A review by delandjessica
Once Upon a K-Prom by Kat Cho
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I don’t usually read non genre books, let alone romance stories, but I read other books by this author and was curious about the title, so I decided to give it a go.
“Another Cinderella Story” meets “Wish Dragon,” this book is basically a Korean Hallmark romance story, only instead of a prince, the male lead is in an imaginary, super famous K-pop band suspiciously similar to BTS. So if you don’t like corny Hallmark movies, then this book definitely isn’t for you. But other than me hating that the male lead Robbie is weirdly given the occasional chapter in third person perspective (most of the book is in first person through Elena’s POV) that completely ruins the biggest reveal in the book since the reader already knows the whole thing pretty early on, I quite enjoyed this book. It hits all the plot points and beats you’d expect from a light romance, and everything turns out right in the end even though I don’t personally agree that the characters would be so forgiving of certain events.
Where this book lost points with me is in Elena’s character. She’s super whiny and pessimistic all the time and causes most of her own problems by being just the worst at reading/interacting with other human beings, including her own family members. A bunch of characters do ultimately call her out on this at the end, which I appreciated, but it doesn’t make her any less annoying or pathetic throughout. I also thought it was silly that the major relationship misunderstanding that has to happen in these kinds of stories 1. the reader already knows about from the weird aforementioned Robbie chapters, and 2. would have easily been avoided if either Robbie or Elena had any people skills and thought to trust each other enough to talk about their problems/situations candidly. They do discuss why they’re like this at one point, but the explanations felt unrealistic to me, though I understand that these kinds of misunderstandings caused by lack of communication/trust are the bread and butter trope of these kinds of stories. So it’s not unexpected.
Anyway, I did enjoy reading this book, though I found it fairly predictable given its strict adherence to the standard playbook of a Hallmark-style romance story. I also enjoyed the lack of serious language and a clean romance that was based on real connections and an understanding of who the other person is rather than pure physical attraction. This author has a way of keeping you reading despite the less desirable elements in this book, and I look forward to seeing what else they have to offer in the future.
“Another Cinderella Story” meets “Wish Dragon,” this book is basically a Korean Hallmark romance story, only instead of a prince, the male lead is in an imaginary, super famous K-pop band suspiciously similar to BTS. So if you don’t like corny Hallmark movies, then this book definitely isn’t for you. But other than me hating that the male lead Robbie is weirdly given the occasional chapter in third person perspective (most of the book is in first person through Elena’s POV) that completely ruins the biggest reveal in the book since the reader already knows the whole thing pretty early on, I quite enjoyed this book. It hits all the plot points and beats you’d expect from a light romance, and everything turns out right in the end even though I don’t personally agree that the characters would be so forgiving of certain events.
Where this book lost points with me is in Elena’s character. She’s super whiny and pessimistic all the time and causes most of her own problems by being just the worst at reading/interacting with other human beings, including her own family members. A bunch of characters do ultimately call her out on this at the end, which I appreciated, but it doesn’t make her any less annoying or pathetic throughout. I also thought it was silly that the major relationship misunderstanding that has to happen in these kinds of stories 1. the reader already knows about from the weird aforementioned Robbie chapters, and 2. would have easily been avoided if either Robbie or Elena had any people skills and thought to trust each other enough to talk about their problems/situations candidly. They do discuss why they’re like this at one point, but the explanations felt unrealistic to me, though I understand that these kinds of misunderstandings caused by lack of communication/trust are the bread and butter trope of these kinds of stories. So it’s not unexpected.
Anyway, I did enjoy reading this book, though I found it fairly predictable given its strict adherence to the standard playbook of a Hallmark-style romance story. I also enjoyed the lack of serious language and a clean romance that was based on real connections and an understanding of who the other person is rather than pure physical attraction. This author has a way of keeping you reading despite the less desirable elements in this book, and I look forward to seeing what else they have to offer in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Bullying
Moderate: Abandonment and Grief
Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, and Death of parent