If you’re a drama fan you will surely love Wicked Fox by Kat Cho. Reading the blurb of this book, Wicked Fox immediately gives me the kdrama vibe, and I like it. With Korean stories sweeping the film industry nowadays, no doubt Korean-themed book romance will surely be trending too.
The story, Wicked Fox is set in modern-day Seoul at a time when no one believes old tales because of this, Seoul is a perfect place to hide for Gu Miyoung.
Miyoung of Wicked Fox is a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who feeds on the energy of men to survive. She hunts for males who have committed crimes but have eluded prosecution every full moon. Her life is turned upside down when she kills a vicious goblin named a dokkaebi in a forest to protect a young kid who is a human.
However, after saving Jihoon’s life, Miyoung and Jihoon start a shaky friendship that gradually turns into a romance, leaving Miyoung with little choice but to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon.
The world has been swept up by Korean Romance stories. There’s no doubt about that. It is evident not just in film but in literature too, such as in the success of Wicked Fox. The intriguing romantic and dramatic storylines in Korean romance make everything seem ideal, that’s why perhaps Korean romance stories such as Wicked Fox attract most young adults.
Another thing that sets apart Korean romance is the slow-paced relationship between characters. The characters don’t even touch their hands. Eyelocks, hand-holding, embraces, kisses, and other physical contact is all made into a huge deal.
Read Drama Novel As Wicked Fox
The romance is typically less flimsy, and I like this kind of romantic development between the characters. I like how authors of Korean romance take their time to create the relationship between the characters, yet make it romantic without being more physical.
- Part 1: Plot of Wicked Fox
- Part 2: Main Protagonists of Wicked Fox
- Part 3: Most Talk Chapters of Wicked Fox
- Part 4: Review of Wicked Fox
- Part 5: Conclusion About Wicked Fox
Part 1: Plot of Wicked Fox
Miyoung of Wicked Fox feeds on every full moon. Her body will weaken in a week until he hunts to feed on the energy of men. Even though she only killed vile men still she can’t tell if she can’t convince herself that she’s not a Wicked Fox.
Killing vile men doesn’t make her benevolent. That’s how she regarded herself. Until one full moon, she rescued a young man being attacked by a dokkaebi saekki-ya, a goblin who attacked humans.
For a long time, Miyoung had been staying and roaming in Seoul once every full moon, with the help of her ally Nara, she directed every vile man he would feed on, but the night when he encountered Jihoon was different.
Since she saved Jihoon her life was turned upside down until she was faced with conflict and choices. Her life is in his hands. His heart is in hers. One hundred days to choose who lives.
Part 2: Main Protagonists of Wicked Fox
Gu Miyoung
Miyoung is the Wicked Fox. She’s wicked in the sense that she needs to kill men in order to live, but she’s just killing the bad ones to give justice to those humans who had been wronged.
In the book, Wicked Fox Miyoung is described as a teenage girl who is pretty attractive, and strong and derives power from the moon she’s hungry for gi – the energy that emanated from all living things was a death drive that demanded more feed its fire.
Ah Jihoon
Ahn Jihoon was almost certain it had been a vivid dream created by his grandmother’s words and overactive imagination when he came across Miyoung the Wicked Fox slaughtering a dokkaebi in the woods in her gumiho form.
The incident seemed surreal, though, after that his life was caught entangled with Miyoung. Jihoon was aware of how dark and treacherous the Wicked Fox is yet he couldn’t help but get involved with her, and most unexpectedly, he falls for her.
Part 3: Most Talk Chapters of Wicked Fox
Wicked Fox Chapter 2
What I like about Wicked Fox chapter 2 is the creative back story about the origin of a gumiho – “a beautiful woman loved by any man she met, but never for long. So she walked the earth alone, not quite human, but not a beast.
A fox who loved the mortals she mimicked. Until she could not love them anymore” I love this part so much that here we get not only a back story of Miyoung but of her deep characterization. In Wicked Fox chapter 2 we have been shown Miyoung’s struggle to hold on to his humanity.
Though this chapter is the most talked about because of Jihoon and Miyoung’s first encounter, the explanation of the depth of the gumiho’s character is the part that I love most.
Wicked Fox Chapter 4
In this chapter of Wicked Fox, we were given new information that a fox could actually walk in the dreams of their victims. Though Jihoon isn’t yet Miyoung’s victim, it turns out that they had the same dream last night. Another intriguing scene in Wicked Fox chapter 4 is Miyoung’s fox bead manifesting such energy that comes from Jihoon despite that she hasn’t fed on him yet.
Later on, she remembered that Jihoon touched her fox bead during their first encounter in the forest. That part gives the readers more interesting information and cliffhangers to find answers in the next chapters.
Wicked Fox Chapter 6
At this point of Wicked Fox, readers already have enough background about what a nine-tailed fox really is. A fox usually has eight tails until one incident made one ancient acquire 9 tails. Eight tails stand for power and the ninth one stands for immortality. Miyoung is a nine-tailed fox.
In Wicked Fox chapter 6, Miyoung is now studying at Jihoon’s school. Her being different gathered attention even from the bullies, but she’s not the type that could be bullied.
Part 4: Review of Wicked Fox
I am a fan of romance stories with conflicts like in Wicked Fox. The main protagonists struggle between her love for his man and her own life. She’s caught between killing him and loving him. So it’s a heavy internal struggle, and I like stories with these elements because I find them more romantic. The conflict in Wicked Fox is dramatic, dark, and meaningful.
The author establishes a world that begs for more page time and offers plenty of room for exploration. The characters, especially Miyoung, were crafted in shifting moral grays that are no less savage.
Moments of frantic action and violence pop up here and there, and the slow-paced development of the plot may be a turn-off, but I’m quite more interested in the build-up of the character of the Wicked Fox.
Perhaps what holds the readers is the eagerness to know whether Miyoung will die and choose not to feed on Jihoon or whether she will choose to retain her immortality. That’s one strong cliffhanger presented in the premise of Wicked Fox.
Part 5: Conclusion About Wicked Fox
For me, it’s the unique Korean culture that’s a hook in Wicked Fox. Here we are introduced to some terms and mythical creatures of their culture which I think is one reason why Wicked Fox was intriguing. Another good thing about this book is the strong conflict, which I mentioned a while ago.
The supernatural and human love story between Miyoung and Jihoon was more appealing because of the shades of darkness in the female character. I love that part. Another is the main characterization of the nine-tailed fox.
That “not human, not a beast,” was a creative premise for a character. Perhaps the downside of this book is that this will only be most appealing to young audiences, which I understand since Wicked Fox is young adult fiction, but this could have reached a wider audience than teenagers if the character’s age developed in the latter, but I think that would happen in Wicked Fox book 2 or in the other series.
So, all in all, yeah I would recommend Wicked Fox as a great suggestion for a YA romance fiction.
