In The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh, there is a village that is ruled by the Sea God. Unfortunately, the Sea God has been bringing many storms and floods to the village. It is said that in order to keep the Sea God from bringing worse conditions, they must sacrifice the most beautiful girl to mitigate his fury. This time around, a girl named Shim Cheong is deemed worthy by the village to be the Sea God’s Bride. However, she does not want to be taken away from her true soulmate named Joon. Joon is Mina’s (the main character) older brother. Joon is who Mina loves most, who she would do anything to save. Mina’s priceless love for her brother is demonstrated just before his lover is being prepared to be thrown into the ocean as a sacrifice. Mina jumps into the raging storm brewing in the sea and declares herself the Sea God’s bride. Once she jumps into the sea, she is transported to the afterlife where she is given just 30 days to figure out how to save her family and village. If she cannot accomplish this in the 30 days, she will officially become a spirit forever. During the month, she develops new relationships with the other spirits and finds out the truth behind the cruel conditions her village has been enduring. Mina uses her strong morals and love for her family to navigate through the afterlife as she learns to create her own path. This novel’s action-packed opening scene hooks the reader into the book. Though the parts following were more mundane, it was still interesting to read because every word was crucial to the development of the storyline. There were no unnecessary sections that bored the reader. In addition, the characters were very distinctive which is important because it makes it easier to imagine yourself within the book. This novel was consistently entertaining. I would recommend focusing on analyzing each phrase even in less action-packed moments because it helps to optimize the reader’s experience. By analyzing parts that are seemingly simple, it reveals very interesting details like the true personality, morals, and backstory of each character in a more impactful way that brings them to life. The engagement of the reader is what I believe makes the novel as enjoyable as it is.
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