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cepbreed's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
“There is no place you can go so far away from forgiveness. Not from someone who loves you.”
For the hype this book got I was slightly disappointed. The setting was lovely and the characters all worthy of adoration but the writing fell flat for me. The Spirited Away comparisons make a lot of sense but the writing fails to reflect half of how atmospheric that movie was. I found Oh’s voice clumsy at times. The young adult genre of course means that the writing isn’t going to be the most intense in the world but it’s no excuse for so much telling. Oh didn’t spend nearly enough time establishing each scene and for a book where so much happens that was detrimental to the pace. That said I really fell in love with Shin and Mina. I’m making an effort this year to read more Asian and Asian American literature and so far am off to a strong start. All the critiques I have obviously don’t mean I didn’t like this book because in reality the contrary is true. I just see so much potential in this plot and the characters that it was sad to see that unrealized.
Song:
- Pictures of Us - beabadoobee
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Blood
smileypers0n's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Abandonment
Minor: War, Child death, and Violence
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: Grief, Miscarriage, Child death, and Violence
jayisreading's review against another edition
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: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Grief
Minor: War
e_riahh's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Blood, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and War
lawbooks600's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
4.0
Representation: Asian characters
Score: Seven points out of ten.
I wanted to read this one for a while but never got around till now. I glanced the blurb, which made The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea look intriguing and enjoyable. I headed in with high expectations considering the equally high ratings. When I closed the final page of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, it was a delightful reading experience.
It starts with the first character I see, Mina, living her life when someone had to sacrifice themselves for the Sea God. According to the myth, the Sea God has cursed the land with storms and floods--a human sacrifice to become the Sea God's bride is the only solution. This time it's Mina's brother who had to sacrifice himself but Mina joins and intervenes, risking her life. I thought Mina would not survive the opening pages, but surprisingly, she enters a realm previously unknown to her, a world filled with spirits, and most prominently, the Sea God. He's younger than Mina thought, since he's only a teenager. The former half of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is tedious to read, but the pace quickly picks up during the latter half. There was more action there, but the conclusion is only okay. At least there's a high note in the end.
Score: Seven points out of ten.
I wanted to read this one for a while but never got around till now. I glanced the blurb, which made The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea look intriguing and enjoyable. I headed in with high expectations considering the equally high ratings. When I closed the final page of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, it was a delightful reading experience.
It starts with the first character I see, Mina, living her life when someone had to sacrifice themselves for the Sea God. According to the myth, the Sea God has cursed the land with storms and floods--a human sacrifice to become the Sea God's bride is the only solution. This time it's Mina's brother who had to sacrifice himself but Mina joins and intervenes, risking her life. I thought Mina would not survive the opening pages, but surprisingly, she enters a realm previously unknown to her, a world filled with spirits, and most prominently, the Sea God. He's younger than Mina thought, since he's only a teenager. The former half of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is tedious to read, but the pace quickly picks up during the latter half. There was more action there, but the conclusion is only okay. At least there's a high note in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Grief
Full trigger warnings: Near-death experience, floods and mass death in the past mentioned, death of children and others, blood, grief and loss depictionemisbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Blood and Violence
renpuspita's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.0
"Aku memang marah, tapi bukan kepadamu. Aku marah pada takdir yang diberikan kepadaku. Ketika aku sadar, agar kau bisa mendapatkan apa yang kau inginkan, aku harus kehilangan satu - satunya yang pernah kuinginkan."
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea sempat bikin heboh di tahun 2022 karena selain covernya yang menarik, ceritanya dibilang mirip animasi Ghibli, yaitu Spirited Away. Gue sih belum nonton ya, jadi ga banyak ekspektasi juga pas mulai baca. Pun, ternyata terjemahannya juga memakai cover yang sama dengan versi aslinya. Apa mungkin karena itu, untuk buku tipis ga sampe 300 halaman dengan font kecil sangat membuat mata gue berteriak "alamak!!", harganya pun hampir 100k? Hehe.
Girl Who Fell (kepanjangan, gue singkat aja) adalah adaptasi bebas dari kisah rakyat Korea, The Tale of Sim Cheong. Namanya juga adaptasi bebas (banget), jadi Axie Oh bebas mengkreasikan kisah Sim Cheong versinya sendiri. Sim Cheong memang tetap dijadikan pengantin Dewa Laut, tapi tokoh utama buku ini justru Mina, adik dari Joon, dimana Joon yang tidak rela Cheong dikorbankan berusaha menyelamatkan kekasihnya tapi Mina juga ga rela Joon dihukum mati karenanya. Dari situlah cerita bergulir, membawa pembaca pada dunia Dewa Laut yang menurut gue cukup nano - nano mitologinya. Membaca kisah Mina di dunia Dewa Laut justru mengingatkan gue sama novel The Ghost Bride, karena tokoh utamanya sama - sama berkelana di dunia para arwah. Bedanya, gue masih bisa lebih menoleransi Mina ketimbang Li Lan di The Ghost Bride.
Saat gue bilang adaptasi bebas, Axie Oh emang banyak memasukkan unsur mitologi di buku ini. Istana Dewa Laut mau ga mau mengingatkan gue sama legenda Urashima Taro dari Jepang dan gue bertanya - tanya ini dunia dewa laut ternyata tetanggaan juga sama dunia arwah dan dewa - dewi lainnya? Karena selain Dewa Laut, ada juga dewa - dewi lain, seperti Dewa Kematian yang berasa terinspirasi dari Hades dan lalu ada Dewi Bulan dan Kenangan yang gue ga tahu kenapa kok saingan sama Dewa Laut. Ga dijelasin juga sih, hahaha. Staple mitologi korea seperti gumiho atau rubah berekor sembilan pun juga ada dan Axie Oh memasukkan makhluk mitologi bernama Imugi (atau Imoogi). Imugi ini seperti naga, cuma mereka perlu 1000 tahun untuk menjadi naga beneran dan dasarnya mereka jahat. Tapi Namgi, salah satu karakter di buku ini yang nantinya jadi teman Mina, adalah imugi yang baik. Selain Namgi, ada juga Kirin, yang kalau tahu makluk2 legenda Asia, pasti dah bisa nebak Kirin ini apa lah ya.
Selain makluk mitologi, Girl Who Fell sarat dengan dongeng, karena dongeng adalah senjata Mina untuk bertahan hidup di dunia bawah laut ini selain dengan pisau yang Mina warisi dari neneknya. Dongeng - dongeng memang sangat berperan penting di buku ini, karena ada beberapa aspek dalam dongeng nantinya akan membantu Mina. Salah satu dongeng yang menurut gue unik adalah dongeng tentang tukang kayu dan bidadari, karena kesamaan dongeng ini dengan beberapa dongeng di dunia lain bahkan termasuk di Indo sendiri yaitu legenda Joko Tarub. Terus terang gue suka dengan cara Axie Oh ngecampur mitologi dan juga dongeng di buku ini, walau memang ada beberapa hal yang butuh penjelasan. Aura magis dan mengagumkan dunia Dewa Laut ini ditulis dengan cukup baik. Hal lain yang gue cermati dari buku ini adalah beberapa bagian terasa sangat melankolis dan lembut. Bagian favorit gue adalah saat Dai melindungi Miki dari serangan Imugi. Membaca bagian Dai yang bener - bener menyayangi Miki itu bikin gue sangat terharu :'). Tema keluarga memang kental banget di buku ini selain juga misteri di balik kenapa Dewa Laut dikutuk.
Gue baca beberapa review yang bilang kalau romansa antara Mina dan Shin itu agak hambar. Menurut gue, sebenarnya ga juga ya hahaha. Ini masih mendingan dan gue juga ngerasain kok perasaan Shin yang mendamba ke Mina. Mungkin karena romansanya bukan tipe slow burn ya, kan waktu Mina juga sangat terbatas di dunia Arwah jadinya kayak berasa cepet aja ini jatuh cintanya. Tapi gue tetap ngerasain kok dan romansanya pun bukan tipe yang cukup lebay. Karena buku ini pakai PoV pertama Mina seperti laiknya buku2 YA fantasy, jadi pembaca ga tahu apa yang sebenarnya Shin pikirkan tentang Mina dan kapan tepatnya pemuda ini mulai jatuh hati ke Mina karena kita hanya tahu semuanya dari sudut pandang Mina. Pun, menurut gue, kisah (hampir) cinta segitiga antara Mina, Shin dan Dewa Laut itu agak maksa dan konklusinya pun termasuk yang terburu - buru. Tanpa kisah cinta segitiga sebenarnya bisa lebih bagus sih, cuma mungkin buat bumbu - bumbu biar bikin gregetan kali ya.
Untuk stand alone YA fantasy romance, menurut gue The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea sudah cukup bagus. Ada bagian yang kurang, seperti romansa antara Mina dan Shin yang lebih bisa digali lagi dan kisah cinta segitiga yang menurut gue ga perlu - perlu banget. Banyak juga bagian yang bagus seperti penggambaran dunia Arwah, sentimen terkait dewa - dewi, tema kekeluargaan yang kental, hubungan pertemanan antara Mina dengan Namgi, maupun Mina dengan Kedok, Dai serta Miki; dan penggunaan dongeng yang membuat cerita jadi kaya. Mina sendiri emang beberapa kali bertindak gegabah tapi gue cukup suka sama gadis ini karena dia berani menentukan takdirnya sendiri. Untuk terjemahannya sendiri cukup rapi dan enak dibaca serta minim typo. Cuma ya, CUMA, fontnya sangat diirit - irit, bikin versi terjemahan ini bahkan lebih tipis dari versi aslinya yang 300 halaman lebih!
Recommended untuk yang cari YA fantasy romance yang diadaptasi dari kisah rakyat dan juga stand alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Child death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Grief
Minor: Death of parent and War
staceyinthesticks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Minor: War, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, and Child death
indigo_fox's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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? No
5.0
This book is always hard for me to put down! This story follows Mina on her journey into the spirit realm as she tries to unravel the mysteries surrounding the sea god. Each new discovery leads to another adventure and it feels like the events pile on quickly. The fast pace makes sense though since Mina is on a bit of a time crunch.
It is so easy to fall in love with these characters, even the one who is supposed to be the villain. The side characters don't get fleshed out much but you still get enough about them to get a solid understanding of their personality. Although, I wish I had more time to learn about these characters.
The story itself was fun. This is my second time reading the story but I remember being surprised at various points in the story, even when I had my suspicions about what was going on. It was just as fun to watch the mystery unravel on my reread. Things weren't any less suspenseful as I was anxious to get to the reveals I knew were just around the corner.
Overall the story was great! I always enjoy a good folklore retelling!
It is so easy to fall in love with these characters, even the one who is supposed to be the villain. The side characters don't get fleshed out much but you still get enough about them to get a solid understanding of their personality. Although, I wish I had more time to learn about these characters.
The story itself was fun. This is my second time reading the story but I remember being surprised at various points in the story, even when I had my suspicions about what was going on. It was just as fun to watch the mystery unravel on my reread. Things weren't any less suspenseful as I was anxious to get to the reveals I knew were just around the corner.
Overall the story was great! I always enjoy a good folklore retelling!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Grief, Death of parent, and War