Special thanks to Montlake for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: I love romance and fantasy, but until now, I don’t think I’ve read a book inspired by Asian mythology that isn’t in the YA category. So, I was very excited about getting my hands on a copy of Nine Tailed, and while there were elements I enjoyed a lot, I admit that not all of it worked for me. The world-building inspired by Korean mythology was fantastical and I also loved that the author’s enthusiasm for the mythology and characters came through in the writing. I also think the romance and interplay between the MCs will be favoured by those who love Maas and JLA’s romance fantasies and this will be most enjoyed by those who loved their books.

The pace is very fast and there’s a lot of action and fight scenes that keep the story’s momentum moving rapidly. Even with the heavier world-building elements that were a bit scattered, it didn’t slow the pace down at all! The Korean mythology-inspired world is vast and sometimes admittedly confusing but I was eager to learn more about the folktales and magical beings that exist in Korean lore. I’ve read about dokkaebi and gumiho before but not the wider scope of magical beings and creatures that exist in this book. The story is told in a mix of present-day and flashback chapters and while I’m not always on board with “flashbacks” in general I appreciated the chapters we get that share the histories and other tales linked to Sunny and Ethan’s arcs. These chapters spell things out very clearly for the reader so there are no surprises if you can put 1+1 together and while readers won’t be a fan of this, I didn’t mind it.

Our main character, Sunny was complicated. On the one hand, she’s this standoffish, grumpy gumiho who has been hiding her powers for centuries out of fear and guilt. She’s lonely but is terrified of getting too close to anyone because her past taught her that attachments only lead to heartache and loss. But on the other hand, she cares deeply and even when she refuses to admit it, she would do anything to protect the people who, despite her best attempts at dissuading them, have wormed their way into her life and heart. I admired her strength to endure centuries of self-imposed loneliness but I admittedly wasn’t the biggest fan of how her character was written as the story progressed. I felt there was so much more to her character that could’ve been explored and expanded on but the author chose to make her come across as a petulant boy-crazy teenager. She constantly vacillates between being angry at Ethan and wanting to push him away and at the turn of a dime, obsessing over his good looks and worrying about his safety. Her thoughts are repeated on a constant loop and it honestly became a bit tiring to read after a while only because there was no progression. Seeing as how the book is titled Nine Tailed, I was a little disappointed to find that we don’t nearly spend enough time seeing Sunny as a gumiho and neither do we really see her deal with the issues she has being a gumiho as a result of her past trauma.

Much like how Sunny’s character was reduced to a young woman who didn’t know what she wanted or needed to do, I found the instalove romance to be intrusive to the point that it took away from the main plot. I’m all for romance as a major subplot but again, the repetitiveness of Sunny’s thoughts about Ethan’s looks and her inexplicable feelings for him overshadowed the main plot of defeating the bad guy. I’m gonna be straight with you here: Sunny is horny AF and that’s no biggie until it ends up taking over her thoughts at the most inopportune moments. 😅 This to me was the same cringe equivalent as having a sex scene in the middle of a battle scene (iykyk!!). Like, girl, you don’t need to be ogling this man and letting the intrusive thoughts win while you’re being attacked by hordes of terrifying demons. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Sadly, this happened a lot and instead of taking the time to process and parse through all of the incredible events that take place, Sunny never stopped letting the horny thoughts win.

That said, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a found family in this story! I’m not sure why I didn’t expect it but I’m glad the author wrote them in. The crew we’re introduced to towards the end were fun additions to the story; even if bits of their personalities and interactions set off the corny cringe meter. Especially their modern vernacular, the use of slang, jarring references to pop culture, and their very teen-esque tone that lent the book a very YA feel. That said, they still managed to make me laugh out loud at their silliness and I admired their bad-assery too! Despite their goofy behaviour, you can tell they care deeply about each other and they take their roles seriously. I’m excited to learn more about them as the series continues!

On the whole, while some elements didn’t 100% work out for me, I can appreciate this story and the passion the author put into it. I’m keen to see where the story goes next and how Sunny evolves as she faces the hard truths she’s left with head-on.

Have you read Nine Tailed or is it on your TBR?

• Follow me on Goodreads!
• Follow me on Bluesky
• Follow me on Instagram!
• Follow me on Twitter!