Today I’m covering WICKED FOX by Kat Cho, the story of a teenage gumiho that has to kill to survive. Here are ten things I loved about it!
1. Miyoung:
I have to start with Miyoung. She is one of two protagonists in WF, and is a gumiho, a creature that is part woman, part fox, and has to feed on others to stay alive. Miyoung’s opening conflict is that she doesn’t like to kill people, but it’s a necessary for her own existence. Her original coping method is to only kill those that are killers, but as you might expect, things get more complicated than that. I love how interesting Miyoung is as a character, and her moral dilemma about living only at the expense of others is very compelling.
2. Jihoon:
Jihoon is the second protagonist, and in some ways the opposite of Miyoung. He’s joking and sociable while she’s a grim outcast. But there’s more beneath his surface-he has familial dramas of his own he’s still dealing with, and early on he gets a firm lesson that the world of myths is real. I love the layers to Jihoon, and the way his natural personality complements and conflicts with the rest of the cast.
3. Somin:
Somin is not nearly as big a character as the other two. She’s a childhood friend of Jihoon, and their families are so close she’s like extended family for him. I just really loved her personality-she’s witty and sometimes aloof, tough and independent but an unwaveringly loyal friend.
4. Hidden Depth:
As you might expect from the fact that the first three items on this list are characters, I really appreciated the characters in this story. I found that they all have hidden depth beneath the surface. Almost none of the characters were the same as what my first impression would lead me to think. I loved to see a cast where everyone was so complex.
5. Family Dynamics:
Family dynamics were another of this story’s strengths. Whether it’s Miyoung and her mom, or Jihoon and his mother and grandmother, WF managed to display some fascinatingly messy relationships within families.
6. The Setting:
For the most part, WF is set in modern day Seoul. This setting and the Korean culture that accompanies it infuses the story at every level. As someone unfamiliar with modern Korea, it was fascinating to read a fantasy story where that culture was out the forefront. I loved that WF embraced being set where it was, and infused that into everything.
7. The Mythos:
WF stars a gumiho, and along with that embraces elements of Korean mythology. It was so expertly done that I can’t find the line of where traditional Korean mythology ends and story specific elements begin.
8. The Romance
A subplot that really captured my heart is the romance. I don’t want to give away explicit details so you can experience it for yourself, but I loved seeing these two characters, both with a fair amount of emotional baggage, bond with one another and slip from friendship into feeling something more. I love it, and I want more of it.
9. The Dual Perspective of the Romance
I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t this the same item as the last? No. Before, I was talking about how much I love the romance. This is about the way we get to experience the romance-through both sides. In my reading experience, it seems more common to go through a romance through the head of just one side. I loved getting to see how the two participants in this romance saw each other and felt about each other, and how their feelings changed, and what they thought the other felt about them.
10. Unexpected:
More than once, there was a time I thought I knew where the story was going, and I was wrong. There were some plot developments that I didn’t expect, and others that truly surprised me. Predictable and boring were two words that could never be used to describe this book, and I highly recommend it.
That was WICKED FOX by Kat Cho. Let me know what you thought of it, and what you want me to cover next!
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