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hummingmarie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh receives 5 out of 5 stars from me. I listened to it as an audio book through my library, but would like to add it to my physical library. I would recommend it for anyone ages 12 and up.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea follows the epic journey of Mina, a young girl from a village being ravaged by storms. Her people believe that sacrificing a beautiful “bride” to the sea god will stop the storms each season. The problem this year? The sea god’s bride is the true love of Joon, Mina’s older brother. To save her brother’s heart from breaking, Mina takes the place of Shim Cheong and throws herself into the sea in her place. What follows is her journey as she struggles to navigate her way through the world of spirits. She attract the attention of many different powerful entities and must figure out which individuals she encounters are friend…and which are foe.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh: 5/5 stars. Highly recommend. FYI: Fighting and violence, closed door romance, separation from loved ones.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
klsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
OK, first off, the cover art is gorgeous.
I REALLY wanted to love this book. Loosely based on a Korean fairy tale, it follows Mina, a young girl who sacrifices herself to the increasingly violent Sea God to save her people. In a page right out of Spirited Away, she falls through the sea into the Spirit World and must find a way to break the Sea God's curse. There were quite a few lovely ideas in this novel, but they were underdeveloped, weaving circuitous plotholes that left me exasperated.
This book was confusing - sometimes barreling at break-neck speeds through assassination attempts and sometimes dragging through memories and myth. I wish the author had spent more time developing the characters and world. It was whimsical and sweet, but the pace moved so quickly that the world collapsed on itself. We barely had time to get to know anyone - most things were shown, not felt, and there was little time for lingering or angst. I wanted more lyrical, fairy-tale esque prose because of the format. Perhaps this would've worked better as a short story? There were lots of explanations and little trust in the reader, which makes me think it was written for a younger audience. That being said, I did like Mina, though she fit many of the "special, strong chosen one" tropes (which can be done well, tbf). Namgi might've been my favorite character (queer, found family, creature of myth? Sign me up).
It's possible I'm not the demographic audience, which is ok! I might not have a cultural understanding. At this moment, this book wasn't for me. I recommend it if you like Studio Ghibli, easy-read fairy tales, and Korean folklore.
(Am I a hater?? This is not the best review streak, lol).
I REALLY wanted to love this book. Loosely based on a Korean fairy tale, it follows Mina, a young girl who sacrifices herself to the increasingly violent Sea God to save her people. In a page right out of Spirited Away, she falls through the sea into the Spirit World and must find a way to break the Sea God's curse. There were quite a few lovely ideas in this novel, but they were underdeveloped, weaving circuitous plotholes that left me exasperated.
This book was confusing - sometimes barreling at break-neck speeds through assassination attempts and sometimes dragging through memories and myth. I wish the author had spent more time developing the characters and world. It was whimsical and sweet, but the pace moved so quickly that the world collapsed on itself. We barely had time to get to know anyone - most things were shown, not felt, and there was little time for lingering or angst. I wanted more lyrical, fairy-tale esque prose because of the format. Perhaps this would've worked better as a short story? There were lots of explanations and little trust in the reader, which makes me think it was written for a younger audience. That being said, I did like Mina, though she fit many of the "special, strong chosen one" tropes (which can be done well, tbf). Namgi might've been my favorite character (queer, found family, creature of myth? Sign me up).
It's possible I'm not the demographic audience, which is ok! I might not have a cultural understanding. At this moment, this book wasn't for me. I recommend it if you like Studio Ghibli, easy-read fairy tales, and Korean folklore.
(Am I a hater?? This is not the best review streak, lol).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Bullying
linefelcei's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Child death, Blood, and Grief
lunxchloe's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
I have rarely felt so much love radiating through the pages of a book as I have with this novel. What a beautiful story that has had me laughing and crying and feeling like I too need to choose my own fate.
5/5
5/5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and War
Minor: Child death, Death, and Blood
fiercereadsfiction's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death and Violence
Minor: War
smileypers0n's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Violence, and War
rileydobereading's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
bethsreading's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
This is a book I’ve had on my TBR for such a long time. Not only was the cover stunning but the story of an underwater fantasy world based on Korean folktales and the red string of fate? Absolutely yes. However, this one ended up as a disappointment for me. I think it was more of a let down because it had so much potential. There were so many incredible ideas to work with and nearly all of them fell flat or where completely under developed.
This book needed to be double the length so it actually had space to develop the world and the characters. The progression of the story is so jumpy; there is never any downtime, it just hops from plot point to plot point, and most of the time it is actually quite jarring. I wanted the story to stop and take moments to breathe and let the characters and world actually come to life — it needed the meaningful ‘filler’ moments that flesh out a story.
The world building was one of the most disappointing parts. At times you had gorgeous glimpses of a Spirited Away style, enchanting underwater spirit world, but those moments got swept away in unanswered questions about the workings of the world and many elements that really didn’t make sense at all.
My biggest issue has to be the characters. They are all so one-dimensional. The main character doesn’t feel like a real person, just a collection of tropes that are told to you, not even really shown or given proper backstory. And the side characters feel like they only exist to aid the main character and fill in plot points. A lot of the dialogue felt awkward or elicited eye rolls and the relationships between the characters and their feelings are not meaningfully developed but just told to you, so I really felt nothing for them at all.
I think I am slightly harsh on this one because it had so much potential. Some of the writing is really beautiful, the story is very compelling and unique, and the characters could have been very meaningful. But overall it ended up being underdeveloped, one dimensional, and a big disappointment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Violence, and Grief
ernea_navish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I absolutely adore this one. Picked it up blindly based on a beautiful cover and the Asian-inspired background, but ended up loving it to the max.
The writing is easy to follow, even tho for some the start might be a little bit chaotic. The plot jumps right into action, not wasting time with long introductions so some might feel lost. I personally loved it this way... You meet all the characters with the flow, learn about the world together with the characters. There aren't unnecessary filler chapters. It also felt like watching a K-Drama / C-Drama instead of reading a book.
The story-line follows a young girl, sacrificing herself out of love for her family and her people. She gets to a Spirit Realm, where she needs to help break a curse if she wants the disasters happening to her people to stop. And while doing so, she meets many more characters who either help her or try to harm her. The plot twists in there are really good. The action as well.
The romance is sweet and natural, not breaking the flow of the main plot but at the same time not being just a side story-line. The whole book just keeps you on your toes, expecting what might happen next.
Only disappointment is that the book could’ve been longer. Not in a bad way. However, some scenes would be much more magical, if they went into more details.
And the hate relationship; it really made me anxious of who Mina will end up with. And any decision she would make did make sense, which was very good. But it still made me anxious that my wished ending would not happen...
The writing is easy to follow, even tho for some the start might be a little bit chaotic. The plot jumps right into action, not wasting time with long introductions so some might feel lost. I personally loved it this way... You meet all the characters with the flow, learn about the world together with the characters. There aren't unnecessary filler chapters. It also felt like watching a K-Drama / C-Drama instead of reading a book.
The story-line follows a young girl, sacrificing herself out of love for her family and her people. She gets to a Spirit Realm, where she needs to help break a curse if she wants the disasters happening to her people to stop. And while doing so, she meets many more characters who either help her or try to harm her. The plot twists in there are really good. The action as well.
The romance is sweet and natural, not breaking the flow of the main plot but at the same time not being just a side story-line. The whole book just keeps you on your toes, expecting what might happen next.
Only disappointment is that the book could’ve been longer. Not in a bad way. However, some scenes would be much more magical, if they went into more details.
And the hate relationship; it really made me anxious of who Mina will end up with. And any decision she would make did make sense, which was very good. But it still made me anxious that my wished ending would not happen...
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Blood
jayisreading's review
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A feminist retelling of the Korean folktale, “The Tale of Shim Cheong,” The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea has a lot of heart, and it’s clear that Oh poured a lot of love into her characters and the worldbuilding. Being familiar with the original folktale, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t about Shim Cheong specifically (though she appears as a side character), but, rather, a rather headstrong and earnest sixteen-year-old named Mina. Alongside Mina is a cast of relatively memorable characters, perhaps one of the more notable ones being Shin, who ends up being Mina’s love interest. (I should note that this is definitely a slow burn romance, which won’t be for everyone—) I did find Oh’s characters somewhat weak, especially compared to her worldbuilding, but they certainly weren’t one-dimensional either. I think it was just wanting a bit more character development and time to sit with the cast. I also found the novel’s pacing a bit uneven at the start, but it really came together as it continued.
All-in-all, I enjoyed this YA novel more than I thought I would. I think I was especially taken to the emphasis on storytelling, and I really appreciated how Oh seamlessly wove in other Korean folktales into the novel through Mina.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Grief
Minor: War