*I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I’ll start off saying I do listen to K-Pop but I am not a huge follower of it. This novel is so cute and it ends as a Happily Ever After but does have some drama along the way. The journey of this relationship was so much fun and had me excited to see what would happen next. There was even some character growth for the main character that didn’t just focus on the main character's romantic interest. It was also nice that the author used several korean words to describe things, I had to look up several on the internet. It was a nice added layer to the book and are easy to look up or gather from context. Several times throughout the book I was getting nervous about how things were going. Also there were so many moments that made me go “Awww so sweet.” and “AHHH!! I CAN”T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED!” This book ends up the way you’d expect but that’s what makes romance books such a great escape to read. I recommend this to those that like romance and teen stories.

Elena’s prom is approaching, and she is certainly not going. Not only is she protesting prom to be able to instead fund the community center she loves, but also the only person she’d want to go to prom with moved away several years ago. Robbie, her childhood best friend, promised to take her to prom back when they were young. Unfortunately, he then moved away and is now a K-pop star, famous all over the world, and has most certainly forgotten about Elena. But that’s OK, because Elena has more important things to worry about, like the community center. But when one day she answers the door and finds Robbie there, asking once more to take her to the prom, Elena’s world is turned upside down. Is Robbie being honest about taking her to prom? How much has he changed since he left? And how come Elena is starting to have feelings for someone she can never be with?

I received an advanced reading copy of Once Upon a K-Prom in exchange for an honest review.

Once Upon a K-Prom is a young adult novel by Kat Cho. I’ve actually talked about Cho on this blog before. She interviewed authors once at a local event, talked about her podcast (which is called Write or Die and I really recommend you listen to if you’re a writer), and I’ve even bought one of her young adult fantasy books! But this was a young adult fiction book, and while I don’t know too much about K-pop, I was still intrigued by the subject. Luckily I got my hands on an early copy!

I had a very good time reading this book. Not only was the romance cute and honestly perfect for anyone who enjoys the trope of “ordinary girl and famous/royal boy falling in love,” but I found myself connecting a lot with Elena. Elena is a great character in that she’s very passionate about what she cares about, but she’s also very flawed. She brings up some of her flaws early in, in that she often doesn’t stick to a hobby long enough to get good at it, hinting toward something else. But she does care about the community center. So much of the book resonates with love for it, and we even get to know some of the people there through Elena’s eyes. Naturally she would do anything to protect it. And this allows her to start accepting Robbie’s help!

As for Robbie, I was surprised that we actually get a few chapters from his POV. At first I wondered exactly why Cho was giving it to us, and then I realized why. Robbie has more to him than the young boy that Elena remembers, or the K-pop star she sees standing in her doorway years later. His POV gives us a better way to see him, and mostly understand his motivations. I did love them both!

The plot is a lot of fun. There were a couple of unexpected twists, but mostly it was me just enjoying the ride. I smiled so much while reading this, having a good time just watching an awkward teen falling in love with the boy who used to be her best friend. Cho did a great job breathing new life into an old trope, and I’m sure that young adult romance and K-pop fans alike will flock to this book and love every part of it!

Once Upon a K-Prom will be released on May 17. You can pre-order your copy from Disney-Hyperion here.

This was such a cute fun fast read. So many things in this book that I just loved because it fed my inner da girl. Some things being the following:
-childhood friends to lovers
-second chances
-famous celeb mmc x not famous fmc
-wholesome cute moments

Like he came back because he promised her when they were little that he’d take her to prom. ILL SCREAM. It’s so easy to image the world that’s set up for you, to just engulf yourself into the book. All the characters in this book are so likeable, there’s so much development between relationships, a lot of banter to enjoy as well.

If you’re a KPOP fan, or enjoyed the book XOXO, definitely give this a shot! Live your fangirl dreams through this book, imagine your fav. KPOP idol, and you’re the main character. you’re not going to want to put it down 😂

“The future could be what it would be. But fear of the unknown wouldn’t stop me from living my life.”

Elaina Soo always feels like the invisible one whether it be at home where her 3 older sisters and her twin brother get all the attention, or at school, amongst all the popular kids. When K-pop star Robbie Choi, her best friend from childhood, suddenly shows up and asks her to prom, Elaina is stunned to say the least. Will an old promise between the two childhood friends bring them back together or drive them further apart?

Thank you Netgalley, Kat Cho and Disney Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book. I thought this was the absolute cutest story ever! I really felt for Elaina, the main character and I wanted more than anything for something to finally go her way. The story was quick and easy to read and I really enjoyed every minute of it. I honestly would love to see this be made into a Disney film. I loved seeing the character growth and how at certain points of the book, some of the characters dug deep a little, bringing forth feelings that explained how things became as they did at present day. If you’re into YA books, I would recommend that you pick this one up. I’m rating this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My expectations were too high for this book!! I’m upset. This book was mostly enjoyable, but it wasn’t this amazing book that I thought it would be. The description and the cover made it seem like pure wholesome perfection, but the execution fell flat.

This book read like a typical Disney Channel movie. It was cheesy and light with some good messages but it has a high importance placed on school dances by ALL the characters except the main character and the bullies are all childish. I guess you could say it’s like a K-Drama in some sense, too, but I feel like it’s closer to what a Disney Channel movie is like. It’s definitely a type of story that a lot of people would like, but it wasn’t what I was hoping that I would get from this story. I also kept getting annoyed that the main character kept comparing her romance to a K-Drama. Like we get it, you want this book to be like a K-Drama; stop making comparisons to K-Dramas nonstop and just let the vibes take over instead.

The characters were a mixed bag for me. Minseok was my absolute favorite and he would definitely be my bias if WDB was a real group, but the rest of the characters all got on my nerves. Robbie’s character was odd? I don’t really know the right way to word it. He just didn’t always feel like Robbie. It was like his personality was somewhat inconsistent. Ethan’s personality seemed inconsistent at times, too. Jackson felt too much like a stereotype of what a fictional kid is supposed to act like. Sooyeon grew on me throughout the course of the book, but it felt like she was just thrown in there to cause unnecessary jealousy at first. Felicity and Caroline were unbearable and their personalities were shallow. It also seemed like every character was unreasonably blaming Elena for every issue that went on in their life and Elena didn’t even stand up for herself when she should’ve. I definitely empathized with Elena, but I didn’t find myself rooting for her or anything like that. It just felt like there was something missing from almost all of the characters.

The book and specifically the romance started to improve around the 60% mark of the book. The romance started to get good around that mark and the K-Pop world was dived into more at the point in the book. The issue with this whole book though was that it lacked depth. I’m not even going to include trigger warnings for this review because any “triggering” topic was just briefly touched on then ignored for the rest of the book. The story was nice escapism, but I expected more from this author since everyone talks about how they love her other books.

Since the story was so light and fluffy, it’s definitely something that you can read quickly between more intense books, but it’s not a book that I’d necessarily recommend to everyone. I wish this book would’ve been longer so that more depth could’ve been added to the story. This really had so much potential, but it turned out to be just an okay read.

Once Upon A K-Prom was so adorable. I loved the character development of Elena and I loved her relationship with Robbie. I do feel like the ending went by a bit quickly and I was hoping for more to be honest. I would’ve liked to see Robbie and Elena go to prom together but I did like how he sang her their song as an apology for lying to her. Overall it was enjoyable and Kat gave us a very interesting glimpse into what it may be like to be a K-idol.

I love K-Dramas, so when I saw a book called Once Upon a K-Prom, I had to get my hands on it. I’m glad I did.

Kat Cho’s Once Upon a K-Prom is about Robbie and Elena who were childhood best friends. They lose touch when Robbie moves to Seoul, Korea and becomes a K-Pop superstar. When Robbie comes back to the USA for a K-Pop festival, he reconnects with Elena in a completely unexpected way…unexpected for Elena, that is.

This is such a cute and fun story. However, it’s more than just a sweet contemporary teen romance for K-Drama and K-Pop fans. Once Upon a K-Prom also provides a wonderful glimpse into South Korean traditions and culture. It’s a book that I will happily recommend to my teen readers (as well as adult readers, too).

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#OnceUponaKProm #NetGalley

Rounded up from a 3.5!

This book just wasn't really my thing — I think it was so sweet that it teetered on the line between extremely saccharine and a little corny? This also read like fanfic, which I definitely would've been into in high school; very Harry Styles runs into you at the Starbucks and is appalled that you aren't a fan of his music. Elena also had a pretty severe case of not-like-other-girls syndrome, and there were some things that I wished had been further developed, like her relationship with her twin brother, Ethan. I also wished that there was more from Robbie's perspective; one of the main reasons why I requested this book is because I wanted a little bit of that idol POV.

HOWEVER, just because it wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean I won't recommend it! I think if you're a big K-Pop fan already and in the mood for an extremely sweet, PG romance, this book is the way to go.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun and definitely K-Drama inspired. Cute and fun but it didn’t really make sense when the MC wasn’t questioning Robbie's motives more. Even when he’d explained some things, I was still able to guess pretty early one what the final conflict will be. Overall, an okay, fun read.

This was a very charming contemporary YA story and I really enjoyed it. Elena Soo's world gets turned upside down when she gets asked to prom by her old childhood friend turned K-pop star Robbie Choi. It is especially awkward as Elena is also on a committee that has been termed the "anti-prom" as she is trying to raise money to save her beloved community center. Robbie's presence back in her life is very unwelcome but slowly she starts to warm to him as she gets caught up in the K drama world of what life is like being in the orbit of one of the biggest K-pop idols in the world.

Elena and Robbie's romance is very sweet and slow burn in some ways as they have to deal with the hurt feelings that Elena harbors of being left behind. I really liked and appreciated Elena's journey in this book as a lot of her preconceived notions of herself are rooted in misheld beliefs and the people around her that she loves slowly make her see that she has way more worth than she realizes. My favorite parts of the book were Elena's glimpses into the glamourous and not-so-glamous life of what being a K-pop star entails.

One thing that bugged me a bit is the book is mostly told from Elena's first person pov but every so often we get third person Robbie pov that felt sort of shoe horned in and confused me while I was reading. I think I get while they are in there like that as Robbie is going through some stuff that is important to the main plot but difficult to show from Elena's pov but still I didn't understand why we got some things and not others and the change of tenses threw me off.

Overall this really was a fun read and if you liked Axie Oh's XOXO from last year then I think you will love this.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion publishing for the opportunity to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this up because I enjoyed Ms. Cho's fantasy series, Gumiho. While that one was a fantasy teen romance, this one is contemporary. Her writing and stories are just very cute and simple, which stands true here. They're definitely light fluffy reads for me that are quick to get through. I think if I was a teen (the target audience), I'd give this 5 stars. The heroine, Elena, and the hero, Robbie, felt like genuine teens, Elana with her own school-aged problems and Robbie dealing with being a k-pop celebrity. The romance and chemistry between them was cute, and the conflict of Elana dealing with Robbie's popularity and lifestyle was very believable. It would be hard for a normal person to hang out with a k-pop idol..

I do think that maybe I am outgrowing teen romance and drama, but this will certainly be a hit with teenage k-pop fans. And the artwork on the cover is so cute! This e-arc possibly was leaving out space for character art inside the book for kpop member profiles, though I am not sure. If that's the case, definitely a nice touch on top of including a kpop profile for each member of Robbie's group.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a free eARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This book was so cute!

Old friends getting a second chance after been forced to different countries as kids. Sweet and charming, couldn’t help but fall in love with ALL the characters in this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Disney for the early read!

This book was good, but for some reason, it just didn't pull me in. When I read it I really liked it, but when I wasn't reading it I wasn't compelled to pick it up. I liked the characters and the premise, but maybe I've watched too many K-dramas and found that reading about it wasn't dramatic enough. I would still recommend this book to read, but it just fell flat for me.

It’s no secret that I love stories featuring k-pop, so I was very excited to read Once Upon A K-Prom!

I loved this story. It was sweet, and I identified with so many aspects of Elena’s character. I also loved the childhood-friendship-turns-into-romance angle, because even though Elena and Robbie had been best friends and known each other well at one point, there were so many changes in their lives that they had to sort of get to know each other all over again – and having a romance develop as they did was really cute.

I loved getting Robbie’s perspective on the story was well, and seeing the dynamic between him and his group members was so fun. I also loved the insider look at the world of k-pop and fame via Robbie and his group.

If you love YA k-pop stories like I do, you should check this one out!

As soon as I heard about this book, I knew it was one that I had to read. The idea of your old best friend becoming a K-pop idol and then returning to fulfill a childhood promise to take you to prom? Such a wild ride, and I definitely had so much fun while reading this book. In Once Upon a K-Prom, a girl’s childhood best friend—and now a world-famous K-pop idol—comes back into her life, and she must decide if his spotlight is worth getting to know him again while also discovering her own passions.

Elena Soo is used to people leaving her: her sisters, her friends, her first crush. When her childhood best friend Robbie comes back into her life to fulfill their pact to go to prom together, she has a hard time connecting him as a member of the most famous K-pop group in the world and the boy she once knew. He really does want to reconnect with her, though, and she begrudgingly gets pulled into his world of cameras and fans. She can’t help but fall for him again, and vice versa, and their friendship eventually (and finally) turns into feelings neither of them can ignore anymore.

This book was so much fun! I read it all in one day because I couldn’t put it down. The premise sounds so wild, but the circumstances of the book felt very natural. It was also interesting how detailed the boy group Robbie is a part of, WDB, was, with profiles of each member throughout the novel as well as hints toward their backstory. While aspects of the K-pop industry are prevalent throughout the book, they’re explained well enough for people who might not know but not too detailed to be longwinded for people who do know, so I think this story will be enjoyable to K-pop fans and non-fans alike.

I was confused by the BTS erasure at first, but I soon realized that WDB basically takes over their existence for the purposes of the story. It doesn’t detract from your experience if you just don’t overthink it, which I probably was. I will say that I thought the book portrayed idol life as only stifling and rigid—and it obviously can be, don’t get me wrong—but I felt like parts of it leaned into “the dark side of K-pop” rhetoric where some people act like idols are machines and not allowed to do anything their company doesn’t want. Maybe I’m just overthinking it again because there wouldn’t be much of a story without this conflict, I guess.

Anyways, I really liked the characters! We get both Elena’s and Robbie’s point-of-view although I would say Elena is more of the main character. Robbie’s chapters provided some more insight on what was happening on his side and fleshed out his character, but most of the story is Elena’s. Elena has gone through life not able to pinpoint an interest or a hobby, and she’s used to being overlooked. Her older sisters never come home anymore, and her mom focuses more on her twin brother Ethan than her. I liked seeing her begin to realize that people do, in fact, care about her and see her, even if that’s not what it seems like at first. Meanwhile, Robbie wants to produce and write his own music but is scared of his ideas getting rejected by the company.

I really liked how, while this is a diasporic story, Elena doesn’t struggle with her Korean-American identity. Obviously these feelings and stories are valid, but I did relate more to how being Korean American is not a source of conflict for her. Her Korean culture is just a part of her and not one that she feels out-of-place for, a bit of a privileged position as she acknowledges.

The side characters were also great. Ethan obviously feels pushed away by Elena, not that she’ll hear it, and they do have a nice talk toward the end of the book. Elena’s best friend Josie tries to get her out of her comfort zone but also supports her when she’s down. Elena also volunteers at a community center where she’s very close to the people who regularly visit there. They’re the reason why she works so hard to campaign for funding to keep the center open when it’s on the brink of being shut down. I also liked reading about the other members of Robbie’s group; they have a good rapport and are particularly playful with Robbie, who’s the maknae or the youngest of the group.

The romance was really cute! As I said before, this is an “estranged childhood best friends to lovers” story. Elena and Robbie were childhood friends that haven’t spoken in four years after Robbie became a trainee. However, all this time, Elena thought he ghosted her and rebuffs his first attempt at asking her to prom because of this. Once they get over this, they begin to relearn their friendship with each other, rekindling their romantic feelings for each other.

Overall, Once Upon a K-Prom was a fun, adorable story that also navigated discovering your passion. I liked the characters, and the romance was very cute. Whether you’re into K-pop or not, I think anyone can enjoy this estranged-childhood-friends-to-lovers story!

Thanks Disney Press for providing me with an Advanced Readers' Copy of this book!

Once Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho earns a 4.7 out of 5 from me! I loved the details of Korean culture, first loves, childhood friends, and on-stage romance. Elena is sweet and I really related to her when she talked about not having a passion like everyone else does. Robbie is ....alright throughout the course of the book but he did severely annoy me many times by putting Elena is situations where she felt uncomfortable. I won't be too hard on him though. Cho created a K-pop group that felt so life-like and real that, as a huge K-pop fan, I feel heartbroken that they aren't. Overall, this book differs from other K-pop themed YA books that I've read because WBD is incredibly believable, as well as their crazy stans that I know all too well. I'm looking forward to reading Cho's other books because this one sets a really good example.

I adord this book. This book focused on some of my favorite troups. Including blast from the past romance, friends to more, hollywood elements through K pop. I also loved how this book dived into korean culture. I also loved how this book had a "save the thing" element. This book also had some misscommuncation issues but i think this book also got to issues both characters had with communcaiton issues. I also really loved the fast pace nature of this story!! I devored this read and really loved it! I also loved all the side characters and really hope she created more books in this world

Once-Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho is a fun YA romance for teens ages 12 and up. Elena Soo has no interest in attending prom. Instead, she is focusing on saving the community center where she volunteers at. Robbie Choi is Elena's best friend from childhood and is now part of a very popular K-pop group. Elena has not seen or talked to Robbie in several years. However, he shows up at her house and asks her to prom. What follows is a fun romance with characters that teens can relate to. Kat Cho did a great job of creating a story that contains situations that are similar to what really goes on in high schools today.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Kat Cho, and the publisher for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
When they were ten years old and as he was moving, Robbie Choi made a promise to his best friend Elena that he would come back and he would take her to prom. Little did they know that Robbie would become a big K-Pop Star and Elena assumed Robbie forgot all about her.
Along with a disaster of a promposal and herds of screaming fans will Elena and Robbie be able to make to prom/ catch up on old times?
I have not been into the K Pop fandom, but this book sure made me want to be in it! Elena was such a relatable character and I felt a similar high school experience to her. Elena fought for what she wanted and learned to not care what others thought of her in the process. I also like Robbie's character as he was still very down to earth even though he was now a pop star. While this book won't be age appropriate for my students, I will still recommend it to friends!

I had such a fun time reading this book. It's just so light and breezy, with some really cute, sweet moments between Elena and Robbie, the two leads. As someone who was never big on prom, I felt a real kinship to Elena and her friend Josie in their quest to make their peers re-think unloading all this money on a dance, when second-hand, being environmentally-friendly, and thrifty can still bring a fun night.

I think, plot-wise, this book had some predictable moments, but there were a few times that Cho surprised me, and I enjoyed that! She hit on some really relatable things, especially when it comes to insecurity. Elena is one among many siblings, and additionally is a fraternal twin, so she feels overshadowed by all her older siblings, and that her parents uphold her brother more. The book also touches on the growing pains of friendship that moves from childhood into middle and high school, as well as feelings of abandonment. It's amazing that Cho is able to include all of this and still keep the novel lighthearted, overall.

I feel like the essence of K-Pop and the idol scene is distilled into this novel in such a fun and recognizable way. Though I don't listen to a lot of K-Pop, I could see a lot of connections Cho was making between Robbie's group and contemporary, real K-Pop stars. I feel like she captured a very real time within her book and it was such a fun element to the story. I think many readers will be enticed by the book's clear lines drawn to K-Pop and K-Drama.

Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed this book as much as I expected to, which was a lot! I love the characters, the overall light and playful feel of the book, and that the plot didn't always follow the expected path. This is a book I feel I can easily recommend to readers, especially ones who love K-Pop and K-Drama.