Title: Wicked Fox
Author: Kat Cho
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers (Penguin Random House)
Date published: June 25, 2019

A physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret–she’s a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead–her gumiho soul–in the process.

Jihoon knows Miyoung is more than just a beautiful girl–he saw her nine tails the night she saved his life. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the gumiho, of their power and the danger they pose to humans. He’s drawn to her anyway.

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon’s.

Kat Cho’s debut, Wicked Fox, was one of my most-anticipated releases of this year! I’ve actually been following along with the book’s journey on Twitter since last year and still remember when it was titled Gumiho instead of Wicked Fox! For those of you who don’t know, I am very very into kdramas (Korean dramas) and have posted about them on this blog even (although not in a while). You can find my kdrama rambles here, but back to Wicked Fox…I was very very excited for this book, and now that I’ve read it, definitely have some thoughts to share with you guys.

I was very very happy to read the first YA book set in Seoul (for me) since like I said, I love kdramas and also because I had the chance to visit Seoul back in 2017! I was transported back to the hilly sidewalks and cityscape of Korea’s capital and was very happy about this. I also thought the main characters, Miyoung and Jihoon, were very interesting and fun to read about. Additionally, I was also happy that Korean folklore was included in this book since that’s another thing I enjoy, and I was able to learn more about gumiho folklore.

On the other hand, I did, however, struggle a little with the pacing of this book and the writing style. Do keep in mind that I read an ARC of this book when I say this, but I found that there was some repetition and that certain parts of the story dragged out a little bit. I also want to keep in mind that this is the author’s first book, and know that all of these things will likely improve in her next book! This book was the first book in a series, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how the characters will develop, and how the plot will develop in the sequel when it comes out.

Again, there were many things that I enjoyed about this book and the parts that I didn’t enjoy as much are definitely things that can improve with practice and time. I recommend this book whether you’re into kdramas and Korean culture or not! There is mystery, some romance, drama, and also some funny moments to be had in Wicked Fox!

Kat Cho used to hide books under the bathroom sink and then sneak in there to read after bedtime. Her parents pretended not to know. This helped when she decided to write a dinosaur time-travel novel at the tender age of nine. Sadly, that book was not published. She currently lives and works in NYC and spends her free time trying to figure out what kind of puppy to adopt. Kat’s YA contemporary fantasy debut WICKED FOX comes out with Putnam Books for Young Readers in Summer 2019.

THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS!

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