4⭐ *will post edit on bookstagram closer to release date*

Thank you Del Rey and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

Wow. I loved this book. I could not, for the life of me, figure out who the killer was before they were revealed. I will never be a detective fr. I was happy to see some characters back, like Somi. Somi reuniting with Yoo Kisa broke my heart because I think after some time, she missed her friend too and regretted the part she played in Hani's death.

I will have to say, it was a bit hard to like Kisa at first. She was very clinical, making her seem too distant to like. However, as the story progressed, you realize that its just her defense mechanisms, and the way she quickly befriends Hajun and Somi shows how much she actually cares. I think in this book, you really see more of who Seokga really is. You see his back story, the reason why he is who he is, and got the redemption arc that he deserved. It also made me empathize with him seeing him love someone who couldn't recognize him.

I enjoyed watching these characters make amends with Hani through Yoo Kisa. She's not the same whipsmart gumiho we met in the first story, but she is just as badass. I highly recommend this book!!! But WOW I did not expect that ending !!!!!! I can't wait for book 3 <3

No spoiler arc review:

I hate that this book didn’t work out. I absolutely loved book 1. I made it through a couple chapters and realized this wasn’t going to be for me. The tone was completely different from book 1, and it felt like an info dump to catch the reader up on an entirely different part of the world, the afterlife, and types of jobs for medical students. It made it really difficult to get into the story. I sat on it for a long time deciding whether I would continue the book or not. Then I realized if I have to convince myself I should put it down for good. For me book 1 could have been a standalone. It makes me sad because I was so excited to revisit Seokga

This was such a fun time! For everyone who thought the first book was like a K-drama in book form, this is more of the same in the best way. We start off 30+ years after the end of The God and the Gumiho and we're following Seokga as he's forced to go on vacation on a riverboat in the underworld. With his brother.

If you have watched Alchemy of Souls, this feels like season 2 of that show a little bit in terms of the relationship, definitely not setting or plot though. We have a little bit of a murder mystery in this one and a reunion of some of the side characters from book one that was really nice to see. This felt a little bit more like Seokga's story and we see a lot of growth from him. He's still the same cynical god with everyone issues, but this one focuses more on his relationship with his father.

Overall a delight to be back with these characters and in this world. Would love to have more with these characters and from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the eARC of this book.
The God and the Gumiho was one of my absolute favorite books of 2024 and its sequel lived up to every one of my expectations. It has the fun elements of a murder mystery (on a cruise ship), reincarnation, k pop idols, second change romance and Korean mythology all mixed into one with a mix of new and old characters that we already love.

After the cliff hanger of the first book, it picks up 33 years later with Seokga following the red thread of fate towards Hani, except it turns out it is not Hani, but Yoo Kisa. Much to Seokga’s dismay, we learn that Yoo Kisa has no memories of her past life as Hani (and therefore him). But when his brother gets murdered, they have to band together to figure out who the murderer is all while trying to understand their connection and where they fit into each other’s lives.

I really loved Yoo Kisa’s character and how the relationship with Seokga developed over time and in a completely new way compared to his and Hani’s relationship. Although she is not Hani, I really liked the way the character arc and story line was done to tell us that she is her own person but not skipping over Hani completely since her character still plays a part in this book. I loved how her past life started blending with her new life, yet not erasing the parts of her that still made her Kisa. We also get to see deeper parts of Seokga as he delves into his relationship with his parents and brother, as well as his insecurities from his past.

All in all, I really really loved this. It has the same humor and banter as The God and the Gumiho, yet also touches on the mental health issues of the characters.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6994905493

What can I say, yet another smash. Sophie Kim just keeps giving us pie that's delicious but hard to swallow. I'm going to just say in my preface, that this book was so heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time. But it was just too good as well. First of all, if you've read my review on The God and the Gumiho, then you know how much of a K-drama fan I am, and how much I love Sophie's immaculate work that speaks just like K-drama; with this book, it just kept on getting better, I will say that Sophie has given us another treat, yet again, and it hit the spot.

Apart from the praise, the plot was AMAZING, it was certainly a unique setting, something that I haven't seen before, setting it in an afterlife cruise (along the lines), as vacation is a novel approach that was seen through in the best way. It was literally so cinematic, like I could imagine and literally was spectating the whole book as it was happening like a movie. IT WAS THAT GOOD.

I won’t get too much into the plot, but I will say that this is your sign to go and read it, yet again, you cannot call yourself a K-drama fan without reading this; if you’ve read The God and the Gumhio, then this is very nostalgic as we literally yearn for Hani (Former FMC– kind of) along with Seakga (MMC) does, it is quiet an overwhelming journey, and I loved Kisa (new FMC–kind of), her vibes were sure different from Hani, but I think that Sohpie has written her so well, it was impeccable.

In terms of criticism, I wouldn’t say there is anything specific, wholistically I only see good things about the work, and it was one of the books that does leave a hole in your heart, but in the sweetest way possible, it was for me anyway. In my opinion, there is nothing to point out as a black spot in this book, it was marvellous and very well done, if I had to say something, then I would think the grammar was just a little tiny bit funny in some areas, my personal opinion but apart from that I’d say it contributed to the charm of the book, all in all, it was spellbinding.

You guys, I cannot say anything but ‘READ IT’ for this book, the starting is a little bit mundane, but the meat comes very soon and carries through for the entirety, so don’t hesitate, and even if your trying Korean Folklore for the first time, this is certainly the best way to start and stay, no one does K-drama vibes like Sophie Kim, she just has a captivating style that is just hard to not be impressed by. So, as soon as it is out, get it, read it, and love it. HAPPY READING!!

A very exciting follow-up to The God and the Gumiho! Seokga's reconciliation of the Hani he knew with the Kisa he now sees combined with Kisa's understanding of who she is independently of Hani creates so much delicious yearning and angst. The characters grow so much and the mystery keeps the story well-paced.

Sophie Kim's The God and the Gwisin is a swoony, thrilling sequel to The God and the Gumiho, combining mystery, romance, and fantasy into a compelling and captivating story. This time, Seokga, the trickster god, must team up with his reincarnated lost love, Yoo Kisa, to solve the murder of the heavenly emperor aboard a luxury cruise ship in the underworld. The stakes are high, the tension is palpable, and the characters’ journey is filled with emotion, suspense, and unexpected twists.

I am such a sucker for a guy swooning for his lost love.

I really enjoyed The God and the Gumiho so I was so excited to be lucky enough to receive an arc for this one. While The first book started slow for me this one jumped straight into the plot. A urban fantasy retelling with an intriguing who dunnit storyline absolutely grabbed my attention. I enjoyed revisiting the original characters but the addition of a few new characters made a welcome addition. Seokga’s family dynamics were explored in a lot more detail in this book which provided some much needed context. I really enjoyed the cruise ship setting, plenty of places for a murder to hide but no way off the boat made the whole story feel claustrophobic. Overall I had a great time with this book and I hope after that ending that another one is coming our way.

I love this series and this story and have enjoyed it and want to thank Sophie Kim for the opportunity to review and read the book. The grump and sunshine trope is something I will always love in this universe and how Soekga just loves Hani so much it makes me squish <3

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

Thank you to Sophie Kim, Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey, and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really, really wanted to love this. Unfortunately I don’t think Kim’s writing style is for me. The characterisation wasn’t great and each character felt childish with the same personality traits and humour. It was very tell-don’t-show. The first book didn’t work for me either. It’s a shame as the settings and plots were creative.

I enjoyed 'The God and the Gumiho' a lot ! But I loved 'The God and the Gwisin' with all my heart !
This book was a delight, funny and romantic, atmospheric and intriguing ! I love Seokga so much and really like Kisa as well !
Again, Sophie Kim delivers the perfect K-Drama in the form of a novel (I laughed out loud at one particular mention, that my other k-drama fans will love!).
I am hoping that Kim is not finished with this world, I'll definitely read more of those characters !

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

The God and the Gwisin is the second installment in Sophie Kim's Fate's Thread Series, following the events of The God and the Gumiho. This book was darker in its tone and setting, but brought back some old characters in a new light and introduced new ones which integrated well into the main cast. The God and the Gumiho was my favorite read last year and I was looking forward to more of Seokga and his reunion with a reincarnated Hani.

In The God and the Gwisin, Seokga's search for his reincarnated Hani leads him to Kisa, who has no memory of him, but with whom he must solve a murder mystery before the end of a cruise down the river of the dead.

I was not a fan of the river cruise, but it worked well for the more fantastical and supernatural setting of this book.

I enjoyed the dynamic between Seokga and Kisa (the god and the gwisin, respectively), because Seokga has changed since the events of the first book and Kisa is her own character, despite being the reincarnated Hani. Kisa is also relatable as someone who dedicated her life to studying, working hard, and is just exhausted and tired.

I loved Hajun and Somi as the side couple, very sweet, very much like a kdrama.

I also enjoyed Hani's cameo and the callbacks to the first book in the series.

The matching covers for The God and the Gumiho and The God and the Gwisin are beautiful and eye-catching.

Recommended for anyone who likes kdramas, supernatural fantasy, murder mistery, korean mythology and folklore, and reincarnated lovers.

"The God and the Gwisin" follows Seogka a few decades after book 1 ends, where he is still searching for Hani's reincarnation. When he unexpectedly finds her on a cruise ship for the dead reincarnated as a young woman named Kisa, Seogka will anything to get to know her a bit better. Then, his brother is murdered and Kisa and Seogka must team up to find the culprit before he takes the blame. With a cast of new and old characters, this 2nd installment in the "Fates Thread" series did not disappoint.

I enjoyed this book even more than book 1. It was full of fun characters, the mystery aspect to it was really engaging, and I enjoyed seeing Seogka get his second chance at love and at a better life. While I'm not certain if this is the final book in the series, it definitely had a conclusive and satisfying ending.

I'd highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a lighthearted murder mystery, grumpy mmc who becomes a softy around his girl, and a cast of vibrant characters based on Korean folklore. I certainly learned more about different Korean folklore creatures by reading this series, and I hope it sparks an interest in many readers.

4/5 stars

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I want to thank Netgalley and Del Rey for providing me with the ARC to The God and the Gwisin in exchange for an honest review!

What can I say? I'd already adored The God and the Gumiho to bits. It was one of my highlights in 2024. I hadn't even known that the sequel would come out this soon until I just happened to stumble upon its preorder page. I cannot tell you how fast I ran to get the ARC, and let me tell you right now, this sequel is definitely something to look forward to.

The book starts shortly after where the first one ended, namely after a red thread appeared, connecting Seogka to his Fated. Now I am sure we all loved Hani. And I have to say, I was worried at first if Kisa could live up to Hani. I won't deny that they're different. They grew up in different environments and had different ambitions in life. However, I feel like that gives the character of Hani/Kisa's soul more depth. While they are not the same, there are various things that connects the two which gets discussed thoroughly throughout this sequel. Without any spoilers, I have to say that I love the way that the book resolved this issue and the way that Kisa's and Seogka's relationship progressed. I loved seeing them fall in love all over again, re-building their trust and what made them so incredible in the first book. It was also really nice to meet some characters again and see them grow in more or less unexpected ways.

The murder mystery itself was not the hardest to solve, at least in terms of whodunit. Their reasoning, however, was something I hadn't guessed, and I loved watching our main pair figure it out. It was so much fun to follow along with their journey and root for them. I really hope there's gonna be a third book because I am not ready to say goodbye yet. (Sophie Kim has another untitled book listed on her webpage, so I'm holding out hope! XD)

Overall I have to say that this book was definitely worth the wait as well as worth the time I took reading it. It was a fun journey that incorporated everything that we loved from the first book and transformed it into something new. To everyone who enjoyed The God and the Gumiho I can wholeheartedly recommend this sequel.

I absolutely loved seeing the story in this continue. So hard to review without spoilers, so I'll just say that it was an incredible adventure!

This was a really sweet continuation of the story in the first book, and feels right out of a K-drama in all the best ways.

Thirty-three years after the events in the last book, Seokga has been searching for Hani's reincarnation for all this time, but what he isn't aware of is that the day that the red string of fate appeared was the same day that Hani's reincarnation, Kisa, died. Now Kisa works on a luxury cruise ship in the afterlife waiting for the day when she can be reincarnated again (something that is going to take a while given how much bad karma Hani accumulated in her past life). When Hwanin forces Seokga to take a vacation on said cruise ship, it puts him and Kisa on a crash course to discovering each other and trying to figure out if there is a path forward for the two of them.

The best thing about this book is that there's no confusion between Kisa and Seokga. They know who they are to each other and who Seokga and Hani were, and now the real question is what can they move forward into being together. It's a complicated romance that works really well and is made even more complicated by all the other people around them. Hajun is a great addition to the series, and it was good to see Somi back in the mix, as well. Kisa versus Hani is also really well handled in a way that doesn't invalidate either character but lets them stand on their own. As always, Seokga is a major highlight and his humor is one of the best parts of the whole series.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-| Del Rey for the ARC

Not going to lie I was very intrigued as to how the second book would follow that explosive end of book 1, *Chef's kiss* I did not expect, I could not expect what was to follow.

Poor Seokga, brooding and hot and in search of the thing he refused to acknowledge in book 1 and hunting for in book 2, I need you all to understand In my head, Seokga is 100% Gong Yoo.

I'm always hesitant about the next book in a series I love, but damn did I get blown out of the water ( if you get it, you get it). I feel so much for Kisa, I wanted to give her a hug and a gentle cuff to her head, as always the characters were compelling in the way that can only be explained in the specific bonds that you have in community, whether it is as a person within a community or someone who has been pushed out because you no longer fit the ideals.

This is still a murder mystery at the end of the day, we see how these characters who have an undeniable push and pull figure out where they stand, one who remembers everything from before and another who doesn't, it is a bit heart breaking, for Seokga to figure out how to love again and for Kisa to learn that she is more.

I wanted to scream when I finished this book, chicken soup for my soul I tell you.

This book had such a fun premise (despite the mean cliffhanger of the first book)! The author has the amazing ability to keep the delicate balance between humorous dialogue and the dark and heavy themes. The foreshadowing for the big twist was done beautifully, with enough hints and tips between the lines that there was enough to guess on and that if one already guessed it, still had a heart stopping moment when it was finally revealed. The romance, with the first book, was built up deliciously. It was fun, it was sad and it was tragic at some points. I am so happy that the author left a possible plot threat hanging at the end for another book in this series, since I am not ready to leave this characters behind!

Oh my Gods! I ate this up! I didn’t know how this book was gonna go, being on a cruise for the dead in the underworld, but I wasn’t disappointed! So much action, multi layered characters, witty banter, LOL moments, entangled emotions, mystery, friendships, romance… THE THREAD OF FATE! I want to go back and start this book over again. Seokga has my heart. GAH.

What happens when a dead ex-murderer, dead kpop idol, dead maternity doctor / shaman, and a very much alive trickster god must solve a river (of the dead) cruise murder mystery?

I absolutely adored The God and The Gumiho. Like screaming and crying over it. Did I have that same level of emotions of this? ... No... But sometimes it's okay to not have whirlwind feelings.

Speaking of which, I think that was a really important part of Seokga's story here. Yes, he wanted to find Hani again. I mean, is that not exactly what we all wanted to see, Hani and Seokga back and chaotic as ever? Well, sometimes we don't get what we want. Sometimes the universe thinks maybe you need something gentler or kinder. That something here was Kisa, the reincarnation of Hani.

Kisa is almost the exact opposite of Hani, and yet little bits of her live on. Unfortunately for them, Kisa dies the day their Red Thread of Fate appears, and Seokga runs himself to the bone around the world for 7 years trying to find her. His therapist has the perfect plan though, a river cruise vacation for some family bonding time! (I think this could have been vastly improved by forcing Seokga to go down a water slide, but that's just my opinion.)

All the side characters are as *chef's kiss* as ever, even a certain red thread itself. Somehow even Somi was great to see back after how much I had NOT forgiven her. I think this was a really sweet experience that showed a lot of emotional growth for Seokga. Also him learning to take care of a baby was great, especially a baby that casually floats away sometimes.

This is definitely a recommended read, for people that like kind of silly murder mysteries, fantasy/mythology, and especially explorations of fated mates and reincarnations.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Del Rey for providing an eARC of The God and The Gwisin.