"A Letter to the Luminous Deep" is the first installment of "The Sunken Archive," a fantasy series written by Sylvie Cathrall, here at her debut. An epistolary novel, made entirely of letter exchanges and automated posts, supplemented with newspaper articles, recordings, journals and various documents. A spellbinding, delicate and intimate book, characterized by extremely charming and atmospheric world building, highly elegant and evocative prose and intense characters. A story that proceeds slow and placidly, taking its time, with no particular moments of action. A tale full of explanations and anecdotes, in some moments particularly dense, which from time to time gave me a feeling of heaviness. A magical, lyrical novel that captured me completely and left me eager to read the sequel!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has been on my radar since I first saw the cover months and months ago, and yet when I started reading it, I had somehow managed to not realise it was an epistolary novel despite the title… So I won’t let you get any further into my review without knowing what this magical debut is about.

A charming fantasy set in an underwater world with magical academia and a heartwarming penpal romance, perfect for fans of A Marvellous Light and Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

A beautiful discovery outside the window of her underwater home prompts the reclusive E. to begin a correspondence with renowned scholar Henerey Clel. The letters they share are filled with passion, at first for their mutual interests, and then, inevitably, for each other.

Together, they uncover a mystery from the unknown depths, destined to transform the underwater world they both equally fear and love. But by no mere coincidence, a seaquake destroys E.'s home, and she and Henerey vanish.

A year later, E.'s sister Sophy, and Henerey's brother Vyerin, are left to solve the mystery of their siblings' disappearances with the letters, sketches and field notes left behind. As they uncover the wondrous love their siblings shared, Sophy and Vyerin learn the key to their disappearance - and what it could mean for life as they know it.

The comparison to Emily Wilde is completely spot on, and for me, it does what I wanted from the first Emily Wilde but didn’t quite get (I will be reading book two at some point and hopefully I get the delightful light academia that I’m looking for).

‘A Letter to the Luminous Deep’ has that suspended, ambiguous time period that could be the 1920s or the 40s, or it could equally be an alternative version of somewhere in the 19th Century. There’s a formality to the correspondence between E and Henerey at first, and again between Sophy and Vyerin, that only dissolves with time and intimacy and sometimes still creeps in at times. It’s charming and sweet, slow and full of that suppressed yearning that I associate with historical novels and classics that are romance (aka Austen).

I’m a big fan of underwater settings, especially when the world is shaped around it, and I’m a bit obsessed with the worldbuilding for ‘A Letter to the Luminous Deep’. Because we’re hearing the entire story through letters and field notes, it’s not until we start to get some excerpts from books shared between the correspondence that it starts to be revealed why most people live on strange floating cities or the one remaining land mass, but even by 50% of the way through the novel, my understanding of what exactly happened was shaky. It was a tad frustrating, but I just chose to suspend my disbelief and try and be a bit more patient. A slow drip of world-building is definitely better than an overwhelming info-dump!

Want to know what else made me happy when reading this book? E and Henerey.

They. Are. The. Sweetest.

I fell in love with their friendship and their burgeoning relationship really quickly, and everything that we learned about them fuelled the mystery of their disappearance and how unlikely it seemed with their personalities. I really didn’t expect the mystery element to be so compelling but it was equal footing with the romance for me which is really unusual. I think that was actually helped by the limited information we were given about the world at the start and I loved watching them unfold the mysteries surrounding them.

One of my favourite things about split narratives, whether dual POV or dual timeline, is watching them interweave and things fall into place on both sides. In this novel in particular, it really felt like the waiting paid off, and it ended up making a lot of sense outside of the necessity of the structure of the novel as we learn about what led up to E and Henerey’s disappearance, and the history of the Deep House and its creator.


I am so glad this book lived up to the gorgeous cover for me and the way that the plot developed has me incredibly excited for book two in ‘The Sunken Archives’ which the end of the book promises will be arriving in 2025!

Sylvie Cathrall’s debut is a magical light academia brimming with charm, romance and a vivid and mysterious world that’s begging to be returned to.

‘A Letter to the Luminous Deep’ by Sylvie Cathrall will be published by Orbit on 25 April 2024. Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the review copy.

Actual Rating: 4.5

A cosy fantasy, with an absolutely stunning cover, written mostly in the form of letters and set beneath the sea; how could anyone possibly resist that? I certainly couldn’t and I’m thrilled to say that my first dive into the cosy fantasy world (somehow ‘Emily Wilde’ is still on my TBR) was a resounding success. With charming characters, an intriguing setting and a delightful epistolary format ’A Letter To The Luminous Deep’ was a dream come true.

It didn’t take long for the characters within this novel to charm me. There’s something so sweet and heart warming about watching two socially awkward individuals fall in love via the written word. The romance really burrowed beneath my skin and found its way into my bones. There’s one section – involving the suggestion of a note on a window – that made me laugh and melt at the very same time. Henerey is such a warm, sweet individual that you can’t help but fall for and E is someone that I connected to in a way that I truly did not expect. As someone who struggles with severe social anxiety I felt a rare sense of acknowledgment seeing her struggles show up on the page. The OCD side of her storyline was wonderfully depicted too, capturing the sorts of intrusive thoughts and overwhelming compulsions that can consume an individual.

Possibly due to this personal connection it was E’s story that I fell into most swiftly but with time I came to adore my time spent reading letters exchanged between Sophy and Vyerin too, as well as discovering the story behind the Ridge Expedition. If anybody picks this book up with a particular interest in its deep sea setting then this dynamic will make it a must read for you. Truthfully I think I would have found myself engulfed by this side of the story sooner (as I was riveted by it once I got about a third of the way in) if I’d been more experienced with sci-fi novels as some of the terminology felt as if it was going straight over my head initially.

Besides feeling a little lost by those elements early on I adored exploring the setting and discovering a truly mesmerising world. The overall storyline went in a rather different direction than I’d initially anticipated too and by the end of it I simply could not put this book down. For the first book that I’ve read in the epistolary format in a very long time it was utterly delightful to find myself as riveted by the plot as I was charmed by its cast of characters.

Altogether I wholeheartedly recommend ’A Letter To The Luminous Deep’ and simply cannot wait to return to its world and characters with its sequel. It’s the perfect example of a cosy novel with a warm mixture of characters who can’t fail to charm you yet has a twisty plot that left me speechless by its end. Thanks to my rather unexpected affinity to E this book will also hold a special place in my heart for quite some time. Needless to say I’ll be sure to check out more by this author.

I'm enjoying this book so much I honestly can't wait to finish it to leave feedback. I'm over halfway and honestly obsessed with this writing style. Definitely reminiscent of the Emily Wilde books, but in it's own way. It's also taking me back to my days of playing bioshock! I'd love to see an illustrated version of this book given how descriptive and poetic some of the writing is. I could definitely see this as a Fairyloot/illuminate/owlcrate etc special edition.

I'm surprised by how easy it is to follow the story in the format of letters amongst a variety of different recipients. Initially I thought I might struggle to keep up, but the way it flows and all fits together is so seamless. This book has absolutely exceeded my expectations in all ways and I will definitely be buying a physical copy to add to my bookshelf.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to find treasures like this and review them for everyone else to fall in love with.

Epistolary novel set in a vaguely Victorian, steampunk-ish, watery world. Sophy and Vyerin form a bond through letters as they work through the archive of their missing siblings (Sophy's sister E. and Vyerin's brother Henerey)- who had formed their own bond through letter writing, until a catastrophic event destroys E. home and they both vanish.

Short review: Not for me, but others will probably love it

Long review: I thought I'd really like this, but it just didn't land at all and I was mostly bored reading this. I don't want to go on a long rant, so I'll try to break it down into what didn't work for me - but maybe it will for you.
- Pacing: Slow, in fact it reads like an extremely long prologue to the next book (surprise! It's a series). It was all overly wordy and I found myself skimming to reach the useful bits of information.
- Format: Entirely written as letters, messages, diaries etc. I think this was too much of a stretch for the story and would have benefitted from occasionally ditching the epistolary format. This would have helped with pacing and character development.
- Characters: As we only know the characters through the letters you need a unique voice for each one but the writing wasn't distinctive enough to tell the characters apart.
- World-building: the setting is basically background to the letter writing. Yes, there's an expedition to explore a mystery and other characters are also investigating a mystery thing but it didn't feel like a fully realised world.
- Resolution: there is none. Like I said, it's like a really long prologue.

I think many people will enjoy the epistolary format, the whimsy and the romance. Sadly, it just didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC to review. All thoughts are my own.

Prefacing this review that I applied for this novel as an ARC because it was recommended for fans of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, which happens to be my favourite fantasy series for the past year. There are not a lot of books like Emily Wilde, so I was anticipating reading A Letter to the Luminous Deep for the longest time because the synopsis sounded magical and had me rather curious. This was poor marketing by the publisher because aside from the fact that both books are not told in a more traditional storytelling format - Emily Wilde is solely by journal entries, and this is letters - there was nothing remotely comparable.

Sadly, this book didn't hit the mark for me at all. It's all letter correspondence in two different timelines, and whilst I did appreciate the further I got into the novel that dialogue or some sense of story-telling did begin, it didn't read comfortably. I found myself exasperated very early into reading with how all the letters from several different characters sounded as though they were written by the same person. All of them relied on writing in a similar format, ending their correspondence with a plethora of postscript. And I hope I never read read a book that heavily relies on bracketed content with an overuse of exclamation points like this again. It was incessant throughout this book, and it didn't matter what type of character it was that was writing, they all sounded way too enthused at every point of the way! Yes, I do come at this review with some sass but I found it extremely difficult to get a read of any individual personality traits and that made the correspondence feel like one big blur of a fever dream set underwater.

Perhaps I'm simply not the right reader for the humour and writing style expressed in this book. And that's okay. Unfortunately, I feel morally obligated to read books in full if I get them as an ARC, and this book subsequently suffers from getting a low rating because I couldn't DNF instead as I would if I had sourced it after publication.

I loved A Letter to The Luminous Deep and would highly recommend it. The unique writing style/structure is instantly interesting and draws you into the story making it hard to put down as you'll just want to read more of the letters to learn more about the characters and the mystery of the structure. I felt so immersed in the story that I didn't want it to end. I very much look forward to reading book 2! If you enjoyed Emily Wildes Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett and Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross you'll enjoy this too.

Although I loved the way that this book was written - all letters between characters - I was slightly let down by the world building. Although I expected things to be revealed slowly because of the format, I didn't expect to be quite so confused for quite so much of the book. Additionally, although the writing was beautiful and I loved the author's style, the characters didn't feel distinct. I would forget in a chapter who was writing!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchage for my honest review

3.5 rounded to 4

This book was not at all what I expected. Yes, I was aware it would be an epistolary novel, but that was where my expectations ended. I would absolutely say that promoting this book as fantasy does it a complete disservice. This is a sci-fi novel through and through, from the otherworldly setting to the complexities of the society and technology.

That being said, I struggled for a good portion of the book to fully grasp said society and world. Our understanding of it is narrowed by the book's letter-based nature, although the characters do explain a great many things to each other at multiple points. I'd say I was lost until around 40% in, and that the main exciting plot points didn't start until about 70% in.

I would suggest not picking this up if you aren't a fan of a more old fashioned type of writing. The novel has been compared to the Emily Wilde books, and while I can see why - a focus on academia, strange happenings, a different format - it is very different in style and tone.

I had a hard time completely discerning between the different voices of the characters - it seemed they all shared a writing style and at times this bothered me. I'd hoped for more distinct voices, especially between the main protagonists E., Henerey, Sophy and Vy. It made me feel a bit detached from the characters and their story.

Having said that, once the mysteries started unravelling towards the 75% mark, the tide turned (pun intended) and I started to feel more engaged. Yes, it's a bit of a slog to get there. Yes, the prose can be VERY dry and at times characters go off on strange tangents for a little too long. BUT there was something strangely charming about this submerged science-fiction world full of Victorian sensibilities and academic pursuits.

Will I pick up book two? Yes I probably will. I am very intrigued by the ending and want to know what happened to E. and Henerey.

I love when books involve the characters writing to each other whether it’s emails, letters or just little notes. So when I heard about a book which was solely told by letters I was excited to read it.

E lives in a house deep under the sea and is very isolated until she starts writing letters with Henerey as they work together to solve a mystery. E’s sister and Henerey’s brother start a correspondence to figure out what happened to their siblings.

I struggled a little at the start because of it only being letters you miss out on the more descriptive details and conversations that usually help with the world building. I think starting with a brief summary of why they are underwater and where exactly the people live would have been helpful.
Once I figured all of that out and the mysteries started I was hooked. I couldn’t wait to get to the end to find out what happened. It was great seeing how the relationships developed between each of the characters, and their reactions to reading the other letters. The author found clever ways to share conversations while still being in letter form which really helped to further the story.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot once I got used to the writing style and I can’t wait to read the next one!

This was very endearing, whimsical and cosy, but ultimately it was just... Nice.

I really enjoyed the slightly formal epistolary style, and the sense of humour, but advertising this as a romance feels a little misleading.

I thought E and Henerey were supposed to be the main romantic couple, but truthfully, Sophy and Vyerin had more chemistry, despite being a queer woman and gay man.

There was also very little variation between the 4 main character's writing style, and the timeline was a little confusing. I do think the epistolary style works better with fewer points of view.

I wish there was more background information on so many things! I wanted to know more about the Deep House, about this world in general, as it sounded amazing, but was only explored on a very shallow level.

The mystery was a little disappointing too, because there was such a long build up to it, and I was let down by the ending.

My favourite thing was probably how big a part mental health plays here, mainly anxiety, some agoraphobia. I definitely liked how E and Henerey seemed to have found another person to connect with, who understood their struggles.

This will work for people after a cosy, easy little read about nothing but academic vibes with a touch of formal humour. Just don't expect any romance or plot.

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for giving me the chance to read an ARC of this novel in exchange for am honest review.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep is an epistolary sci-fi/fantasy novel in which two of the main characters investigate the disappearance of their siblings by sorting through their letters to each other, as well as their own correspondence. It is a love story that develops on paper, alongside a mystery that spans timelines (although only about a year apart).

I'm a little divided on this one!

Let's start with what I really enjoyed. I was drawn to the book by its stunning cover (one of my favourite covers I've ever seen) and the intriguing premise. While the first part of the book felt quite slow, the last third of it was full of mystery and the intrigue kept growing! I wanted to know more about the mysterious Structure everyone kept talking about, and about the unusual creatures and patterns the main characters noticed around them. The last 25% of the novel took a rather unexpected turn, which I really liked as it took the story in a very interesting direction. I was also really impressed by the author's ability to create such a detailed world and describe it purely through letters, scientific journals and occasional interviews to characters! The deep-sea descriptions were breath-taking and I loved all the details about the creatures inhabiting this world.

Now onto what didn't convince me. The prose was extremely flowery and wordy, especially in the first half of the book! I found it quite distracting and it made reading the story much less smooth. This also slowed down the pacing quite a bit, in my opinion, so much so that I almost stopped reading after about 25%. I'm now glad I continued, but I wish the pacing had been different and supported what is otherwise a novel, interesting story!

This said, I will be getting the sequel next year as I'm really curious to find out what happened to the characters! The cliffhanger at the end of the story definitely left me wanting more. I also have lots of questions about what's to come, including what style it will be written in... as I think all the past correspondence has been explored, so there will have to be a new mean of story-telling?

★★★★.25

Dive into the whimsical depths of Sylvie Cathrall’s enchanting debut, "A Letter to the Luminous Deep," and prepare to be swept away on a magical underwater adventure!

Picture this: a reclusive soul named E. Cidnosin, tucked away in her cosy underwater abode, stumbles upon a breath taking sight outside her window. What follows is a delightful exchange of letters with the esteemed scholar, Henerey Clel. But these aren't just any letters—they're filled with scholarly musings, budding romance, and the promise of unravelling mysteries lurking beneath the waves.

As the story unfolds, tragedy strikes, and both E. and Henerey vanish, leaving behind a trail of letters, sketches, and field notes. Enter Sophy and Vyerin, the intrepid siblings left behind to solve the mystery of their disappearance. With each letter they pore over, they uncover secrets and revelations that could change their world forever.

One of the most captivating aspects of 'A Letter to the Luminous Deep' is its unconventional epistolary format. Through a series of letters exchanged between the characters, readers are drawn into a world where communication takes on a whimsical charm of its own. Each letter is a window into the characters' hearts and minds, revealing their deepest thoughts, fears, and desires in a manner that feels intimate and profoundly engaging. This unique storytelling technique not only immerses readers in the characters' lives but also adds layers of mystery and intrigue to the narrative, keeping them eagerly turning pages to uncover the secrets hidden within each correspondence.

But what truly sets "A Letter to the Luminous Deep" apart is its richly imagined world, where light academia meets magic in the most delightful of ways. From the cosy confines of Deep House to the vast expanse of the open sea, Cathrall paints a vivid tapestry of underwater life that will leave you utterly entranced.

And let's talk about the characters—each one is a gem, brimming with personality and charm. From E.'s endearing quirks to Henerey's scholarly wit, you'll find yourself falling in love with them all over again with every turn of the page. The novel offers a profound and authentic portrayal of mental health, particularly OCD, resonating deeply with readers as the author herself navigates life with OCD.

But perhaps the most magical aspect of this book is its heartfelt exploration of love, loss, and the power of connection. Through Cathrall's elegant prose, you'll be transported to a world where words have the power to heal, to comfort, and to forge bonds that transcend time and space.
While some may draw comparisons to 'Emily Wilde,' a whimsical tale in its own right, I found 'A Letter to the Luminous Deep' to be a true masterpiece. Where 'Emily Wilde' may have faltered at times, Sylvie Cathrall's debut shines brilliantly, weaving a spellbinding narrative filled with charm, mystery, and heart-warming romance. It's a story that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned, leaving readers enchanted and eager for more.

So if you're in need of a whimsical escape from the ordinary, look no further than "A Letter to the Luminous Deep." It's a treasure trove of wonder and delight—a true masterpiece that will capture your heart and leave you longing for more.

Huge thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this stunning book! All opinions are my own.

I am not sure a fully epistolary format was the right choice for this book. It would have benefitted from a hybrid approach—think This Is How You Lose the Time War—especially as seen through Sophy’s eyes. And especially towards the end, where it read like the author was contorting herself in order to find solutions to remain consistent with the format.

We spend the majority of the book going back one year in time, before E. and Henerey go missing, piecing together the time before this sudden and mysterious disappearance. E.’s sister Sophy, and Henerey’s brother Vyerin start corresponding as a way of dealing with their grief, but this soon evolves into trying to understand what happened to their siblings.

I have two main issues with this book. Firstly, as stated above, I don’t think it was told in the best format. At its core, this is a mystery book—and an interesting one. The elements could have been handled better—the inciting incident was basically forgotten past the 10% mark. Still, I wanted to know what was going on, and the sections dedicated to Sophy’s research would have been best told in a regular narrative style. Through letters, I couldn’t be as immersed in her surroundings. They felt empty, even though the deep ocean was exactly what sold me on this book.

Then there’s the matter of everyone having the exact same voice—dashes notwithstanding. Arvist and Vincenebras are more boisterous than the rest of the cast, but not distinct enough. This format is especially harsh for show-don’t-tell, but it definitely could have used some work in that regard. It did very well at making sneaky references, but then wouldn’t just show us each main character’s personality, but rather have someone else point it out or have the character themselves say it.

So this all slowed me down. There was little to hold on to in the middle section. Some reveals were purposefully postponed simply due to narrative convenience, Sophy and Vyerin’s last proper conversation gets pushed back for entire sections because their siblings letters hadn’t caught up to that point in the story, etc.

Still, I loved the bits we got from the world—the architecture, sea creatures, vague mentions of how we all ended up in the water, etc. I am very curious about what comes next. And I deeply appreciate the casual representation of queer identities. I just wish I’d had more to sink my teeth into.

This book is for you if you enjoy:
- epistolary novels
- everything sea-related
- academia (leaning more towards light, though there are some elements of dark academia)
- reading about two people falling in love through letters
- cosy mysteries linked to the environment.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Sylvie Cathrall and Orbit for the chance to read and review this book.

A LETTER TO THE LUMINOUS DEEP is a dual timeline tale of love - romantic and familial - and the mystery of an unusual object spanning both times.

There are three main strands to the book - E. and Henery getting acquainted and looking into the strange sphere, what happened at the same time on Sophy's deep sea mission, and one year later as Sophy and Vyerin try to uncover the truth of what happened to their siblings while also processing their grief.

I liked that, while E. and Henery are in some ways the focus of the book, the second most important relationship is one of friendship. Sophy and Vyerin come together to process their grief, gradually forming a fierce friendship. It's so nice to see friendships getting page time in SFF as romantasy takes over and it feels like it's pushing other relationships out.

The mystery of the sphere is engaging, particularly as it's seen from three different sides thanks to the strands. Because Sophy and Vyerin's timeline follows them swapping letters including their siblings', it meant the revelations stacked up about the same time, allowing for a lot of "oh" moments close together.

The book is told entirely through letters and document extracts. It is a deliberately stylistic choice that leads to a few contrived feeling moments of "the reader needs this info about the characters so let's find a semi-believable way to get them to write about their appearance" etc. On the whole, though, it works.

I listened to this and was glad there were four narrators; Claire Morgan, Joshua Riley, Justin Avoth, and Kit Griffiths. I liked that each of the four main characters had their own narrator as it made it much easier to keep them apart, given the book is largely in first person. There are other characters' letters and papers read, and the four narrators do read them so they were slightly harder to follow as if I missed the "letter from X to Y, year" at the start, I had to rely solely on context.

I thought this was a standalone novel but I was 5% from the end and certainly wasn't near a conclusion. It turns out it's a duology, for which I'm glad because it ends with a lot of questions unanswered, given the modern day cast are gearing up for an expedition of their own.

This has not been a good year for my most anticipated ARCs, sadly. Here, we have another book I was immensely looking forward to, but when I started noticing myself grinding my teeth while reading, well…

Epistolary novels can be amazing, but they take a special kind of skill. Here, we have four letter writers who all write like they are Quirky, Highly Self Aware, and Prone to Unnecessary Overcapitalisation. All of them sound the exactly the same, and none of them sound like real people. It doesn’t help that most of the world-building is delivered by people writing large info dump paragraphs to each other in their letters (most of whom would have no reason to talk about these things with each other), so even the underwater setting couldn’t save this one.

Here’s to more luck with my next new release…

An immersive and magical underwater world and a tender love story.
I saw this book promoted as academics falling in love over letters and it was exactly that. It’s wholesome and a delight to read. The burn is slow as is the pace of this book but that went well with the whole feel of the story. There is a multitude of mysteries to unearth and at the end there is clearly more to be learned. As the underwater setting is so vast and unexplored the story could develop any which way.
Each character had a distinct voice and mental health/quirks were present, which I liked as they felt more relatable.
Overall a nice read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Thankyou to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK | Orbit for a free ARC in exchange of an honest review!

This is my first book read that is fully comprised of letters and i have learnt that i adore this style!
It is lovely and whimsical and the way the book is split up into correspondences between multiple people really helped in keeping the pace up.
E and Henery are so cute and i wish we had more of those two however i found that i didn't dislike any of the different voices of correspondents and the side characters really add to the story. I loved the writing style- it was so descriptive and lyrical at times and the atmosphere felt kind of cosy.

Cant wait for the 2nd instalment!

5 Stars

I will be adding my review to my instagram page, closer to release day at www.instagram.com/readinglikeitsmyjob

The epistolary structure of the book is not for me, I am not usually one who enjoys this type of narrative—and yet, I could not help but be compelled by the world building and the characters. A Letter to the Luminous Deep is a beautiful, interesting story reminiscent of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. The pacing is slow and there is not a lot of narrative progression, but overall a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book!

I had the privilege of reading both the ebook and audiobook of this title, and both were great!

The audiobook performances really helped with the individual character voices over the letters, with each narrator giving a fantastic and unique performance.
The story is told through letters and records, it's an epistolary tale set in a mystical underwater fantasy world. The romance and the friendships were the absolute highlight for me, and I can't wait for the next instalment!