I was able to learn more about the culture through Kat Cho’s writing style. The novel doesn’t only serve as entertainment, but provides information and details on a culture. The characters individually struggle, but everything seems to work out in the end. I loved the book for the way it was written and how “Wicked Fox” reflected K-drama tropes. “Wicked Fox” is set out to catch a wide variety of readers and leaves them wanting more. The mix between “goblins and shamans” and “exams and bullies” makes an interesting plot line for the characters reaching their young adult years. If not a K-drama devotee, “Wicked Fox” is a heart-throbbing story with a mythical-mystery aspect. “Wicked Fox” is set in Seoul, South Korea, and Kat Cho does remarkably well at adding Korean terms and slang into the story(with a mini glossary in the back for readers unaware of the cultural terms). The imagery is well depicted and flows easily into the readers.

Miyoung and Jihoon have a relationship that the readers become invested in. This intricate relationship goes through its ups and downs, but everything happens for a reason. Miyoung and Jihoon have different personalities and come from different backgrounds, but they are naturally drawn to each other. The tropes usually found in K-dramas were scattered throughout the novel.

I would have always assumed Korean dramas, or K-dramas, to be a difficult genre to apply in book form with the emotions dramas typically prevail, but Kat Cho did an exceptional job writing her own ‘K-drama’. Miyoung’s and Jihoon’s lives continue to cross after this encounter, and drama soon starts to unfold. While she saves him, Miyoung loses her fox bead, her gumiho soul that she’ll die without. In the woods, Miyoung encounters a boy her age, Jihoon, being attacked by a goblin. With the help of a shaman, Miyoung finds a way to be the gumiho she’s destined to be without completely going against her morals. Miyoung is conflicted, dealing with the expectations of her mother and what she wants for herself. Miyoung, half human and half gumiho, struggles with the morals of a gumiho as her mother pushes her to be something she’s not. In “Wicked Fox” by Kat Cho, gumihos are portrayed as shape-shifting, beautiful women who prey on men. A gumiho, a kitsune, a nine-tailed fox: these creatures appear in tales and legends all over Asia.

The wicked fox