t screamed over an ending in a long time to this level. WTF. Read this in one sitting and loved every second of it. So chaotic and so intense. Loved the romance, loved the world, loved it all. Umbrella Academy vibes. Iconic. Wtf I’m screaming. THAT ENDING I JUST … 🫢😫

[Steph Carr (LiteraryHypeWoman) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun web comic meets real world story. A little slow in the beginning but the second half definitely makes up for it. Much deeper elements to this than expected, including grief, childhood cancer, adoption, and a touch of cultural identity.

[lori ortega · Rating 2 out of 5]

as someone who loves webtoons, the concept of this book was really fun but the explanation of how mina ended up in her own comic kinda took away some of the whimsy in my opinion. also did not care for the action scene writing lol

[Rowan&#x1f349; · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok actually the dialogue was poor the entire book but lowkey the story got good towards the middle/end. Conflict resolution was too easy but very emotional. This was a nice break from my normal kinds of heavy reads.

[parsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

very very fast paced but cute

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very creative book based on a Korean teenage girl who gets trapped into her own webcomic. She is able to draw and resurrect from the dead her childhood friend, Jin (who she has a romance with). Her webcomic involves teens with superpowers and she is able to erase scenes that occur in the drama.

[janeee :D · Rating 2 out of 5]

so much to say but i have decided to be sparing with my words,,, u truly have to experience this book for yourself and i don’t mean that in a good way

1.5

[Caroline (CozyBookTraveller) · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Actual rating is 3.5 stars*

Some books are hard to write reviews for. When you either love or dislike a book, it’s usually quite easy to express your thoughts and feelings about it. But the books that just are “fine” are hard. There were times I found myself not caring much for the story, and other times it grabbed my attention. I loved the heartwarming family relationships, and sweet friendships.

But the plot of having the main character Mina Lee being sucked into her own webcomic, and having to navigate an alternative world of superpowers in order to return home had so many cool ideas and was set up for so much action. But most of the time I just found the whole thing a bit slow. This YA contemporary also felt a bit juvenile, at least for me.
---
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-arc of the book in exchange of a honest review.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
“This book is dedicated to Diet Coke because I can’t make it a day without you, you monster”

I’ve been trying for the last 24 hours to write this review and the words just haven’t come to me. Mostly because the feels I have about this book are so conflicted and honestly a little confusing bear with me.

Mina Lee is your average everyday teenager, until she’s sucked into the world of her webcomic while waiting for her ride to SAT prep classes. Not only is she sucked into this world but it turns out that her webcomic world is really part of a multiverse, somehow connected to her real life world, and her childhood best friend is alive. Oh and also there are people who have super powers, think XMen and you get the picture on that.

Now there were several things I enjoyed about this book. As a whole I loved Mina’s character, she honestly handled the whole “trapped in my own webcomic” thing way better than I would have. She’s also way more resourceful than I could ever be. She figured out how to get her own stuff into this webcomic world way faster than I would have so shout out to her.

I also think the author did a really great job at handling the topic of grief throughout the book. So many people in Mina’s life are struggling with loss and we see that each person is really going through this grieving process in their own way, even if Mina doesn’t understand.

Where it lost me was the whole romance subplot. I’m sorry, I’m just not convinced that Mina, who is trapped in a world where her dead childhood bestie is still alive, needed to be in any kind of a romance this alternate version of that best friend. It just felt forced and honestly I probably would have liked this more if there was no romance to begin with.

I’m also not sure if it’s the fact that I’ve never experienced public high school (outside of one disastrous try at shadowing a teacher as a grownup) but Mina’s school experiences in both worlds just didn’t work for me. At one point someone poured kombucha on her head which, just felt weird for me.

Overall though I don’t think this is a bad book, just maybe not the right book for me.

Big thank you to PRH Audio for the free audiobook ALC.

[Bookish_Aly_Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an interesting YA read! I was super intrigued by how the webcomic world collided with real life. There was a lot going on in this book, but it all worked together in a really neat way. I also adored the romance tied into the story as well. If you like alternate universes, superhero action, and stories that focus on family relationships this is one you should enjoy.

Thank you Crown for sending me this copy for review.

[Ashleigh the Book Dragon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I DNF'd this book at 55%. I was just not into it sadly. The characters weren't fully fleshed out nor did I have a reason to really like them. The sudden romance or love interest was a bit too forced.
I had high expectations because the plot just sounded so good, but there honestly wasn't much action or fighting like the story made it seem like there would be.