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notsobinaryart's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, and Sexual harassment
snowwhitehatesapples's review
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*.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Sexual content, Murder, and Sexual harassment
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