In the mood to watch k-drama? Why not read one instead? With fickle deities, cranky creatures, and supernatural beings cavorting among immortals who remain pleasantly oblivious, The God and the Gumiho is a fitting ode to the genre and is right at home beside popular shows such as Doom at Your Service and My Demon.

Societal terror turned barista, Hani’s only fights these days are with her words, snapping at irritating customers. However, it’s hard to bury her instincts as the Scarlet Fox when she encounters some unsavory lowlifes who are just begging to be taught a lesson, and suddenly Seokga the fallen god is on her trail, desperate to catch the notorious gumiho and regain his divine powers. To lead him astray, Hani signs on as Seokga’s unwanted investigative assistant, but the pair are forced to truly work together as it becomes clear that there’s something worse than a liver-hungry gumiho preying on New Sinsi.

The colorful cast of creatures makes for a fun introduction to Korean mythology. There’s shape-shifting gumihos, bothersome gwisin, dour jeoseung saja bringing down the mood in cafes, and other dark creatures that even the trickster god is scared to name. They also have an interesting relationship with the mortal world, aka all of the hapless humans living around them. For example, Hani views her hunger for souls and livers as a natural part of being a gumiho, and she doesn’t see any problem with snacking on mortals she thinks the world would be better off without. At the same time, she maintains the importance of life, even human life, and wants to stop other creatures from rampaging senselessly. She lives as a sort of law unto herself, and it would have been super interesting if she were confronted on these beliefs over the course of the story. As it stands, I’m not super bothered by the somewhat chaotic morality (this is fantasy, she’s a magic fox) but it’d have been neat to fully flesh out where exactly the line is drawn for good and evil in the world of Hani, and how it’s forced to evolve.

The narrative style leans heavily toward telling a story over immersion, and it almost feels more like watching a show than reading. Scenes are presented with details that are easy to visualize, but it didn’t give me the sense of a building atmosphere or tone. I want to feel like I'm there, rather than watching it happen, and while I’m sure the direct telling works for some readers, it’s not my preference.

While solidly in the adult fantasy genre, this book may also appeal to mature teens looking for a Korean flavor (I hear the youths are into kdramas these days) (it’s me, I’m the youths). There’s infrequent swearing, vague bedroom scenes, and quite a few corpses, but nothing terribly grisly.

This first book seems to take Hani and Seokga’s story to a close, so I’m curious where the rest of the series will go. There’s definitely room for prequel stories, the further adventures of a certain baby gumiho, or an entirely new cast.

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**

The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim (she/her)
Genre: fantasy, romance
Vibes: all the wit, banter, and godly characters like Masters of Death meets a murder mystery plot with k-drama vibes!

Book Premise:
They'll do anything to outsmart each other. Anything, except fall in love. In this delightful Korean contemporary fantasy, a fallen trickster god must pair up with a coffee-slinging, shapeshifting fox to track down a demon of darkness before it devours the mortal world.

It is this book’s most unfortunate luck that I picked it up during a month long reading slump. Also, it has a bit of a slow start. So while it took me a while to get through this, that does not reflect my enjoyment level!

This book felt like an indulgent treat, because while there are some things to nitpick, I had a great time throughout. It combines Korean folklore, a murder mystery, and a quirky love/hate romance that creates plenty of giggle-inducing moments. Did I also happen to read it during my k-drama resurgence? Yes, it could not have been timed better tbh!

While these characters are supposedly hundreds and thousands of years old immortals, they certainly behave in a way that undermines their age. Some may criticize this immaturity, but I was able to overlook it because the banter and silly antics made it more entertaining 🤭

I felt like I was watching a show the entire time. This would make a fantastic adaptation to a k-drama! And after that semi-cliffhanger ending I am looking forward to more books in this world.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an arc! I'm looking forward to securing a physical copy when it publishes June 4, 2024!

Oh my god Sophie Kim this book was unbelievable! I was so invested from the first few pages that I devoured this whole book in one sitting. The dynamic between Hani and Seokga was perfect, so much tension, but with top tier banter and the love between them brought me to tears by the ending. If I could rate this 10 stars I would. I seriously can’t wait until the other books in the series. I would read so many books about the two of them together. Wonderful job!

Kim Hani is an interesting character. For one, she’s not human; as a gumiho she takes her power from devouring men — mostly livers, but also their souls. She views humans as lesser creatures and prey, feels loyalty, albeit it distantly, to other gumiho, and has very little interest in anything but herself. And I can’t help but feel that this was somewhat underutilized in the book. For all that she starts working with Seokga to distract him and cause him trouble, she doesn’t really do anything except … follow along. Oh, she makes a few comments, smirks a few times, but they quickly move into a working relationship which moves quickly into romance.

Seokga is a god of mischief who was banished to earth for trying to steal his brother’s throne (which he did and sat on for a whole five minutes!) He’s arrogant … arrogant and, likes coffee. Of the two characters he’s by far the weakest, falling quickly into the “love interest” box and not bothering to step out of it. All the stories of his past glories feel like they’re about a different character, because the Seokga the book actually follows doesn’t do much beyond investigate murders and chase down witnesses.

That said, the two characters have a decent chemistry and, in the last twenty percent of the book or so really came alive. The ending moments of this book felt bright and vivid and really are the best parts of this book. The book itself reads very much like the novelization of a Kdrama series that I might have found on Netflix, with a variety of mythological creatures, shiny cars, beautiful scenery and a plot that hit all the right beats in exactly the right order and kept my interest from page one to the very end. It was familiar and predictable in just the right way.

As someone who loves a fun, silly, romantic Kdrama, this book was right up my alley. I whipped through it in one setting and wished it had kept going. However, for all that, I do feel that the world building was a little light and the characters lacked a bit of depth and nuance. In many ways this almost read to me like the first book in a series, full of setup and establishing the main couple, hooking me in so that I’d be eager for book two. Which I would be.

This is a confection of a book, all frosting and sprinkles with skillful writing, immaculate pacing, and a well constructed plot. I really hope you give this a try and, if you do, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This book deserves more than five stars and is likely my top read of 2024.

The God and the Gumiho takes you on a journey alongside fallen trickster god, Seokga, and the infamous Scarlet Fox gumiho, Hani, as they investigate brutal and inhuman deaths occurring throughout the city they both live. Seokga’s motives are not necessarily pure in nature, as they solely revolve around being restored to his godhood after he overthrew his brother’s kingdom ~even if it was only for five minutes~ and was banished to the mortal world.
Hani is equally morally grey and trying to thwart any kind of investigation into the Scarlet Fox. Did I mention that Hani really just loves to annoy Seokga by putting too many creams and sugars into his coffee?

Somehow, two morally grey, selfish immortals become not-so-selfish when it comes to one another. Sophie Kim makes you love these characters, hate them, laugh with them, and cry with them. By the end of the book, I was in awe of how the characters developed. How a sly fox that sometimes infuriated me became honest and selfless. How the god of mischief who was so unfeeling became loyal and devoted.

Saying I want more of these characters is an understatement. I NEED MORE. Side note: Like Somi, I also want to write smutty fanfiction about Seokga the Fallen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an arc of this incredible story.

I really enjoyed the first half and the end, but I was frustrated by both the romance and the mystery plot for most of the second half. The fantasy elements, based on Korean folklore, were great and the first part of the book did a good job of introducing the reader to the world. I also liked Hani and Seokga's interactions in this part. Unfortunately I felt the mystery plot got a bit tedious and predictable as it went on, and once Hani and Seokga got together, I missed the snarkiness. However, the ending somewhat redeemed the story, enough that I would be interested in reading another book in this world.

DNFing at 15% not because this book is bad- it’s just not for me.

I probably could have saved myself the trouble by reading the synopsis, but I prefer to go into books blind. I think because so many eastern fantasies are using the same cover art style, I was not expecting this to be set in a modern time period. The concept of these super powerful & mmortal beings living in the 90’s, but also working at a cafe, and generally having a normal modern life while behaving like 20-somethings was a little too quirky cozy for my taste. I do think people who enjoy that kind of premise should definitely read this because the writing is not bad at all!

Okayyyyyyyyyyyyy….stop. Imma cry I loved this so much

As someone who is not familiar with Korean folklore, the author did a splendid job explaining and portraying the characters and the creatures. I was easily able to picture the creatures before googling to see if the descriptions were accurate.

As for the story, we are following a fallen god who is has a small amount of his power as he is the god of deceit and mischief and did commit a crime of treachery against his brother in an attempt overthrow him. As a consequence he has to because what we would call a detective and search for spirits who are taking lives of innocents including humans and bring them to justice.
And we follow a gumiho who was once known as the infamous Scarlett Fox, is now a retired from devouring souls.

The two must save the world from a demon who has escaped the underworld, however the god of deceit, seogka must kill both the demon and the Scarlett fox, in order to be redeemed and receive his full powers and return home.

I’m obsessed with this, I even legit cried at the end???? I can’t wait for the next book.

The banter between the two?? They were so freaking cute even though they were purposely being mean but it was hilarious. And the blossoming romance had me so giddy.

There’s nothing bad in this book please everyone read this thank you


Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review

This book was AMAZING! It was super fast-paced, and I read it in a day. I loved the banter and the dynamic between Seokga and Hani, and I really enjoyed the plot twists and the overall vibe of this book. I adored the characters and the plot, and I thought this was such a fun book. I love Sophie Kim's writing, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens in the second book! I need it immediately, lol. I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who loves fun mythology fantasy retellings with great romance and mystery! :)

This book had some of my all-time favorite tropes including grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, secret identity, and arguably the BEST trope, only one bed. What’s not to like about a line up like that!?

As much as I enjoyed the book, I will say that it was a bit difficult for me to read and follow at times. The author mentions in her forward that the book is based off of Korean mythology, which I’ll admit is a little outside of my typical wheelhouse. I often had to jump over to Wikipedia to get a better understanding of the pantheon and various demons/creatures of the world. However, someone more familiar with the mythology would probably have a much easier time.

The banter was fantastic. Seokga might be the trickster god, but Hani certainly knews how to pull some pranks and push some buttons. I also enjoyed the world building. It was occasionally overwhelming to visualize all the details, but I often have that issue fantasy books so that’s on me.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story! I fully expect this book to be a breakout hit this summer, and I love that we are seeing more cultures represented in the fantasy genre. I hope this story goes far.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Book for providing an ARC of “The God and the Gumiho”. All options are my own.

4.5
Grumpy sunshine love stories have become one of my favorites. The banter in this book is perfect, there were so many times I laughed out loud to what Hani said to Seokga just to annoy him. I also enjoyed the mystery element of this book. You think you know who the killer is, but do you?

Once upon a time, Hani used to be the Scarlett Fox, the most famous Gumiho killer to exist. Now Hani works at a cafe with her friend Somi (a young Gumiho) who doesn't know Hani's true identity. Seokga is a fallen god who was banished after trying to overthrow is older brother's kingdom. Now in order to become a god again he must kill 20,000 Unrulys (supernatural creatures that are killing people). One night Hani is attacked in the street. After killing her attackers she allows Somi who has never tasted liver a treat. The supernatural police automatically assume this is the work of the Scarlett Fox. In order to protect herself and Somi, Hani decides to work as Seokga's assistant and lead him off their trail. A new case pops up with a demon so powerful he could turn the world into darkness. Seokga is tasked by his brother to take down the Scarlett Fox and the demon, and if he does, he will be allowed his godly powers again and can return home. Everything is at stake for Seokga, but is there more to this life than becoming a god again?

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC from Random House Publishing Book

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This book has it all. It was thrilling, funny, exciting, and even cozy at times. I loved the relationship between the two main characters, and loved them each as individual characters. The author really made them believable in their struggles and character development.

I also loved the setting and world building of the novel- especially the elements of Korean mythology that have been woven into the storyline. I hope to read more from this world.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Speechless. This book is my new obsession, and the series may become my entire personality. It gave me ALL the feels 🥹❤️‍🔥

The God and the Gumiho is a contemporary fantasy first in a series that blends Korean mythological creatures and modern day, crime fighting and supernatural enemies, and k-drama and witty banters to create a fantastical world filled with endearing main characters and an utterly absorbing storyline. I simply cannot recommend this book enough!

Seokga, the fallen trickster god, is forced to work with Hani, the elusive and notorious gumiho—the Scarlet Fox—to catch a most deadly creature that’s escaped from the demon realm. What follows is a GrumpyxSunshine, enemies-to-lovers, fast-paced adventure that must, inevitably, bring these two foes juuust a little closer. 🤏🏼

Thank you @netgalley and @delreybooks for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review. ♥️

This book was STUNNING. Hanis and Sekoga's story made me laugh, but also made me emotional. Both characters are fiesty and full of banter. Sekoga's character growth was dobe beautifully. And this book was full of amazing imagery and storytelling. I truly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Imagine a story retelling mixed with mystery.

I read 10% of The God and the Gumiho before deciding to not finish it. I love Sophie Kim's young adult series and was hoping I would also love her adult series. I tried to stay invested in the storyline and characters set in South Korea, but the writing style was the downfall for me. There were too many tangents that took me away from what was happening in the story. One second Seokga is interrogating a woman about the mythical creature assault she endured and suddenly Seokga goes off with an internal monologue on all his former powers and the fun stories connected to each one. The beginning chapter with Seokga and Hani's chapter also had internal monologues which ultimately made me decide to set this one aside. Thank you for giving me the chance to read this.

This book is so good it reads like a K-Drama.

The story revolves around Hani, a gumiho (nine tailed fox), and Seokga, (a fallen God.) These two have their own separate life but somehow destiny (or mischief) makes them work together and their worlds begin to collapse (quite literally though.)

I like the fact that it mixes a lot of the Korean mythology that I've seen on K-dramas and makes the story more entertaining by adding more diversity. I like how the description of the main characters (especially Seokga) does not try to sugarcoat their struggles or excuse their actions but instead uses them to add credibility to their character/personalities.

The two main characters are hilarious in their own way. I love Hani's nonchalance when dealing with Seokga and his grumpiness. I also love Seokga's determination and confidence, even if it makes him seem arrogant. I even like the villain/antagonist as it is well written and a necessary evil.

Not gonna lie, the way the main characters were bantering made me forget I was reading adult fantasy but the romance scenes reminded me just fine... It was just enough romance/spice for the storyline to make sense.

Overall, if you like to watch K-dramas, this book reads like a mixture of "The Goblin" and "The Tale of the Nine Tailed." It's got comedy, mystery, romance, mythology, and an exquisite amount of action in terms of stuff happening to the main characters.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the eARC of this book!

These two together are amazing. You have so so many funny moments between Hani and Seokga. The god of mischief Seokga has changed throughout the whole book. I like the fact that he is grumpy and sarcastic towards everyone especially towards Hani. The more he was around her he shows his true self and Hani doesn’t hate it. She doesn’t care that he’s sarcastic that he’s grumpy that he’s mischief, and play jokes, she likes him just the way he is. He grows into having feelings that change him for the better. Because he can finally be able to recognize different feelings and go through with those emotions that he now has. Hani the scarlet fox has come to be her true self. From being into hiding the showing herself to the person she comes to trust in care about. But that has its ups and downs and doesn’t go as planned. Because now everything is damage, and there is only one outcome for her. I like that her character is funny and sarcastic. I also like that she is a strong woman that is willing to stand up to anyone that is disrespectful. I like the fact they both bicker like children with each other. And they have so many funny moments together throughout the whole book. And I like that they grew very close with each other, because of the the journey that they have to go on to save their town. They have many ups and downs, but in the end fate takes its course. I want to read more about these two so much. I can’t wait for whatever Sophie rights next. I like the way that Sophie wrote about the folklore. She is also an amazing writer when it comes to fantasy romance in this story.

This amazing book was my first time reading in this genre and I absolutely loved it. I will never tire of the grumpy/sunshine combo and honestly this had a different edge to it that had me hooked. This very much was a kdrama in book form and while it was predictable it was still a very lovely story.

I liked this! It was cute. I really liked the use of Korean Mythology. I enjoyed both of our main characters. They were annoying and childish a lot of the time, but I still liked them. Their banter was petty and sweet. The plot was super simple and predictable. I wish it had given me more, but I still had fun. I will say, the first half of this book was SLOW. I did not love it, but I enjoyed the latter half. I went into this expecting goofy/silly vibes, and that’s what I got. I would definitely pick up the second book in this series.

thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the ARC of this book. all opinions are my own.

I wish I could put into words how much I enjoyed this. What a great book. Highly recommend.