cakt1991 's review for:

The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim

4.0

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I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own. 

I had a lot of fun with The God and the Gumiho when I read it last year, so I was excited for what was to come with The God and the Gwisin. I immediately loved how it put a fresh spin on the story and characters, not only with a bit of a time jump, but with otherworldly shenanigans involving reincarnation, as well as the continued use of the soulmate connection through the Red Thread of Fate. 

I loved the dynamics between Seokga and Kisa (formerly Hani) this time around. He’s his delightfully mischievous self, but he’s also spent a long time searching for Hani after their being parted, and now reincarnated as Kisa (who has also since died and become a gwisin), she has no memory of her former life, or him. I loved exploring her complex feelings of being confronted with this past life she can’t remember initially, especially with Kisa having led such a different life. I did love seeing the two lives begin to converge, and navigating that dichotomy of Kisa having her own personhood while having elements of Hani too. And as for her romance with Seokga, it was quite sweet. 

Atmospherically and plot wise, the story also has a bit of a different tone and external plot/goal. I loved that Kids and Seokga found each other on this creepy cruise to the underworld, and the narrative involves solving his brother’s murder. While the book suffered some of similar pacing issues to the prior one, the setting and external plot drivers kept the story moving more consistently, while the internal arcs were simultaneously developing. And while the ending of the last book was a gut-punch (remedied by the trajectory of this one), I love the choice to end this one with some pure Seokga humor, in the form of the godly equivalent of mass media. 

This was an absolute delight, I’d recommend the duology to readers who want an urban fantasy inspired by  Korean mythology and the vibes of K-Dramas!