Once Upon A K-Prom by Kat Cho
What would you do if the world's biggest K-pop star asked you to
prom? Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sandhya Menon, this
hilarious and heartfelt novel brings the glamour and drama of the
K-pop world straight to high school.
Elena Soo has always felt overshadowed. Whether by her more
successful older sisters, her more popular twin brother, or her more
outgoing best friend, everyone except Elena seems to know exactly
who they are and what they want. But she is certain about one thing
- she has no interest in going to prom. While the rest of the school
is giddy over corsages and dresses, Elena would rather spend her
time working to save the local community center, the one place
that's always made her feel like she belonged.
So when international K-pop superstar Robbie Choi shows up at her
house to ask her to prom, Elena is more confused than ever. Because
the one person who always accepted Elena as she is? Her childhood
best friend, Robbie Choi. And the one thing she maybe, possibly,
secretly wants more than anything? For the two of them to keep the
promise they made each other as kids: to go to prom together. But
that was seven years ago, and with this new K-pop persona, pink
hair, and stylish clothes, Robbie is nothing like the sweet, goofy
boy she remembers. The boy she shared all her secrets with. The boy
she used to love.
Besides, prom with a guy who comes with hordes of screaming fans,
online haters, and relentless paparazzi is the last thing Elena
wants - even if she can't stop thinking about Robbie's
smile...right?
Pre-order here!
This was my
first and only YA book of the year so far and it was such a delightful read! 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!❣️✨
You can also find my review on my bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review*
1 winner will receive a finished copy of ONCE UPON A K-PROM(US Only)
Kat Cho used to hide books under the bathroom sink and then sneak in there
to read after bedtime. Her parents pretended not to know. This helped when
she decided to write a dinosaur time-travel novel at the tender age of
nine. Sadly, that book was not published. She currently lives and works in
NYC and spends her free time trying to figure out what kind of puppy to
adopt. Kat is the international bestselling author of the Gumiho duology
(Penguin) and Once Upon a K-Prom (Disney).
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Week One
5/1/2022 | Inside the Wong Mind | Review/IG Post
5/2/2022 | My Fictional Oasis | Review/IG Post
5/3/2022 | YABooksCentral | Excerpt
5/4/2022 | laura's bookish corner | Review/IG Post
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