A review by kulaaid
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, by Axie Oh
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.0
I am always a sucker for a mythology or fairy-tale retelling, and this book did not disappoint. This was a new twist on the Korean myth "The Tale of Shim Cheong" with elements of the author sprinkled throughout.
I gave this a solid 4 stars because it was a very whimsy book and well done for a debut book. As the author states in her acknowledgements that this was also a book about family and I felt it. I felt it to the core in the book. It felt like what the Main Female Lead (Mina) went through had the wellbeing of her family in mind, even when things seemed selfish at times. I felt quite swept away like I do with Miyazaki films (which the author referenced being a fan of in her about the author section), but it also quite reminded me of "Bride of the Water God" by Yun Mi-kyung (the book even referenced a girl named Soah).
It did however, lose one star for me because many of the characters felt very not complete and the reader only gets hints of backstories which I wish were more suss'd out. I really wanted to see more meaningful interactions between the characters, other than ones that are there to advance the plot. And it felt like poor Mina was going from one catalyst to the next without a lot of down time to further world build. But not all stories need that to be good.
Overall, this YA fantasy was the book I needed to get me out of a reading slump and rekindle the feeling of enjoyment for reading for readings sake. I can't wait to see how the author grows and what she brings next to readers.
I gave this a solid 4 stars because it was a very whimsy book and well done for a debut book. As the author states in her acknowledgements that this was also a book about family and I felt it. I felt it to the core in the book. It felt like what the Main Female Lead (Mina) went through had the wellbeing of her family in mind, even when things seemed selfish at times. I felt quite swept away like I do with Miyazaki films (which the author referenced being a fan of in her about the author section), but it also quite reminded me of "Bride of the Water God" by Yun Mi-kyung (the book even referenced a girl named Soah).
It did however, lose one star for me because many of the characters felt very not complete and the reader only gets hints of backstories which I wish were more suss'd out. I really wanted to see more meaningful interactions between the characters, other than ones that are there to advance the plot. And it felt like poor Mina was going from one catalyst to the next without a lot of down time to further world build. But not all stories need that to be good.
Overall, this YA fantasy was the book I needed to get me out of a reading slump and rekindle the feeling of enjoyment for reading for readings sake. I can't wait to see how the author grows and what she brings next to readers.