Reviews with content warning for Violence - The God and the Gumiho

an intriguing blend of korean mythology and kdrama! i wish i was more familiar with the latter bc i've seen other reviews mention a lot of references and nods to popular kdrama series, but unfortunately they'd all go over my head.

i always enjoy reading less-utilized mythology sources; i was constantly looking up different creature references. and the food 🤌🏼 any food descriptions or new foods are a plus for me in books. the early 90's setting was also quite fun and nostalgic - i almost keeled over at "expensive nokia 121" lol.

while the murder mystery could be gruesome at parts, it was nicely juxtaposed with the silliness of the kdrama-esque relationship dynamic between our fallen god seokga and the infamous gumiho hani. i do feel like it wasn't the most complex relationship i've read in a book, but it was fun. they did act a bit teenager-ish for a god and a mythological creature of hundreds/thousands of years of age, but i chalk it up to the modern inspirations.

i probably would've given this 3.5 stars, but i like the creativity of blending contemporary kdrama with ancient mythology.

not one of my fav reads this year, but i'm interested in seeing where book 2 goes with that ending 👀

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kylosten's review against another edition

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funny mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is part K-Drama, part cozy romantasy, part cat and mouse murder mystery. The author has a cinematic writing style, which adds to the K-Drama feel.
The pacing was a little slower than what I was expecting but there were 3 different stories woven together so I think it had to be slower to be able to flesh out each major storyline.
It did drag at some points but the bickering between Hani and Seogka made that less of an issue for me.
I do wish we had more on Hani's time as the Scarlet Fox and the story leading up to Seogka's coup but maybe those are prequel stories the author plans to write. I think with how many plotlines this book had there wouldn't have been room to include more details on their lives prior to this book.
While I did guess early on what was going to happen the story was interesting enough that I didn't mind and all the diverging plots come together in the end.
I was initially confused about why Hani was rude to Seogka but that's explained later in the book. His motives for acting how he did towards her is not really explained beyond being a trickster god.
Even though the story gave some idea of what all the different creatures and demons were I was still looking up everything because I'm not as familiar with Korean folklore.

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notsobinaryart's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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gc_epub's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a surprisingly good read! I’m a fan of modern(ish) romantasy, paired with K-Drama-esque elements and Korean mythology, and a fun enemies-to-lovers love story it was a solid read.

However, there were some things that kind of irked me. First, there were times that the dialogue read TOO corny, or parts of the plot that unnecessarily inserted humor in serious situations. Second, Seokga’s character development kind of flatlined for me.

When he and Hani first hooked up, it felt as if all of Seokga’s defining characteristics suddenly disappeared and he became a dog on a leash for Hani (which, I suppose could be argued for character development, but I digress).

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and read it fairly quickly! I LOVED Hani’s character and the K-Drama-like plot reminiscent of dramas like Goblin and Tale of the Nine Tailed - def recommend if you’re a fan of either of these shows/concepts!

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kaneebli's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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blondofondo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was so good. I laughed, I cried. I finished it within a week. If you really enjoy kdramas, supernatural stories, murder mystery, steamy romance, then you’ll enjoy this. It is set in the 1990s in South Korea. The main characters are so fun and lovable. They haven’t announced the next book yet, but it seems like there will be a series? This book did end with most of my questions resolved, didn’t end on a major cliff hanger, so it could be read as a standalone. But I still have a few questions and would love to see the characters again in a second book.

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snowwhitehatesapples's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Also on Snow White Hates Apples.

Set during the early 90s in New Sinsi, a fictional city in the mortal realm where gods and mythological creatures roam among regular humans, The God and the Gumiho follows an unlikely duo as they work together to stop a demon of darkness from destroying the city and possibly the world.

One half of the duo is Seokga, a fallen trickster god who, after his failed coup, is now working as a detective as part of his sentence of having to slay 20,000 Unruly demons before he can reinstated as a proper god. He’s grumpy, prideful and certainly not the nicest to be around. But, does Hani care? Nope. As the gumiho known as the Scarlet Fox in her heyday, Hani’s not afraid of an ill-tempered fallen god. In fact, she’d fearlessly dish back what she gets, even when that lands her in hot water — and boy, it definitely does because right after getting on Seokga’s bad side, she has to worm her way into his good one so he won’t bring her and her friend to justice.

While this makes them sound like an ideal grumpy X sunshine / enemies-to-lovers duo, Seokga and Hani are, unfortunately, more annoying than I can withstand. For beings that are more than a thousand years old, they’re as mature as horny teenagers who’ve managed to find a spot and time away from adult supervision. It’s especially ridiculous how unprofessional both are when working. Like, arguing in front of the spirit of a murder victim? Making out and grinding at a stakeout? Peak bombastic side-eye, criminal offensive side-eye territory.

Also, since the main characters were just not it for me, I wasn’t a fan of the romance. The characters were too two-dimensional to bring their romance to life. Instead, they upped the cringe factor of tropes like ‘there’s only one bed’, ‘and they were roommates’ and ‘this is stupid and can come back to bite me in the ass but I’ll do it anyway’.

The aforementioned aside, I completely adore the mystery, the way the plot unfolded and the interwoven East Asian mythology. The detective plotline had me hooked in the beginning while everything that followed post-climax was *chef’s kiss*.

Thank you so much Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim is available at all good bookstores.

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