The God and the Gumiho

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with an E-Arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I'll be honest and say I was not feeling this book for the first few chapters. I found myself not really enjoying the writing style at first, which is my own personal preference, and I didn't feel fully engaged in the story for a while.

This absolutely changed as the story went on. Sophie Kim has done an amazing job at weaving together Korean myth and fantasy to a more modern setting. She kept certain aspects, like how the magical creatures stay hidden from the mortal world, simple but effective, and it really allowed her to focus on the more prominent parts of her worldbuilding. The culture around the gods was entertaining, and the ease at which she explained each creatures features/roles in their magical society made it easy to become immersed.

I also really liked each of the main characters! To me, the romance itself felt a little rushed, but that could be because I definitely have a preference for something a little more slowburn, but by the end of the novel I felt so invested in them that it didn't matter to me in the long run. I do wish they'd had a bit more emotional vulnerability before they were thirsting over each other (lol) but, as I said, by the end of the book I was really rooting for them. I actually really enjoyed the bittersweet ending. It definitely would have felt like a cop-out if the two of them had been allowed to freely walk into the sunset together, and Seokga having to lower himself to begging really sold how committed they were to each other. It would be interesting to see how the relationship plays out in the future with reincarnation in the mix, especially if her gender is different and how Hani's different life experience influences her in her new life, or what form she'll take in a magical sense.

Hani herself was entertaining as a main character, morally dubious at times but easy to understand and root for, and it wa slovely to see Seokga soften and open up over the course of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I'll definitely be picking up the next in the series!