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The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

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 a maiden is thrown into the sea, in the hopes that one day the ‘true bride’ will be chosen and end the suffering.

Many believe Shim Cheong – Mina’s brother’s beloved – to be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is sacrificed, Mina’s brother follows her, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.

Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina 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 sets out to wake him and bring an end to the storms once and for all.

But she doesn’t have much time: a human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking.

“Clever, creative, and exquisitely written.”

— Stephanie Garber, Sunday Times bestselling author of Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart

Review by 1000 Libraries

A persistent force that reshapes itself through the generations and adapts to the emotional landscapes of those who retell it is mythology. Rooted deeply in a classic Korean folktale, Axie Oh’s The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, lends the traditional narrative of filial piety a vividly modern pulse of fierce devotion. Instead of treating sacrifice as a passive duty demanded of women, Oh presents love as an actively defiant choice.

“Stories are both an escape from the truths of the world and the only way to see them clearly.”

So much more than an enchanting fantasy adventure, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is an homage to the power of the narrative itself. Showing us how folklore connects us to our ancestors, and how love transforms suffering into hope, it also proves that a girl’s unwavering courage is enough to shift even the tide of destiny.

Stepping into the world of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is to be reminded of why we fall in love with stories in the first place: for a fresh perspective.

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"A beautiful, mesmerizing retelling I wish I'd had when I was growing up. A heartfelt tale that I will be recommending for years to come."

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“A tale brimming with love. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea will whisk you away on an entrancing journey through the most magical realm. Axie Oh's characters own my whole heart."

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"Nicely paced and beautifully written, this engrossing fantasy is packed with memorable characters, starting with the headstrong Mina, and including the mysterious Shin, with whom she becomes inexplicably tied. A perfect fit for readers who love Spirited Away.”

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