Is Itaewon Class Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read

Overview

Itaewon Class starts with a simple injustice: Park Sae-ro-yi's father dies after a hit-and-run by the son of Jangga Group's CEO, the case gets buried, and Sae-ro-yi ends up in prison for punching the man responsible. When he gets out, he doesn't go looking for a fight — he opens a small bar in Itaewon and decides to beat Jangga at its own game, one restaurant location at a time. It's a revenge story where the weapon is a business plan instead of a fist, and that choice shapes everything else about how it reads.

What it does well

The best thing Itaewon Class does is treat its supporting cast like they matter. Yi-seo, the brilliant and socially blunt manager who becomes Sae-ro-yi's right hand, gets her own arc instead of just being the love interest. Hyun-yi, the head chef, and Seung-kwon, the ex-gang enforcer turned bar staff, both get real backstories that pay off later instead of staying as flavor text. By the midpoint, DanBam feels like a found family that the reader is rooting for as a unit, not just following one guy's grudge.

Sae-ro-yi himself is the other reason it works. He's stubborn to a fault — the story is upfront that his refusal to bend is both his best quality and his biggest flaw — and that consistency makes every win feel earned rather than convenient. When he loses a round to Jangga, it stings, because you've watched exactly how much planning and personal cost went into the attempt. The business angle, which could easily have felt dry, turns out to be one of the more engaging parts: watching a bar grow into a real threat to a food conglomerate through actual strategy is more satisfying than a straightforward fistfight would have been.

Where it falls short

The pacing is the main issue. The middle third leans hard on a repeating structure — Jangga scores a hit, DanBam regroups, DanBam claws back — and after the third or fourth cycle it starts to feel like the story is stalling rather than building. A few side conflicts also wrap up faster and cleaner than the tension leading into them suggested they would, which can make some chapters feel like they existed mostly to delay the real climax. The art is solid and clear but doesn't do much to elevate quieter scenes — it's a story carried by writing and character work, not visual flair.

Verdict

Itaewon Class earns the hype that turned it into a hit K-drama, but it asks for patience. If you like a revenge plot that plays the long game and a cast you actually want to spend time with, the slower stretches are worth pushing through. If you want momentum from chapter one, this will test you more than once.