This book was adorable. It’s exactly what you think you’re going to get when you see the cover and read the blurb. Our main character is a girl who loves her local community center. So much so that she’s leading a charge for an alternative prom. It’s not that she has anything against prom itself, it’s how much money people spend on prom. Upwards of $1000. She feels that money could be better put to use at the community center. Now once upon a time she had a young, best friend before he moved back to Korea. Since moving back to Korea, he has become an idol in one of the biggest K-pop groups around. She is totally surprised when he knocks on her door and says I’m here to take you to prom. This book is very tropey, but in the best ways. It is exactly what you think you’re going to get and exactly what you want when you pick it up. This was a fun romp with a light romance that could be enjoyed by all ages. ( )

I liked that the premise of this book was a bit more believable than some of the other recent popular normal girl kpop megastar romances. In this case, they actually were friends and knew each other before all of the kpop fandom started, so I could get more into it without having to totally suspend all disbelief and willfully shut my brain off to some of the more ridiculous stretches to validate scenarios. That was an extremely long sentence!

Unsurprisingly, this was a pretty light read. Considering the characters are 17-18 years old, sometimes they didn't really read that way. I felt like they were more 14-16 until something happened to remind me. Their emotional maturity wasn't always at it's peak, but I *did* very much appreciate that it didn't lean on a conflict that could be solved by just talking with the person as so many novels do. There was a smidge of that, and I certainly was yelling in my head the whole time, but it resolved fairly quickly with the character acknowledging that they were being a full idiot. So I can forgive it.

I didn't expect to get two perspectives in this story! So heads up on that, because it does switch between the two main characters. Elena definitely gets more of the story, but Robbie comes in every now and then with his side of things, and I think that kept me feeling in the loop and sympathetic. You always gotta know the other side of the story, right? That kept it from feeling anything like an enemies-to-lovers story, which is a direction it could have gone.

And yes, there's a k-pop concert scene to get all hyped about. ^.^

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Publishing for a free advanced copy of this book. This is my honest review! ( )

So this is definitely the feel-good, fluffy, cutesy rom-com book that I expected it to be! It was predictable and fun and not very deep, and I was getting very much old-school Disney princess vibes from it. I’m not a k drama or k pop fan so I can’t speak to the accuracy of any of that.

Elena Soo is a seventeen-year-old high schooler who is protesting prom because she believes the money is better spent rebuilding their community center. Until her childhood best friend, Robbie Choi, now an international k pop superstar comes back to ask her to prom - and drama, romance, and deep rooted feelings ensue.

Elena wasn’t the most likeable character, but I thought she was relatable and acted her age. And as an Asian-American who also grew up feeling second best to my cousins and brother, I could relate to her plights. Her goal to save her community center was noble.

Robbie and his band members, and Sooyeon were great characters and I wished there were more chapters with them and show us more of their inner world. It was fascinating to learn about the inner workings of a superstar group and makes you see them in a different light.

It’s told mostly in Elena’s POV in first person with some chapters with Robbie’s POV in third person.

The secondary characters weren’t developed well and I felt like they more plot devices more than anything.

The only thing I didn’t like was that -

****SPOILERS****







Elena needed a man to come “save her”, so to speak and she was, essentially, invisible until Robbie came along. I wish she could have succeeded more on her own. And I was left with questions about how their relationship would end up panning out with their completely different lives, but I suppose that isn’t the point of this story.








****END SPOILER****


Despite it all I was rooting for Elena and Robbie even though I knew they would have their HEA/HFN!

Recommended for those who love light and cutesy k-drama and K-pop inspired YA contemporary romance! ( )

So this is definitely the feel-good, fluffy, cutesy rom-com book that I expected it to be! It was predictable and fun and not very deep, and I was getting very much old-school Disney princess vibes from it. I’m not a k drama or k pop fan so I can’t speak to the accuracy of any of that.

Elena Soo is a seventeen-year-old high schooler who is protesting prom because she believes the money is better spent rebuilding their community center. Until her childhood best friend, Robbie Choi, now an international k pop superstar comes back to ask her to prom - and drama, romance, and deep rooted feelings ensue.

Elena wasn’t the most likeable character, but I thought she was relatable and acted her age. And as an Asian-American who also grew up feeling second best to my cousins and brother, I could relate to her plights. Her goal to save her community center was noble.

Robbie and his band members, and Sooyeon were great characters and I wished there were more chapters with them and show us more of their inner world. It was fascinating to learn about the inner workings of a superstar group and makes you see them in a different light.

It’s told mostly in Elena’s POV in first person with some chapters with Robbie’s POV in third person.

The secondary characters weren’t developed well and I felt like they more plot devices more than anything.

The only thing I didn’t like was that -

****SPOILERS****







Elena needed a man to come “save her”, so to speak and she was, essentially, invisible until Robbie came along. I wish she could have succeeded more on her own. And I was left with questions about how their relationship would end up panning out with their completely different lives, but I suppose that isn’t the point of this story.








****END SPOILER****


Despite it all I was rooting for Elena and Robbie even though I knew they would have their HEA/HFN!

Recommended for those who love light and cutesy k-drama and K-pop inspired YA contemporary romance! ( )

What’s it like to have your childhood best friend become one of K-Pop’s biggest stars? To have him surprise you with a visit, in the hopes of fulfilling a childhood promise? to have to learn what it’s like to become immersed in the life of a popstar? That’s what Elana has to do in this fun rom-com romp. She has to come to terms with the fact that people leaving doesn’t mean they are leaving you. Sometimes people have to do things they’ don’t want to do because its supposedly for the best intentions. That you aren’t invisible, that those around you really do see you. A sweet story that deep dives into the life of a KPop star and the girl he left behind. ( )