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A review by dae_time
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I loved the concept of this book, and the world the author created was so incredibly intriguing. However to me, everything else fell short.
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea claims to be a feminist retelling of the tale of Shim Cheong. Even so, the titular character (Shim Cheong) is replaced by Mina, a character who felt more like a self insert than a strong protagonist. Mina hardly makes any choices for herself, and the plot is progressed either by luck or by the help of the supporting characters (the plot was character driven, just not by Mina). Along with that, Mina’s personality is constantly stated, but never demonstrated (this is an issue with the overall writing, really).
In making Mina the main character, they strip Shim Cheong of any of the agency she held in the original folktale, replacing her choice to throw herself into the sea because of her love for her father with a duty that was forced upon her. Removing Shim Cheong’s agency and centering her motivation around her relationship with a boy feels more of a disservice to the original folktale (and while there are moments where it implies she could have other motivations, these moments and conversations never actually involve Shim Cheong and are never confirmed within the story).
My issues with the handling of the original myth aside, this book, especially at the beginning, made me feel like the author thought I was an idiot. Everything, especially the theme of fate, was over-explained and shoved straight into your face. Even while over-explaining things which could have been implied the book also fails to show its story and characters properly. It tells everything instead of showing.
Similarly, the beginning went so quickly, only for the middle to drag and the end to once again pick up the pace. The beginning (including the introduction to Mina, her family, and the rest of the setting) needed more time than it was given.
Another issue I had (that also is partially due to the weird pacing) was the amount of characters introduced that I simply did not care about. Most of the characters were introduced quickly, only based on Mina’s history with them (which, again, was only explained, hardly shown). Similarly, most characters lacked demonstrable personality—everything was told to the audience, not shown. While I grew to care for some characters, I felt apathetic towards others (especially Mina’s family).
The world Axie Oh created for this book would have been amazing to explore more in depth (and with some better writing). Every attempt to describe the world within the book came off as an unnatural exposition dump, which is a shame because it had so much intrigue and potential.
Overall, I think The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea was a fun read with a lot of potential that it did not fulfill because it suffered from poor writing and general mistreatment of the story that inspired it (I would hardly call stripping Shim Cheong of any agency or distinct personality she had in the original myth in order to replace her with a character who does nothing a feminist retelling of her story. This felt more like a self-insert version of the folktale than anything else).
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea claims to be a feminist retelling of the tale of Shim Cheong. Even so, the titular character (Shim Cheong) is replaced by Mina, a character who felt more like a self insert than a strong protagonist. Mina hardly makes any choices for herself, and the plot is progressed either by luck or by the help of the supporting characters (the plot was character driven, just not by Mina). Along with that, Mina’s personality is constantly stated, but never demonstrated (this is an issue with the overall writing, really).
In making Mina the main character, they strip Shim Cheong of any of the agency she held in the original folktale, replacing her choice to throw herself into the sea because of her love for her father with a duty that was forced upon her. Removing Shim Cheong’s agency and centering her motivation around her relationship with a boy feels more of a disservice to the original folktale (and while there are moments where it implies she could have other motivations, these moments and conversations never actually involve Shim Cheong and are never confirmed within the story).
My issues with the handling of the original myth aside, this book, especially at the beginning, made me feel like the author thought I was an idiot. Everything, especially the theme of fate, was over-explained and shoved straight into your face. Even while over-explaining things which could have been implied the book also fails to show its story and characters properly. It tells everything instead of showing.
Similarly, the beginning went so quickly, only for the middle to drag and the end to once again pick up the pace. The beginning (including the introduction to Mina, her family, and the rest of the setting) needed more time than it was given.
Another issue I had (that also is partially due to the weird pacing) was the amount of characters introduced that I simply did not care about. Most of the characters were introduced quickly, only based on Mina’s history with them (which, again, was only explained, hardly shown). Similarly, most characters lacked demonstrable personality—everything was told to the audience, not shown. While I grew to care for some characters, I felt apathetic towards others (especially Mina’s family).
The world Axie Oh created for this book would have been amazing to explore more in depth (and with some better writing). Every attempt to describe the world within the book came off as an unnatural exposition dump, which is a shame because it had so much intrigue and potential.
Overall, I think The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea was a fun read with a lot of potential that it did not fulfill because it suffered from poor writing and general mistreatment of the story that inspired it (I would hardly call stripping Shim Cheong of any agency or distinct personality she had in the original myth in order to replace her with a character who does nothing a feminist retelling of her story. This felt more like a self-insert version of the folktale than anything else).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death