526 reviews for:

The God and the Gwisin

Sophie Kim

4.33 AVERAGE

starcrossedstacks's review against another edition

4.0

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Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC

This book was such an emotional follow up to the first in the series! Truly there is little I can say without spoiling the conclusion of the last book, but the predicament between the FMC and MMC is heartwrenching, and the author does an AMAZING job of highlighting that beautifully (and painfully) every step of the way.

If you enjoyed the first book, you will undoubtedly have a great time with this second one. The Korean mythology woven throughout adds unique cultural depth, and that teasing tone that made me fall in love with the first book is back in full force. Also, can we talk about the himbo MMC? A vibe. I love him dearly.

jess_noack's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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: No

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An excellent follow up to The God and the Gumiho - I possibly even liked this one more. Seokga the trickster God returns and is forced on vacation by his brother, and Heavenly Emperor, Hwanin. A trip on the SC Flatliner, a cruise ship in the underworld - the pet project of it's "CEO", death God Yeomra - is what his therapist orders (she comes along with Hwanin). Seokga is exhausted after trying and failing to find his soulmate, Hani, reincarnated without much luck. Then Hwanin is murdered whole on the ship and things begin to go awry. I loved the extension of the world building from the first book and the introduction of new main Gwisin characters Kisa (a former shaman) and Hajun (a former Kpop idol) who are both dead and staffing the ship. The romance in this book is lovely, my goodness, the yearning! There are lots of twists and turns as the motive for the murder becomes clear, and I wasn't bored for a moment. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Violence, Murder

fantominaeyre's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

salmasalehk797's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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What a great sequel! It's rare for a book like The God and the Gumiho to have a good sequal. The God and the Gwisin, tho, was a great follow-up. My theory that no could ever change my mind on is that the thread is actually Hani 😂. I'm sorry, but the sass was screaming Hani 🤣.

Seokga continues to be a dumb detective, exactly like Somi kept saying. On that note, Somi was one of the best parts of this book. Her character development and redemption arc were very well written. I need to read more about her and Hajun together.

Surprisingly and ironically, the part I enjoyed most was

baby Hwanin

. All his scenes with Seokga either tugged at my heartstrings or made me cackle.

Even though I loved this book very much, I did not enjoy the romance between Kisa and Seokga. The fact that the author didn't seem to land on a proper answer for The Ship of Theseus for them didn't help. The ending pertaining to them was also not that great or well thought out, imho.

corbie16's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

sarajesus95's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

oh_hai_its_lena's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

anamsantos27's review against another edition

5.0

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Amazing , amazing , amazing , did I already said this is beyond amazing. Wow . Sophie left my heart destroyed in the book before but with this one she mended so well. I love how this book develops. The whole cruise idea was brilliant. The new characters are amazing and the old ones a fresh air. I dont want to spoil but this is everything I was hoping for when i finished the first one and did not disappointed at all. 100% bulling people into reading it because is not optional

tyches_dice's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This was such a good sequel. I started out very much on Kisa’s side of the Ship of Theseus question, and it is to Sophie Kim’s credit that she changed my mind when she changed Kisa’s. This book was a lot more romance forward than the first book, in a much sweeter way. I often found myself blushing a little reading it. 

I do think the mystery plot was just… sort of there so Kim had a plot excuse to write the sequel. I don’t personally mind that, but I will concede it does change the vibe from the first book so if you’re looking for that you might be disappointed. 

As an aside, I did literally bark out a laugh when Kopiko, the star of every k-drama since 2020, made an appearance!

meganleighr's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous 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