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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 Stars (I enjoyed it) - There are a lot of things I liked about this book, but a lot of it also felt a bit lackluster. I loved the setting on an underworld cruise ship. Reading fantasy inspired by Korean mythology and folklore is a breath of fresh air. I loved the juxtaposition between the fantasy and real world elements.
I loved the FMC and MMC as individual characters. I loved all the side characters. I think I liked the FMC in this book better than in Book 1. I think the book also has an interesting perspective on soul mates. And I loved its take on the concept of reincarnation that is present in a lot of Asian mythologies.
I liked the romance story less than in Book 1, and the development of the romance plot left something to be desired.
I also think the actual murder mystery plot was a bit underwhelming. But I loved the middle chunk of the book when our team is doing their murder investigation; I think that was when the book really shone the most.
Audiobook review
Audiobook narration: Dual narration with British female narrator and American male narrator.
Audiobook performance: 3 out of 5 (It got the job done). The audiobook was very disappointing after I enjoyed the first one so much. They switched out the female narrator because there's a different FMC in this who is British Korean. I liked her performance. The male narrator is the same from the first book, but it sounded like he had a cold or something for like half the book because the performance sounded so muffled. The male narrator also did not commit to the British accent for the FMC. So the difference in the performance between the female and male narrators was more stark and didn't feel that meshed together. I did enjoy listening for all the pronunciations of the Korean words, but listening on audio actually made them all sound more confusing to me and harder to tell the words and names apart than just reading them on the page.
Book Information
Genre: Romantic mythological fantasy
Series information: Book 2 of Fate's Thread series. Completed duology.
Steam Level: 3 out of 5 (Open door)
Romance Level: 4 out of 5 (Romance story with independent fantasy plot)
How I Read It: E-book and audiobook borrowed from Libby
I loved the FMC and MMC as individual characters. I loved all the side characters. I think I liked the FMC in this book better than in Book 1. I think the book also has an interesting perspective on soul mates. And I loved its take on the concept of reincarnation that is present in a lot of Asian mythologies.
I liked the romance story less than in Book 1, and the development of the romance plot left something to be desired.
Spoiler
So much of the book was dedicated to Seokga loving Hani versus Kisa as the reincarnated Hani. And Kisa's struggle with not being the woman Seokga fell in love with. But when they actually fall in love, it just kind of...happens. It didn't feel like the problem of Hani versus Kisa was all that fully resolved. And it felt like something was missing because even though I liked Kisa more as a character, I felt like Seokga had much more chemistry with Hani than he did with Kisa.I also think the actual murder mystery plot was a bit underwhelming. But I loved the middle chunk of the book when our team is doing their murder investigation; I think that was when the book really shone the most.
Audiobook review
Audiobook narration: Dual narration with British female narrator and American male narrator.
Audiobook performance: 3 out of 5 (It got the job done). The audiobook was very disappointing after I enjoyed the first one so much. They switched out the female narrator because there's a different FMC in this who is British Korean. I liked her performance. The male narrator is the same from the first book, but it sounded like he had a cold or something for like half the book because the performance sounded so muffled. The male narrator also did not commit to the British accent for the FMC. So the difference in the performance between the female and male narrators was more stark and didn't feel that meshed together. I did enjoy listening for all the pronunciations of the Korean words, but listening on audio actually made them all sound more confusing to me and harder to tell the words and names apart than just reading them on the page.
Book Information
Genre: Romantic mythological fantasy
Series information: Book 2 of Fate's Thread series. Completed duology.
Steam Level: 3 out of 5 (Open door)
Romance Level: 4 out of 5 (Romance story with independent fantasy plot)
How I Read It: E-book and audiobook borrowed from Libby
**POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HABENT READ THE GOD AND THE GUMIHO**
I loved this sequel so much! I was a little nervous how this would go given the ending of God and Gumiho because I really liked Hani. As it turns out, it was a nice mix of staying true to her memory while giving us a new love story as well. I loved seeing Seokga come to terms with the situation. I think his and Kisa’s debate over theory was really interesting and a great plot point from which to develop the relationship.
As far as the mystery plot goes, The God and the Gwisin is a more “cozy” murder mystery than book one. There aren’t as many action points happening and yet I found this story held my attention more than the first (which I loved). I think it was the different relationships and character interactions that really drew me in this time.
I had a theory early on about Seokga’s powers that led me to be less surprised by the big reveal at the end but I really liked how everything woven together for it. The epilogue was really sweet and leaves us with the potential for more which I find very exciting!
Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this ARC opportunity!! My thoughts are entirely my own.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is literally fantasy k-drama in a book! It’s my first time reading Sophie Kim’s work and I must say she’s an amazing storyteller. From the beginning to the end, the story is seeped in korean mythology/folklore—the setting, characters, EVERYTHING! What made me binged was the 🔪 mystery plot and not the romance plot surprisingly. You can easily guess the villain since there are only a handful of characters mentioned but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I didn’t read book 1 but still rated this (book 2) 4 stars which says a lot🤪
The only thing you’re missing out on is that the character names and mythological creatures mentioned are in Hangul romanization. Example, baegopeun gwisin means hungry ghost but there’s no explanation to that so it’ll only be another foreign word to the reader who doesn’t know korean.
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated