Cover Image: Once Upon a KProm

Once Upon a KProm

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Member Reviews

This was so cute I couldn't put it down! I know next to nothing about k-pop or k-dramas but this book was pretty easy to follow so it's good for people like me. Such a romantic and heartwarming book :)

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I did not expect how immature the characters would be. They read like they are 12 or 13 going to the middle school prom (if that's a thing in America?, sorry I don't know). We are supposed to believe this 17 year old boy who have been a popstar for 3 years just shows up to his ex-bff's house, who he hasn't talked to since they were 10? No text first, didn't even try to stay friends with her? And her.... I know it must be the most hardbreaking feeling to see your bff ditch you to become a pop star but you're 17 and haven't talked to him in 7 years, move on? Enjoy your life? It seems like she ruined her whole high school experience for a boy who moved accross the world when she was still a child. I am sorry but I could not take this book seriously at all. It was painfully immature.

Maybe I would still recommend this book to someone not older than 15, maybe 16 which is why it's not a 1 star.

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i’m all for the friends to lovers/celeb trope but this book was just not for me. maybe I’ll read it later on but for now it’s a no from me

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I really liked Once Upon a K-Prom! The story was so sweet, and you could see that Elena and Robbie really cared for each other despite not keeping in touch for seven years. Elena is such a relatable character; I love how she explores so many things and is still trying to find something that she can do and stick with, and that's a lot of us too! Elena feeling invisible makes my heart clench, but as the story progresses she learns that it's alright because the person that is important to her can see her for who she is. And it's the cutest thing ever!! I love k-pop and this book touched on the topics without making it super exaggerated or weird. The story also progressed really well, and I just adore Kat Cho's writing style. I had so much fun reading it, it's like a little bubble that just grabs you in and surround you with happy vitamins!

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I actually first found this book when the deal was announced, so I'm really glad it met my expectations! I'm actually not really a big k-pop fan, but my sister was for a while, so I understood a lot of the stuff surrounding it and the specific group in this book, which was nice (although it's pretty straight-forward anyways).
First of all, since this was a romance novel, the romance! I really loved both main characters, Elena and Robbie. Elena is really passionate and tries to inform and help people whenever she can, and Robbie is fully willing to lend a helping hand to aid her cause. They're so fun what with their reminiscing and flirting. I did think the romance was a bit y/n and, "Remember when we were [age] and [x] happened? Haha, fun times!" but it didn't really hinder my enjoyment of the book. There were a lot of blushing and a hint of miscommunication, but again, not bad enough to really count.
In terms of characters, we really have everyone. The character types include: Hungry, Energetic, Grumpy, Sunshine, Flirty, Clueless, Largely Irrelevant, and Driven, and I loved that while they had a lot of dimension, I felt like I got to know the characters pretty well.
Overall, I thought the book was a bit Wattpad in terms of the plot, but that's mostly because of the longing glances, stuttering, and miscommunication (I always flinch with the miscommunication trope but again, it wasn't that bad). However, I'd definitely recommend if you're looking for a fun, quick romcom, especially since this took me about an hour and three quarters.

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Elena lives her life in the shadow of her twin brother Ethan and her older sisters. She has tried just about everything and the only thing she has found that she is passionate about is the local Community Center. Now that it is at risk of closing she is doing everything she can to help raise funds to keep the doors open, including trying to get kids at her school to donate the money they would have spent on prom. It's not like she is going anyway. The only person she would want to go with, her childhood best friend Robbie is off galivanting around the globe with his KPop group WDB and has completely forgotten that Elena ever existed. But what's a girl to do when the only person she wants to see, that she thought was lost to her forever, knocks on her door and asks her to prom?

Huge thanks to Disney Hyperion, Kat Cho, and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book to read.

First off, hats off to Kat Cho for writing every KPop and BTS fan's dream. We are pretty bit KPop/KDrama fans in our house so when I saw this book was coming out I knew I was going to buy it. We (my daughter and I) have a pretty good selection of K books and I can wait to add this one to my shelves, I was even more excited when I was given the opportunity to review and ARC of it.

Reading this book made me nostalgic for my younger days. Days I would spend curled up in the library reading a Sweet Valley High book. I was very luck to have a large and kid/teen friendly library growing up. I can't tell you how many times I left there with more books than I could carry, but would need to return a week later because I had already burned through them all. I digress, the point I was trying to make 😂 is that this book brought back all the good library memories, and made me feel like a kid again.

Once Upon a K-Prom features quite a few Romanized Korean words. I am thankful that I have some experience with the language so I knew exactly what they meant. New readers may not have that same experience but I have no doubt that after reading this they will take an interest in the beautiful language that Korean is. Kat Cho has also included WDB member bios that lend to the reality of this group. I ♥ G-Dragon/Big Bang, I might even consider myself a V.I.P but now I will also be a Constellation after reading this book.

If you are a fan of Kpop, Kdramas, enjoy reading books that remind you of being a kid again - I highly suggest Once Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho. If you're going to read it, don't do it half way either; Check out Kat's K-Prom Spotify playlist! Pre-Order your copy now or grab one when it releases on the 17th!

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This book was the cutest thing ever , I always loved the trope childhood friends to lovers and this book served it so well,
Full rtc

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Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of Once Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho. #OnceUponaKProm #NetGalley

First of all
Overall rating: 4.7
Loved how the author wrote and completed the character's story/growth both as Elena herself and the romantic relationship that evolves. Once again Kat Cho pulled me in where I could not set down this book like her other book "Wicked Fox."

Main character Elena : 5.0
I love how relatable the main character was. It might not have been my life but the author portray the character well... a shy feels invisible to her family kind of person.

Love/romance: 5.0
Felt like I was reading a script straight from a K-drama. All the feels were there.

How the author portray K-Pop life: 4.8
The minor characters: 4.00

Elenas family in particular. I wished that were embellished more or pulled back more. Something felt like how sometimes a movie needs to cut out certain scenes.
However the friends were fabulous.


Thank you Ms. Cho for a fabulous book. I can not wait to purchase this for my own on either physical or for my kindle.

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Read this in one sitting and loved it. I can't wait for the print version to share with my daughter. It's cute, fun, and all things I would fangirl over as a Kpop fan.

I really hope we see another book, because I'd love to see how the story continues.

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4.3/5

This was a sweet fun read. It definitely felt like a teenage k-drama mixed with a Disney channel movie. The back and forth teasing and childhood friendship was adorable. The romance reminded me a tiny bit like How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Lots of miscommunications and assumptions. The characters were great. They had flaws and growth. I enjoyed Elena’s caring character who wanted more for her community and to better it. Robbie’s character was interesting and conflicted between being a kid but a ultra famous one always in the spotlight. I think this is a perfect book for teens and has all of the teen angst and drama. I found that it reads on the younger end of YA but that’s not a bad thing. Overall I think this is a solid cute story with lovely Korean/ Korean American representation.

Thank you Disney Publishing Worldwide for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This book was so much fun! I’m a pretty new kpop fan and I have been loving reading books with it as a part of the story! I feel like it helps me understand the entire Kpop world a little better. Elena and Robbie were two childhood besties and one of them happened to end up part of the groups taking over the world. I loved getting to see them grow back together after losing touch and seeing their little moments they had together. I really felt for Elena when she talked about feeling invisible, 16 year old Maria really resonated with that a lot and I think it’s something anyone with siblings can understand. I hated the whole lying part but I really liked the way it was resolved and especially the prom scene 😭 so cute. This book was super fun, a quick read, and super cute. I loved all of the characters and really getting to know them. It helped you understand a lot of their actions! Overall it was really cute and I think people are going to love it! It was also fun to see some of the groups I’m into and the members mentioned in some parts. I was like wait omg I know them!!!

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5/5

CW: bullying, death of parent (mentioned briefly), depression (mentioned)

Includes: friends to lovers, childhood friends, celebrity falls for girl next door, positive female friendships

This book gave me all the fluffy and positive feels that I needed to start the year off right, it was such a joy to read and I am so grateful to have received a copy of the arc to review! Thank you so much to Disney Hyperion for approving me for an arc on NetGalley. Once Upon a K-Prom releases May 17th, 2022. I will say that this book is definitely more aimed towards fans of kdramas or kpop and definitely draws inspiration from BTS and their earlier songs which was fun to see.

At first I came into this book looking for shallow entertainment that would leave me feeling like a fully restored hopeless romantic, but I was happily surprised by the depth that was added to the characters and the perspective of being a celebrity. I liked how it tied both of the protagonists' struggles with identity together despite having them be on opposite ends of that spectrum. I also thought the exploration of Korean specific pressures, particularly on women when it comes to identity and defining yourself, was really great as well. I do think that this theme was drawn from BTS's earlier songs like N.O. and No Dream, but it was good to see in the book because it's something a lot of us struggle with worldwide but no one ever really talks about.

There was also a good exploration of how every aspect of idols are controlled, from the songs they sing and the color of their hair to their image and how they interact with fans down. The power dynamics explored were really interesting with the pressures from fans who essentially dictate the fates of these boys with their money and attention. It brings into question whether these artists who get so controlled by their agencies even continue to be artists anymore, or if that dream gets crushed as soon as they sign their freedom over to their agencies. There were honestly a lot of interesting themes that were briefly touched on but could have been more deeply explored with this book, and honestly I would not be averse to this becoming a series featuring each of the group members. It would be such an interesting, accessible, and digestible way to explore this lesser talked about side of k-pop, whether there are romantic undertones or not.

I do think that the male love interest definitely could have been developed more by giving him more chapters. He first starts off as this dreamy archetype and only very later gets the time of day to give himself depth. I personally had nothing against this, but I think there could have been more room to insert some of his chapters and expand.

Positive female friendships for the WIN. All I can say, but I like how this took a trope often seen in Kdramas and just flipped it to make it healthier. It's a trend I'm seeing more of and I'm really happy for that.

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I've heard mixed things about Kat Cho's fantasy duology and that's why I haven't checked that out. However when this book was announced I got WAY too excited about it. So when I got accepted for it on Netgalley I just had to heard it immediately. I do not regret that decision at all. This book sucked me in immediately and didn't let me go until the very end. I really liked our main character. I really could relate to some of things she has gone through and she might have a very stuborn mindset (which I typically don't like) but I totally understood why she was that way and I really liked how she grew throughout this book. I also really loved Robbie. He was a great character and love interest. I also liked that we got a few chapters from his perspective, just to understand his decisions better. However, I do wish this was a bit more 50/50 but that might because I just really liked Robbie so much that I just really would have loved getting more from his perspective but this book is also perfectly fine with the way it is. I also really liked all the k-pop elements to this book. I personally don't know a lot about k-pop (that world is just really intimidating for me to get into) but I never felt confused throughout this book even though Kat Cho definitely didn't explain many terms. It just became obvious through context for me. I also really loved the storyline with Elena trying to save the community center. I also loved all of the side characters. There are a lot of them and at first I was a bit scared I would be confused throughout the book but all of the side characters really jumped of the page. So yeah, I highly recommend this book.

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Ohhh! This was just as amazing as I had hoped! I am Asian American and I am always so excited to read books written by Asian Americans about Asian Americans. Once Upon a K-Prom was such a fun, cute teen read! This was such a great book!
Elena was such a relatable character. She was the youngest and there were times when she felt invisible. She was also a very focused character, she was trying her best to plan for everything. I really felt for Elena as she tried to find her place in this world. She was trying to do so much to prove her worth, she wanted to make her family see her. I loved reading about Elena as she learned about herself. Elena had to learn to let go of control and enjoy life. She had to learn that maybe things weren’t the way that she thought them to be.
Robbie was also fun, I liked how he felt real. He was an idol, a star and yet he was also just trying to find his way through life. He was kind but he was also young, and he just wanted to be himself. Robbie was trying to balance being an idol, listening to the rules and branching out. Elena was a bright spot in his life, but he had to understand that she had grown up. Robbie had to learn that people are worth more than the accomplishments of life.
Robbie and Elena were sweet together. I liked how although they were cute, this book was also about them finding themselves. Robbie and Elena had to work through their own issues and learn to find out how to truly live life. They were young and still growing. The side characters were fun, Robbie’s band members and Elena’s friends plus the kids she worked with. I read this in one day, it was such a great book!
I liked how the book didn’t feel rushed. I was a little worried that it would be really awkward because some teen books are, but this one was just perfect. It felt real without being really crazy. I also loved the protatial of Elena’s family, that was just lovely to me. I liked how it showed how Asian families could be, Elena’s family just wanted to give their children a better life.
Once Upon a K-Prom was such a wonderful book! I would totally recommend it! The characters were awesome and I loved the story. Once Upon a K-Prom is a clean, ya rom-com book! I would recommend it to those who enjoy fun, feel good, high school romances. It was clean with a couple of curse words so probably at least 13 and up.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

I posted my review on Goodreads and Barnes and Nobles on 01/10/2022. I could not find it on Bookbub. I will post my review on Amazon and my blog closer to release date.

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There was a lot to enjoy and love about this book. The romance was very cute and watching Elena and Robbie navigate their relationship was so much fun. I loved the k-pop aspect of the story and the k-pop group that Robbie is in. The characters just ooze charisma and it kept the energy of the story up. Both Elena and Robbie were very well-written and I loved following them and watching each other navigate the other person's world.

There were also some aspects of the book that seemed to just not get resolved. I didn't like literally anyone's excuses in this book. I know that a lot of characters that Elena thought hated her had their own sides of the story that they shared with her, making Elena feel bad, but honestly, the excuses were pretty awful. I really didn't like Elena's brother, Ethan, it just bummed me out that Elena had really bad relationships with her entire family that never super got resolved. Obviously, you see why Ethan did the things he did but honestly, his excuses next to his actions did not make him look much better. I thought that the big main problem of the story was resolved a little quickly but it did keep the pacing going so I didn't really mind it as much.

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This book was just what I needed and I got everything I wanted from it. It is adorable and cute and the perfect amount of fluff for me. I definitely recommend for those that loved XOXO and vise versa. I could relate to Elena in some ways, but there were still some ways where she did annoy me, but I think that was mostly because she didn’t react in the way I wanted her to, and that’s on me, and I did not hinder my enjoyment at all. I will definitely be buying myself a copy of this book and I can’t wait to eventually check out all of Kat Cho’s other work (which I have been meaning to for a while).

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Okay, first of all I want to say thank you to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for allowing me to read and review an early copy of this book!!!

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and when I got the email that my request for this ARC was accepted, I started reading immediately. I actually finished this in one day, so that says a lot on how much I enjoyed it. I actually teared up a couple of times during this story, the characters were written so well especially Elena’s. She was so relatable. The storyline and characters got me hooked from the first page. Also, the romance between Elena and Robbie was so cute. I loved the Kpop aspect of this book and how it was ordinary girl/pop star trope. It does kind of have a 10 Things I Hate About You thing to it but you’ll find out. Overall this definitely lived up to my expectations and I hope you guys enjoy it too for when it comes out on May 17!!!! :)))

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This review was also posted on goodreads at the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4461694348

Thank you to NetGalley & The publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Im obsessed with this. I didn't know much of the world of K-pop despite seeing the one Anthony Padilla interview where he shared the experiences of Ex- K-pop Idols and I found that to have a similar story to share on the experiences of how the K-Pop industry is more of a formulated and planned way to fame where as in North America it's so much more common to see musicians come to fame through random social media posts going viral by chance. I think it was great to read and learn how K-pop is a more strategic game with very strict rules and set intentions from the start. It is cool to understand how Korean musicians are not as much of a spontaneous rise to fame and it is very much planned out but up to the fans on what level of successful they get.

As far as plot for the novel I did hate to see some miscommunication plot occur after Robbie and Elena had such good communication early on in their reunion but I loved every second of their story. The old childhood friends who drifted coming back together? it's a classic trope that I just adore every time I read it.

I also loved how it had consistently showed the bond of Elena and Ethan and how they drifted and had much different lives that you would expect their fates to continue to be hard to repare just like the rest of the family appearing very distant and closed off. I loved the sibling relationship between Ethan and Elena and how they received closure on their perspectives.

I believe this book is great for anyone to read especially those who know of K-Pop and don't fully understand it and the pressures they have. I am just so interested on how they are so strict and held to higher standards than I had imagined and I loved to see this story come with a cute ending as opposed to the opposite where it could have been a tragic forced apart like you'd expect with stories of the music industry playing a large part.

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oh my gosh. i read this in a DAY! the story was so addictive, and it really cemented my love for the best-friends to lovers trope! i loved the prose, the side characters, and ESPECIALLY our main characters, robbie and elena! i feel like elena's struggles are so widely relatable, that even though i'm not a part of the intended audience, i adored it. so, so, so good; and the characterization and prose makes me want to pick up more of the author's works!

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This book was not good. A total misunderstanding of the kpop industry, wooden characters, implausible scenes, no chemistry. I'm sorry - I love kpop books and I was so excited for this one, but it was a major disappointment.

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