4.5🌟 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘦𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊.

Sophie Kim has stumbled on a winning formula and I was BEYOND excited to see that The God and the Gumiho (one of my favourite reads of 2024) was getting a sequel. Naturally, don't read this (or the following review) if you have yet to read book one because SPOILERS.

Seokga (our Loki-coded trickster god) knows what it is to YEARN. The poor boy has been waiting decades for his one true love, Hani, to reincarnate, and he's travelled far and wide looking for them and their unique brown-red eyes. Foiled at every turn, it's only when he heads down under (the underworld, not Australia) on vacation, with his brother (Hwanin) and therapist, that the red string of fate finally starts untangling itself. When the heavenly emperor is murdered aboard the luxury cruise, it's down to Seokga and his reincarnated love (who just so happens to be working on said cruise) to team back up and figure out whodunnit. The twist? Seokga's soulmate now goes by Yoo Kisa, is no longer (strictly speaking) alive, and has absolutely no memory of him whatsoever. The outcome? A gorgeously funny, romantic and heart-shredding tale of expectations, destiny, development, loss and choice.

I DEVOURED this book, and in many ways preferred it to the first. Seokga is more established as a character and I loved learning more about his familial relationships, as well as what he gets up to mischief-wise. There's a gorgeous layer of sarcasm woven into his POV that had me cackling at points, and feels truer to his identity as a trouble-making deity than what we got with him when he was fallen from grace. The man is also DOWN BAD for his lost lady love, and his pathetic/endearing internal monologuing when it came to Kisa was so much fun. It was giving 'slut in theory but never in practise unless you are my soulmate in which case pls do me the honour of staring at my butt'.

I don't want to go into spoiler territory, but some familiar faces make a reappearance and grant us (and the characters) some closure. Kisa was a wonderful new voice and personality, and I want to make note that her relationship with Seokga develops very differently to his relationship with Hani in book one. It's not a rehash of grumpy x sunshine / enemies to friends to lovers. We're working with completely different tropes and characters here. I genuinely loved the new dynamic, which could even be considered a slower burn in many ways.

The murder-mystery portion of the book was work-outable, but not too obvious that you end up getting annoyed at the main characters for NOT figuring it out. I'm glad we're still running with the idea that Seokga's actually a pretty subpar detective, especially when sir is distracted and stressed. Speaking of stress, there are a lot of well-handled elements in this that touch on mental health (might be worth checking trigger warnings). It balances moments of levity with moments of gravity with a real maturity.

Like book one, it ends on a note of closure, but leaves the door open for more stories to unravel beyond. I will read Sophie Kim's shopping list at this point. Thanks for blessing us with another banger queen.

The God and the Gwisin is due to be published 03/06/2025.

That was DELIGHTFUL. I actually think I liked that better than the first one. What an incredible ride. The character development was great, the murder mystery kept me on my toes, and the old characters returns were a fantastic surprise!

I'd like to start with saying the cover art is freaking gorgeous. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but let's not lie, most of us do.
This book was gorgeous and was a worthy addition to the series. The humor was SO GOOD! I am a huge fan of humorous characters, especially when those characters are going **through** it. I am an even bigger fan when that humor is added in at all the right times and it doesn't take away from the scene. Sophie Kim executes it well. The concept of this book was very different, and I was worried it wouldn't be my thing, but man, I really liked it. Such a weird (in a great way) murder mystery/mythological romantasy hybrid. I'm into it! Keep 'em coming, Kim.

Minor spoilers for the God and the gumiho are kinda implied with this books summary. It’s hard to get around without spoiling since it involves reincarnation (which I just realized I spelled wrong in the graphic 🤣) of the main character Hani. I found the character development for Kisa to be so good. Like are you the same or not when you come back in the next life? When you don’t have those memories? What makes you, you. And accepting all the flaws and differences that came with that. I loved it. 5 stars. Go pick up your copy in July 💕. Thank you to @delreybooks for the arc copy and to @netgalley . Can’t wait for the issue to fixed on KOBO so I can use my ereader 💕 #thegodandthegumiho #thegodandthegwisin #arc

omg I love this book so much!!

A HUGE thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey for providing me with this arc, it has been my pleasure.

I got the God and the Gumiho in my fairy loot box and I was instantly intrigued. The set up sounded so amazing and interesting, and I love reading about different mythologies. Then after that cliff hanger I was so anxious to read what happens next.

And this book did not let me down.

Even though Hani was the reason I loved the god and the Gumiho so much, Kisa was an excellent main character as well. She had so many thoughts and questions and everything in her mind was happening so fast, it was an absolute delight to read. I loved all the Theseus ship metaphors, is Kisa really Hani, are they the same or different, and the scientific approach Kisa had to it all.

Seokga was the icy god from the god and the Gumiho, but it was also great to see how soft and loving he was when Kisa was anywhere near. And I loved how awkward they were first with each other, everything between Kisa and Seokga was just amazing to read.

I loved how the mystery turned out in this book, and to me it was just perfect, and I didn't guess anything until very late into the book!

More thoughts below because I'm terrible at forming proper sentences right now:

- The Cruise for the dead was such an amazing concept!
- baby Hwanin <3
- Somi being back and the dirty books!!!
- the maybe sentinel thread (I'm super sure that there is a part of Hani in this thread)
- Hajun throwing a paper weight and Seokga

all though I loved that our characters now seem to have an happily ever after, I would still love so much to see a book three in this world <3 I don't think I can get enough of Seokga and Kisa/Hani.

5 stars! if you haven't read these books, please do <3 they are perfect

Sophie Kim has done it again! The God and the Gwisin, book two in the Fate’s Thread series, is absolutely amazing! I was hooked from the first page. This is based on Korean mythology, but if you have never had any experience with that, do not be alarmed! Sophie does a phenomenal job of describing the creatures and gods, I was never confused by the mythology itself in the book (except for the pronunciation in my head!). There are familiar faces from book one, as well as, brand new characters that are so lovable! There are elements of mystery and romance. The mystery will keep you guessing to the very end! I loved the story and found myself unable to put down the book towards the end. I just had to know how it ended! This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year!

Nothing says "fun vacation" like going on a Cruise in the afterlife with your older brother and therapist. On a ship called 'Flatliner' no less.

What a wonderful continuation! This felt like the second season to my absolute favorite Korean Drama and I loved it. This series is truly so much fun. The last 20% had me not wanting to put the book down at all. We are introduced to new (and old) characters with a new setting. The hilarious banter continues as well as some heart wrenching moments. This book also focused on mental health issues. (Please read all trigger warnings!)

However, unlike the first book, it fell a little flat in the Mystery Investigation department. I'm definitely going to have to agree with Somi. Seokga truly is the World's Worst Detective.

I'm very excited to see where this series goes next! Especially after that Epilogue!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Del Rey for the eARC!

Immediately diving into this book we follow Seogka as he's trying to find Hani...something goes amiss thus the story begins.
An excellent sequel that delivered with an engaging plot, expansive/unique world building, murder mystery and characters old and new that you just gotta love.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

absolutely amazing
so magical and surprisingly funny
I do think I liked the first book more, but this was still an easy 5 stars
so atmospheric
and I loved the reincarnation, mystery, finding your soulmate again on a cruise ship, etc.
no notes, I loved it!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for this eARC.
*decided to lower my review to 3.5 after sitting on it
I honestly loved the world building, the characters, the Korean mythology, red thread dynamics, the bit of humour and the mystery, however, I really liked how the first book was mainly closed door and so expected the second book to be the same.
So I was surprised when I found that this book has an open door scene, however, if you choose to skip the scene, you won't miss anything. (This is why I changed it to 4 stars. It's not ideal and I know some people who don't prefer spice might disagree with me, but in a world dominated by spicy books, if all declarations, decisions, any info that might affect the story are made/said before or after the spicy scene and skipping it is possible, that is enough for me.) A warning by the author would have definitely been better as I know many of the no to little spice readers won't expect this based on the first book.
Please note that there is a mention of suicide of a character, the MMC and FMC have trauma and it's explained thoroughly throughout the book especially the MMC's in case that matters to you. (Your mental health matters)
When Seogka finally accepts that Kisa isn't Hani (by realizing that they have the same main characteristics that he loves even though they are their own different people with different aspects and that he needed these differences in the first and second time, thus started loving Kisa as her own person), the author doesn't follow on that, it wasn't communicated properly by Seogka through his actions/words till he expressly says it later on.
You are suddenly exposed to some aspects of the characters' personalities that should have been mentioned in the beginning, so I disconnected a bit while reading as it doesn't happen in a way where their characters developed or something got explained so now you know something new. It doesn't also contradict the explanation of the characters' personalities in the beginning, so it didn't annoy me that much. I feel like I can't the idea across properly, but this is how I felt.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and it was a fun read.

I went into this book with somewhat high expectations and anticipation of where the story will be going after the end of book 1. It feels so nice to be back in this world of the different gods in the modern world. I love Sophie’s writing of the characters and their interactions with one and another. HOWEVER, I will say and warn that if you LOVED book 1 because of Hani’s character and her flirty banter with Seokga, you will not be getting that here. She’s now Kisa who has a much quieter personality (I love her a lot still) and her interactions with Seokga is different. We do also get more of Seokga’s backstory that we didn’t quite get in book. Also the idea of a god with a therapist is hilariously amazing.

I read the first book and wasn’t to fond, but I wanted to give this book a go. I did enjoy it however I don’t think it was for me. But I know plenty of others will enjoy it.
The world building was fun and interesting and it being based on Korean folklore as well made it very unique.

Give me ALL the kdramas in book form!!!

I absolutely adored book 1 and this book was no different, loved it from start to finish.

Our green eyed trickster god has spent the last 33years trying to find his reincarnated gumiho soulmate, only to find himself on a riverboat cruise through hell with his brother and his therapist for him to stumble upon her….only thing is, she is already dead again and has absolutely 0 memory of him.

Yup. Strap yourself in for this is a journey!

Sophie Kim’s humour and writing style are so so overwhelming me. Like she just gets it, and the way she captures relationships is just😍

Thanks as always to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC I was FERAL when I saw it had dropped - easily one of my most anticipated of the year and it did not disappoint!

If I could give this title a million stars out of five I would. I loved book one but even so I was nervous to start its sequel and need not have worried for a moment. Sophie Kim has delivered on every front from wonderful representation of non western mythos and mental health, to wonderfully paced plot and prose structured to keep me turning pages late into the night. I can not wait to add a physical copy to my collection.

The God and the Gwisin and its predecessor will be a lovely read for fans of our infinite fates looking for a mythical tale with similar vibes.

Having read The God and the Gumiho I was thrilled to be selected to read an ARC of The God and the Gwisin!

I liked the sequel better than the first book which is 1) rare and 2) difficult to achieve. I appreciated the depth that Sophie Kim created with Soekga and Kisa with their mental health struggles and vulnerability. I appreciate how Kim has chosen to weave and retell these Korean myths and Gods in her stories keeping the tales and curiosity alive for another generation and different audiences. The twists and turns kept me on my toes and the ending epilogue has me wanting to know more about their life after their surprise visitor.

"I have wanted you before I even knew you." That entire paragraph had me in tears, I found it so beautiful. I would share more but don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC!

I LOVED The God and the Gumiho, especially the dialogue and characterization of Seokga and Hani. Given the ending of Gumiho, it's no surprise I struggled a bit with a character in Gwisin. It also takes place on a boat, which is such a difficult setting to pull off. I enjoyed it, and it made sense for where the story was heading, but it feel just short of my expectations. I still love Sophie's writing, though!

Sophie Kim has perfected this beautiful genre that mixes Korean mythology with romance, fantasy and so many giggles and murderrrr.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Seokga without Hani, but it was still such a fun element of the story to see them finding each other again, now as Seokga and Yoo Kisa!

I think this is such a fun, cute story with beautiful imagery and fun mysteries!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray for an ARC copy of this book!

4/5 stars, a fantastic conclusion to this duology.

While book one left off on a heartbreaking yet hopeful cliffhanger, The God and the Gwisin does a wonderful job of showcasing character growth from our returning characters as well as giving us well rounded and lovable new characters. The murder mystery aspect of the book was entertaining and, though it wasn't completely unpredictable, it provided a few twists and turns that kept me engaged.

Overall, The God and the Gwisin keep the K-Drama vibes that worked so well in The God and the Gumiho and offers more character growth, another investigation for our MCs, and a beautiful conclusion.

It's been almost a year since <i>The God and the Gumiho</i> took over my life like a whirlwind and it has been living rent-free in my head ever since. Naturally, its sequel, <i>The God and the Gwisin</i>, was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025. And, naturally, it did not disappoint in the slightest.

<i>The God and the Gwisin</i> took place some 30+ years after the end of <i>Gumiho</i>. Where <i>Gumiho</i> had that nostalgic '90s vibe, <i>Gwisin</i> was set in our current decade. Although you barely notice the updated technology because the majority of the book was set on a cruise ship sailing the river in the underworld. I was very glad that I'd been on exactly one (1) cruise trip in my life before because it made it very easy for me to fully imagine the setting and its atmosphere. I'll admit I was slightly worried about the setting before I started this book but Sophie Kim proved once again that it's not the setting that makes her books but its characters. The characters could be locked up in a broom closet the whole book and it still would be an entertaining feat with Seokga on the page. But because this fine specimen of a man deserves his own paragraph, I will hold off on my seokga adoration for the time being. Instead let me tell you about all the things I loved in <i>Gumiho</i> that transcended to <i>Gwisin</i>.

Just like in <i>Gumiho</i>, <i>Gwisin</i> follows a dual POV of Seokga and Kisa as they embark on solving a murder mystery. And just like its predecessor, I thoroughly enjoyed the blend of the fantastical with the modern. I mean, they're on a cruise filled with creatures and said cruise ship is filled with the most mundane attractions like cafes, casinos, and loud people splashing in the deck pools. The Big Boss of the underworld looks like a chaebol CEO who breaks hearts for a living. These gods literally have smartphones and text each other (although Seokga's texting leaves something to be desired).

If there's one thing I truly love, it's reincarnation stories. But that does not mean I'm terrified of starting one every time I do. Because what if the reincarnation romance doesn't hit as hard as its predecessor? What if the spark isn't as strong this time around or what if I prefer the characteristics of the person they previously were. While some characteristics of Kisa were vastly different from Hani, at her core, she was the same as Hani, which made Kisa's character at once refreshing and nostalgic. While Hani was absent from this book (for obvious reasons), her spirit was still there throughout the story and it was comforting in a way I didn't know I needed. I also really liked that Kisa's own voice in her POV did not sound the same as Hani's. It made it clear that these were two different people in a different timeline.

At last we've reached the Seokga paragraph. Oh Seokga, my sweet, beautiful, Seokga. My husband, my soulmate, my idol, my spirit animal. He is me and I am him and we are one and the same. What I loved about Seokga in <i>Gumiho</i> was his stinky attitude. The man hates everything and everyone. He's grumpy, he's sassy, he's petulant, contemptuous, and stubborn and although he's a grown man (god), he acts like a petty child when things don't go his way. I love him so much. I love how he's a big grump with everyone but becomes the biggest softie with his face an open book on every emotion he's feeling when it comes to the woman he loves. I loved watching Seokga's character development in <i>Gumiho</i> and how he slowly dared open up and fall in love. But I loved his character development in <i>Gwisin</i> even more. In <i>Gwisin</i>, Seokga has been longingly looking for the reincarnation of Hani for 30+ years. The beginning of this book was filled with Seokga's desperation. It made for some stellar angst that had my eyes fill with tears and my chest cave in as it caught the weight of Seokga's feelings. Whereas in <i>Gumiho</i>, where Seokga's feelings reach you as if they're behind a glass wall—visible but not truly palpable—in <i>Gwisin</i>, that wall was as shattered as the man himself. His desperate hopefulness was like a repeated punch to the gut. It made me unable to breathe. This book also made me realize how utterly lonely Seokga feels. Without Hani, he truly had no one for all these decades. Seokga is so deeply lonely at his core and it breaks my heart. I loved how Seokga was an open book in this sequel. He wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to Kisa. He never hides how he feels about her but is still very respectful of her feelings and respects her boundaries even if it breaks his heart. I also loved Seokga's development throughout the story as he came to terms with the fact that Kisa was Hani but not entirely Hani. I loved how he came to realize that Kisa is her own person while still carrying some characteristics of Hani. It was so well done in the most authentic and realistic way I can only admire it.

One last thing I absolutely must mention (and for spoiler reasons I'm going to keep this confusingly vague) is the baby. No it's not Seokga and Kisa's child (though it might as well be). But the baby in this story was so funny. I laughed my ass off with its antics especially the relationship between Seokga and the baby. If you know Seokga (the big grump) you can imagine how well he handles babies. But I also loved how the baby added that little domestic aspect in the relationship between Seokga and Kisa. It made it feel like they were a little family and it was so cute at times.

In short, I loved <i>The God and the Gwisin</i>. There was a maturity to this sequel that had not yet developed in <i>The God and the Gumiho</i> (not that I missed that maturity in the first book; the character's childish pettiness was the highlight of that book for me). But it was beautiful to see the characters I love mature after what they've been through as they find each other again.
If you're looking for books that read like a K-drama, I cannot recommend these books enough. They're funny, dramatic, witty, and have great slow-burn romance with a dash of spice. There's great action, plot twists, angst to feed off for days, and unique world-building.