“The God and the Gumiho” by Sophie Kim has a great mix of Korean mythology and fantasy that draws you in right away. The worldbuilding is rich and the characters have potential, but the pacing felt a little off and some parts of the story felt rushed. It's an interesting read if you like myth-inspired tales, even if it doesn't reach its full potential.

It wasn't love at first page, it took me a bit to be involved but I was happy i persevered as it's an entertaining and intriguing fantasy.
Well plotted, compelling, fleshed out and interesting characters. I loved the world building and the storytelling
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Why oh why did this take me so long to get to! I absolutely adored it.

*Spoilers*
I just fell so instantly in love with the characters and the world and jsut everything about it. It reminded me a lot of Crescent City, I absolutely love an urban setting for fantasy creatures.

Seokga was just such a great MMC, I loved seeing him grow softer and softer towards Hank, and I even expected him to react worse than he did when found out she was the Scarlett Fox, but I adored his reaction, and it makes sense because there were obvious clues throughout the book that he would’ve picked up on. And just how much he grew to care for her and how throughout the book you can see how much he cares for others even though he doesn’t want to admit it. He gave me grumpy-Loki vibes and I was all here for it. I want more of him & his brother and I’m very much hoping for sequels!

Hani was amazingggg, she cracked me up so many times and I love how she got involved in the investigation and forcing Seokga to open up to her and in turn they opened up to each other. The dynamic between Hani & Somi too I loved even when everything bad was happening. Hani did really fuck ip and had to own what she did.

The investigation, the heartbreak at the end, just everything about this book sucked me in. The writing style flowed so nicely and I wasn’t bored at any point.AND THAT ENDING with the red thread of fate I just can’t, it was too sweet and I am begging for more of these two or this world!

I was so surprised by this book in the best kind of way! Full of joy, drama and adventure throughout, this book had me smiling and giggling all the way through.

I really enjoyed "The God and the Gumiho" by Sophie Kim. It has that well-balanced blend of romance and murder mystery that will hit that sweet spot for many readers. The first half of the book is dedicated to firmly establishing the characters and the thrilling mystery plotline, while the romance picks up in the second half, along with the dangers and stakes. I can't wait for the second book in the series!

This advanced copy was provided by Hodder & Stoughton, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

TW: blood and gore

The God and the Gumiho begins with Seokga, the Fallen, once a god who now must live among mortals as he works to put away the unruly in order to be forgive by his brother. He is (un)fortunate to come across Kim Hani, a retired gumiho, that refuses to make Seokga's coffee order. She really doesn't tolerate his insufferable behavior.

An unlikely duo that will do whatever they must in order to achieve their goals and defeat a powerful demon.

What first caught my attention is how complex these characters are. I think that, as readers, we are very quick to look for the "good guy" in books, the people we can root for. These characters show how complex we are as individuals, how each of us has different morals, and different ideas. Sometimes, there isn't a line between good and evil. Sometimes we can do good things as we do bad ones.

I think the world-building was a bit confusing but the star was the characters. I really enjoyed Hani and Seokga's dynamic and banter, and how they interacted with the people and situations around them.

The ending was unexpected but very well-thoughtout and written. This is a fast-paced story that anyone will enjoy.

Interesting storyline, but the characters were a bit too boring for me. The main characters got more intersting towards the end and I will be following for the next book since the ending got me hooked.

This isn't my usual type of read but I will say, I was pleasantly surprised! I can't wait to see where Sophie takes the plot!

True to its marketing slogan, the author has described it as a K-drama in book form and I can now safely attest to it being true after watching a total of 4 K-dramas. I concede I’m no expert yet. But there’s a certain pattern you begin to notice after watching a couple of shows, as every form of media follows some quintessential beats, especially ones that are meant to cater to the mainstream audience.

The God and the Gumiho is that well-balanced blend of romance and murder mystery that will hit that sweet spot for many readers. The book's first half is dedicated to firmly establishing the characters and the thrilling mystery plotline, while the romance picks up in the second half, along with the dangers and stakes.

The character of the gumiho or the nine-tailed fox, called Kim Hani is a unique and unapologetically flawed main character.

The morals and understanding of right and wrong of the mythical creatures in this book, like goblins, gods, reapers, and foxes are very different from normal humans. And that becomes clear immediately as you get to the first chapter and Kim Hani basically admits to committing a massacre and being quite blasé about it. The only thing she regrets about going on a cannibalistic spree is that this resulted in eating human liver was prohibited for gumihos.

She’s mischievous, willful, and deceitful by default. Her conscience has a lot of growing to do, throughout the book, is what I’m trying to say.

Seokga on the other hand, despite looking down on all creatures as being beneath him, and having a special loathing for humans, also does not feel the need to be anything less of himself to make himself more palatable, even for efficiency’s sake.

Fans of My Demon and k-dramas like The Godblin will certainly enjoy the book because of these aspects.

The story thrills and entertains, as well as engrossed you into this world of mythical beings. The world is so immersive and well-developed.

The story also has an adorable grumpy x sunshine trope, executed to its best.

This cover sold me on the book. I immediately requested it on Netgalley when I saw it and was lucky enough to get approved.

I'm a big fan of K-dramas and this is the perfect book for a K-drama lover! It has the tropes, the cultural elements, the mythology. There are some Korean words sprinkled throughout the book, and I can see that being an issue for people who aren't well-versed in K-drama or Korean but most of it can be understood from the context.

This might be one of the best enemies to lovers books I've read. Hani and Seokga are adorable together. Her high energy and optimism and his grumpy and gloomy state are the perfect opposites. It's also fair that they're equals in terms of power. The buddy cop trope served them well to further their relationship naturally.

The ending broke my heart and mended it, like only a K-drama can do. It's easily a book I'll reread from time to time when I need something comforting, like rewatching your favourite show.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the storytelling in The God and the Gumiho and relatable, likable characters,. Loved every single second reading it.

An infamous nine-tailed fox, Hani, and fallen trickster god, Seokga, pair up to investigate a series of murders. Together, these two rivals must hunt down the Scarlet Fox who has struck again after many decades of silence, and a demon that has escaped the underworld and is now spreading nightmares and leaving death in its wake.

I liked the setting of this Korean mythological retelling with the many creatures living in the mortal world, and I was intrigued from the first page. We meet Hani, a gumiho working in a coffee shop after she binged too much back in the late 1800s and is still full from consuming the souls of men. And then there is the fallen god Seokga, brooding and unfriendly to all he meets. Hani delights in ruining his coffee order and throws coffee over him in the first interaction we see which establishes their rivalry, albeit in a bit of an unnecessary and unwarranted way.

While I liked this book enough to keep reading with its mystery and whodunnit tone, I wasn't enamoured with the main characters. I didn't get the animosity from Hani towards Seokga or why she risked exposing herself as the Scarlet Fox for so stupid a reason. It was a bit of an exasperating read at times where it was so obvious Hani was up to something or covering something up, and we do see suspicion from Seokga, but he doesn't do anything. For a detective, he was rather rubbish at his job.

I found Seokga to be an annoying character, rude for no reason, and not at all how I was expecting a trickster god to be. Yes he had his powers stripped away and is still sulking over it as he claws to meet his target in order to get his powers back, but he seemed to miserable and grumpy.

The two dislike each other (for no good reason) and suddenly wind up working together after a very inconspicuous offer from Hani (don't get me started). They investigate the Scarlet Fox together (with Hani manipulating it), and their feelings for each other change (obviously).

Honestly, I didn't see any romance between the two. It was far too quickly done, having been supposed rivals to start with and suddenly in love with each other after about, what, a week? It was poorly done and I didn't feel invested in their relationship at all. I found myself disliking the characters more as the story went on and I didn't really care much about them.

While the story only took place over a week, it also felt like it dragged with the investigation taking an age to come to fruition. I didn't see the reveal of the demon at the end coming, but I wasn't even bothered when I found out because at that point, I was just going through the motions of getting to the end. It did get a bit better at the end with some interesting action but even with the drama of the conclusion, I wasn't affected by it because I wasn't keen on the characters and didn't feel the connection between them.

Overall, it was all right. Not great, but not awful. I think it would have been better not having the romance - if Hani and Seokga had just become friends, I think it would have worked better. So-so.

The setting of korean inspiration was so intresting! The magic system was 10/10 but not touched upon much and I wished it went more indepth about it or had more examples of it.

I liked the characters and the dynamic that they had with each other

Only thing that left me a bit meh was the intensity of the writing, some scenes that were life changing ended up being really underwhelming.

I want to thank Netgalley for an advanced ARC of this book


I got to 75% of this book before I decided to call it quits because I just couldn't get invested in the story. This makes me upset because I wanted to love this but unfortunately, it just didn't work for me and I didn't care about the characters or what happened to them at all & the story just felt like it was a little bit of a bitch match between the two main characters which pulled me out even more.

The cover for this book both versions in the US and the UK is gorgeous I won't lie.

This is the perfect book for all fans of K-dramas, and even if you’re not one, I’m sure you’ll still have a good time reading it.

Hani is the Scarlet Fox, the legendary gumiho who terrorized humans in 1888. Now she’s just a regular fox working in a café, serving coffee to all the creatures of New Sinsi, until she makes a mistake.

To cover her tracks, she needs to work with Seokga, a fallen god who works as a detective, and try to prevent him from discovering that she’s the Scarlet Fox.

The banter between Seokga and Hani is so delicious, they are like a cat and a dog, always bickering and fighting. I love a good enemies-to-lovers story, and Sophie Kim delivered it perfectly.

I also truly enjoyed the worldbuilding. It’s not common to find books about gumiho, jeoseung saja, dokkaebi, and gwising, creatures famous in Korean stories. So it was a refreshing change of pace to be immersed in this new world.

In conclusion, this book offers a captivating blend of mythology and modern storytelling. With its intriguing plot, well crafted world-building, and engaging characters, it’s a delightful read that keeps you hooked from start to finish.

Thanks Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

I loved the relationship between the two main characters - their banter was everything! They really captivated me and drew me in to their story. Whilst the characters were the selling point, the writing kept me hooked. I love how Sophie Kim tells a story and includes mythology in their prose.

Although I did get strong YA vibes from this book, I do see why it's targeted at an Adult audience. I also think it's perfect for fans of Kdramas as it includes that same story-telling pattern that I love from watching korean based shows.

Omg

- Korean mythology inspired
- romance
- murder
- mythical creatures
- comedy
- M/F romance
- Dual POV

This book was so good, I loved the banter between the main characters.

The romance was so cute and natural in this I loved it. And the secret identity was a fun play.

The magic and lore of this is clearly inspired by Korean folklore while adding changes that create a whole new world, with a wonderful magic and structure to the world.

Honestly go read this book it's so good I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks Hodder & Stoughton for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Kim's "The God and the Gumiho" was so amazing that I had to have the FairyLoot special edition right away for my book collection! 🌟 I was blown away by this book—Seokga and Hani are so amazing! *Chef's kiss* is the hyper gumiho dynamic and cranky god, and the romance? Perfect without a doubt. This is *the* book you need in your life if you enjoy fantasy with a twist, Korean mythology, and clichés of hatred to love. Without a doubt, one of my best readings of the year!

Five stars and some extra! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you’ve watched Tale of the Nine-Tailed then this is the book for you, like the k-drama vibes are immaculate with this one and honestly? It lowkey kind of reminded me of Cafe Minamdang a little bit as well!

The writing style for this one makes it so easy to sit and binge read and I LOVED the 90’s setting, like the nostalgia was real and I think it really worked with the mystery! I also adored all of the supernatural creatures and the Korean mythology, it was honestly my favourite part alongside the mystery! Like there were so many great twists to it, and while I knew the ending was coming…it still had me screaming! I’m so curious to see how book two will play out!

I did, however, kind of wish for a little more depth with this one, specifically with the world building, and I’m kind of hoping we might get more of that next book. My only other gripe was Hani, to be honest! She’s supposed to be a fearsome gumiho, feared for centuries after her reign of terror and yet she came across more as spiteful and petty, than anything else. Childish too, which kind of made it hard to buy the fact that she’s been around for such a long time.

Seokga, however? He and his coffee addiction get me, and I really liked his character! Granted, I kind of forgot a few times that he’s also supposed to be a God and he too was prone to immaturity, but he seemed a little more akin to what I was expecting of a God! Despite my love-hate relationship with Hani, I did actually enjoy the romance even if it did feel a little rushed in places!

I’ll be honest, it isn’t the strongest enemies to lovers given that the reason for the enmity is kind of weak (like I get being irked your coffee was made wrong but…really?) BUT the banter and tension were on point and both of them grew a little towards the end! Which was suitably angsty, and I’m still holding out hope for a HEA in book 2!

Honestly, this one was kind of hard for me to rate because I loved the Korean mythology, the vibes and the mystery, but there were a few cheesy cliches here and there which isn’t always a bad thing!! But combined with my niggles, specifically Hani’s childishness, it kind of lent a juvenile air to the book that lessened my enjoyment of this just a smidge.

That being said, I’m not actually sure if this is a YA book. I didn’t think it was and it doesn’t bother me if it is, but either way it certainly reads like one!

This book was a joy to read from beginning to end.

It is a perfect mix of police investigation and k-drama and delivered on all levels.

I kept guessing throughout the book as to who the villain was as there were quite a few twists and turns that changed perception, opportunity & outlook.

Loved the enemies to lover trope as well. It was very well done and it is sweet how the two eventually start to fall for each other and what mayhem this again creates.

Cannot wait for book two now, as the story is not yet over.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC I received in return of an honest review.