Wicked Fox

Reading rush 2019-Book 1: Read a book with a non-human main character


I really liked this book in the first half but the other half was kinda disappointing.
I didn't like the plot twist, All the characters annoyed me, and the writing got worse.
It kinda reminded me of the fan fiction I would read about harry styles when I was 13 (man 2012 was a different time) like the vampire harry styles stories, he's dangerous and you shouldn't be near him but you love him so you stay with him (ok reminds me of twilight too).I hope you get what I'm saying lol


Anyways this story was addicting and the chapters were so short so it was hard not to say “just one more chapter before bed” and next thing you know, you've read 10 more chapters

i was gonna give this 2 stars, but jihoon.

i think the k-drama comparisons are accurate but that wasn't a good thing for me, seeing as i can barely get through most k-dramas without wanting to tear my hair out. similarly, this book had me wondering, “is there a point to any of this?” for a grand chunk of the book, with little bits of enjoyable moments of jihoon being a goof who flirts with old ladies.

everyone outside of jihoon and yena felt 2-dimensional, which was frustrating with regards to some key side characters. tons of dialogue, but little description of things like reactions or anything else that would've given side characters some life. even during the most climactic scenes, it felt boring.

additionally, not a fan of the whole miscommunication/lack of communication trend in this book. it was incredibly frustrating and it just felt like after by anna todd (wherein hardin and tessa get in a menial argument, walk away angrily, then return two seconds later and schmang). miscommunication/lack of communication would be revealed, one person would scream at another, but none of that mattered because things would resolve unreasonably in less than two pages. y'all???

this book had so much potential and i was let down by the execution. i think some of the plots points and twists were good but, again, were not executed well and the rest of the book really dragged all the good parts down.

This was a decent book with a good and different type of story. The myth about the Gumiho was told nicely through the small stories and the characters recalling their childhood tales.
The romance was cute in the beginning, then freaking annoying in the middle with all the communication gap and hurtful things said, and got better in the end again.

Things I liked:
- The Gumiho tale
- The affection between Jihoon and his halmeoni
- Somin being fierce
- Yena being unapologetically herself in the end
- The cool cover

Things I didn't like:
- Jihoon's mom

This read like a high school Korean drama, which I'm sure was the point. It was cutesy and fun, but also gave a really interesting look into Korean folklore. Every time I wanted to yell at either of the main characters for being whiny little babies, I remembered they were 17ish and angst is a thing. I wish there was more depth between the two characters and their love story. I mean in 400+ pages, there was definitely room for some. We could have skipped a little bit of the brooding. I know, I know...it's YA. Don't expect depth and all that. So accepting it for what it is, I liked it.

It was promising until halfway through the book, and then it just went downhill. There's too much focus on the school life instead of the paranormal activities. It reminds me of all those times I played an otome game and had to wade through endless school days before the story gets to the point, and you have no idea how much I despise that. It really doesn't help that there's a lot of telling and not showing, and that both Miyoung and Jihoon feel so flat as characters, and also how the writing is so very choppy in many places. The story really feels like a bad K-Drama, which unfortunately is just not my thing.

I wanted to like this book, especially since it explores Korea and its culture, but I couldn't. Sadness.

Kat Cho doesn't really do anything new with the YA supernatural romance genre in terms of story, but what made this one unique and enjoyable to read was the setting in South Korea, the inclusion of Korean myths and legends for the supernatural side and a heavy Korean cultural influence. When I heard that fans of K-dramas would like it, I instantly wanted to read it because I have a huge soft spot for K-dramas, especially the supernatural romance ones (any Goblin fans out there?), and in that aspect I wasn't disappointed. The story itself isn't really anything special, but it isn't bad. The characters again weren't anything super special, but I still enjoyed following their journey. If you're tired of ‘typical' YA supernatural romance, then this probably won't float your boat, but if you still enjoy the usual helping of the genre and want to explore it in a fascinating culture not typical of the genre, I'd say give it a go!