Better than my wildest expectations!! And my expectations were high because I LOVED The God and the Gumiho. Full of fun shenanigans, healing, love, renewed friendships, and hilarious banter along with a murder mystery. One of my favorite heart melting parts is a spoiler but gahhh every scene had me in a puddle. Seokga and Hani walked so Seokga and Kisa could fly. And fly they did. The ending to the first book broke my heart but the journey in this one more than healed it. That epilogue has me hopeful for more stories in this world.

After finishing The God and the Gumiho, I absolutely could not wait for the sequel and now I can say that The God and the Gwisin did not disappoint. We return for more Seokga and Hani, that is, not-Hani, but her reincarnation, Kisa. We get another sleuthing adventure, hijinks of the high seas (the river of the dead to be exact), and some babysitting for comic relief. The mythical references, mystery, adventure, and cute romance that made the first book such a delightful read make their way onboard this river cruise, so anyone who enjoyed the first book will find comfort in this follow-up. And for readers who like their fantasy with a dash of mystery, myth, and romance but haven't started this series, these two books are a sweet treat.
I received advanced digital access to this book thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the kind approval of the ARC!! I was so excited to read the book because I enjoyed how campy and funny the Gumiho and the God mostly was -- and I devoured this sequel overnight lol!!

I must say Sophie Kim does such a great job at juggling comedy and heart-fucking-wrenching angst. Or maybe I just have a bleeding heart, because oh, Hani!!! She's gone. Now we have Kisa, whom I also ended up enjoying! Bear in mind that she is not the same as Hani, not to me, but Kim does a great job making another super interesting heroine in her own right.

More importantly: Hajun!!!! HAJUN. I loved him and he stole the show for me. I want all the books just about him. He was an excellent addition to the cast and I found myself hankering after all of his scenes. You can't go wrong with writing a dead K-pop star.

All in all, this was a fun mystery to delve into, and the thing about me is that I want to switch my brain off because I love to be surprised. So switch my brain off I did, and the revelation did take me off-guard in parts! Highly recommend to readers who enjoyed Book 1.

BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE PUBLISHER AND NETGALLEY FOR LETTING ME IN FOR ROUND 2!

So. The last book was heartbreaking. Sophie Kim was like, 'okay, lets NOT and give this book a happier tone'. A who-dun-it type mystery set aboard a river cruise for the dead. Let's also make a little Scooby-Doo team out of some new faces, old faces, and a Gwisin who is the reincarnation of God's first love.

Sophie Kim gives us a K-Drama that gives us vibes of Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Our God is mourning over his lost love. Going to therapy, doing things that remind him of her, and ... still looking for her. Her reincarnation is somewhere, but where? Suddenly a red thread appears, luring him to London but Hani is no where to be found. If he was there just minutes before hand, he would have see his love as a medical assistant plummeting to her death by falling off the roof of a hospital. Which leads us into how SHE ends up on a cruise meant for those who died.

I liked Sophie's new characters - some of them silly, some of them not so silly. I liked that we got a little more insight on the Gods (our lead God's parents), family issues, and so on. The dilemma that our God and our once-gumiho are in has to do with a baby, and it was funny to see them act like parents to this infant who has godly powers.

But Hani - is she okay? Does she have memories of her past life? How does he feel about finding her but realizing that she remembers nothing and is a completely different person? That's what this story is about. Identity and does love still remain even though the form has changed? In this book, our God must recognize that Hani is not coming back, but is Kisa a valid and worthy replacement for his love?

The characters have to go through trust and finding love again. The end, while true to the characters, was a little weak for me, but the cliffhanger has me excited for book three and the family drama (I imply this heavily) in-store.

If you liked book one, you'll enjoy book two just as much. The only reason I marked it down is that I'm not a fan on books that take place on boats because I feel the action is hindered.

I need book three, Sophie! Library adventures in the future?

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This was an amazing end to Seokga’s story, it is definitely a worthy ending to fate’s thread.

Rating: 4/5

I was in university when I got the email for approval and I almost squealed while in my computer lab, not my proudest moment but I was so excited. This was one of my top anticipated reads of the year, so as soon as I got back to my room, I dropped my current read to read it. I take comfort in knowing the book has kept me company in the early stages of the flu.

I loved almost everything about this book, the pacing was a lot different than I expected but it didn’t feel like a handful of days had passed. When it reached day 2 of the main plotline, I was almost certain that it was at least a week in. And while I loved the characters, I did find the female main character a bit irritating at times. Seokga did come through though, he will never anger me (I think I just have a soft spot for green-eyed, dark-haired trickster gods).

The plot twist was pretty easy to guess, at least for me. The villain in this story was hidden in plain sight, yet a bit glaringly obvious if you knew what to pay attention to. I did love how entertaining it got, and then having a cameo from Hani sealed how much I liked it. Then the new and old characters were honestly so adorable, I couldn’t get over how well it managed to work out considering a lot of issues between certain characters.

One thing I must say is that I wholly agree with everyone who says Seokga is a terrible detective, he never fails on that front and serves as a whole other form of entertainment. The Hwanin plot-line shocked me to the point where I had to spend a good 10 minutes trying to make sense of it all, it did serve as a good point for the relationship between him and Seokga to improve. I’m glad that brotherly relations were focused upon.

I recommend to anyone wanting to read this sequel! It's perfect for anyone who likes Korean mythology that reads like a Kdrama and fantasy-romance lovers!!

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: murder mystery, Korean mythology, multiple POVs, fated romance

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 2/4 and will be posted to Instagram 2/20 and to my review blog 2/25.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I'm so excited to have gotten an ARC!! I got an ARC of The God and the Gumiho last spring too, so it's been ~torture~ waiting for this one. I have to say, it definitely delivered!

At the end of book 1, the Red Thread of Fate had just appeared to Seokga, indicating Hani's reincarnation. In this book we discover that shortly thereafter, the Red Thread became hopelessly entangled and Seokga has spent the last 7 years trying to reach the end of it. He's worn down, stressed, depressed, and just generally not having a good time. Hwanin, who really does want Seokga and Hani to find each other again, decides Seokga needs a vacation...and straight to the river cruise in hell they go. Literally. Funnily enough, that's exactly where Yoo Kisa, and thus the end of the Red Thread, is.

When she was alive, Kisa was a shaman of childbirth and healing. She specialized specifically in maternal and childbirth medicine and became one of, if not the, youngest doctor in Seoul's magical maternity unit. After her death, she's become the on-ship doctor for ghosts (gwisin) who need a vacation. It's not the most glamorous job, and Kisa definitely misses her magic, but for the most part she goes through her day-to-day activity with little complaint. Because Kisa is a rule follower. Basically the exact opposite of Hani. And that's an important thing to take note of. Hani was sarcastic and flirty and not afraid to break the rules, but Kisa is deeply analytical and follows her mind rather than her heart. Altogether, the two are quite different. That being said, both of them are deeply caring and protective, and I found them both to be funny. They have different kinds of humor to be sure, but both Hani and Kisa can be hilarious at different times. And neither are afraid to put Seokga in his place when the situation warrants it (and because this is Seokga, you know the situation warrants it).

While Kisa is not Hani, I still liked her character. She is very analytical and her passion for medicine and science really comes through. I appreciated seeing an analytical STEM character who genuinely carries that through to all aspects of her life. Case and point: Throughout the book she continually takes notes on the gods, the Red Thread of Fate, and anything else 'new' so that she can write a research paper on the topic(s). A research paper. As a gwisin. You can see how she became the youngest doctor, and I actually kind of wish we got a sneak peek at one of those papers, they sound fascinating, lol.

Seokga, as mentioned, is not exactly at the top of his game. He was living contently enough prior to the Red Thread showing up, he got a huge burst of hope, and then was plunged into spending the next seven years desperately trying to find Hani's reincarnation, only to discover she died mere hours after the Red Thread showed up. What an emotional rollercoaster. Luckily Seokga's been seeing a therapist, which is going about how you'd expect, but it does seem to be helping a little.

Some past characters show up as well as new ones. An obvious friendly face is Hwanin. He accompanies his brother on the cruise (RIP) and we get to see a little more of the two's relationship here. It's been 33 years since Seokga was restored and the two are on much, much better terms. I enjoyed their sibling ribbing as well as the clear care they both have for each other. There's also another friendly face from Seokga and Hani's time in New Sinsi in '92 and when I say I did a double take 👀

Hajun is a new character and is Kisa's best friend. He's a dead kpop idol who works in the ship's clinic with Kisa. I really liked his character. He was protective of Kisa but was also newer to the world of creatures and so did sometimes have minor freakouts over what was going on around them. He's sweet and brought some levity to the situation, which I liked.

The mystery in this one is, obviously, who killed Hwanin. I was pretty invested in figuring this out, particularly since the Hwanin here is not the same Hwanin as in book 1. There are misdirects and twists and honestly for a while no good suspects, which makes it hard to formulate a hypothesis. I did figure out parts of the mystery, but wasn't able to figure out the entire thing and was a little off on certain parts, so it was a nice surprise when everything was revealed at the end.

Overall I enjoyed this book and seeing what happened with Seokga's Red Thread of Fate. Kisa was definitely a different character to work with, but I liked her and she and Seokga managed to figure things out. The mystery was also good and I enjoyed trying to puzzle out where it was going. I do think I like book 1 slightly more (Hani will forever have my heart) but this is an excellent sequel.

Absolutely sensational! What a worthy successor this was to the first book in the series. I'm in awe.

Got approved for this just last night and immediately jumped into it the first chance I got and before I knew it I was done reading. Its so bingeable and interesting, you can't keep it down once you start. The plot, the pacing, the characters, the writing... All of them working in perfect harmony to make the story come together.

Though I did feel that the main perpetrator was super easy to guess and I had it figured out in the first 25% of the book, I do see why it stretched the way it did. The reveal was satisfying and the reason for the leads to take so long to figure out who did it made sense as well. Very thoughtfully woven so that even when you think the characters are being stupid by ignoring the obvious, you get why they're sort of in denial about it, especially Seokga.

The romance was so feelsy and I was furiously highlighting through their interactions so I could go back to them whenever I felt like it. The ensemble is wonderful and I loved all the side characters but no one more than Hajun, my cute lil K-Pop idol.

It was interspersed with a plethora of laugh out loud moments and I especially loved Seokga's dry humour so much, just as I did in the first book. He's a sarcastic diva and I love that about him.

All in all a definite must read. I would recommend to everybody!!