I’m a huge fan of Asian folklore and mythology, so this was a nice change to the usual western fantasy I’ve read. Jihoon’s relationship with his mother is complex and it was interesting to see someone be so cheerful and friendly in disposition despite being abandoned by both of his parents. It sucks that it took his grandmother dying for his mother to acknowledge her love for him. Sometimes people have to lose too much to be able to self reflect unfortunately. Miyoung was an amazing female lead with a complicated relationship with her human/Gumihon heritage. I think that she also didn’t understand how much her mother sacrificed for her until she was gone. I am glad that both of them at least got the time to express their love for both of their loved ones before finally saying goodbye. Her father was an excellent villain because I did not see that coming quite as clearly as I probably should have. I thought Miyoung’s mother was the villain until we got to see that daddy dearest was who we should have been watching out for. There was foreshadowing for it, but there were many moments in the story where it was hard to tell who could be trusted. The story is intricately put together and has tropes from K-dramas that have been put together creatively in a way that feels familiar, but still stands independently as its own original work.

Miyoung and Jihoon each had great character development throughout the story. Each of them was able to become more emotionally vulnerable with each other and others, something that was difficult for them to do because of all the hurt and betrayal they had gone through in the past. The side characters in the story felt very genuine and despite their flaws, showed themselves to be good friends to both Jihoon and Gumiho. The growth of both main characters was largely driven by the side characters as they encouraged both of them to grow and stop being afraid of communicating what they are feeling. Jun was probably my favorite of the side characters. Hopefully we’ll get to see more of him in the future. I’m also looking forward to seeing Miyoung’s journey in coping with being human now.

***I listened to the audiobook version of this book, so my apologies if I misspelled any of the names incorrectly, specifically Jun. Please correct me if you do have the correct spelling by commenting below. Thanks!***