Peasreads:Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim

Publication date July 28, 2026.

Fishbone Cinderella follows a family for multiple generations. It weaves in the story of fishbone Cinderella, Ye Xian (Yeh-hsien), a 9th-century Chinese folktale regarded as one of the oldest Cinderella variants. This is a poignant story about love, belonging, mistakes made, finding yourself, and letting others see who you truly are.

Elizabeth Lim's storytelling is descriptive, and her characters are flawed yet real. Throughout the story you can see how our history and experiences can shape us. Lim addresses generational trauma and curses and weaves them into the fabric of each character with care.

There are different settings in the story, from wartorn villages in China and Hong Kong, to city life in those places, to life in America. Lim's portrayal of immigrants settling into life in America tugged on my heartstrings. It reminded me of stories my parents and family have shared about their experiences fleeing from their homes due to war and coming to America. With nothing but the clothing on their backs and the language of their country on their tongues. It was difficult. Heartbreaking at times, but survivors survive. 

This is a beautiful story. 

Description

A mother and daughter must break their family’s curse through trials of war and immigration, love, loss, and redemption in this riveting multi-generational saga with a shimmer of magic, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Forgery of Fate.

1940s Hong Kong

When Japanese soldiers invade her hometown, Ha Yut Ying makes an unlikely escape—by turning invisible. But her miraculous survival is only the beginning. After the war is over, she’s sent to Hong Kong to live with her distant father and glamorous stepmother, who end her dreams of becoming a singer and turn her into the family’s servant. As the years pass, Yut Ying learns the hard truths of betrayal and ambition, of forbidden love and devastating loss, and discovers that sometimes the only way to endure is to disappear.

1960s San Francisco

Marigold has always had a knack for uncovering secrets, but nothing prepares her for the day she accidentally witnesses her mother vanish before her eyes. The moment fractures their bond, leaving questions that shadow her entire childhood. But when her mother’s condition suddenly deteriorates, Marigold is convinced she’s the only person who can save her. To do so, she must journey into the secrets her mother never shared and uncover the tragic, fairytale-tinged history their family has fought to forget.

A story of mother and daughters, the scars they inherit and the magic that binds them, Fishbone Cinderella is a tender and enchanting exploration of what it means, at last, to be seen.

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Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey, for this galley. I was under no obligation to leave a review. All opinions are my own. 

Peasreads: The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim

Magical. Just as good as and maybe even a smidge better than the first book The God and the Gumiho. Seokga is ever the moody, trickster who has searched for Hani's reincarnate. When he finds her she not only doesn't remember him but she is almost the opposite of Hani. Watching Seokga fall in love with  Yoo Kisa for who she is was such a treat.  Sophie Kim is quickly becoming a must read author for me.

Description:

In this swoony sequel to The God and the Gumiho, a trickster god must work with his reincarnated lost love to solve his brother’s murder on board a luxury underworld cruise ship.

Seokga the No-Longer-Fallen is working on himself. Reinstated as a god, the trickster now attends much-needed therapy, even as he desperately searches for his lost love, Hani. But when the red thread of fate tangled around his finger—signaling Hani’s reincarnation—leads Seokga to a luxury cruise down the river of the dead, the woman he finds waiting for him isn’t Hani . . . she’s Yoo Kisa, and she has no memory of him.

Yoo Kisa is exhausted with her afterlife. While she’d hoped the underworld would be peaceful, whoever she was in a past life racked up quite the karmic debt, and now she must pay it, working thanklessly aboard the SRC Flatliner. Even worse, the red thread wrapped around her pinky followed her into the underworld . . . and although her fated partner has found her, he seems to find her lacking.

When the heavenly emperor is murdered aboard the ship, Seokga and Kisa must solve the crime before the cruise ends. As the mystery draws them closer, the god and the gwisin will have to decide what they truly mean to each other. But there’s something bigger at play aboard the SRC Flatliner, something that holds the key to Kisa and Seokga’s fated connection—and the fate of the mortal and heavenly realms.

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I received this book from NetGalley for this review. I was under no obligation to give a positive review. All opinions are  my own. 

Peasreads: The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim

One of my favorite reads so far this year!

This story about a Korean diety (Seokga)

who has lost everything and is sent to the moral world to earn his powers and position back. His job is to catch demons that tried to help him take over as top god. He is on the hunt for a notorious gumiho. 

The Gumiho, Hani is a nine tailed fox. She is powerful, witty, smart, funny.  She inserts herself into the investigation to throw Seokga off her trail. 

These two characters are fun, snarky, smart, and determined. It's a battle between two strong characters both with everything to lose. Will they risk it all in the end? 

The flow of this book is a good steady one with some twists. In the end I was surprised. I cannot wait for the second installment.  If you like folklore, mythology, kitsune\gumiho, Asian stories read this book! I will definitely add this title to my personal library.

 

Publisher description. 

They'll do anything to outsmart each other. Anything, except fall in love.

In this delightful Korean contemporary fantasy, a fallen trickster god must pair up with a coffee-slinging, shapeshifting fox to track down a demon of darkness before it devours the mortal world.

Kim Hani - the once-terrible gumiho known as the Scarlet Fox - spends her days working at a café and trying not to let a certain customer irk her.

Seokga - a trickster god thrown from the heavens for his attempt at a coup - spends his days hunting demons and irking a particular gumiho.

When a demon of darkness escapes the underworld, and the Scarlet Fox emerges from hiding before quickly vanishing, Seokga is offered a chance at redemption: kill them both, and his sins will be forgiven.

But Hani is prepared to do anything to prevent Seokga from bringing her to justice, even trick her way into his investigation. Anything, that is - except fall in love . . . 

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Amazon reviews Katereviews.

Goodreads reviews.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was under no obligation to give a review. All opinions are my own. I am disclosing this per the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Peasreads: Fathomfolk (Drowned World, #1) by Eliza Chan

Folklore, mythology, magic, mystical creatures, East and South East Asian vibes. This book is a great read if you like all of these things. It is the first in the Drowned World series. Fathomfolk live in the depths of the Ocean that has become polluted by humans, and some of them live among the humans. Fleeing the polluted waters as refugees. They are seen as less and looked down upon. This story touches on classism, racism, and how different people deal with living in these conditions. Mira the half-siren tries to do things "by the book" though she is well aware that the humans are oppressing all Fathomfolk. Nami the dragon is a little hot-headed, she wants change, and she knows the source of her people's pain. She joins an extremist group. 

Both will have to decide if change is worth the price they each will pay. Stakes are high, lives are lost. Freedom the goal.

Such a fantastic book! I highly recommend it.

 Description

Revolution is brewing in the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi, between humans and the fathomfolk who live in its waters. This gloriously imaginative debut fantasy, inspired by East Asian mythology and ocean folk tales, is a novel of magic, rebellion and change.