The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is a YA retelling of Hayao Miyazaki’s animation Spirited Away. Mina, the sole point of view character, is a girl of sixteen living in a seaside village in a vaguely Asian world. To save her brother from heartbreak, she sacrifices herself to the Sea God instead of the girl chosen for it to stop storms that have ravaged the country for a century.

A dragon leads her to a world beneath the sea where the spirits of the dead live in a large city. But instead of becoming the Sea God’s bride, her soul is taken away. She has one month to find it or she becomes a spirit too.

But everything is not well in the city of spirits. The Sea God is under a curse that prevents him from ruling and stopping the storms. Political machinations aim at removing him from the throne. Mina sets out to break the curse, as it’s the only way to save her world.

It’s a book about family, friendships, destiny, and of course fated love. Bound to first one and then another inhabitant of the spirit world, Mina has to figure out her true heart in order to break the curse.

The world is fairly simple. I would’ve wanted more done with the fish and sea surrounding the spirit city and at times I struggled to remember the place is supposed to be Chinese, but everything described has its place.

This is an easy read: the chapters are short, and the language isn’t complicated. The plot advances organically and if there aren’t great surprises—at least if you’ve seen Spirited Away—the small twists and turns are where they should be. Despite the age of the protagonists, it’s maybe a tad naïve for the intended audience, but it’s perfect for the middle grade readers and soft-hearted adults.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.