A Fascinating First Book in a New YA Fantay Series
3.5 Stars
'Wicked Fox' is the first book in a fascinating new young adult fantasy series that combines mythology and contemporary fiction in the city of Seoul. I was really excited to read this one after seeing the description, and I guess I had pretty high hopes for it. Sadly, it didn't quite live up to them for me. Please remember that these are my own thoughts and opinions and don't reflect on the book itself. I know tons of other readers are going to love this novel. I'm just going to go right into it and tell you what I liked and what I didn't care for so much.
Like:
Characters - The two main characters in the story, Miyoung and Jihoon, were both interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them. They both had flaws and secrets, so that made them more realistic to me and I could connect a bit easier with both because of that. Since this is a love story of sorts, the blossoming relationship between the two plays a big part in the book. I normally don't like romance intertwined with other genres because it tends to overshadow the main plot. But in this case, it suited the story perfectly and wasn't super sappy - so I was okay with it.
Plot - The plot of this book was really unique and caught my attention right away. I'm not familiar with any of this mythology or folklore, so I found it very intriguing. I loved getting to know the different myths and the supernaturals found in them. I definitely think this could have been expanded on a bit more and I'm hoping the author will continue to weave this topic into the next book. The story line was pretty much a star-crossed lovers type situation, but the author obviously put her own spin on it to make it stand out from anything else out there.
Dislike:
Writing Style - This is completely on me. There were a few issues I had with the writing. First, the story was stuffed full of Korean words and names for things, which isn't a bad thing. I'm a perfectionist though, and I had no idea how to pronounce these words and kept forgetting what they meant, so they continuously tripped me up. That was a huge problem for me and I don't think I got to lose myself in the story because of it. Also, the writing is done in the third person and I'm a strong fan of the first person. This happens a lot with me and books, but I can't seem to help it. I just really like and prefer the first person because I can connect with the narrator on a deeper and more personal level - which also means I can lose myself in their world and story almost completely. I just can't get that same feeling or result with any other writing style. Again - this is totally on me and doesn't reflect on the book or writing. It's my own personal issue and nothing more.
Pace - For me, it felt like the pace of this book was so incredibly slow. It took forever for anything to really happen and then when it did, it was sort of predictable and uneventful. I kept waiting for things to pick up but they never really did. The story had a ton of potential, but the slow pace of the book definitely worked against it for me.
Overall, this was a solid and exciting first book in a new YA series that fans of fantasy, paranormal, and mythology/folklore will want to get their hands on. I'll be picking up the second book in the series when it releases to see where the author will take us next.
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
'Wicked Fox' is the first book in a fascinating new young adult fantasy series that combines mythology and contemporary fiction in the city of Seoul. I was really excited to read this one after seeing the description, and I guess I had pretty high hopes for it. Sadly, it didn't quite live up to them for me. Please remember that these are my own thoughts and opinions and don't reflect on the book itself. I know tons of other readers are going to love this novel. I'm just going to go right into it and tell you what I liked and what I didn't care for so much.
Like:
Characters - The two main characters in the story, Miyoung and Jihoon, were both interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them. They both had flaws and secrets, so that made them more realistic to me and I could connect a bit easier with both because of that. Since this is a love story of sorts, the blossoming relationship between the two plays a big part in the book. I normally don't like romance intertwined with other genres because it tends to overshadow the main plot. But in this case, it suited the story perfectly and wasn't super sappy - so I was okay with it.
Plot - The plot of this book was really unique and caught my attention right away. I'm not familiar with any of this mythology or folklore, so I found it very intriguing. I loved getting to know the different myths and the supernaturals found in them. I definitely think this could have been expanded on a bit more and I'm hoping the author will continue to weave this topic into the next book. The story line was pretty much a star-crossed lovers type situation, but the author obviously put her own spin on it to make it stand out from anything else out there.
Dislike:
Writing Style - This is completely on me. There were a few issues I had with the writing. First, the story was stuffed full of Korean words and names for things, which isn't a bad thing. I'm a perfectionist though, and I had no idea how to pronounce these words and kept forgetting what they meant, so they continuously tripped me up. That was a huge problem for me and I don't think I got to lose myself in the story because of it. Also, the writing is done in the third person and I'm a strong fan of the first person. This happens a lot with me and books, but I can't seem to help it. I just really like and prefer the first person because I can connect with the narrator on a deeper and more personal level - which also means I can lose myself in their world and story almost completely. I just can't get that same feeling or result with any other writing style. Again - this is totally on me and doesn't reflect on the book or writing. It's my own personal issue and nothing more.
Pace - For me, it felt like the pace of this book was so incredibly slow. It took forever for anything to really happen and then when it did, it was sort of predictable and uneventful. I kept waiting for things to pick up but they never really did. The story had a ton of potential, but the slow pace of the book definitely worked against it for me.
Overall, this was a solid and exciting first book in a new YA series that fans of fantasy, paranormal, and mythology/folklore will want to get their hands on. I'll be picking up the second book in the series when it releases to see where the author will take us next.
Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.