Reviews

This is by far one of the best books I’ve read in a LONG time! Reading the letters, learning each character’s tone of voice was so enjoyable. The characters are charming and lovable (except for Arvist but that could be from frustration with my own brother).

I loved it so much that I’m not even mad about accidentally picking up a book in an unfinished series! I would give 10 stars if I could.

hunterkat's review against another edition

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I wasn’t intrigued by the mystery at all. There were too many interruptions by the framing device, the world building made no sense when you thought about it (seriously, they have advanced deep sea tech but still have to send letters by snail mail?), and every character wrote very Properly like they were from a Jane Austen novel, and no one had their own voice.

beckylpritchett0621's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Content Warnings

creolelitbelle's review against another edition

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Over a week ago I listened to almost an hour and half of the 12 and half hour audiobook. The timelines skipped back and forth too quickly for me to keep track, and the voices of the 4 different characters blended together to the point that I found myself losing track of whose letter was being read when, even with a distinct narrator for each character. Fully establishing the story's beginning with what happened between the earlier characters and their disappearances prior to introducing the later timeline would have been helpful. The writing style seems to be the same for each pov, and that quickly becomes confusing. Beautiful cover, intriguing premise, but the execution fell flat for me.

bookook's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A lovely, sweet story. Hard to describe - Victorian, epistolary (told entirely through pieces of in-universe writing, from letters to diaries to notes scribbled on scraps of paper), romance, adventure, Meaningfully Capitalized Words, post-apocalytic but in a gentle way.

The world ended 1000 years ago, during what seems to have been Victoria times in our world. The entire world was flooded, modulo a few tolls, and people now live in boats or underwater structures. There are two sets of main characters: E. Cidnosin and Henerey Clel, two anxious people who fall in love over letters about marine creatures; and Sophy Cidnorghe and Vyerin Clel, their respective siblings, who are trying to reconstruct the circumstances of E. and Henerey's mysterious deaths based on their letters.

Turns out, E. and Henerey are probably less dead than they think.

I enjoyed this a lot, but I'm not sure it needs a sequel. I was surprised to reach the end and see "Story continues in Book Two." I think another couple chapters could have brought the story to a complete and emotionally fulfilling resolution. As is, the book feels a bit incomplete. Still, it was a very nice and enjoyable read, and I'll keep an eye out for the sequel.

maggpiebymoonlight's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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