Reviews - The God and the Gwisin

442 reviews for:

The God and the Gwisin

Sophie Kim

4.35 AVERAGE

atlasrising41818's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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

blandrea_reads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is a sequel that follows on from The God and the Gumiho and for my reading experience that context was really important.

The God and the Gumiho gave me my foundation in Korean mythology, I spent a lot of time looking things up (and then getting distracted and accidentally learning) to have context for stuff that was given it’s original name not the English translation (ie Gumiho, and I look it up to learn that means a nine tailed fox). So while initially I felt that this was a failure in story telling, it was pointed out to me that this was a failure in my expectations. My unconscious expectation was that anything non European/English should come with an explanation. I thought back on my experience and realised how much lore I learned and how much I appreciated that I wasn’t spoon fed.

Fast forward to the God and the Gwisin, and I am armed with a better understanding and appreciation for the way Sophie Kim writes, I have my trusty resources ready to look up anything unfamiliar and I am ready to learn as part of my escapism.

The God and the Gwisin focuses on Kisa, a doctor who now lives on a Cruise ship in the underworld, Seokga has been desperately looking for Hani (see previous book). He suddenly find a red string of fate around his finger and desperate to find Hani, is surprised to find Kisa at the other end of the string. Kisa is different from Hani in so many ways and neither Kisa or Seokga really know what to do about it. To complicate matters worse, there has been a mysterious death on the ship which Seokga and Kisa have to work together to try and solve.

I had so much fun with this story. This is definitely the case where a strong foundation was laid in the first book, and I liked it, but being able to read this as the second book, I absolutely LOVED it. This gave me all the context, depth, and K drama goodness that I wanted, along with some pretty solid love across time vibes.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

krayreads's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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

hey so this shredded my heart then sewed the pieces together only to decimate it once more and gorilla glue it whole by the grace of the god.

10/10 recommend.

this series and these characters have my entire heart. i have no notes. this was adventurous, fun, GUT WRENCHING, and everything i could ever want. the writing is perfection, the characters are fully developed and wonderful, the plot was action packed and kept me on the edge of my seat, and i was in tears by the end. so yeah. READ THIS.

<i>thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc!</i>

alexandra_medley1995's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious 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

****Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced eArc in exchange for my honest opinion****

3.5 but I will gladly bump this up to 4 stars!

I was shocked at how much I ended up liking this one. It took a me a little bit to get invested in the book but once I did I finished it within a day. The part that had me constantly coming back to think on it was the Ship of Theseus theory and reincarnation. Replacing certain parts of a 'ship' does it still make it the original ship? I think the author did an amazing job exploring this unique theory.

I really loved Kisa and Seogka in this and the mutual party red string of fate that tied them (literally) together. I loved that they could hear certain lines of their thought process and I think that helped break the ice between them and minimized the miscommunication that can get SO boring. As always I looked up all the different creatures that were mentioned in the book and enjoyed learning about them.

I related to Kisa more than I did with Hani. Kisa is more quiet, factual, down to earth book lover that I can wholeheartedly appreciate. The realistic view of how she reacts to the face of her trauma was hard to read but I appreciate the emotion that went into writing it. My heart broke for her but Seogka was there to pick the pieces up.

Seogka's growth was amazing and I'm not talking about with Dr. Jang, his inner monologue about love, loss, loneliness shows great strength. He is super understanding with Kisa and that warms my heart with their intimate moments.

I'm curious to know if there will be moments with these two, would definitely recommend to others!

chaptersbydani's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

“In this swoony sequel to The God and the Gumiho, a trickster god must work with his reincarnated lost love to solve his brother's murder on board a luxury underworld cruise ship.”

This was an incredible follow-up. I was initially worried that this book was going either to be anti-climatic or too drawn out. It is a fated mates book with a visible tether between the two characters. Instead, the author did an amazing job of exploring the idea of first love vs true love. While the romance wasn’t the main obstacle in the book, it was a thriving subplot. It was angsty and fun.

That said, I have never felt as bad for a fictional character as I do for Seogka. His is just traumatized over and over and OVER. Sophie Kim is merciless to him.

Being set on a cruise ship, this feels like a fun summer romance. It is laugh out loud funny with swoony romance scenes.

I loved the cameos we got of characters from previous books as well as the new characters. This was a satisfying sequel and I’m looking forward to the next installment in the series.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

lclreads's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous funny sad

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I really struggled with this review and to be honest I nearly dnf'd the book. It failed to capture the same charm compared to it's predecessor The God and the Gumiho,

Overall the story itself is fine. The murder mystery falls a little flat, the red herrings and twists can be spotted early in the narrative. The climax of the book feels fairly rushed and there is an overall lack of tension in solving the mystery.

However, I was put off quite early on when themes of self harm and suicide were explicitly discussed without any trigger warning. Whilst handled carefully by the author, the inclusion of these in a subplot adds little to the plot or character arcs. These parts were ultimately jarring and distressing, taking me out of the narrative.

Sophie Kim is a great writer and her character voices are distinct. The romance between Seokga and Kisa is well paced and the reincarnation trope is handled very well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me early access in exchange for an honest review.

vistelimus's review against another edition

4.0

The God and The Gwisin is a light and easy read that’s perfect for when you're feeling tired, as it doesn't require too much focus. I really enjoyed it!

The pacing for this book was better than the first book, though there are still some abrupt scene transitions. However, it’s not as bad as the first one.

This book focuses more on character development, which I appreciated of course, although it did make some of the other plotlines feel a bit rushed. And while I understand that the main characters are meant to be soulmates, their relationship still felt like it progressed too fast.

That said, I still enjoyed the book overall—it was the perfect read during my hectic week.