Fall is officially here! And I know what you’re thinking- Umm, don’t you live in Southern California? Isn’t your fall nonexistent?
And you would be right.
In my part of the world, there’s not an abundance of leaves changing color or the need to bundle up. But that won’t stop me from getting into the seasonal spirit. And one way I do that is by reading some paranormal fiction!
So here is a list of books I would like to read during spooky season and for the rest of fall.
Wicked Fox is the last book I read in October, and it
wasn’t all I hoped it would be. This story is particularly unique as it
features a Gumiho. A Gumiho is a fox with nine tails that can turn into a
beautiful woman to lure their prey. Gumihos are believed to seduce men in order
to feed off their energy. Sound familiar? A Gumiho is the Korean name for this
legend, but other names include Kitsune and Huli jing. Although the legends
vary from culture to culture, Wicked Fox is the story of Miyoung, a Korean teen
living in Seoul, South Korea.
The story begins by introducing both Miyoung, a Gumiho
teen, and Jihoon, a human teen, in alternating POVs. Miyoung is out on a full
moon hunting a man to sustain herself while Jihoon is out walking his dog the
two collide paths when Jihoon confronts a goblin. Miyoung saves Jihoon but in
the process reveals her nine tails to him. Soon after this incident, Miyoung
becomes the new girl at Jihoon’s school, and she ignores all of Jihoon’s
attempts to befriend her. Overtime, Jihoon wears Miyoung down, and the two
become friends and start dating.
Jihoon glanced up and met Miyoung’s eyes with his, giving her a wide grin. He had a kimchi stuck in his teeth. And she hated that it made his goofy smile even more endearing.
Wicked Fox by Kat Cho
However, the bubble shatters two hundred pages in when
a Shaman ritual goes wrong, and through a sequence of tragic events, Jihoon
ends up with Miyong’s fox bead, leaving Miyoung to slowly starve. Miyoung feels
like she has no other choice but to leave Jihoon as her mother attempts to find
a way for Miyoung to live without her bead.
The story concludes with Miyoung and Jihoon fixing their mistakes and living happily ever after, or so I thought until I flipped the page to the Epilogue, which leaves the novel off on a cliff hanger!
I found myself struggling to get through the first
part of this book because I found it to be a little slow. Miyoung, during the
first half of this book, does not interact with any other kids at her school,
in fact, she tries her hardest to push them away, and it works on all of them
except Jihoon and his friends. I got tired of Miyoung constantly pushing Jihoon
away because sometimes she was nice to Jihoon while other times she was mean.
However, once everything goes wrong with the Shaman ritual, I found myself engrossed in the book once again until Miyoung decides to leave. The story becomes a bit boring as the two teens have a few more chapters of angst and longing for each other. At this point, I thought to myself what else could happen to these two? Haven’t they suffered enough?
Apparently not! The final chapters of this story
provide another wild plot twist, and I was here for it. I wanted this story to
end strong, and it did with the last scene. The epilogue reveals that not
everything is as it seems, and there is definitely a sequel coming. This
frustrated me because I just wanted this story to have a definite conclusion,
and the epilogue ruined it. I wish I could say reading the next book will give
me the answers I seek, but I am not invested enough in this story to find out
what happens next.
I would recommend this book if you love lots of teen angst and stories not set in the U.S.
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
If you are intrigued by the legend of the Gumiho and don’t mind reading subtitles, I recommend the Kdrama, “My girlfriend is Gumiho.” This Korean drama features a Gumiho, who saves the life of Dae-Woong by giving him her fox bead. Mi-ho decides to stick around, and Dae-Woong makes sure she is happy by frequently treating her to Korean Barbeque. The drama is super cute and the theme song is catchy.
Have a spooky Halloween and continue living in libros,