What a fun read! The Noh Family is a Crazy Rich Asians meets Gilmore Girls blend that highlights the true meaning of family and, news flash, family isn’t always the blood relatives you’re related to; it’s the people you choose. Chloe has never known her father, nor her father’s family. When a DNA test leads her to his relatives for the very first time, Chloe isn’t sure if she belongs. All she knows is that her mom kept some pretty big secrets from her and now she wants answers. The door to this mysterious new world is opened and Chloe is ready to uncover the truth.

I loved Chloe’s independent spirit and her drive to understand herself and her father better. She has a deep-seeded desire to know her family more and she is so genuine in her quest. Drama and chaos ensues! Whatever Chloe imagined her dad’s family to be, it was nothing like who they turned out to be: wealthy, powerful, business-driven socialites living deep in the heart of Seoul, Korea. Their world is nuanced, secretive, exclusive, and elitist. It’s so far removed from the humble home that Chloe grew up in with her mother. But her deep belief in the power of good and a drive to understand her paternal family keeps Chloe working hard to begin building a foundation with her grandmother, aunt, and cousins. Unbeknownst to her, they’re intentions are not all their cracked up to be.

This coming-of-age story has love, romance, deception, and mad K-drama vibes. It is a wonderful read of one young woman’s journey to self-discovery and her understanding that you are so much more than your blood family; you are the person that you decide to be.

I would have loved to learn more about Chloe’s father in the end, and perhaps that yet to come. This story isn’t meant to be a one-off. If I read the final chapter right, we’ll be seeing more of Chloe soon.

I’m not going to lie, this was definitely a let down. Going into this, I was expecting a book with K-drama vibes and overall just something fun and dramatic. I mean, I did get “dramatic” just not necessarily in a fun way. The main character, I absolutely did not vibe with and throughout the book, it was so obvious that she was not being given all the information from her family but apparently ignorance is bliss because that was the motto she was living by. The fact that a character could be that naive is honestly very unbelievable to me, which was my main issue with this book. Apart from this, the book was just boring and I had to fight the urge to skim it. I had high expectations for this and that might’ve been why I was so disappointed.

I really really wanted to love this- kdrama vibes, long lost family, all the South Korea things, DRAMA- this sounded PERFECT for me. But unfortunately this just ended up falling flat for me. There were definitely some intriguing components (the aforementioned) but aside from that I wasn’t as invested in the story as I wanted to be, to the point where I found myself skimming most of it. Another thing is the writing and overall portrayal of Chloe seemed childish to me. While I know this is done to further the point of representing her naivety/age it really wasn’t something I enjoyed. I think for the most part this was too YA for me and something a much younger audience would enjoy more than me!

This book had a really fun and interesting premise about a teen who discovers she has a rich and famous family in Korea. It was a fun read for me. I didn't think it was amazing, but I thought it was a solid debut book!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I struggled with this one. But it's not bad by any means.

This book was such a chore to read. I wanted to like it because the premise does sound really interesting, but oh my god this was not for me. I kind of wish I had watched a K drama before because that might have kept me from requesting this. The book is not awful, it is just not for me. It was so over the top in ridiculous ways I could not get with it. Also her extended family was just awful! I felt so bad for the MC.

Rep: Korean-American cishet female MC, Columbian-American cishet female side character, white cishet male side character, Korean lesbian cis female side character, various Korean side characters.

CWs: Fatphobia, medical testing without prior knowledge, medical content, classism, emotional manipulation, abandonment. Moderate: Blood, body shaming, car accident (no injuries), chronic illness (liver disease), past death of parent, grief. Minor: sexual content implied (side character).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I did not like this book at all. It was akin to that of wattpad of ff material with kdramas being all you know about. I just wish that this had been a bit more.

this was such a good palate cleanser after some not-so-stellar reads. i have been craving something inspired by k-dramas that wasn't fantasy/super complicated, and this filled that craving perfectly. my only complaint is that sometimes characters talked like they were in therapy sessions and not just in regular conversations, but other than that, great read!!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Chloe, despite being Korean, has never been to Korea. She lives with her mom and only her mom, seeing as her father died before her mother gave birth to her. Any family she knows is family from her mom's side, but when she takes a DNA test, that number of family members grows exponentially as she learns about her dead father's extended family in Korea. When they learn about her existence, they're eager to meet her and even fly her out to Seoul, which is another culture shock for Chloe when she beings to grasp how wealthy they are - but their intentions are not wholesome.

I had such high hopes for The Noh Family, especially because it follows the same plot as one of my favorite infamous Reddit posts, but with even more drama - which makes it even better! Except it didn't. I found Chloe to be a little too ignorant for a high school senior, and even more so considering the amount of time she had to figure it out and yet didn't. Maybe the dramatic irony wasn't conveyed properly in book form but it was pretty clear her family was harboring some kind of secret or withholding information from her.

That being said, I still enjoyed the drama and I feel like it would be even better as a TV show because some of the kdrama elements used don't work as a book - so if that happens, you know I'll be the first to watch.

Grace K. Shim's debut, The Noh Family is a K-drama inspired book that held my attention as I listened to the audiobook. This story follows Chloe Kang who has been gifted a 23 And Me DNA test as a joke by her friends. You see, her dad passed away I believe before she was born, so she never met him. Chloe's mother doesn't really talk a lot about her father. So, her friends joke her dad is actually this famous K-drama star. Well, Chloe takes the DNA test and is contacted by a person who is her cousin. It turns out she is a member of the Noh family -- who are vastly wealthy, own department stores and live in Seoul. Chloe is then whisked away to Seoul for a week where she gets to know her Noh family. But all that glitters, as it turns out, is not gold.

The more that I think about it, the more I realize I really did enjoy The Noh Family. Grace K. Shim's book is captivating and dramatic. I love drama and mess. Did I see one of the plot twists coming a mile away? Yes. However, this is a book aimed at teenagers and I am a fully grown adult. So, that's fine. I was still riveted. Also, this book made me want to try watching a K-drama while I was at it. I also had a lot of empathy for Chloe's mom -- like no wonder she was keeping the Noh family a secret. The audiobook is narrated by Hannah J. Choi and is 10 hours and 4 minutes long. I did listen to this sped up -- but it's a snap to follow and Choi has a wonderful narrating voice.

This is a really interesting read. It felt almost like a KDRAMA. The plot sounded very interesting as Chloe's story unravelled. First finding out who her father is, that she is rich and why her estranged family treating her well. Why did her mom fiend ignorance? I had so many questions as Chloe's story progressed. It felt quite obvious that there was something the family wasn't telling Chloe and she just didn't get the clues.

I wish there was more information about the father. It felt slow at times. But i think if the goal was to make it like a KDRAMA it did its part.

Objectively this might not have been a five star experience, maybe it's more in the four star range. But I think that it takes massive courage to attempt to execute the plot that Shim swung for here, and to make it as entertaining and compulsively readable as this was.

It was the cover that initially drew me to requesting an arc, but in a year of so many disappointments it really did take me quite a bit longer than I would have liked. But all things have their time, and the universe knew that I was coming off a string of middling reads and needed something that was going to gag me. This did that.

Do I think that Grace was a little naïve? Maybe so... I mean, I clocked what the family was up to in the first ninety pages. And I do think that there are many a story where a character with a dead parents i looking for connection to a side of the family they never got to know, it's a well worn trope for sure. I think that Shim was able to use that trope to make the naïvety believable.

I don't even think that all of the side characters were all that well realized. At points they did come across as a little flat. Though I hesitate to see it as an issue when the narrative really made it read as though it was a deliberate choice and not a question of skill.

This book was for me the same way that the <i>American Royals</i> books by Katharine McGee are for me. They contain a little heart but are at the center just fun pieces of entertainment that tell a good story.

I don't think that this book is for everyone, but it was for me, and today that's really all I'm concerned with.

My students that are KPop fans would really enjoy this book. It was fun and I love all the KPop/Drama books that are coming out these days. I didn't love the story personally, but I am an adult who isn't as invested in the Kpop/drama world as my students. I definitely think this would be a fun one to have in my class for my students who have those interests!

3.5* review

I read this book to celebrate Asian month back in May and did a whole reading vlog featuring this book as well as a few other Asian books.

This book read exactly like a kdrama and it was such a fun read. I loved how the book mirrored a lot of Kdrama tropes that the MC was watching herself and it was happening to her IRL too.

The writing in this book definitely isn't one for lots of depth or intensity. Instead, it's just fun and lighthearted to fit the YA contemporary theme.

What I found most interesting was the family aspect. While the MC did go to Korea to find and learn more about her family, her chaebol Korean family didn't follow the norm since they're so rich and in the upper class society so I found it fascinating to read more about that aspect instead. But I did enjoy the MC relationship with her mom and friends a lot more than her new family.

The pacing of the book was also quite slow until the end when I felt like the author rushed everything and concluded too quickly. This book could've used an extra few pages or a chapter or two to really wrap things up.

This book really is like a K-drama on the pages, and I was here for it. The story, the characters, the romance….and that ending!!! I can’t wait to read more from this author!

The Noh Family is a wonderfully written novel by Grace K. Shim, infused with all the drama and emotion that makes for great K-Dramas. Shim creates a rich world in its description of places, food to die for and fashion that will make you want to strut down the runway as soon as possible. Everything described in the novel can be seen in your mind’s eye with ease thanks to Shim’s writing, and it doesn’t just stop there; it extends to every character within the book.

Chloe is the main character that many readers will find relatable for many reasons, and it’s easy to connect with her story, hopes, and aspirations. The feeling of belonging she searches for and the thoughts of not easily fitting in are certainly trials many people have experienced at least once in their lifetime. However, despite some of Chloe’s insecurities, her confidence grows as she discovers more about herself and how she wants to navigate her life and stick up for herself against her mother, family and friends.

Creating a stirring character can be difficult, but Shim’s words on the page have a way of tugging directly on the heartstrings. At every dramatic turn, you’ll find your eyes glued to the page, and the need to continue reading will be unstoppable; even despite the trope of the lost family being one, many readers will likely know well. Shim finds ways to separate The Noh Family from other stories with similar journeys, making for a fun and page-turning read.

The Noh Family is a book to add to your TBR lists as soon as possible. With dramatics and twists and turns akin to some of the best K-Dramas, trust me, you won’t regret it!

**Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for this review. This in no way changed my rating**

I really liked this title. Chloe was a fun protagonist and the writing was engaging. It was a little predictable in places, but I liked the way the characters were written. This book will be very interesting for anyone who's into k-dramas. I also like how Chloe's relationship with her mom changes over the course of the book. Overall, a very fun read.

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by Penguin Teen and Kokila.

The Noh Family is an a sparkling K-drama inspired debut novel, It introduces irrepressibly charming teen Chloe Kang, who is reunited with her deceased father's estranged family via a DNA test, and is soon whisked off to Seoul to join them. She visits her new found family in South Korea, but she is surprised to see they're rich! She tackles a lot of problems throughout the novel, dealing with family, loss of close relatives and friendship.

There’s tons of family drama and was exactly what I needed. Chloe’s struggles and the way she was trying to balance her own wants and needs as well as respecting her mothers choices was a really interesting dynamic and made Chloe a really captivating character. I enjoyed seeing her evolve throughout the book. I absolutely loved the setting of Seoul and learning about the culture. Jin Young and Soo Young are also good additionals because their characters presented a good contrast between what it's like growing up with a privileged background versus living a normal life. I also liked how it stayed true to its K-drama vibes and there were a lot of mentioned K-dramas. The pacing of the book was so well done. I was not even once bored. I kept wanting to know more about the Noh family and learning about the truth of her father. This was a journey Chloe didn't expect to take, and one she’ll learn more about herself than she ever thought she would. A self discovery I would love to read again. If your a K-drama or love to learn about Korean drama, I recommend reading this book. Such a great book to start off my Asian Heritage Month/May read.

I'm not entirely sure how to rate this book because I didn't love or hate it.. The writing was great and the characters definitely had potential, but there were some parts of the story I had a hard time connecting with. Ultimately, I just don't think this book was for me.