Gods & Comics - Softcover

Cho, Kat

 
9798217238491: Gods & Comics
Softcover
ISBN 13: 9798217238491
Verlag: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

New York Times bestseller Kat Cho returns with a fresh contemporary, fantasy romance about a teen whose life is upended when the gods in her anonymous viral web comic inspired by a forgotten Korean myth come to life and the hero falls in love with her.

Seventeen-year-old junior class president Grace Bak has her entire future all mapped out. With plans to become  a doctor like her both her parents, Grace has her sights set on Boston University’s intensive science summer program—which will put her on the fast track to medical school. 

When she’s not at school or studying, Grace writes and illustrates her webcomic, Sun God, inspired by the Korean myth of Haemosu about two teenage gods trapped in human form who are cursed to live in the modern world, and perhaps worst of all, to attend public high school. She started the comic as a way to honor her grandmother who used to tell her all the old myths before she died. Grace never expected the comic to go viral, but it has, and she’s still spinning from the excitement of having thousands of readers. But somehow the power of all those readers has conjured the real Haemosu and now it’s up to Grace to get him back to his own realm.  

As Grace and Hae try to figure out a way for Hae to return home, the two become close. Hae challenges everything Grace has ever believed about herself even making her braver in the face of her near-crippling anxiety. Hae learns he is fallible, after all and what it means to sacrifice for those you love.

But Hae isn’t the only god to find themselves suddenly trapped in the mortal realm and now a battle is on the horizon. Grace and Hae fight side by side, but in the end, will their burgeoning love keep them together or tear them apart?

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Kat Cho used to hide books under the bathroom sink and then sneak in there to read after bedtime. Her parents pretended not to know. This was helpful when she decided to write a dinosaur time-travel novel at the tender age of nine. Sadly, that book was not published. She currently lives in New York City and spends her free time trying to figure out what kind of puppy to adopt. Kat is the New York Times and international bestselling author of the Gumiho duology and Once Upon a K-Prom. Find her at KatChoWrites.com.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter 1

“Come on, come on, just upload,” Grace urged her tablet, watching the progress bar. She should have done this last night. She shouldn’t have stayed up so late tweaking the final panels over and over until she ultimately fell asleep at the desk. Speaking of . . . she rubbed at the crick in her neck.

It was her own fault. She’d spent too long revising this latest webtoon episode. But she had a regular posting schedule, and she always stuck to it.

Grace scanned the images of the final panels as the progress bar crept across the screen. The next panel showed her version of Haemosu, the Korean sun god, his handsome face submerged in water. His pale hand reached for Yuhwa, whose hair was floating around her beautiful features. Two teenage gods, trapped in human bodies, cursed to navigate the modern world. And, perhaps worst of all, attending public high school.

The perfect formula for drama and angst. Maybe that’s why it had gone viral.

She scrolled up to the previous panel. The dark outline of the water god watching her two heroes get swallowed by the raging river. Was it too soon to introduce him? No, she couldn’t doubt her decision now. The episode was about to go live.

As she willed the progress bar to move faster, Grace noticed the time. She’d been so focused on uploading the episode that now she was running late.

With a quiet curse, she grabbed her bag from the worn upholstered rocking chair in the corner. It sat under a photo of her mom sitting in the same chair, cradling an infant Grace in her arms. The blue fabric was torn and stained, and the chair didn’t even rock anymore. It probably should have been thrown away years ago, but Grace refused to part with it. She had so few things left of her mother’s.

Snatching up the first clean shirt she could find on top of the basket of unfolded laundry, she exchanged her sleep shirt for it. Then made a mental note to finally fold the laundry after school.

You’re going to forget.She heard the echo of her halmeoni’s voice in her head.

She pulled out her phone to actually add a reminder.

“Happy?” Grace replied out loud. And a part of her half expected to feel the ghost of her halmeoni smack her on the shoulder for being mouthy.

The tablet dinged, the happy chime it gave when an episode had successfully uploaded.

“Yes, good. Let’s go.” She stuffed the tablet into her bag, zipping it too fast and catching the edge of her thumb. With a pained hiss, she shoved it into her mouth as she clattered down the stairs.

She hated being late on a normal day, but today she wanted to get to school early to check on preparations for the winter carnival this weekend. And she was supposed to stop by the guidance office before homeroom.

You’re doing too much again,her halmeoni’s voice chastised her.

“I know, but I have to stay on track for the plan, right?” Grace said.

As she raced through the kitchen, she saw her father’s wallet on the counter. With a sigh, she paused long enough to text him:Forgot your wallet, don’t get pulled over on the way home or you’ll get in trouble for driving without your license.

Florida humidity practically slapped her in the face as she left the house.

It was worse than usual, and sure enough, clouds were gathering overhead.

As she buckled into her grandmother’s old Volvo, a text buzzed back from her dad:Thanks. See you guys for dinner.

You guys. Grace’s entire body went still, tingles of discomfort spreading over her scalp.

She told herself it was probably just an auto reply he’d chosen. Or thoughtless muscle memory. It hadn’t even been six months since her halmeoni had died. Her dad had so much on his mind as an emergency medicine physician. Of course he’d slip up sometimes. But it threw her off enough that her nerves buzzed.

She ran her hands over the worn steering wheel. There was still a perfect set of indents at three and nine, where Halmeoni had always held it.

Grace let her fingers settle into the grooves and took three long breaths.

With a final deep inhalation, she forced herself to focus on her driving-prep routine. She’d only had her license for a couple of months, and the routine helped her calm her nerves. Seat belt. Check. Rearview mirror. Check. Car in reverse and not drive. Check.

That last one was embarrassing, but there was still a small ding in the garage door from accidentally driving into it two days after getting her license. She would not take that chance again.

Grace clicked her cell into the dash holder and pulled up her GPS. She knew the way to school by heart, but she liked to see the traffic conditions as she drove. Seeing the small lines of red ahead of time helped dispel the stress that came with delays.

And of course as soon as she pulled onto the road, it began to drizzle. Grace hated driving in the rain (a real problem when living in Central Florida). She couldn’t bring herself to go even a mile above the speed limit for fear of hydroplaning. So, it all made her even later by the time she pulled into school. Maybe she should just skip the guidance office appointment. She knew what it would be about, a check-in asking how she was coping after last semester. Not really something she liked discussing.

The school was made of brick and concrete squares and rectangles, set up like fallen Jenga pieces around a central courtyard and sandwiched by the giant football field to the north and the more modest baseball diamond to the south. It was a cookie-cutter design from when all the suburbs realized they had an overcrowding problem in the early 2000s and built a bunch of schools while the students languished in muggy construction portables.

Overcrowding issues were slowly creeping up again, which was reflected in the jam-packed junior parking lot. Some had parked along the edge in areas that weren’t even marked spots. She drove past a spot near the front reserved for the junior class president. A silver Lexus SUV sat in it. Grace had started the school year thinking this spot would be hers to claim. And even though it had been months since she’d lost that race, it still stung a bit.

Mrs. Krol, the security guard, was driving her small golf cart across the courtyard, shouting at kids through her megaphone. She’d probably write down the license plates of kids who’d parked in non-spots.

Grace was worried she might have to go to the overflow lot, which was all the way across campus, when she found an empty spot right at the front. Plus, it had stopped raining.

Maybe today wasn’t starting out so bad after all.

She’d just turned on her blinker when a black BMW sped up, barely missing Grace’s bumper as it stole the space. She slammed on the brake, jerking forward so hard the seat belt dug into her collarbone. In the span of two seconds Grace pictured a dozen scenarios where her car was smashed to smithereens with her mutilated body trapped inside.

“Son of a bee sting!” Grace shouted. Then glared as Chuck Wilson climbed out of the BMW. His football build made him a foot taller than Grace and twice as wide, but still, she rolled down her window. “Hey! You could hurt someone driving like that!”

He didn’t even turn. “Not my fault you drive like an old grandma.”

Following traffic laws did not make her a grandma.

Grace wondered what would happen if she jumped out of her car, demanding Chuck move out of the spot and be a freaking normal human being for once instead of a self-centered ass. But she pushed that urge away. Grace...

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Verlag
Nancy Paulsen Books
Erscheinungsdatum
2026
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 13 
9798217238491
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
384
Kontakt zum Hersteller
preigu GmbH & Co. KG
mail@preigu.de

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