The God and the Gumiho - Review

I received a digital copy from Del Rey via NetGalley. All reviews are my own.

After finishing The Poet Empress by Shen Tao, I wanted to keep that same vibe going. That book mentioned a lot about zithers, tricky scholars, and nine-tailed foxes, and I was more interested in exploring those side stories than following royal politics. So, I decided to read one of my NetGalley approvals, The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim. See, we’re killing two birds with one stone! You might recognize Sophie Kim’s name—I read her first teen fantasy novel, Last of the Talons, last year, so I should be used to her way of writing, right? RIGHT?

"Kim Hani, the once-terrible gumiho known as the Scarlet Fox, spends her days working at a café and trying not to let a certain customer irk her. Seokga, a trickster god thrown from the heavens for his attempt at a coup, spends his days hunting demons and irking a particular gumiho. When a demon of darkness escapes the underworld, and the Scarlet Fox emerges from hiding before quickly vanishing, Seokga is offered a chance at redemption: kill them both, and his sins will be forgiven. But Hani is prepared to do anything to prevent Seokga from bringing her to justice, even trick her way into his investigation."

I had a hard time reading the Last of the Talons series in print, so I learned from my mistake and chose to listen to The God and the Gumiho instead. It’s a dual POV narration between Greta Jung and Intae Kim, which took 13 hours and 26 minutes to finish.  I hadn’t heard either of them before, but after listening, I wouldn’t mind deep-diving into some of their previous work.  I noticed that Intae Kim returns as The God in the sequel, The God and the Gwisin, so that might convince me to read the next book. But before we get there, let’s talk about The God and the Gumiho.

I think I have a love/hate relationship with Sophie Kim’s writing. And I think it has more to do with me not knowing anything about the mythology she takes inspiration from, versus her style of writing. So, knowing that, this book was not meant for me. I have admitted in the past that there are just some mythologies that I don’t know anything about and have never heard of. I pick up these types of books (especially Asian mythology) because I'm interested in hearing about these stories. I am a Black American. We don’t have mythologies. We have slavery. So it’s a breath of fresh air for me when I do pick up a cultural lore and indulge in it. The only problem is, with Kim, I already have to know the folklore before I get into her retellings, and that is the biggest disconnect for me.

I’ve read about Gumihos before—the first book was The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo—but I still don’t have a complete understanding of the lore around these spiritual foxes. Gumihos are usually female foxes who transform into seductive women to lure men to their deaths. Depending on who you ask, either these sly foxes do it because it's in their nature or because men were misbehaving and needed to be a part of the RIP chain gang. In The God and the Gumiho, Kim Hani is a mixture of both. Centuries ago, she committed an extremely violent act as the Scarlet Fox, which took her into hiding, now acting as a coffee barista. Seokga is a fallen God who failed at a coup, and for punishment, is now charged with killing demons and unrulies as a police detective. When Hani hears that Seokga is supposed to find and kill the Scarlet Fox—after three men were found with their livers missing—she decides to become his assistant to keep him from discovering her secret.

The story was okay. The first half moved pretty slowly, and the banter between Hani and Seokga felt like two teenage siblings arguing in the backseat on a long road trip.  It reminded me of how slow the Last of the Talons series was for me. But things picked up once the murders started happening more often. At this point, I was invested in trying to solve the mystery of who was behind these grisly deaths. I warmed up to Hani and Seokga’s antics, and it turns out they were actually good partners. As the plot picked up, the writing and pacing improved, enemies became lovers, characters died, I wanted to smack Hani’s friend, Somi, so bad, and I ended up satisfied with the ending.

Overall, I rated this book 3.5 stars. It was actually a tough rating for me, because the story is not something I would rave about, but I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained in the second half of the book. There’s a predictable enemies-to-lovers trope, though I kind of wish it had just stayed as a “I like you enough not to kill you” trope, but I can’t have everything I want in my reading lifestyle. The narrators did a great job keeping my attention because, lord knows, I probably wouldn't have made it to the end if I'd read it physically. The God and the Gumiho did conclude in a nice little bow, but there is a minor fray at the edges of the ribbon. There is a sequel. So, will I be continuing with The God and the Gwisin? I might. Let’s see how I feel in the morning.

The God and the Gumiho is available now!

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