Hi everyone!
I'm so excited to be doing a book review after so long, and fortunately we start up again with a book that was ethereal and beautiful. Let's talk about the newly released YA fantasy standalone story, inspired by Chinese mythology- Axie Oh's debut in fantasy.
Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Romance
Publishing Date: 22nd February 2022
Goodreads | Storygraph
Synopsis:
Axie Oh’s The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is an enthralling feminist retelling of the classic Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong,” perfect for fans of Wintersong, Uprooted, and Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.
Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, in a strange way, reminded me of Six Crimson Cranes. Those two books are very different plot-wise and by writing styles, but what sort of really clicked for me was the voice of the protagonist.
Both of the protagonist in the stories are very young, around 15 or 16, and they carry a sort of hopeful, naive world view. They still have their rose coloured glasses on, but they are also sk determined and resilient and I adored it.
"Be angry at the goddess, Mina. But never"- she grabs my trembling shoulders- "never lose your faith in her."
There were many things that I loved about this book- the writing especially.
It was so beautiful and whimsical and made me want to appreciate every sentence.
"And what would the sea god's bride once she's found him?" "She would show him her heart."
Another great thing was the world, which was so vibrant and so gorgeous and so well-done. I could easily see it in my head. It was also so rich with lore, stories, gods, goddesses and ancient magic.
Truly captivating, a most unique world than I had ever read about. If you have read any book inspired by mythology then you would find it even more interesting!
"You have to believe in something to be the God of it."
I enjoyed it all the more because it's inspired by Chinese mythology, and I had never read like that before. I'm so glad that these stories are being brought to the forefront now.
The lore is rich and and story eloquent in the way that it slowly unfolds. There are lots of little a folk tales and stories from the Chinese culture sprinkled in the book and they are a delight.
"Don't chase fate, Mina. Let fate chase you."
The protagonist, Mina, is someone so strong and intrinsically good and kind hearted; and even though I love morally grey characters I admired her strength and goodness so much. She is the kind of person who keeps everyone together and is brave. But most importantly, she will do anything to makes things right. To save her brother and his life. To save her people from the crisis they are in.
Then there is our another main character, who's a grumpy and mysterious Gid named Shin who is supposed to protect the Sea God, and is a very important side character. Through some unexpected turn of events, he gets roles into helping Mina on her quest. And true to the grumpy+sunshine trope, even though he is very moody and rigid and a little reluctant, he is a sweetheart.
We follow much of the story alongside him and Mina and their other mystical creature friends, Kirin and Namgi.
All of them just a very entertaining and heart-warming bunch as they do everything they can to help Mina on her mission to revive the Sea God and help her land.
"Only you could change your mind from a compliment to an insult halfway through."
But of course things are not gonna be that easy. There are strange accidents that happen, a few meetings with Goddesses that go wrong and only one month to put things back in order, something that hasn't been managed since generations, because after that Mina might be stuck in the Spirit Realm forever.
The place is a little on the slower slide, although not boring in anyway, personally. It also ends in the most satisfying way, with just right plot twists and emotions.
Let's Chat!
Alright, so that was it for today's post. Thank you so much for reading! Hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know any of your thoughts in the comments down below.
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