It’s not that often that I opt to read teenage fiction, but when
this gorgeous book cover dropped in my inbox, I couldn’t resist giving this
short but engaging book a chance.
The Girl
Who Fell Beneath the Sea (Due for publication 22nd February 2022 by Feiwel & Friends) is a magical feminist retelling of the
classic Korean legend of Shim Cheong, the Devoted Daughter:
The myth states that
Shim Cheong’s mother died when she was born, and her father was blind and
unable to work. One day her father was crossing a bridge when he fell into a
river, a passing monk saw the man drowning and jumped into the river and saved
him. The monk told the blind man that if he offered Buddha three hundred seoks
of rice, he would regain his eyesight.
The blind man could
not afford to buy so much rice, but when he told his daughter, she knew what
she had to do. She had heard that some sailors would pay good money for a girl
as an offering to the Sea-God. Rather than tell her father the truth, she told
him a family had agreed to adopt her and she left with the sailors. Shim Cheong
jumped into the roaring sea as a sacrifice. When she awoke, she was unaware
where she was, but a voice told her she was in the Sea King’s palace, and he
was so moved by her tale that he had ordered she be returned to the land of her
birth.
Shim Cheong was
returned to the sea in a lotus blossom where she was found by the sailors. They
presented the lotus blossom to their king and when he touched it Shin Cheong
walked out. The King fell in love with Shin Cheong and they were married, but
he couldn’t help notice her sadness. She told the king her story and so he
threw a party for all the blind people in the country in the hope of finding
her father. Her father was still blind, despite his offering to Buddha, so he
arrived at the party and was reunited with his daughter and they all lived
happily ever after.
Deadly
storms. An ancient curse. Will her sacrifice save them all?
Axie Oh has taken the basis of Korea’s famous legend and given
the tale a new protagonist, Mina. For generations, deadly storms have ravaged
Mina’s homeland. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now
curses them with death and despair. To appease him, each year they choose a young
woman to be thrown into the sea, in the hopes that one day the ‘true bride’ of
the Sea King will be chosen and his love and affection for his new bride will
bring an end to the suffering.
The people have chosen Shim Cheong to be the legendary true
bride, but she and Mina’s beloved elder brother Joon are already in love. On
the night Cheong is to be sacrificed to the Sea God, Joon follows her out to
sea, despite knowing that to interfere with the sacrifice carries a death
sentence. Mina loves her brother a great deal and cannot bear to witness how
sad her brother is, so she follows her brother, and when the times comes for
Shin Cheong to be sacrificed, Mina throws herself into the waves instead.
Mina is swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of
lesser gods and mythical beasts. Here she finds the Sea God, trapped in an
enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man and a motley crew of
demons, gods and spirits, Mina, who remains in human form, sets out to wake him
and bring an end to the storms once and for all. The clock is ticking…a human
cannot live long in the land of the spirits and there are many in the Spirit
Realm who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…
“The myths of my people say
only a true bride of the Sea God can bring an end to his insatiable wrath. When
the otherworldly storms rise from the East Sea, lightning breaking the sky and
waters ripping up the shore, a bride is chosen and given to the Sea God.
Or sacrificed, depending on the
measure of your faith.
Every year the storms begin and
every year a girl is brought to the sea. I can’t help wondering if Shim Cheong
believes in the myth of the Sea God’s Bride. If she’ll find comfort in it
before the end.
Or perhaps she sees it as a
beginning. There are many pathways destiny can take.
For instance, there’s my own
path—the literal path before me, stretching narrowly through the waterlogged
rice fields. If I follow this path, it’ll eventually lead me to the beach. If I
turn around, the path will take me back to the village.
Which destiny belongs to me?
Which destiny will I grasp onto with both hands?
Even if it were up to choice,
it wouldn’t really be mine to make. For though a large part of me longs for the
safety of home, the pull of my heart is infinitely stronger. It tugs me toward
the open sea and to the one person I love beyond destiny.
My brother, Joon”
I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed I this book. The plot
was engaging, as were the characters, and the book was never overly
sentimental. Mina was a compassionate character who cared a lot about her
family and her people. Entering the realm of the Sea God allowed Mina to face
some harsh truths and secrets, but with the help of the friends she made on the
way she was able to come to terms with the realities of life.
Shin, who she first meets in the palace of the Sea King is equally
compassionate, and as their lives begin to intertwine, he offers his own wisdom
of the world to Mina. Shin’s arc is an interesting one. You never know whether Mina
would be safer with or without him, and this relationship is intrinsic to the
storyline, so it’s important that the author has balanced the storyline so well
between them.
He lifts his gaze and his eyes
are like the deepest part of the sea, cold and unknowable. I realize, his eyes
do more to hide his thoughts than his mask does to hide his face.
“But I can explain it to you,”
he continues. “Your people suffer not because of any great will of the gods,
but because of their own violent acts. They wage the wars that burn the forests
and fields. They spill the blood that pollutes the rivers and streams. To blame
the gods is to blame the land itself. Look upon your reflection to find your
enemy.”
His words ring out across the
hall with a bone-chilling truth
Whilst the
story is set in a fictional fantasy land, the morals held within the tale are
an honest reflection on the world in which we live, and it gives food for
thought.
My elder brother, Sung, says
trust is earned, that to give someone your trust is to give them the knife to
wound you. But Joon would counter that trust is faith, that to trust someone is
to believe in the goodness of people and in the world that shapes them
I gave great reflection to the
above passage. As I’ve grown older I’ve met many people. Some have gone onto be
trusted friends, others have shown their true colours and no longer form part
of my life. That is to be human. People have asked if I have any regrets, do I
miss those people and I say no. People entered my life, I trusted them, I had
some good times, they betrayed that faith and now they are gone from my social
sphere. If I hadn’t allowed myself to trust them into my life, then I wouldn’t
have some amazing happy memories to look back upon. But people change, groups
do inevitably splinter; perhaps nowadays more quickly than ever, but that isn’t
a good enough reason to not put your faith in a person. The world doesn’t revolve
around people, they are just a tiny part of it, and this books allows us to
question ourselves, our morality, and how we can change for the better.
“But it’s supposed to be a
circle, isn’t it? The gods protect the humans and the humans pray and honor the
gods.”
“That’s just like a human to
think the world revolves around you, to think the rivers are for you, the sky,
the sea is for you. You are just one of many parts of the world, and in my
opinion, the one that blights them all.”
This is a book which surpassed my
expectations, which is always a delight. Had it not been for the beautifully
illustrated cover, I doubt I would have given this short novel a second glance.
It is a book which magically weaves poetry and proverbs into a tale which isn’t
stuck in the past but is relevant for today’s society. In fact, it probably
comes at just the right time as the themes of kindness and looking out for one
another are needed now more than ever. As daily news briefings show societies rebelling
against Covid rules, this book serves as a reminder that we should look out for
others not always ourselves, and that by doing what is right, gives you more
strength and ultimately benefits you in the end. Whilst the book is aimed at young
adults, that shouldn’t scare anyone getting lot in the adventures of Mina,
Shin, Namgi, Kirin, Mask, Dai and Miki.
Thank you to Hatchett
UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Romance
Publishing Date: 22nd February 2022
No. of Pages: 336
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