Review: Wicked Fox by Kat Cho
There is no way that Kat Cho is not ending up on my favorite books of 2020 list. I loved this book.
Wicked Fox is a masterfully told story of Gu Miyoung, a gumiho, a beautiful shapeshifting nine-tailed fox that survives by eating the livers of men, as her very life falls into the hands of Jihoon, an aloof but kind boy who is in her class after she saves his life.
This book made me laugh, cry, swoon, and kept me up so late I literally had to stop reading because I could not physically keep my eyes open any longer. It is action-packed from beginning to end; there are multiple points that could have been plot climax worthy; it is an outright page-turner. I cannot overstate how compelled I felt to finish reading this book once I started it.
Among the stand out elements of this book were the characters. They feel authentic and will each compel you to empathize with their choices even if they seemed iffy at first glance. Miyoung and Jihoon alternate point of view, and both have excellent character arcs that I am committed to not spoiling. I also really liked the secondary characters. Yena, Miyoung’s mother, is a fascinating character. Cho revealed her backstory in such a deft and clever way that constantly kept me curious about her motives and what she was about to do in the story. Jihoon’s halmeoni, his grandmother, is someone I kind of just want to read a 1000 page book solely on her.
Cho’s exploration of familial relationships is enthralling and impressive. She weaves family secrets and pain and love throughout the character’s relationships with each other. We see echos of Jihoon and Miyoung’s childhood play out in their friendships with different characters and each other in an incredibly deft way.
I loved the interludes that told the lore surrounding gumiho. I am kind of a sucker for anything that feels like reality is being pulled into a fairytale, and these sections of the book really sold that for me. It was such a good way to flesh out the world and keep the reader invested in hearing more.
The plot is action-packed, as I have previously stated. I do not wish to spoil a single second of it; I just want to emphasize that it is nonstop in the most delicious angst-filled kind of way. It is so much fun. Cho does an excellent job of building the tension throughout the novel; she fulfills the promises the book makes.
The ending is very satisfying, and if you do not read the epilogue, it is an incredibly tidy end to a stand-alone story. Obviously, once you read the epilogue, you will be clamoring for book two, which is out August 18th, 2020, but this is such a good example of a book that has a very well contained plot while also having a larger narrative that spans more than one novel.
I went into this book with my standard open mind and came out with my heart full of how much I loved reading this book! I hope that you have a similarly enjoyable experience of reading this book. I had so much fun reading this story and am banana’s excited to get to read book two (never have I been more pleased to have an ARC of anything).
I gave this book 5-stars and recommend it across the board. Especially if urban fantasy is your thing or if you really like novels with a strong folklore/myth element.
