Books Every K-Pop Stan Should Have

Gates connecting to dungeons of monsters have sporadically started opening out of nowhere, awakening strange and hidden powers in some to fight the monsters. Our MC may be one of those hunters, but he is one of the weakest. Good things he’s about to level up. Based on the popular Korean webcomic, Solo Leveling is utterly addictive with bold and brilliant art that will immediately draw you in.

Just as addictive as your favorite K-drama, this fantasy manhwa may start with a guillotine, but it is all about second chances. Based on the popular Korean webcomic, The Abandoned Empress is a beautifully rendered tale of romance and betrayal. You won’t want to miss this fantastic read!

A complex love triangle built around the advent of Jugyeong’s physical transformation. It’s tense, it’s romantic and it’s surprisingly deep with its undercurrent of cultural commentary.

Fireworks proves that all you need is a spark to set off something beautiful. When Lulu’s friend Kite takes a break from his K-Pop group, he returns from South Korea. As they reconnect, Lulu struggles with her growing feelings in the face of his fame, and when his sister warns her not to get too close to him, Lulu’s questions only grow. A heartwarming second-chance romance, fans of Jenny Han will enjoy this sweet story of fame, mental health and first love.  

What would happen if your wildest dreams came true? This fun glimpse into the music industry follows seventeen-year-old Alice, who is discovered by a K-pop talent agent after a night at karaoke.

With a K-drama star at the center, this dreamy debut delivers a friends-to-lovers romance that tenderly examines Korean culture and the way Americans interact with it. After her boyfriend breaks up with her for being “too American” and Hannah’s childhood best friend returns to town, she spends the summer trying to navigate what exactly killed her relationship, their friendship and the new feelings blooming between them. Told through alternating perspectives, Seoulmates will sweep you off your feet in Hannah and Jacob’s whirlwind summer.   

While it’s not exactly about K-Pop or even a K-drama, Stars and Smoke will still capture the hearts of fans. When a superstar uses his fame to embark on a secret mission alongside a young spy, infiltrating the circle of a criminal tycoon isn’t the only thing they must survive… Action-packed and full of romance and espionage, Marie Lu’s latest is a thrilling adventure perfect for fans of Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series.   

A modern day “forbidden romance,” XOXO is a lovely and swoony read perfect for fans of K-pop! Jenny, a talented cellist, meets Jaewoo, a member of an incredibly popular K-Pop group called XOXO, in a chance encounter one night in Los Angeles before he flies home to South Korea. When Jenny and her mother move to Seoul to take care of her grandmother, she finds Jaewoo at the elite arts school she was accepted into, discovers her identity, and must figure out just how much she’s willing to risk for love.

Written by a K-pop legend and the former lead singer of one Korea’s most popular girl groups, Shine is a poppy debut that will envelop you into the world of K-pop! It follows a seventeen-year-old Korean-American, Rachel, who was recruited by DB Entertainment, one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels known for producing mega stars. Rachel does her best to follow all the rules by training nonstop, not dating, and being practically perfect in every way, but then she meets Jason, K-pop star and the label’s golden boy, and her plans go awry as they get to know each other.

This fun and exhilarating read about a K-pop training program delivers you into a colorful world full of high stakes, high standards, and the extreme lengths K-pop hopefuls must go through to become the K-pop stars people see on stage. K-Pop Confidential follows Candace Park, a Korean American girl, who secretly auditions and gets picked for a coveted spot in a trainee program. She convinces her strict parents to let her attend, but she didn’t anticipate how hard it would be to navigate the trainee hierarchies and to follow all the rules, especially when she meets a boy trainee who catches her eye. This book is a smash-hit, and K-pop fans will love being entrenched within the complex world of K-pop trainees.

For a story involving K-pop, running from your past, and friendship, Comeback is a must read! It follows Emery, stage name of M, and Alana who are both trying to move forward but find themselves in cahoots to try to prevent a huge K-pop scandal from ruining NEON’s (M’s group’s) success. Along with friendship, something more is also found, but love and K-pop often don’t mix. This book is sure to be one that you come back to with a smile on your face every time you resume reading or reread it.

I’ll Be the One is as fun and as upbeat as the cover makes it seem! Full of K-pop, body positivity, and romance, this book follows Skye, a Korean American teen aspiring to be the first plus-sized K-pop star. She enters an internationally televised K-pop competition, nails her audition, and then must fight to stay true to herself despite the highly fatphobic nature of Korean pop entertainment culture and her growing social media following. Luckily, she makes some friends along the way, including fellow competitor and celebrity model, Henry.

For an adult K-pop romance, you’ll want to check out the emotional and lovely read, My Summer in Seoul. This book centers around Grace, a woman with the opportunity to intern at Korea’s number one record label, whose dream job quickly becomes a nightmare when the biggest K-pop group that she’s supposed to be helping with has a huge scandal that she has to help “manage,” she mistakes the superstars as interns, and everything she does is wrong.

If you like K-pop, childhood best friends-to-lovers and happily ever afters, then Once Upon a K-Prom is a dream addition to your TBR! When Elena’s childhood best friend, Robbie, shows up on her doorstep to ask her to prom, she’s caught off-guard. She hadn’t been planning on going to prom, and his new K-pop persona is nothing like what she remembered him to be. As Elena tries to figure out who she is and what she wants, this new promposal adds more complications to her already complicated life. Will Elena find her happily ever after?

Written by members of BTS, journalist Kang Myeong-seok and translated into English by Anton Hur, this comprehensive history of the K-Pop group will delight fans.