Once again Cho artfully balances Korean-inspired folktales, K-drama motifs, emotionally complex characters, and unpredictable plot twists. The quickly evolving narrative engages the characters in battles against supernatural beings as well as confrontations with ghosts of their pasts, both literal and figurative. The familiar crew-Miyoung, Jihoon, Junu, and Somin-plot to retrieve the soul bead, but this time it is Junu and tough-girl Somin who take the lead. Junu is given seven days to fix things and restore balance before the reaper does. He hints that the tear is possibly related to Miyoung and the soul bead she lost. Hyuk, who is a reaper, speaks of a mysterious connection between the worlds of the living and the dead-a tear that allows ghosts and malevolent spirits to visit Earth. Meanwhile Miyoung’s reluctant goblin ally, Junu, gets a visitor of his own.
But lately Yena has been haunting her dreams, cryptically speaking of the threat of a powerful enemy and lamenting that she did not adequately prepare her daughter. Half-human/half-gumiho (Korean fox demon) Miyoung recently lost her mother, Yena. When danger lurks from beyond the grave, supporting characters find themselves in the limelight in this enthralling sequel to Wicked Fox (2019). Beautiful language magically wrought beautiful storytelling magically told. Ash and Kaisa’s dance at the King’s Ball is a wild and gorgeous moment, no less so than the night Ash must spend in Sidhean’s Wood. When she does, Ash turns to Sidhean to make it possible for her to spend time with Kaisa, despite the price Ash knows she will have to pay. Ash also is slow to see Kaisa, the King’s Huntress, as the source of her own desire. He longs for her, too, in ways she is slow to understand. Ash barely notes her harsh treatment at the hands of her stepfamily, as she both longs for and fears her glimpses of Sidhean.
When her father dies and her stepmother and stepsisters move her away from the Wood to the City, she finds herself returning to her mother’s grave, where she meets the fairy Sidhean. Aisling-Ash-knows the fairy stories and lore told her by her now-dead mother, but she does not know if she believes them. An unexpected reimagining of the Cinderella tale, exquisite and pristine, unfolding deliberately.
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