Wicked Fox

Ripe with K-Drama level of feels and a rich fantasy woven through, Wicked Fox is a delight from start to finish.

A fresh and addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

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. 

Wicked Fox, Kat Cho
June 25, 2019

I was so excited to get my hands on this book. Wicked Fox has everything I love: a powerful girl and a dopey boy who falls in love with her and she can’t risk falling in love with him because she may hurt him.

ALSO SHE’S A NINE-TAILED FOX.

Ahem.

This is one of these rare brands of modern fantasy that checked off every box in both romance and fantasy that I love. I don’t often go for modern fantasy stories, but Wicked Fox scratched that itch so well.

I really enjoyed Kat Cho’s writing and how immediately tense it got in the best situations. It would go from a cute high school romance to Oh No There’s A Monster type tension and it was such a wild ride. Wicked Fox hit all of those K-Drama moments perfectly, including making it feel impossible to put down. I couldn’t bear the leave the story behind for any reason. It was such a fun, intense story.

There were some part where I wish things were slightly more explained; even in just a bare description. Because the story takes place in Seoul, everything is sprinkled with Korean. I didn’t want a direct translation (I have Google for that) but I would have loved some descriptions after a Korean food name was dropped so I could get deeper into the scene.

Some of the magic and monsters could have been described a bit more. There’s a goblin-demon type monster called a dokkaebi that attacked Jihoon early in the book. They’re described as hunched, ugly goblin creatures. Later on, we meet a dokkaebi that passes as a handsome human guy and it’s never really explained why this particular dokkaebi is the way they are.

But all in all, Wicked Fox was a thrilling and emotional story that’s perfect for fans of fantasy, romance, K-Dramas, and Korean myths.

Wicked Fox publishes June 25th, 2019.

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟