What hooked me immediately was the impossible reunion at the heart of the story. Tae-hee Kim has spent decades believing her twin brother Tae-soo died, only for a stranger named Kit to sit beside her and call her dongsaeng. The way Tae-hee moves from disbelief to reluctant hope feels incredibly authentic, and the emotional weight of recognizing someone you love in an unfamiliar body gives the novel its strongest moments.
I also loved the warmth of KSH House. What begins as an auction house and communal home gradually becomes the emotional center of the story, filled with people trying to rebuild their lives. Kit's growing relationship with Jong-hyun Park is handled with tenderness and patience, making the slow-burn romance feel earned rather than rushed. The found-family dynamic adds comfort even as darker truths begin to surface.
The introduction of the threlphax—ancient beings of energy bonded with human hosts—adds an intriguing sci-fi layer without overshadowing the human story beneath it. Themes of grief, identity, belonging, and love remain at the forefront, even as danger threatens the people Kit has come to care about. Of Kith and Kin is ultimately a thoughtful and heartfelt speculative novel that proves the people who choose to stay can become just as important as the family we were born into.