Megan Mabee has been filling notebooks with her story ideas and favorite book quotes since she first began reading. She enjoys board gaming, rewatching Miyazaki movies, and building Legos with her preschooler. Megan holds a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from UNC Greensboro and a Public Librarian Certification. Megan has worked in a college bookstore and high school library, and she now loves talking books in the public library where she works and as a Bibliologist at TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.
I first encountered the phenomenon that is KPop Demon Hunters this summer. My friend described it as Sailor Moon meets Powerpuff Girls. That’s exactly my kind of thing, so I watched it soon after. I remember putting my son to bed one night and feeling too tired to pull it up on the TV, or even my laptop. I just curled up in bed and watched the movie on my phone.
Of course, I was blown away by it. The music, the humor, the friendship, the messages, the star-crossed romance, I loved everything about it. A few days later, I noticed my first grader singing under his breath. I caught the words “Soda Pop,” and discovered he’d been listening to KPop Demon Hunters songs at summer camp. We watched the movie together, and we’ve both been hooked ever since. If you’re in on the KPop Demon Hunters fandom with me, I have the perfect book recommendation for you.
The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim
In Sophie Kim’s The God and the Gumiho, Kim Hani is the legendary Scarlet Fox, a gumiho with a notorious past. Now, she lives a quieter life, working at a café and doing her best to pester one of her customers, the cranky trickster god, Seokga. In between hunting demons to make up for his failed coup of his brother’s kingdom, Seokga has discovered coffee. This would bring some shred of joy to his life if it weren’t for Hani’s infuriating café shenanigans. When a murderous demon begins wreaking havoc on their city, Hani and Seokga try to put their differences aside to stop it.
Megan Mabee has been filling notebooks with her story ideas and favorite book quotes since she first began reading. She enjoys board gaming, rewatching Miyazaki movies, and building Legos with her preschooler. Megan holds a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from UNC Greensboro and a Public Librarian Certification. Megan has worked in a college bookstore and high school library, and she now loves talking books in the public library where she works and as a Bibliologist at TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.
A number of themes overlap between KPop Demon Hunters and The God and the Gumiho, making it a perfect book for movie fans. Both draw inspiration from Korean mythology and infuse it into a modern South Korean setting, though Gumiho takes place in the 1990s fictional city of New Sinsi. They star fierce female leads who can handle themselves against demons while also having their hilarious and silly moments. As with the movie, food gets some well-deserved appreciation with Hani’s love for hot chocolate and sweet treats. Like Rumi, Hani also carries the burden of a secret as she tries to hide that she’s the Scarlet Fox from Seokga. An unexpected romance also blooms between otherworldly characters. The banter between Hani and Seokga is truly on par with Rumi and Jinu’s.
The funny asides between characters aren’t the only element that makes the romance stand out, though. Just as Jinu and Rumi feel alone in their experiences, so too do Hani and Seokga. Sophie Kim writes, “They orbit each other, two lonely planets that are drawn together.” The depth of connection and feeling the two experience makes for a touching love story.
My son and I have now rewatched KPop Demon Hunters many times, and while the entire movie delights me, there’s one moment that hits me the hardest. My heart breaks every time during the scene when Rumi asks the mother-figure in her life, Celine, “Why couldn’t you love me?” and Celine replies, “I do!” Rumi fires back, “All of me!” This message about loving and accepting all of someone, not just parts of them, is so powerful. In The God and the Gumiho, I appreciate that Hani and Seokga are flawed characters. While they sometimes make bad or morally grey choices, they grow as characters as well. They end up falling in love with each other despite all of this. They love each other for all of the things that make them who they are.
Sophie Kim captures a sweet sentiment of Seokga’s love for Hani, writing, “If sunshine were a feeling, he thinks, it would be the feeling he gets when Hani smiles like that.” I hope that watching KPop Demon Hunters and reading The God and the Gumiho will give you some of that golden, sunshine feeling, too.
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