I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. The snark and banter between Hani and Seokga was just perfect and I really enjoyed the world building/glimpse into Korean folklore. The action was fast paced and the plot twists and turns keep me coming back for more.

I can't wait to see more in this universe with the next book and would highly recommend this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette for an eARC.

Are you into k-dramas, modern day fantasy settings or enemies-to-lovers romance? If you said yes to any combination of these, this book may be for you. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia and New Zealand for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Seokga is a fallen god, banished to the mortal plane by his kingly brother after Seokga attempted to overthrow him. Seokga is cursed with the task of hunting down and eliminating twenty-thousand 'Unrulies' (folkloric creatures who have broken rules on the mortal plane) before he can be allowed back into the realm of the gods. Kim Hani is a Gumiho (fox shifter with a taste for mens' livers and souls), and perhaps the biggest Unruly of them all as she is hiding her true identity as the 'Scarlet Fox' - a Gumiho who killed hundreds in London back in the days of Jack the Ripper. When Seokga is given the task of hunting the Scarlet Fox down, Kim Hani decides to hide in plain sight by taking on the role of his assistant and hijinks ensue.

The God and the Gumiho is set in South Korea, and is steeped in Korean folklore and culture. This was perhaps my favourite part of the book, as prior to reading it I had no knowledge of this whatsoever. Just be aware that a lot of the phrases and creature names used are not necessarily explained, so some research will be necessary if you want to know more about the real folklore and myths that they are based on.

This book is advertised as adult, but the prose reads very YA. Despite the two main characters both supposedly being over a thousand years old, they read a lot like teenagers and it was difficult to read. A lot of times, the reader is told things directly instead of being shown - e.g. "She didn't like him" rather than a build-up of actions letting you determine this for yourself. For anyone wanting a content warning, there is a small amount of mild spice present.

The pacing was also a little stilted in places. As there is a strong romance element to the plot, the narrative sometimes stops to indulge in cosy slice-of-life type scenes. However, at a least one point of the book I found this incredibly jaring as said 'cosy' scene was happening in the middle of one of the more action-oriented parts of the book. Speaking of the romance, I felt that the attitude of the characters towards each other changed a little too suddenly and would have liked more build-up towards the relationship.

Overall, I can definitely see a market for this story even though I didn't personally enjoy it. I am not someone with much knowledge or interest in South Korean popular culture but I think that this book may hit the right notes for those that are into that.

I found this one a little hard to read. Perhaps it was the content or the authors style, I’m not too sure but it was quite heavy and I found it hard to focus.

Thank you for the opportunity to NetGalley and the publisher for this one, I unfortunately think this one isn’t for me.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. Not a bad book. Just not for me. I wasn’t able to read the whole book. I wasn’t drawn in and couldn’t connect with the subject/ book.

I read the blurb for The God And Gumiho and I thought it sounded amazing. I love a good contemporary fantasy, and this was almost that combined with a cop drama which I also love.

I was really into it for the first part of the book but then I lost interest and it just dragged for me and after dnfing it a couple of times I decided to give it another go and got through.

I'm sure there is definitely an audience for this it just unfortunately wasn't me.

This book was a blend of Korean folklore, mystery, enemies to lovers and urban fantasy.

I found the beginning quite slow and initially struggled to get into it. The characters however were fun and especially the banter and their own personalities really made things work for me. I enjoyed the story and the slight Sherlock vibes I got from it too. K-drama which many describe this as being linked to isn’t something I am familiar with and I don’t know anything a must Korean folklore. But I really enjoyed the worldbuilding we got and how it was built in.

However I did find the YA tone of the character thoughts got too much for me as things went on. It started to feel immature and I didn’t enjoy it as much by the end overall as I’d hoped due to this.

Thank you very much for the review copy.

The God and The Gumiho is set in South Korea and follows the fallen god Seokga who is in disgrace in the mortal realm after he tried to usurp his brother from the throne. Seokga now has to killed Unrulies to make up for what he has done.

Kim Hani is a Gumiho better known as The Scarlet Fox (an unruly) who is hiding her identity since eating men’s livers is now taboo and currently serves coffee (which she hates) at The Creature Cafe.

Hani has a run in with Seokga and they despise each other. Until one day Hani ends up becoming Seokga assistant much to his disgust.

With a darkness on the loose Seokga and Hani must work together to stop it all while Hani hides her true identity.

I really enjoyed this book, it was fun reading a book set in South Korea with aspects of South Korean mythology. Murder mystery, fantasy and adventure vibes throughout. I thought I knew how it was going to end but it caught me by surprise (in a good way) and is open for a sequel.

Highly recommend

4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

DNF at 30%.
I can definitely see why this is working for so many readers. Especially if K-drama, urban fantasy and romance driven fantasy are for you I would recommend picking it up.
Personally the characters and dialogue did not work for me, they all read between 13-15 and just seemed bratty and annoying, the investigation was interesting at first but ultimately there was just not much to keep my interest.
Not for me but I can see this working for a lot of readers.

I absolutely adored this book. The fact that it had Korean folklore was already enough to grip me from the beginning, but the fact that this featured two morally grey characters at odds with one another and slowly growing on each other made me so excited to continue reading because it was a development I did not expect.
I loved the characterisation of Hani and Seokja and the plotline was so gripping. The imagery was also very haunting and I could not put this book down. I cannot wait to have a physical copy soon and to explore more of Sophie Kim's works!

It has been a while since I have read a fantasy book that is set in modern times, so I was excited to pick up The God and the Gumiho and get give it a try. Just a quick note, this book contains *mild spice*.

We follow 2 main character, Kim Hani a gumiho (shapeshifting fox), and Seokga a trickster god who has been kicked out of the heavens for attempting a coup. Around half way into this book, we do get different perspectives from these two character, which really adds to the drama of know fulling knowing what is going on in the other characters mind. I personally wish that the author had decided to do this earlier on in the book as I found this to be one of the stronger parts of the latter half of the book.

I actually found the first half of this book to be a bit of a drag. I found all the characters annoying and irritating in a bad way, which if this is what Kim was going for then that’s fine but it just isn’t for me. Another thing that annoyed me is that the character growth seemed to happen instantaneously. Everything seemed to change like a lightbulb going on. Again I found this annoying and it detracted from the story for me.

Things really started to get going in the second half of the book though. This is also when the fantasy element of this story came more into play, and I defiantly felt like Kim’s strong point was with this and not the more contemporary style of writing that was what the first half of the book mainly was. This is also when the mild spice occurs. I really started to get invested in what Hani and Seokga were attempting to do towards the end and was so confused as to how it was going to play out, which made the ending that much better.

A interesting read that finished strong.

Thank you Hachette and NetGalley for this highly anticipated ARC! I love the cover and the premise of the story got me immediately hooked.

I was originally going to either DNF this book or rate it 0.5/5 because the first quarter was abysmal. The writing, pacing and world building was so clunky and shallow. Nothing was keeping me engaged at all and I really, truly suffered. To the point where it took me half a month (and 7 other books in between) to recover from the slump this book put me in. But after those 15 days, I literally read the last 75% of the book in one sitting and in one day.

But in saying that, I AM SOOOO GLAD I pushed through and finished it. Yes, it took a lot of my mental energies and I sacrificed my last few brain cells to pick this back up, but once the 50% mark hit, things really picked up. The writing and plot could still be more polished but I was invested in the story now. It was action-packed and the relationship between the main leads (which did develop quite quickly) was super cute and fun. The foreshadowing was heavy-handed and there were quite a few plot holes but I'm able to overlook those cause *vibes*. The ending was bittersweet and very much like a K-drama which I didn't mind either.

Would not read again because it sort of traumatised me lol but still a good time in the end.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Overall I loved this cute Korean mythology romance / mystery. I thought the beginning was really intriguing and had great descriptive and figurative language. It was fast-paced with a fairly even balance between the mystery plot and the romance.

My favourite thing about this book was the enemies to lovers relationship between Hani and Seokga. They had great banter which was really entertaining and had me laughing out loud while reading. I was glad to see that they were both thousands of years old, unlike the usual age gap trope seen in many books. Also both characters were morally grey which I loved as well.

I absolutely adored Seokga’s grumpiness and then his reluctant love for Hani. I thought the slow burn romance was portrayed well.

However, despite loving the characters, I wasn’t particularly invested in the plot. I felt like there was not enough investigating going on, despite Seokga being a detective - instead crucial information just seemed to fall into their laps. Also, there were too few characters introduced as suspects for the demon creature.

Ultimately this book is a must-read for any lovers of Wicked Fox. It features many Korean mythology creatures and a great romance between a grumpy fallen god and a cunning gumiho. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series!

A fun blend of Korean mythology with enemies to lovers plus a mystery to solve. Despite needing a quick Google here and there to keep up with the terms/pronunciation, it only added to the immersive experience. I did find the characters read very YA and the pacing slowed in the middle, but the sassy FMC kept things interesting. Example...*spoiler* the FMC throws a coffee in the MMC face within the first few pages. So If you're a fan of urban fantasy, the grumpy/sunshine trope and a pinch of mystery, this book will be for you! Thanks NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Alrighty, buckle in peeps cause it's gonna be a long one.

I absolutely loved the premise and the cover (can we just take a second to genuinely admire how STUNNING that cover is) which is why I think I may have held expectations that were too high to reach.
Let's start with the actual writing. It was very easy to follow and read very YA which is absolutely fine. The only thing that kind of threw me off at times was the dialogue structure. During a character's dialogue, it would kind of cut off mid-sentence.
For example:
'You should hear how they plead,' he adds, 'when I kill them.'
This is most likely just a personal thing as I don't see a reason to include 'he adds' in the middle of a sentence that the character is actively speaking. This happens multiple times and the character usually keeps speaking for a bit in that second sentence start too.

The beginning was solid. I loved how the setting was described, the gods and the Korean Mythology was also a slay, and our main characters Seokga and Hani had very strong (maybe slightly obvious and predictable) personalities. As someone who watched a lot of K-Dramas, you can definitely visualise this whole book in your head and I could definitely see it being adapted to screen and doing really well!

The middle did drag for me slightly. I found that there were a lot of small scenes or dialogues that didn't really progress towards the plot. It was kind of like filler fluff to break up the action scenes but I found that this actually slowed me down, because I couldn't quite get my mindset back into the, 'oh they're not dying, they're actually fine, drinking coffee, eating ramyeon, and bantering'.

The end was truly the best part! The last 60ish pages genuinely bumped my star rating from 3.5 to 4.5 because of the way my heart was PALPITATING! The way I couldn't put it down and ended up staying awake till 3:30am to finish it.
(Unpopular opinion: I really hope this isn't a series because the way this ended was honestly so perfect, another book honestly has the potential to make this ending less impactful)

Pet peeves that occurred (these are just small little nit-picky things that annoyed me but wasn't a deal breaker):
- It's enemies to lovers but it kind of went 0 to 100 for me. They had good banter, they clearly didn't want to like each other, but as soon as they kind of realised they might actually like each other, it was just romance full speed ahead (which I'm definitely not mad at, but there was potential for a more angsty dynamic change)
- Both main characters are thousands of years old, one is a literal fallen god and the other a 'cunning' gumiho... they were definitely NOT acting their age and some of the stuff they thought, did, or said was just truly... stupid (e.g. our girl Hani killed hundreds of men and has managed to never get caught but she can't steer a shopping trolley...)
- Main characters underestimating the villain
- 'Odd eating habits of coffee and ramyeon' I'M SORRY WHAT!?!?!? Two of the most beloved drinks and foods is ODD!?!?!

Kim Hani, the notorious Scarlett Fox who leads an innocent life as a coffee-shop worker, strikes the nerve of a grumpy, coffee-loving fallen god. Said deity happens to be on the hunt for a havoc-wreaking demon and a particular fox. Having joined Seokga as his assistant, Hani works undercover to clean up her own mess, fight the demon, and maybe fall in love along the way.

I enjoyed the world-building: how different creatures of Korean mythology are integrated into modern society. There are gumihos who work in coffee shops, haetae (guardian creatures) working for the police to investigate supernatural crime occurrences, jeoseung saja (grim reapers) who guide the victims of these crimes, and dokkaebi (goblins) who love partying. The banter, playful and flirty, was also very entertaining and made me laugh out loud quite a few times.

The plot felt a bit flat at times, and the characters were often uncharacteristic. Hani, and gumiho in general, are known for their sly and artful ways, and yet her first instinct when headed into combat is to reach for her telltale red daggers. There were also sprinkles of fanfiction-like elements that detracted from the story; personally, I feel like the book could’ve done without the “Godly Gossip” sections.

All in all, it was a quick and light read.

3.5 stars rounded down. I feel like this is the perfect example of a book that has all the individual parts to be a great read for me but comes up short in the execution. Although I can safely say that this has a very pretty cover.

Seogka, the fallen trickers god, is forced to do penance (after a failed coup to take over his brothers heavenly kingdom) by means of being a supernatural investigator on earth and sending nasty creatures back to the spiritual dimension they came from. Then there is the FMC Hani, who is a legendary fox spirit called The Scarlett Fox, who is best known for a mass scale slaughter 100 years ago. After Hani accidentally draws attention to herself following some murders, she infiltrates the investigation to try and sabotage the efforts to find her.

This started off on an intriguing foot and gave some very Sherlock and Moriarty vibes which was fun to start with. Some initial positives- this was fascinating exposure to South Korean mythology and I hadn’t realised how much I didn’t know and I really enjoyed learning more about it. Secondly, the writing craft in this is perfectly fine. I’ve tried to research if this is marketed as a YA or adult fantasy and whilst nothing I’ve found is concrete I can tell you that it reads YA (not that there’s anything wrong with that, just an FYI for the vibe) although has a few very mild spicy scenes.

Then things start to fall off for me a bit. I missed the initial note stating that this was set in 1992 and found myself confused thinking it was modern day setting as there is common use of mobile phones, but suddenly all the security footage evidence is being provided in VHS tapes? It wasn’t till the end that I realised what I missed and it made sense, but i was so confused for a while there.

Neither of the main characters really provided me much depth or chemistry and I never really felt emotionally invested in either them or their plights. I mean the core of the enmity in their relationship came from an incorrectly made coffee…I’ll admit that while their journey from enemies to lovers didn’t really sell me and all seemed a bit too easy, I preferred their characterization at the end significantly more than the beginning.

They are both meant to be over 1500 years old and yet they came off as being immature and childish and just made poor decisions which make no sense for creatures that old. Hani is meant to be this incredibly powerful and cunning fox spirit and yet the first opportunity to pick up weapons she picks up a pair of daggers that are the same as those that are known to be the signature weapons of her hidden identity as The Scarlett Fox and triggering off Seokga’s suspicions, very much not what I expect from a cunning and ancient creature. And Seogka is meant to be this trickster god but I never really saw any evidence of cunning, charm or deviousness- he was mostly just a dick to everyone.

I definitely think that this is a case of ‘your mileage may vary’ and that some people will love this, but the personalities in this just didn’t work for me (perhaps you need to vibe with kdramas more to get it). I hadn’t planned to really bother with further books in this series but the ending in the last 10% actually turned it around enough to put me back on the fence about it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC

I was lucky to read this book early and let me just say I LOVED IT!!
The story is well fleshed out and easy to read, it flows and I was enthralled throughout.

The start was a little bit slow to get into, but this was only for the first 10% and personally that might not be an issue for others but I found some of the words a bit hard for me to work out pronounciations quickly (possibly a pronounciation guide at the front of the book would help others like me..although not a necessity), but once I had my bearings I got into a good rhythm and found myself wanting to keep reading chapter after chapter without putting the book down.

The main characters banter with each other was fantastic, I found myself laughing more then once throughout the story and as their relationship evolved I just found myself absolutely loving them and wanted to keep reading more!

Some of the main features this book has that I loved...
✨️a world steeped in mythological creatures 🦊
✨️ witty banter 🎭
✨️ fmc + mmc leads 👫
✨️ an amazing story that I will read more then once 🥰

Pleaseeeee write more of this world 🙏🤩

The God and the Gumiho was a fun fantasy romance that kept me entertained from start to finish. Both Hani and Seokga were well-drawn characters and I enjoyed seeing the progression of their relationship. The play on Korean folklore was nicely done, with enough explanation to keep things clear for readers new to the creatures and tales. Perhaps the ending felt a tad rushed after the build-up, but on the whole the pacing was good and the prose easy reading. Recommended for fantasy romance fans. I am giving this book 4.5 stars.

This was such a wonderful and enjoyable read!!!! I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.