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A review by katharine_opal
Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
4.5
This was my first read of 2024, and I loved it! Knowing a tiny bit of Korean helps, but it's not needed to enjoy the story. This short novella fits a lot of world-building into it, and I was honestly fascinated by it the entire time. The characters felt unique and like real people; their motivations were easily understood. Han-gil is an interesting protagonist and it was fun to slowly learn more about him and his motivations as the story progressed. This story feels like something that would translate well into a television show or a webcomic! This plot is very well-paced, there were only one or two moments when it slowed down oddly, and even then it was barely noticeable. The story arc is well done and the ending wraps everything up. The only thing that hamstrings this story's weight a little bit is the length! I know it's a novella, so obviously it's going to be short. But I feel like it was longer, they could have had the time to flesh out the world a little bit more and explain precisely how some of the elements of the story work. However, this might just be because I want to know more details of how spirit sense works and why every person's way of perceiving spirit energy is different. I honestly really liked this story, and I really hope there's more written about these characters and this within this story world!
4.5
This was my first read of 2024, and I loved it! Knowing a tiny bit of Korean helps, but it's not needed to enjoy the story. This short novella fits a lot of world-building into it, and I was honestly fascinated by it the entire time. The characters felt unique and like real people; their motivations were easily understood. Han-gil is an interesting protagonist and it was fun to slowly learn more about him and his motivations as the story progressed. This story feels like something that would translate well into a television show or a webcomic! This plot is very well-paced, there were only one or two moments when it slowed down oddly, and even then it was barely noticeable. The story arc is well done and the ending wraps everything up. The only thing that hamstrings this story's weight a little bit is the length! I know it's a novella, so obviously it's going to be short. But I feel like it was longer, they could have had the time to flesh out the world a little bit more and explain precisely how some of the elements of the story work. However, this might just be because I want to know more details of how spirit sense works and why every person's way of perceiving spirit energy is different. I honestly really liked this story, and I really hope there's more written about these characters and this within this story world!