CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS TROPE!!! With asian descent and splashes of KPOP. A very enjoyable read and a fun rom-com to read in the warm weather. It was a very easy read and the romance was easy to follow and get wrapped up into. Something that iffed me a little was the "everyone leaves me because I'm different" vibes that was kinda repetitive but if you get past that it was a very enjoyable book.

An amazing and fun read that I simply adored! I also found Elena, the quirky and invisible main character, to be very relatable to a fleeting memory of my childhood - sticking by me for quite a while until I learned to live with it. Furthermore, I loved how Kat Cho explored the depths of male favoritism and generational trauma - something that is quite persistent in our world since the beginning of time. Although this story isn't about realities, it's about make-beliefs and how dreams may come true to the people who least expect it!

In this contemporary tale, we follow young Elena Soo, a junior in high school of Korean descendant, who reiterates her disinterest in prom for one sole reason: it's not a place she belongs to. In a world of someone's, she's left to fend for herself by repeatedly exploring different hobbies in order to be someone - someone who people will love and accept with her admirable qualities and insecurities; someone worthy. For 17 years, she has lived under a shadow, with no one to confide in...although she once had someone she could always find comfort with, and that would be nonother than Robbie Choi - the now-infamous K-Pop idol of WDB. But that ship has sailed the moment he decided to not be in contact with her since he moved away to Korea. So when he suddenly comes knocking on her door asking her to prom - a promise that he made 7 years ago - she is surprised but bothered. Can she forgive him after all these years? Is he the same Robbie? More importantly, will spending time with him ignite the once-warming feeling she got?

Okay here are my thoughts: I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH. It was charming, it was sweet, it was beautiful, and it was the perfect read during this Californian weather. I especially adored how it was similar to XOXO - which is also one of my ultimate favorite contemporary books! You know that feeling you get when you get excited and embarrassed with what the character does? But you know they're growing and becoming someone? Yeah, I got that feeling with Elena Soo. Additionally, I am a sucker for K-dramas so you can already tell that I was squealing with delight with every encounter, thought, emotion, and ultimate ending. This was a book of the summery times and I am so happy to have been given an eARC prior to its publication (in exchange for an honest review)!

This book was extremely delightful. The childhood friends to lovers trope was absolutely charming and Robbie and Elena are such a compelling duo! I definitely recommend these to everyone, especially if you enjoy K-Pop!

An adorable read for rom com lovers, kpop fans, and just anyone looking for a ray of sunshine on not the best of days.

3.75/ 5 Stars

Childhood friends, K-Pop and a promise!! This is a recipe for a cute and fluffy story, which it was.

What I liked:
Robbie Choi is so cute and caring!! He was easily my favorite character because he was funny and his actions were pure… well for the most part. (plot twist)
The plot was written well so that it was easy to follow and understand, this added to the emotion that was prominent in this story.
Lastly, my favorite part was the dual perspective!! Not only do we see the main character, Elena, but also the perspective of the K-pop idol, Robbie Choi.

What I did not like:
If you don’t like when the personal issues of the main character drives and becomes a big part of the plot, this book might not be for you. The biggest issue I had with this book was how repetitive the “everyone leaves me because I’m me” was getting to the point that I wanted to stop reading and DNF the book. But I continue because I wanted to see how the characters overcame the plot twist at the end. Lastly, there was such a huge and long build up to the plot twist but then it was resolved a little too quickly and made it seem…. unnatural.

Overall, if you want an easy, friends to lovers trope with k-pop, then this is a must read.

I know that saying what I love about a romance novel is that it isn’t all romance sounds backwards, but you see, that is what I like. I want the story to be about the characters more than about the fact that they love each other. Instalove is never one of the things that turns me on.

Which is what I love about Once Upon A K-Prom. Although it is ultimately a friends-to-lovers story, it doesn’t bang you over the head with it. Elena is very clear on that, though the butterflies in her stomach tend to betray her from time to time.

The basic setup is that Elena had a best friend who went back to live in South Korea and became a k-pop star. And he comes back to town, and invites her to the prom. Or rather he tries to invite Elena to the prom. It isn’t all the easy for Robbie to do.

Loved the whole thing.

It is coming out May 17th, 2022 from Disney-Hyperion books.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. </em>

I want more of this book!! I could not put it down and was in love with the characters. I want more Kat Cho!!

Let me start off by saying everything I loved about this book. As a big K-pop fan myself, I loved all the amazing references and characters strongly rooted in the culture! It was like watching Elena live out a literal dream, meeting dozens of K-pop idols and actually dating one.

Speaking of, Robbie Choi was such a sweetheart. Honestly, I could picture him and his WDB bandmates so perfectly, and it made me wish they were a real group. Robbie was so sweet with Elena and a literal dream boyfriend.

Unfortunately, this story fell a little flat for me. Elena was hard for me to connect with, and her constant questioning got old after a while. I wish there had been a little more action to keep the plot moving, but overall though the story was cute! Definitely worth a read if you love K-pop and are looking for a quick sweet teen romance.

My reading month this January was okay with most of the reads being pretty good - with a mixture of re-reads and ARCs(because I'm so behind on them!😶). And surprisingly my favorite was a YA book! My first and only YA book of the year - Once Upon A K-Prom by Kat Cho which comes out this May! I'm very picky about my YA reads these days but I didn't hesitate to request the ARC on NG because - K-Pop!!! And I love Kat Cho's writing! I enjoyed her Gumiho duology so I had high expectations for this one and I'm so glad it didn't disappoint!

This was such a cute childhood friends to lovers romance with a K-pop star and a Korean-American girl who wants to save her local community center!
Elena Soo(one half of the Soo twins and almost forgotten among the bunch of Soo siblings) would rather collect donations to prevent her local community center from closing down than go the prom. This doesn't really make her popular amongst the bunch of kids who think that she's anti-prom(though she's not). She just wants them to donate the money that they'd be spending on prom and help out. But it's not working out well for her and her best friend - Josie who are members of the Awareness club, till..
Robbie shows up!

Yes, her childhood bff who's now a member of the super-popular K-pop group - WDB! And he now wants to take her to the prom, to keep the childhood promise that they'd made to each other(even though they haven't talked to each other in years). You can guess what was Elena's reaction! Yep, she said 'No'.
😂
Like can you imagine? I'd totally freak out if Taehyung or Suga showed up at my doorstep and asked me to prom!!! Gah, just imagining it makes me want to swoon(even though the chances of that happening are like 0 lol🤣).

What makes it even better is there is another promposal which then goes viral and makes her the girl who rejected Robbie. No need to guess how their fans would have reacted(it was bad but not too scary, some sasaeng fans irl are super crazy!).

So, as Robbie and Elena begin to reconnect, they figure out some ways to keep the community center from closing down and this brings them closer. But, Robbie has been keeping some secrets from her regarding the reason why he showed up in the first place! What will happen when Elena finds out?
You'll have to read the book to know! :P

I really loved Elena's character and how witty, relatable and vulnerable she was! She's used to feeling invisible and left behind, even among her family and friends. This makes her a little less confident and wary of people leaving her. And just like any other teen, she feels a little lost as well when it comes to choosing what to do next - which is why she's very passionate about the community center, the one place where she feels included and not overlooked. I loved how authentic she and her family's interactions were (as an Asian I found them so relatable!). Her parents usually focus more on her brother while her sisters have gone off to pursue their own things and she gets her mom's attention only when Robbie shows up and asks her to prom(lol)!

There’s a phrase in Korean : eom-chin-ah. It means your mom’s friend’s kid, but it really means “perfect kid.” The one who makes everyone else look bad. And our eom-chin-ah went and became a worldwide mega star. How can a kid top that?

There's a little resentment at first as Robbie and Elena haven't talked to each other in a few years, but their reconnection feels effortless as soon as they start spending time with each other! And I absolutely loved that! I could really feel how much they adored each other even though the development of the romance was a little slow!

And Robbie was so cute! My goodness, I just wanted to give him a hug. Even though he's a K-pop star, he's not arrogant or cocky. Just a little clueless when it comes to girls 😂. It was so much fun watching him figure out things! He's got his own set of struggles with fame, idol pressure and the desire to write his own songs. It's not easy for K-Pop idols, if you don't know already. The persona that they create and the fan service along with the internal struggles that they face are vastly different from the usual music stars or Hollywood actors. So, I loved how the author showed all of that!

"He knew how easy it was for the public to turn against them just for trying to live normal lives. Idols weren’t allowed to be normal. They had to be better, shinier, cleaner. Sexy but still pure. The perfect balance of illusion and approachable."

Robbie's band members - JD, Jun, Minseok and Jaehyung were also very cute and vivid with their differing personalities(I kept thinking about BTS💜). And the relationship between JD and Sooyeon was also so good! Relationships between idols aren't easy either(anyone remember HyunA and Dawn?).
So, all of that made for a fun mix along with the romance!

"Wait, what was I doing? I wasn’t a swooning fangirl. This was Robbie. My oldest friend . The one who I’d watched swallow a pebble once because he wondered if they were edible. My heart should not be racing just because he’d kissed my hand as part of video play-acting. Except, he hadn’t done it with the dancer. It was something he’d done just with me."

I loved watching Elena grow and figure things out! The honest talk between her and her brother - Ethan at the end was a great moment and really improved my opinion of him as it wasn't really that great at first! I'd have liked it even more if she could have voiced out her discomfort to her parents and sisters as well, but well everything can't be fixed immediately unless it's a perfect world. So, that was very realistic as well! In the end, I was left with a goofy smile on my face! So, I'd totally recommend this one if you're a fan of K-Pop or K-Dramas and if you've read XOXO, you'll definitely love this one as well!❣️✨

First off, I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher via Netgalley.

This was super cute. 4.5 starts. The main characters were awesome. The side characters added to the story and weren't just there. Elena showed growth throughout the book, well mostly towards the end when she realized she was reading things wrong (at least that was my takeaway). I don't know what it is about these type of books that I just eat up. I'm not even into k-pop at all, but if k-books were a thing I would completely admit that I enjoy them so much. Plus the other idols in Robbie's group were kinda awesome. I want a follow up book as I gobbled this up in on day!!!

the amount of embarrassment I felt at the beginning of this book? Unparalleled.

The book overall was okay. lIke your typical YA rom-com, but, weirder?

Very cute and entertaining read. I felt Elena’s character was really relatable and all the characters were likable. It was interesting to learn about how strict the Korean music industry can be on the K-pop celebrities.

This one was so cute! When i started it, I wasn't sure what exactly to expect. I'd enjoyed Cho's other books, but considering those were fantasy with a romance sideplot, I was a bit wary. I'm so happy I picked this up though, because it was a super sweet read.

My favorite thing about this was defintely the plot. It gave off the same vibes as every teen romcom - sweet, unrealistic, cute. Basically, it's what all of us spent our childhood wishing for. This worked so well though, it fit the book perfectly. It was the perfect fluffy adorable read, and even in its predictableness had me smiling.

Another thing I really enjoyed were the characters. Elena wasn't super loveable, but I appreciated her as a character. Her friendship with Sooyeon was adorable, especially because Elena initially viewed her as competition. Watching their friendship grow was one of my favorite things about this. As for Robbie, he was sweet. A fairly stereotypical romantic lead, but a fun one nonetheless.

Although this wasn't anything world-breaking or realm-defying, it was still a super fun read, and one I'd recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so incredibly cute!
Do you have to like K-pop to enjoy this book? No!
Is it more fun if you do like K-pop? Yes!

This book is like a big hug. It is just so comforting to read. The main characters are both adorable. I adore Robbie so much. You can tell he is just trying so hard to be the perfect Idol, but at the same time wants some normal teenage activities like taking his childhood crush to prom. The only reason this was not a 5 star for me is because of the cliché mean girl trope, which isn't my favorite, but it is a teen rom-com so you kind of expect it to be in the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Disney Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a very sweet and endearing story about Elena, a teenager who feels overshadowed by her family and invisible at school. She is headstrong and independent and is asked to the prom by none other than K-Pop star Robbie Choi. But before Robbie became famous he was Elena's childhood goofy best friend. Elena has to decide if their promise to go to prom seven years ago holds up today especially with screaming fans and paparazzi. So will Elena go to the prom with Robbie, you'll need to read it to find out.

I enjoyed Elena as a MC and Robbie is pretty cute with his banter with Elena. I thought this was an easy read and I think many K-Pop fans will enjoy Kat Cho's writing on it. I wish the K-Pop world was explored more as it is a fascinating subject to talk about (behind the scenes). I liked Kat Cho's writing and thought it was fast paced and to the point. Elena is a great character and I liked her development.

4 solid stars.

Thank you Hyperion/Disney for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Quick, light-hearted, and very entertaining. Can't help but root for Elena + Robbie. I liked how it tackled some personal struggles someone might go through, especially with relationships (not limited to romantic ones). Gives you a glance at what struggles a kpop group might be going through, with the secret dating, and just being treated as a commodity in general. I'd totally recommend the book as everyone will enjoy it, kpop and non-kpop fans alike!

Thank you Hyperion/Disney for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Once Upon a K-Prom has a cute premise of childhood friends who made a pact to go to prom together when they were kids. While Robbie movies away, leaving Elena to not expect their pact to come to fruition, he comes back years to fulfill their promise. Except this time around he’s a full blown K-Pop Star, which means even more shenanigans ensue during the whole process.

As one of my anticipated reads of 2022, I was really excited and looking forward to this book. The premise was solid and it was exciting to see KPop being explored in American books. Unfortunately, it did fall a bit short for me.

Don’t get me wrong, the book was cute overall and it wasn’t a bad read. In fact, I feel like most people would enjoy this book. There were just a few problems I had while reading it that made me less excited now that I’ve read it.

As a Korean American that knows a bit about the k-pop industry, the book touched only a surface level and watered down topics that I wished the author explored more of. It was a great opportunity to really show how exploitive and manipulative the industry can get, and even scary with the fan culture. Also some of the romanization of the Korean words felt a bit off, but that might just be a me thing.

I also didn’t really feel too invested in the characters. Robbie and Elena definitely had their cute moments, but it wasn’t enough for me to squeal and root for them. There were even times where it felt like it dragged on with internal monologues, when it might have been better to show the awkward cuteness of them rekindling their friendship/eventual relationship.

Overall a very cute book though!

what a wonderful, lighthearted romcom! i loved Elena's character, how she cared about the community center and her development throughout. i also loved the exploration of celebrity culture and korean music industry. full rtc!

Ever since finishing Axie Oh’s XOXO last year, I’ve been looking for something that made me just as giddy, and I was hoping that Kat Cho’s Once Upon a K-Prom would do the trick! Once Upon a K-Prom promised so many things that I loved — childhood friends to lovers, celebrity trope, second chance romance, being true to yourself & a journey of self-discovery, among so many other things. So, it’s really no surprise that I loved Once Upon a K-Prom.

Once Upon a K-Prom follows Elena, who has always felt invisible, and overshadowed by the people in her life. Whether it’s by her twin brother Ethan, her older sisters, or her childhood best friend and ex-neighbor-turned-international-KPop-Superstar, Robbie Choi. Everyone around her seems to know what they want to do with their life, and seems to be more concerned with prom — aside from Elena, that is. All Elena wants to do is find enough funding to save their local community center from closing. When Robbie shows up at her front door to ask her to prom after seven years of no contact, her entire world is turned upside down.

I wanted to give Elena the biggest hug. After being constantly compared to her siblings and her community, and feeling left behind again and again, it’s no surprise how fiercely protective she is of the local community center. I loved how much Elena cared about her community, and really felt for her. Elena needed to learn how to let go of control, and how to communicate better, and I appreciated watching her journey unfold.

I’m not very immersed in the world of K-Pop, but one of the standout aspects of Once Upon a K-Prom was the exploration of celebrity culture, and what it means to be an Idol. Through Robbie’s lens, we get to read about how much work and control goes into maintaining his brand and image; his label controls everything, from the color of his hair, to how he spends his day, and even who he dates. I also appreciated the commentary on celebrity culture (or rather, stan culture), and how invasive it can be. The lack of boundaries and the netizen bullying of Elena for simply being associated with an idol was reflective of stan culture. Robbie’s involvement with WDB, and his relationship with his fellow bandmates felt very realistic, and I loved reading about their dynamics as well.

I personally struggled to connect with Robbie. While he was sweet and charming, the chapters where we get his POV took me out of the story. I found myself really wishing for more character development for him because at the end of the day, he felt a little too perfect and too manic-pixie for my liking.

Overall, I thought Once Upon a K-Prom was fluffy, lighthearted, and adorable, and would highly recommend it.

I cannot wait to own a physical copy of this book just to tab every other page because of how many feelings it gave me! It was just so cute and fluffy and fun! It really gave me exactly what I wanted from a KPOP childhood friends to strangers to lovers story!

Listen, I’m sure there were other parts of the plot that were important, but all I cared about was Elena and Robbie and all of their moments. Sure, there were things about prom and raising money for the community center, but those took a backseat for me as soon as Robbie showed up and the fun began!

I loved the fact that Robbie was trying to woo her and Elena just had no idea how to react! The proposal… the music video dance… everything was just so cute and adorable and fun! I really felt like I was reading the best kind of fan fiction!

Robbie’s bandmates were so fun to read about and the extra little drama between Sooyeon and Jongdae too!


I think the family dynamics were also really interesting. The feeling of being overlooked by the “better” sibling just because he’s a boy was all too familiar. Even little moments made the characters more three dimensional! Kat Cho does a phenomenal job of expanding a character without small details!

Also, I just loved how much Elena cared for the community center. She cared for the people she helped and that never changed and I really appreciated that!

But going back to the real star of the book. ROBBIE CHOI. ABSOLUTE LEGEND. LITERALLY SO ADORABLE! THE BANTER, THE LITTLE MOMENTS WHERE THEY GET TO LEARN ABOU TEACH OTHER AGAIN. UGH, I LIVED FOR IT.