Please take in mind it’s my opinion, and everyone is allowed to have one.

This was such an enchanting and magical story, I truly liked it and would recommend to anyone who loves fantasy or reading about gods. I thought this book was interesting, but got a bit confused with all the Gods and their houses but that truly didn’t take away the whole magical aspect of the story. There were some plots and twists that were so great, some others were predictable but I honestly didn’t mind at all.

I loved all the characters, Mina was such a brave, good hearted person, so fierce. I loved to see how she experienced everything. And Shin was so good, I loved him. All the others were great as well. To see what they were.

The cover of this book is beautiful!!! And yes, I saw this book billed as influenced by Spirited Away and those elements definitely came through, which was lovely.

I was so excited to receive an ARC for The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, but I think ultimately it fell flat for me. The biggest problem, sadly, was the relationships between the characters. The love story was slow burning and then BOOM! IN LOVE! CAN'T BEAR TO BE APART! But the slow burning section was so slow that this didn't feel justified at all.

Additionally, Mina (the girl who fell beneath the sea!) makes reference to family members she misses, but we've never met them. We only really met her youngest brother before she jumped into the sea, so the references to her older brother and sister-in-law etc. mean little to me. I'm being told why I should care, but not shown. I wanted to feel their existence as actual characters, if that makes sense, rather than characters who are referenced that I'm then expected to be invested in. Considering a key part of this book leans on family, this was disappointing.

Additionally, the reveal re: Mask and co. wasn't really a reveal since it was so heavily foreshadowed. That may have been the author's intention, though!

Ultimately, I think this would have been a stronger read for me if we'd seen Mina interact with all of her family before she ended up in the spirit world, and if the romance had been given a stronger foundation.

I thought this was well-written and had some lovely world-building, and I did like reading it, despite the 'flatness' of certain elements, so I'm rounding this up to a 4.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

We follow Mina whose town is suffering because of the curse thrown upon by the Sea God. Now, people sacrifice a women a year to make her the Sea God's bride, the only one able to stop the curse. Mina is not this year's chosen one, but in order to save her future sister in law and her brother's happiness, she throws herself onto the sea.
Heavily inspired by "Spirited Away" we see how Mina along with some spirits and some other important people " cough cough our boy Shin, tries to end the curse so the living world can live happily ever after.

First of all, i love Mina with all my heart. She is brave yet scared, strong yet weak at times, she is a flawed person and i love her for that. Though my favourite character has to be Mask.
I don't have a lot to say bsides i liked it a lot. The characters were really well made and the only problem i had with it was that the romance felt under developed a little bit. I felt like i needed more scenes between the two of them to feel that connection

Many thanks to Netgalley/Author/Publisher for an advanced copy of this book!

Oh wow is this book great! From the cover being absolutely beautiful to the story being filled with fascinating characters and a great plot! I loved it every step of the way.

I can see the references to Spirited Away, and it didn't disappoint. I loved the action, and the build-up and everything about the Sea god!

The only thing I would have changed is how quickly the main characters fell in love, the build-up started nice and slow then all of sudden they are in love, it would have been a lot better in my opinion if they had continued with the slow build-up!

Other than that, this book is amazing and I will be purchasing it on the release date!

Axie Oh gives us a fascinating new world in 'The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea', with a story that feels both simple and complex at the same time.

There is only one YA trope that this book suffers from, namely insta-love (I wish the book could've taken place over a longer timeframe than one month!). The relationship between Mina and Shin didn't do much for me as a result. However, that's really my one main complaint. The other relationships with other characters were tender and poignant, and I actually found my eyes stinging towards the end of the book - something that hardly ever happens when I read!

Oh's prose is a delight to read, too - her style is sparing, yet vivid, and absolutely reminiscent of Spirited Away as other reviewers have noted. One final thing to note is that the book tends towards the younger YA market, with the writing style and some of the interactions between the characters feeling more middle-grade than upper YA.

I look forward to seeing what Oh writes next.

(With thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)

I loved The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea so much!
It was such an easy read and I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day.
Also the comparison to Spritited Away is definitely accurate as this book had quite a few scenes that reminded me of the movie.
I think the only negative about this book is that I guessed the twist from the very beginning but it didn't bother me at all as it was just written so beautifully.
Also the cover of this book is absolutely stunning!
Thank you netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

this book was so easy to read and i was hooked from the beginning. i really liked most of the characters, however i did feel like the amount of characters being introduced was quite a lot. it took some time for me to detangle all of that inside my head.

i also wish the relationship between mina and shin had more of a build up. it starts out as a slow burn and then the tide suddenly turns for no apparent reason.

unfortunately i also guessed the plot twist about the sea god about halfway through, but there were still some other things that left me quite shocked so that was really good!

overall it was a quick and fun read and i enjoyed reading it!

Thank you Net Galley and the publishers for the eARC

I loved the cover and synopsis of The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea and was really looking forward to reading it.

This story is a retelling of the Korean folklore tale of Shim Choeng, Mina is the main female character and bravely sacrifices herself to protect others.
I feel like the story started halfway through the action and although there's back history given I feel like I was missing out as I wasn't familiar with the original folklore.
I felt I was lost and confused in certain parts.

Axie Oh's writing is really creative, it really captured the story and the description made the reader feel like part of that world.

Though I did find it a bit hard to follow I would recommend this to others to try as it was a nice read. I did like the folklore behind this retelling.

Oh my gosh I adored this book. As soon as I saw the cover I knew I wanted to read it and then when I read it is a retake on a Korean legend/myth I knew I needed it even more, so I was so excited to be given the chance to read it.
I loved it, the writing was amazing, the setting was stunning and the characters were so well developed and endearing. I loved the relationships within the book also, which really brought extra depth to the emotions of the story.
I really enjoyed it and will definitely reread it over and over.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers Hodder & Stoughton for this arc.
I loved this book so much. It has become one of my favourite books that I have read this year and I cannot wait to have the final copy when it is out next year. The relationship that Mina had with her family was beautiful to read and I teared up quite a few times whilst reading this. There was not one character that I didn't like, Shin and Mina were just adorable, the writing was amazing and I could really picture everything in great detail as if I was actually there! I also loved the Korean culture and mythology that was in this book. I highly recommend this book!

This book was absolutely beautiful. With nods to The Little Mermaid and Spirited Away, it was an entity unto itself as we traveled with Mina on her fantastical adventure in the spirit world on a mission to convince the Sea God to save her village from the awful storms. The references to Korean culture and mythologies are also an important representation that we need in our literature. Reading this story shows the possibilities of their own strengths, and the importance of family. I highly suggest this book to anyone and everyone! You won't regret this read.

This book was SO AMAZING!! I'm a big fan of the movie 'Spirited Away' and a big fan of Axie's book so I was really excited to read this! It is safe to say I loved this book a lot. I loved all the characters - Mina, Shin, Namgi, Kirin, Mask, Dai & Miki. I really enjoyed how this book was mainly set in the spirit realm and had a deep focus on bonds, relationships and family! Speaking of relationships, Shin and Mina!!! AAAA!!! They were both so amazing and I loved them together. I will definitely recommend this book to everyone </3

I will post a longer review on my socials closer to the publishing date! Thank you so much Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC!