labillala 's review for:

The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim

4.5

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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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First of all, thank you to NetGalley and DelRey for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Also, there will be slight spoilers for the end of ‘The God and the Gumiho’, so if you haven’t read it, then what are you waiting for? 

 

I went into this book with high expectations, as ‘The God and the Gumiho’ was one of my favourite books of 2024 and the ending left me both devastated and excited for the sequel. 

And I can safely say that Sophie Kim delivered a satisfying conclusion to this fantasy duology!

The plot revolves around Kisa (the reincarnation of Hani’s soul and Seogka’s first love), who died on the day the red thread of fate manifested and now has to work on a cruise ship on the river of the dead where she meets Seogka (our trickster god), who has searched endlessly for her for 33 years.

But there are two complications. First, Kisa does not remember her first life or Seogka at all, and secondly, the Heavenly Emperor is murdered on the first night of the cruise (I always love an isolated murder mystery setting a la ‘Death on the Nile’).

What follows is a clandestine-ish murder investigation with faces both old and new, as well as a beautiful and careful exploration of Kisa and Seogka’s evolving relationship.

For me, a huge focus of this book was on the characters and exploring their pasts, traumas, mental health struggles and their complicated interpersonal relationships.

The author handles sensitive and heavy subjects such as suicide, depression, burn out, grief and toxic or complex familial relationships with care and manages to balance those with hopeful moments filled with connection and humor between the characters.

The relationship between Kisa and Seogka unfolds beautifully and explores what it means that while Kisa is Hani’s reincarnation, she is still her own person with her own peculiarities and characteristics. Both characters have to reflect on their feelings (and where they come from), their internal struggles and who they are to one another. 

Sophie Kim has a seemingly effortless writing style that makes it very easy to connect to the characters and to picture the different mythological creatures and surroundings. In combination with the humorous undertones and bantering, I was reminded of K-Dramas such as ‘Tale of the Nine Tailed’ (I mean that with the highest compliments!). 

Of course, the action does not fall short and though I felt the ending was a bit rushed and the reveal was not as shocking as in the first book, I enjoyed every minute of it and loved where the characters ended up. 

All in all, ‘The God and the Gwisin’ was a delightful ending to this duology and I will miss Kisa and Seogka (and foolishly hope that we get to see more of them in the future).