By Kat Cho
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2019. 424 pages. Young Adult
Miyoung is a gumiho, one of Korea’s legendary nine-tailed foxes that appear as a beautiful woman. To survive, Gumiho eat the liver of men, but Miyoung doesn’t like the idea of hurting innocent people, so she seeks out the most evil and brings them to justice. One night after feeding, Miyoung comes to the rescue of Jihoon, a boy being attacked by a dokkaebi, a goblin from Korean lore. In the process of saving him she loses her fox bead, which for a gumiho is essentially her soul and free will. Recovering her bead, keeping Jihoon safe, and rising to her mother’s expectations all weigh on Miyoung as dark forces threaten to destroy her world.
Kat Cho is Korean American and thoroughly infused her story with Korean folklore and culture… and it was done well! I had to stop at one point while reading to see what the author’s background was because it felt so authentic to me. While there was a certain level of predictability due to the use of common YA fiction and Korean drama tropes, WICKED FOX blended the two in a fun, unique way. This was Cho’s debut novel, and I look forward to seeing how she’s grown as a writer once the sequel is released.
ACS
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