The Stage of Shadows

Hana has always dreamed of becoming a K-pop idol. When she earns a scholarship to K-Pop Academy, Seoul’s most prestigious training school, she’s determined to work hard to make her dreams come true. However, when she arrives, she encounters the dark whispers of demons who are slowly taking over the school, feeding on fear and chaos. With her new friends, Hana must learn to fight against the darkness and protect everything she cares about. 

After Hana witnesses the shadowy forces behind the strange occurrences at K-Pop Academy, Principal Lee reveals that demons have infiltrated the school and are exploiting the students’ doubt and impacting their performance on stage. She recruits Hana to lead a team that will protect the school and fight back against the demons. Hana, along with her new friends Tae and Nari, forms the K-pop group AURA. At dance performances, the group attempts to fend off the demons and prevent them from infecting the students with fear. However, during a training session, Nari is pulled into a mirror dimension by demons. To rescue her, Hana teams up with her enemy, Soojin, hoping to reach perfect unity through dance and pierce the darkness. After much practice, the group is able to break through the mirror and pull Nari out, sealing the demons away. Soojin joins AURA, and together they become a bright K-pop group that promises to defend the academy from the demons. 

Hana, the main character, goes through the “new kid” school experience. However, the fast-paced nature of the book largely skips over Hana’s school struggles, which limits her relatability. Upon arriving at the academy, she instantly makes enemies with the school’s “Miss Perfect” and becomes friends with Tae and Nari. Despite being new, Hana is strong, confident, and determined to help her friends, making her a likable protagonist. Through her leadership and treatment of others, she provides a good role model for the reader. Her friends lift her up when she begins to doubt if she belongs. The interactions between Hana and her friends are charming, and while the other characters are underdeveloped, they make a strong group that serves as the heart of the story. 

As the debut work of author Mina Finch, The Stage of Shadows is imperfect. The book jumps straight into the mystery, and the fast-paced beginning leaves no time for the characters to develop. Instead, the plot focuses on hunting and battling demons, leaving the day-to-day experience of a K-Pop Academy student behind. Thus, some character details are not entirely clear, and some plot points feel somewhat random and convenient to the story rather than sufficiently developed and earned. However, the imperfect plot and inconsistencies do not detract from the book’s excitement and intrigue, and it delivers a good, albeit slightly repetitive, story arc that introduces the audience to the world of K-Pop Academy. 

The Stage of Shadows is marketed to K-Pop Demon Hunters fans and borrows elements from the hit movie, including special weapons to defeat demons and seal them back with song. However, the story makes enough additions to offer a fresh take on the premise of K-Pop Demon Hunters, including demons that feed on fear and inhabit a mirror “in between” dimension. It is clear the book was made to capitalize on the movie’s massive popularity. 

The book explores the themes of friendship and confidence. It promotes connection and kindness through its characters’ actions, such as the protagonist, Hana, working with her “frenemy,” Soojin, to save their friend, Nari. It mentions social classes within the academy but does not fully develop its potential to address the social and ethnic hierarchy of Korean society. However, it keeps the themes simple for its age range while drawing some attention to the unfairness of the social structure. 

K-Pop Academy: The Stage of Shadows immerses the reader in the world of K-pop, providing a behind-the-scenes view of the culture and training of the famous idols. It seamlessly blends action and demon-fighting with the art of musical performance while delivering a solid beginning to a series with great potential. The Stage of Shadows is sure to entertain young readers and satisfy those who are looking for an extension of their K-Pop Demon Hunters obsession. 

Sexual Content 

• None 

 Violence 

• Two students get into a physical fight. There is no description of the actual fight. 

• Hana fights a demon during a vocal performance. “She pivoted low and swept her leg through the air, and the shadow shimmered against her kick. She flipped again, arms slicing down. . . pinned the shadow under her, and slammed it down onto the polished floor.” The demon dies. The scene is described over a page. 

• Principal Lee gives Hana, Tae, and Nari a sword, bow, and daggers. The girls use them to fight and defeat demons. During one battle, “Their daggers and bow slashed through the air in practiced rhythm. They leapt, spun, and landed together, striking the floor at the same time. The shadows hissed and shattered.” 

• Tae fights a demon. “She grabbed the wriggling shadow by its tail, whipping it back and forth against the wall like a wet towel. Whack. Whack. Whack. It let out a hiss and popped into smoke.” 

• During a performance, demons attack and burn the lead singer. “Her feet skidded out of sync. Something dark, a faint gray line, shimmered over her wrist. She pressed a hand to it, eyes wide. Then a beat later, her perfect smile was back, but her other hand trembled faintly as she raised the mic.” 

• When the girls are practicing, they are attacked by demons. “Hana swung. Her blade cut through the air and shadow both, leaving a trail of light that hissed like steam. The thing recoiled, reforming instantly.” The demons capture Nari and drag her into a mirror. 

Drugs and Alcohol 

• None 

Language 

• Soojin calls others “clumsy buffalos.” 

• “Unnie” is used as a term for a new student. It is sometimes used rudely. 

• Hana is referred to as a “dirt spoon” to represent her low social standing among the students. “Silver spoon” and “gold spoon” are used to refer to higher social tiers. 

• The girls talk about Soojin behind her back, referencing nepotism many times. 

Supernatural 

• In the book, there are demons called Eoduksini that come from the underworld and feed off of fear and doubt. They latch onto people and enhance their fear. 

• Hana’s grandmother describes someone as having “the fire of a demon in her.” 

• After two girls get in a fight, Hana describes it “as if they’d been possessed.” 

• Jason uses a demon-detection device to sense demons. It can also sense Nari’s life energy when she is pulled into the mirror. 

• A demon pulls Nari through a mirror into another dimension “between here and. . . there.” 

• Demons are said to hate red ink. 

• The girls use runes to save Nari from the mirror. 

Spiritual Content  

• Demons are not referred to in a religious context. 

by Brent Krueger