I really really enjoyed this book! Thank you to Sophie Kim & NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.
The first few chapters were a little tough for me to get going. It starts a little slowly, and I have to admit I am not a fan of third person, present tense. It took getting used to and then again when I’d start reading again the next day. However, I was totally hooked once the mystery and deceptions all started. I loved the twists and turns to get to the end and I found the framing between the prologue and epilogue to be very clever. I liked the hopeful ending…even if I could have gone for the full Disney HEA 😆

<i>First, a thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.</i>

I agree with the advertising that this is like a K-drama; my one criticism there is it does fall a bit short since they kiss (gasp) before the very end of the book and have sex (double gasp) which is not something you typically see in K-dramas (they’re all about the forlorn longing!).

When I decided to not take this too seriously, I found I enjoyed it a bit more; but I do feel like this would have done better as an episodic story - no idea on suggestions of how to do that, but I feel like the pacing would have been better in bite-sized pieces.

For me, I could either take it or leave it - I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it, either.

Eat a liver? Brew some coffee. Steal a soul? Relax with a romance!

THE GOD AND THE GUMIHO is the goofy, but dark, romantic, murder-mystery k-drama that you need in your life!

Hani, our trickster Gumiho, leaves her coffee house job to assist Seokga the Fallen at the precinct. He doesn't know, of course, all that Hani is hiding. The secrets and mystery make for an exciting fantastical read!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a galley of this read!

Thank you NetGalley, Sophie Kim, and Random House Publishing for the copy of this ebook. This is my voluntary review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What originally drew me to this book was the cover. It's absolutely gorgeous and so beautiful. And then of course I read the description and I thought that it would be a fun read. Boy was I wrong.... Now don't get me wrong, it was a very fun read and I enjoyed so much of it. But it did have a lot more dark elements and death than I expected.

I also don't usually like incredibly old characters (like over 1000 years old) acting immature, but the banter was just so funny for me. Maybe I'm just sleep deprived from binging this book and everything is funny at the moment, but I had so much fun with it.

And of course, that ending broke me and then put me back together. Sophie Kim, my hero, ma'am, genius author extraordinaire, I'm going to need an announcement for the second book ASAP so that I can add it to my TBR and create a count down until it is released and I can read it. I need to see what happens next. Please and thank you <3

Now of course not everything was sunshine and rainbows during the read. I am rating this as 4 stars due to more work being needed on the romantic aspect of this story. One example was the one bed trope being thrown in here. I am a sucker for this trope, I mean, who isn't? But it did seem to fall a bit flat for me in this story.

It should be noted that I am familiar with the Korean language and folklore, so these aspects of this book didn't cause any confusion for me. However, I can understand how people who are not familiar with these things would have a hard time getting into this book.

I really really enjoyed this.

Hani’s antics towards Seokga and how he also tried to counter them was entertaining.

I liked that this became kinda like Sherlock and Watson, but with a twist.

The way the characters developed by the end had me hooked.

I cannot wait for the second one. Thank all that is good that this one did not end on a cliffhanger. I would have sobbed if it did.

A book inspired by kdrama! I got a lot of Goblin/Guardian
vibes. For some of the scenes, I could practically see how it would be filmed for a show.. awkward shots from every angle and dramatic music.

I had fun with this one. I hadn't read/watched anything featuring Gumiho before, so it was a fun and unique mythology to learn more about. I liked the banter between our two main characters and the way their friendship progressed.
It was the right amount of whimsical detective story with a romance sub plot and the stakes were high on both sides. For the whole story, we know that these two characters have fundamentally incompatible goals, so it was fun holding my breath and waiting for those aspects to play out amidst the ongoing mystery.

My critiques would be that I thought it was a bit predictable. I figured out who our big baddie was earlier than I would have liked. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the story, just that it didn't particularly surprise me. The friendship to "I would die for you" love happened very rapidly. I liked that they were both in deep at the end, but it toed the line on toxic considering how little time they'd known one another. I'm willing to chalk it up to "when you find your person, you know" magic and accept it because it did make me happy and I love them.

This brought me to tears. I was pulled in right away and loved the characters and how they grew together. The slow burn, enemies to lovers romance was done well and the ending was tragic (until it wasn’t). This was an amazing story with action, romance, and snarky quips. 10/10

This released June 4th!

Set in the 90s, we follow Seokga, a fallen god, and Hani, a gumiho, as they team up to solve a string of murders. However, Hani is not who she seems to be and Seokga is on the path for redemption, but he may be biting off more than he can chew. This is a fun mix of Korean mythology with k-drama influences.

The God and the Gumiho was so entertaining. If you're familiar with k-drama or anime dramatics, romance and humor, this is for you. There are high stakes for each character as well as an overlapping, detrimental plot for them as a team, and I thought character arcs were woven together very well. Kim kept the atmosphere very light and humorous.

I don't think this would be a read for everyone, but if you understand the vibes the author is going for, it's a fun, delightful read.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for an ARC. All opinions are mine.

LOVED. The God and the Gumiho felt like all of my favourite supernatural K-Dramas, but turned up 100x. The mystery, the intrigue, Hani's goal of shifting the focus away from herself and the Scarlet Fox—I loved it so much. Although there were some elements in the story that took me out—the focus on coffee and some of the humor of Seokga in particular felt almost forced / like it didn't blend in with the rest of the urban fantasy atmosphere. Overall, 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars; I ADORED the atmosphere and the plot, though I do think my favourite Korean dramas like My Roommate is a Gumiho or Goblin feel more well-rounded in terms of humour, romance, plot, and intrigue.

Loved this one! I loved the Korean folklore and the 90s setting. The premise of the god working as a detective and the gumiho working as a barista was so much fun! It almost had cozy mystery vibes with a fantasy twist but was a little gory for the cozy category. Overall, a super fun read

It was a slow start, boy did it amp up. I’m still reeling at the ending and craving more. The story has it all; murder,mystery, and romance. This enemies to lovers was done so well that I was giggling and kicking my feet. The incorporation of Korean was well done for the most part, but a few words were a little hard to decipher. In the end it wasn’t too distracting from the rich story.

I am so pleased to see that this world will have more to come… I hope to see Hani and Seokga once more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

The God and the Gumiho was a fast-paced, great read. I enjoyed the banter between the two titular characters. The god, Seokga, is a selfish, unsympathetic jerk and deserves everything the gumiho, Hani, gives him. The world and characters are well developed and I feel like I was in a Korean drama. I do not know much about Korean mythology, so it was a pleasure to read about new (to me) creatures.

I look forward to reading other books by Sophie Kim in the future.

The beginning took me a little bit to get into, you’re just kind of thrown in and some of the magical beings aren’t really explained, so if you’re not familiar with Korean folklore it can be a little confusing.

But that being said, I did really enjoy this book. I loved our FMC who’s a total badass with sass and our MMC and their dynamics together. The world was interesting. I’ll definitely read more

Where do I even begin to write this review? One of my most anticipated releases of 2024, <i>The God and the Gumiho</i>, was everything I hoped it would be. and I think there was no better time to read this ode to K-dramas than during my trip to Seoul. It's one of those right-book-at-the-right-time moments

<i>The God and the Gumiho</i> follows the dual POV of Hani, the Gumiho (nine-tailed fox), and Seokga, the fallen trickster god as they (very reluctantly) work together to solve the mystery and thus save the mortal realm.

The book opened hilariously and gave a refreshing twist to the enemies-to-lovers trope. Hani and Seokga cannot stand each other. And not in the you-are-my-mortal-enemy type of way, no in the pettiest, most childish way. In the you-want-one-cream-one-sugar-I'll-give-you-eight-cream-eight-sugar. They thwart each other at every opportunity and strive to make the other miserable through the tiniest, acts of pettiness. It was so funny to read and so K-drama coded I could vividly imagine the scenes in my mind. As much as I loved their bickering and banter, I also loved the turning point in the romance when things started to get swoony and—dare I say—a little spicy. I loved their grumpy/sunshine dynamic and how, throughout the book, they began to complement each other rather than oppose. It was so beautiful to see them open up as they began to trust each other the longer they worked together.

The worldbuilding was fantastic! I loved the fictional concept of New Shinsi as a city in South Korea where both mortals and creatures lived. I loved getting to know all these different kind of creatures drawn from Korean mythology. I loved how the fantastical blended with the mundane. These fantastical creatures have human jobs. Hani and her gumiho friend, Somi are baristas, and Seokga is a detective. There are police, weaponsmiths, coroners, etc.

This book is marketed as an ode to K-dramas and I truly think that it delivered. While reading, a couple of my favorite K-dramas kept coming to mind. If you love any of these K-dramas I think you will love this book.

- Suspicious Partner: putting my ultimate favorite K-drama at the top because I think the character dynamic in this K-drama perfectly fits the character dynamic between Hani and Seokga. Plus it also follows a crime/mystery plot
- Tail of the Nine-Tailed: this one kind of speaks for itself as it is about nine-tailed foxes, gods and reincarnation.
- Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung: simply because of the petty character dynamic between the main characters
- The King: Eternal Monarch: the overall mystical vibes of different worlds and the presence of the magical alongside the mundane. Also the character dynamic and the police plot.
- Goblin: I haven't watched this myself but I'm pretty sure that if you loved this K-drama, you'll love this book

I truly believe this book has a bit of everything to enjoy. It has:
- a mystery/crime plot
- action scenes
- swoon-worthy romance
- enemies to lovers
- grumpy sunshine dynamic
- one-bed trope
- Angst
- plot twists

Overall this was such a magical, cozy read and I loved every second of it. I took my time reading this because I did not want this to end. I'll be here hoping and praying we one day get a sequel and, of course, a K-drama. I will actually die if this beautiful book gets made into a K-drama. And until then I'll keep roaming the streets of Seoul, pretending I'm walking in New Shinsi and Seokga, the very grumpy god, is looking for me (iykyk).

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC. I can't wait to collect all the editions now!

I haven’t had this much FUN with a book in so long. I was live laugh loving the entire time. The relationship between Hani and Seokga was delightful, it developed naturally and I deeply enjoyed Hani’s endless tormenting of him. The plot of the book also felt like a fun little detective adventure even though stakes were so high.

This book isn’t perfect - I felt like the twist was predictable and I would’ve preferred if the events of the book were stretched out over a longer period of time. Only about a week passes in the entire book, I wouldn’t loved a slow burn that takes place over multiple months.

Despite my minor gripes, I can’t rate this less than 5/5 because I loved it SO much. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If ur looking for a book with East Asian characters and UNDEFEATED banter- then baes I’m TELLING YOU THIS IS THE BOOK.

I kept giggling and blushing because guys all I can think about is the banter.

At first the beginning was slow and I honestly had no idea what was going on, but when the fmc spilled coffee on the mmc things started to make sense and got SOOOO much intresting because it’s a mix of magical thriller, with a tinge of romance. This was such a wonderful read and honestly would love to read more books by this author!

Overall, I really loved this book. This is the first Korean Folklore book that I have read and I absolutely enjoyed it, so much that I finished this book in two days. I think the way Sophie Kim wrote this book was so well, I like how slow burn was incorporated and took about halfway to get some action. I will say that I am an immediate action girl, I like romance as soon as I crack open a book. But when I read the first couple of chapters, I actually enjoyed that it was slow and didn't have romance for the first 5-6ish chapters. This book contains slow burn, enemies/rivals to lovers, a hidden identity for the female main character, a morally grey main male character, banter, and forced proximity. If you enjoy Korean folklore and slow burn, I think this is a good book for you to try out!

FIRST 5 ⭐ READ OF THE YEAR

The banter 🙌
The muder mystery 🙌
The Korean mythology 🙌
The hidden identities 🙌
The mischief 🙌
The grumpy/sunshine 🙌
The slow burn 🙌
The hate to love 🙌
THE ENDING 😭

This book had everything that I didn't realize I was looking for. I am absolutely in love with this book and I am so glad that I read it.

The God and the Gumiho follows mischievous Hani, a gumiho in human form who was once very rambunctious - eating men's livers and souls until she couldn't stomach eating anymore - and now works as a barista at the Creature Cafe. She hates coffee but here she is working at a coffee shop, great vibes. Insert Seokga the fallen - trickster god of mischief turned detective, who has his godly powers taken away due to... well, mischief. Oh does Hani LOOOOVE annoying him at any chance she gets.

When a demon escapes from the underworld and is terrorizing their city, Hani and Seokga find themselves in a very unlikely partnership. Little does Seokga know, he has teamed up with the elusive Scarlet Fox who he is hunting in addition to the demon in order to win back his brother's favor and his godly powers. Hani faces a dilemma as their partnership becomes more solid and bickering turns into something more friendly.

The story comes full circle with the epilogue (which I am an ABOSULTE sucker for) and sets up the scene for the next book that I will ABOSULUTELY DEVOUR WHEN RELEASED. Please go pick this book up and read it and love it and gush over it with me!

Ugh, I am such a glutton for Sophie Kim books! Seriously, anything she writes I will read at this point. She has my undying loyalty cover, blurb, and title unseen.

The God and the Gumiho is book 1 in her adult series Fate’s Thread and it was everything I wanted it to be!!!

What I loved about the book:
1. Sophie Kim has an extraordinary gift for reinterpretations and retellings of Korean mythology! From her reimagining of Gods and their familial ties to the various creatures we were introduced to, I was hooked from the very beginning.

After reading the existing books in her Talon series, I was giddy to see dokkaebi and imoogi mentioned in this new series. I was even more excited that they were merely mentioned in passing rather than being integral to the overall story so I could learn about other creatures in more detail.

My selfish hope for future Sophie Kim books is they further explore more and more mythological creature types until I have a passing knowledge of many kinds, because you know I’m going to read anything this woman writes!

2. I absolutely adored the detective storyline running throughout the book. With Seokga having to hunt down unruly creatures in order to have his godhood reinstated and Hani finding her way to be his (annoying to him) assistant, not only did we get tons of action and hunting down of creatures, but we got a great mystery and fantastic banter!

If the series continues to focus on Seokga and Hani, my hope is we get to see them hunting down more baddies and solving more mysteries!

3. Along with the fantastic banter, we had two very strong and stubborn individuals to lust after in this enemies-to-lovers story full of "I hate you"'s that slowly lost their malice.

Hani not only had a good bark, but she had the ultimate bite to back it all up. She was incredibly strong and talented with her gumiho abilities, she was quick and wickedly clever working to solve the demon case while hiding her identity and facts on the Scarlet Fox case, and she didn’t take crap from Seokga unlike everyone else. One of the things I loved most about her was how complex she was; in one hand she was willing to selfishly throw anyone and everyone under the bus if needed to in order to continue hiding her identity, but in the other hand she was kind and always looking out for and supporting victims and her friend, Somi. This complexity is what really made her shine as an FMC.

Seokga’s evolution from being a grumpy fallen god who hated everyone to a…well, still grumpy fallen god but cuddly and completely wrapped up in Hani, was so fun to watch. He started out so jaded and pissed off with only one goal in mind, but grew to be a bit more optimistic about his future and its potential outcomes. I loved what a grumpasaurus he was and that he didn’t lose that as time went on, he just became less serious about it with Hani ❤️

I don’t want to spoil anything, but I am literally drooling in wait for where book 2 will take these beloved characters!

4. Similar to her Talon series, feminist thoughts and actions were high in this book through our FMC Hani.

5. Finally, I loved the usage of the cherry blossoms blooming early and annoying Seokga as bookends in the story. Despite being 26 years apart, these were the only two instances where they bloomed earlier than he would like; the first time was right before the incredible journey, what will this second time bring?!?!?!

Final Thoughts:
I cannot express enough how much I love Sophie Kim's books! Trust me and pick up this book when it comes out June 4!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey, and Sophie Kim for the opportunity to read a copy of this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

Insanely good. I loved the banter between the leads, the dialogue, this story was super super refreshing!!!