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A review by kimreads14
Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley, Interstellar Flight Press, and Sam Kyung Yoo for providing me with this ARC
4,5 ⭐️ rounded up to 5 ⭐️ for NetGalley and GoodReads.
This was an absolute banger for me!!
So bear with me. I don't really do novellas. Once in a while, I'll pick one up but I always find them lacking either in world-building or character-building. But Small Gods of Calamity had none of these issues!! In 151 pages (according to my NetGalley app), Sam Kyung Yoo manages to create a fascinating world of spirits, and a cast of characters who are perfectly unperfect.
Sam Kyung Yoo also manages to touch upon queerness and transphobia in an elegant way. These topics can be so rough and complicated to touch upon, and yet they manage to do so by allowing the characters to be something other than just their sexual or gender identity.
I was fascinated with the paranormal aspect of the story and loved the added mystery elements. I wish that Wonshik (Hang-gil's partner) had been more present in the story, especially at the end. A bit of a missed opportunity for me I think, as having a "non-spirit practitioner" (is that how we should refer to them?) discover this world.
Finally, I absolutely loved the complicated relationship between Hang-gil and Yoonhae. From their rough start to their new comfort around each other in the end. I'm hoping we'll get to see more of these two in hopefully later books.
So why not a full 5 ⭐️ rather than 4.5 ⭐️.... I WANTED MORE!!! More of the story, more of Wonshik, and more of Hang-gil and Yoonhae's relationship... hard to do with only 151 pages I know! But I guess that's a me problem.
EDIT: I FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT THE COVER ART 😱 It's so beautiful, I love it. I also really appreciated that a small bio and link to the artist's website were included in the book. In my book (see what I did here 👀), Riotbones really managed to catch the essence of this book.
4,5 ⭐️ rounded up to 5 ⭐️ for NetGalley and GoodReads.
This was an absolute banger for me!!
So bear with me. I don't really do novellas. Once in a while, I'll pick one up but I always find them lacking either in world-building or character-building. But Small Gods of Calamity had none of these issues!! In 151 pages (according to my NetGalley app), Sam Kyung Yoo manages to create a fascinating world of spirits, and a cast of characters who are perfectly unperfect.
Sam Kyung Yoo also manages to touch upon queerness and transphobia in an elegant way. These topics can be so rough and complicated to touch upon, and yet they manage to do so by allowing the characters to be something other than just their sexual or gender identity.
I was fascinated with the paranormal aspect of the story and loved the added mystery elements. I wish that Wonshik (Hang-gil's partner) had been more present in the story, especially at the end. A bit of a missed opportunity for me I think, as having a "non-spirit practitioner" (is that how we should refer to them?) discover this world.
Finally, I absolutely loved the complicated relationship between Hang-gil and Yoonhae. From their rough start to their new comfort around each other in the end. I'm hoping we'll get to see more of these two in hopefully later books.
So why not a full 5 ⭐️ rather than 4.5 ⭐️.... I WANTED MORE!!! More of the story, more of Wonshik, and more of Hang-gil and Yoonhae's relationship... hard to do with only 151 pages I know! But I guess that's a me problem.
EDIT: I FORGOT TO TALK ABOUT THE COVER ART 😱 It's so beautiful, I love it. I also really appreciated that a small bio and link to the artist's website were included in the book. In my book (see what I did here 👀), Riotbones really managed to catch the essence of this book.