{"id":68129,"date":"2025-08-14T04:18:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T04:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/68129\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T04:18:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T04:18:09","slug":"unlikely-partnerships-book-recommendations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/68129\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlikely partnerships | Book recommendations"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Samantha Pak
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY<\/p>\n

The God and the Gumiho<\/p>\n

By Sophie Kim
Del Rey, 2024<\/p>\n

\"\"Kim Hani has retired from a lifetime of devouring souls. She\u2019s simply too full. Now, the infamous Scarlet Fox spends her days working in a coffee shop and annoying a particularly irritating, and unfairly handsome, trickster god, whenever he stops by for a caffeine fix.<\/p>\n

Seokga the Fallen, the god in question, has been exiled from the heavenly kingdom after a failed coup and is currently working to redeem himself to be let back into Okhwang. All the while, he\u2019s forced to suffer through interactions with a particularly infuriating, but charming, gumiho barista at his favorite cafe.<\/p>\n

When a powerful demon escapes the underworld and starts killing supernatural creatures and threatening all of humanity, Seokga\u2019s brother\u2014and emperor of Okhwang\u2014offers him a bargain: Kill the demon, as well as the Scarlet Fox, and he will be reinstated as a god. Hani, of course, has no plans of being caught, so she teams up with Seokga as his assistant in the hopes of steering him away from herself, as well as catching the demon that threatens them all.<\/p>\n

As the bickering partners work on the case, they come to realize that there\u2019s more to the other than meets the eye. And of course, they start to get closer and develop feelings for each other. As a reader, I\u2019m a sucker for great banter, and this antagonists-to-lovers story has that in spades. Hani and Seokga\u2019s witty banter is a delight to read, and Kim skillfully develops their relationship so that even as it evolves, they continue to exchange sharp remarks\u2014just with a different tone.<\/p>\n

In addition to the romance, this is also a murder mystery\u2014a genre I\u2019m also a fan of. As Hani and Seokga dive deeper into the case, trying to find and kill the demon, thus saving the world from an apocalypse, Kim keeps readers guessing about who\u2019s behind the murders.<\/p>\n

Five Broken Blades<\/p>\n

By Mai Corland
Entangled: Red Tower Books, 2024<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The king of Yusan must die. And the five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together to get the job done.<\/p>\n

They all agree that God King Joon has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles have flourished, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined, or sold\u2014something each of these five blades know a little bit about. From the hired hitman trying to right some wrongs, to the assassin who just wants to be free, to the prince who was banished for his cruel crimes, they\u2019re all out for revenge.<\/p>\n

While the quintet can agree on murder and treachery, they\u2019ve spent a lifetime spinning lies. So trust among the group is hard to come by. But trust each other they must, for it\u2019s the only way they\u2019ll be able to take the crown.<\/p>\n

Told from multiple points of view, \u201cFive Broken Blades\u201d is a story of a group of very different people coming together for a common cause. True, that cause is regicide (as well as fratricide in the case of one character), but Corland shows how those differences are not as insurmountable as you may think. Each character has their own backstory and history, and it\u2019s fun to watch them slowly realize that others are more complex than they first seemed\u2014just like people in real life, whose depths often go unnoticed.<\/p>\n

One of the things I appreciated most about this story was how Corland has created one cohesive story, from many different perspectives. It\u2019s not easy\u2014especially when everyone has their one literal journey to get to the first meeting point. And it\u2019s fun to see the team get to know each other and start to work together to achieve their goal.<\/p>\n

Blood Over Bright Haven<\/p>\n

By M.L. Wang
Del Rey, 2024<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For two decades, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to studying magic, driven by the desire to become the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry.<\/p>\n

And she does it. But when she becomes a highmage, her colleagues do everything they can to make her feel unwelcome, including giving her a janitor instead as a lab assistant. What neither Sciona nor her colleagues realize is that in another life, her new assistant Thomil was a nomadic hunter who lost his family on the deadly journey from the wild plains to the city of Tiran. And now he has the opportunity to understand what happened to his people, what drove them from their homeland, and what\u2019s keeping the privileged in power.<\/p>\n

As the pair work together, they uncover an ancient secret about how magic works in their city, and it has the potential to change the course of magic\u2014and the world\u2014forever. Except it could also get them killed.<\/p>\n

For me, one of the marks of a great story is that it will make you feel something. And \u201cBlood Over Bright Haven\u201d will definitely do that\u2014though it\u2019s not always a good feeling. Although it takes place in a fantastical world, reading how certain groups of people are treated by others, simply because they are different, feels all too familiar in the world we live in today.<\/p>\n

This is the ultimate underdog story. For their whole lives in Tiran, both Sciona and Thomil have been treated like second-class citizens (and often worse), simply because of their gender and where they come from, respectively. Because of this, they\u2019ve been constantly underestimated, but their identities are exactly what makes them the right people to reveal the truth\u2014which I love.<\/p>\n

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