Book Review: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

I’ve had The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh on my bookshelf for a while. I even bought it from Blackwell’s because I loved that cover just a little more than the US cover, which is gorgeous as well (it was a tough decision). I finally read it over the past week.

The novel follows Mina, a young woman whose village sends one girl every year into the sea to be the Sea God’s bride in an attempt to appease him and stop the death and despair that has cursed their land for so long. When the girl who is next up to be sent as a bride is someone her older brother is in love with, Mina sacrifices herself in order to save her brother from a broken heart. What follows is Mina’s fantastical journey through the spirit world, being guided by spirits, gods, and a red string of fate to find a way to help the Sea God and her village and family. One of the people who help her during her time there is Shin, who the red string of fate keeps connecting her to even though she is supposed to be betrothed to the Sea God.

There was something beautiful about this whole story and the world we are immersed in that I can’t quite put into words. The love that develops between Mina and Shin and the familial love we see throughout the story and the sacrifices characters make for their loved ones is beautiful. The story was a little slow at times, but overall I did really like the book. The ending was pretty bittersweet though and I wish it was a full on completely happy ending through and through (note: it is a happy ending, but like I said, is a bit bittersweet).

Read this if you are looking for an asian inspired YA fantasy romance.

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