Stunning photo by @darkfaerietales_!
Hey fairies!
It’s the fifth and last day of our readalong of The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh. I am so nervous to know how this ends!
Grab a snack and let’s dive in and see what this last section will bring!
Today we’re reading from Chapter 29 to the end of the book.
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh, from chapter 29 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea!
-!SPOILERS!-
Shin and Mina run through the streets, away from the Imugi. Mina and Shin split up and Mina helps people who have been caught in the fire into the canal. On her way back to Lotus House, she wanders into an alley with a shrine. The shrine is dedicated to the Goddess of Moon and Memory… uh oh. The goddess herself arrives and asks Mina again why she won’t pick up her wish, it makes Mina realise the Imugi are her servants. The goddess controls them. Mina asks if the goddess will stop the Imugi if she relinquishes her wish and the goddess says YES. Oh Mina, I hope you don’t regret this.
The goddess tells Mina that by relinquishing her wish, she’s destroyed any hope she had of saving her city because she intends to destroy the boat, the memory with it.
We’re thrown into the memory, but it’s not about being the Sea God’s bride? We know Mina never wanted to be his bride, she only did it to save Shim Cheong… has she just deceived the goddess? The memory is actually from when Mina’s niece passed away after birth. Mina was so upset she destroyed the shrine she had dedicated to the Goddess of Women and Children. She’s completely tricked the Goddess of Moon and Memory!
The memory has affected the goddess though, she seems sad. When Mina explains who she lost, the goddess abruptly leaves.
Mina bumps into Kirin on her way home and THEN the two of them spot Namgi in the sky, in his Imugi form luring the others away from the city… until he falls from the sky!
When Kirin goes to cut his palm to heal Namgi in the way he once healed Mina and Dai, Namgi stops him, telling him his wounds can’t be healed so easily this time. Oh Namgi ?
Kirin says Namgi is losing his soul and Mina and Kirin quickly get him to the river of souls where Kirin urges Mina to look for Namgi. They find him but Mina notices a huge sea snake coming their way. She does what she does best, and puts herself before all others, grabbing her knife and running away knowing the snakes will follow. She leads them to the Sea God’s palace, where his dragon slays the Imugi. Shin has found Mina and thinks the dragon is going to come for Mina next. He placing himself between them and shouts that he’ll never let the dragon hurt her! Yaaaaaaas Shin!!!
The Sea God interrupts and says his soul would never hurt his bride. IS she your bride though???
He asks Mina if she’ll come with him now that he’s taken his rightful place and stopped the storms. Will she do it? She tells Shin it’s always why she came here. to protect her family. I just want to yell at Mina that she’s important too!
She goes with the Sea God. I’m doing a big sad.
Once Mina and the Sea God are alone, he tells her there are many things he can’t remember, including his own name. He asks Mina to tell him a story, he tells him the story of Shim Cheong and her father and when she wakes, a new Red String of Fate has formed, this time between herself and the Sea God. Mina what have you done???
Mina asks the Sea God if she can visit Cheong and Mina’s own ancestors, he grants her the permission as long as she returns by sundown for them to wed before she becomes a spirit. After she visits Cheong and Hyeri, Mina bumps into Shin, Namgi and Kirin. I’m so glad Namgi is ok!
Shin is only here because he promised Mina he would take her to see her ancestors. I’m so glad he kept his promise!
At Spirit House, Mina walks into a room and sees items her family left during ancestral rites, food for her grandfather, fresh flowers for her great-great-grandmother, a cradle for her baby niece that Joon made. They all made it to Spirit House, to Mina’s ancestors.
I feel like I should have seen this coming… When Mina’s ancestors walk in, they walk in as Mask, Dai and Miki. Dai chides as always that Mina cries too much, Mask finally removes her mask and her face has a likeness to Mina’s on. Her great-great-grandmother, her grandfather, and her niece. I’m so emotional right now it’s unreal. THIS is why they were so determined to look out for Mina, at every turn and struggle, from the very beginning! They always knew they were related.
When they get to talking about how to save Shim Cheong, Mask tells Mina a wish can be made on the dragon’s pearl, but it’s possible it’s lost. That doesn’t sound hopeful.
When Mina leaves and tells Shin, Kirin and Namgi of who her ancestors are, Shin and Kirin aren’t surprised. Namgi on the other hand is mortified at the things he said to Mask without realising Mask is Mina’s great-great-grandmother. Karma Namgi!
Suddenly Mina’s Red String of Fate is pulled taut, they say she’s becoming a spirit and needs to return to the Sea God immediately. Before they leave her, Mina tells Shin to wait for her in the garden… what is she up to?
When Mina sees the Sea God, she holds his hand just as she did with Shin when their Red String of Fate formed, except this time, it’s gone?
She tells him she cannot be her bride as she doesn’t love him. Go Mina! Follow your heart!
When Mina returns to Shin, he decides to be honest and tells Mina Red String of Fate or no, he loves her. Awwwww.
Mina tells him the Red String of Fate it gone and it’s because she didn’t love the Sea God, she loves Shin and then, she KISSES HIM!!! CHASE THAT FATE MINA!
Mina asks Shin to wait for her and goes to meet The Goddess of Moon and Memory. They have a little heart to heart that ends with the goddess showing her what happened to the emperor and the Sea God. The emperor that died many years ago is actually the Sea God Mina knows now, as he lay dying, Shin, the former Sea God came to him and offers him a wish, he wished to live and so Shin gave him his soul to allow him to live on as the Sea God.
Mina comes back to the present day and the goddess says she’s given the Sea God and the emperor their memories back. Before she leaves the goddess, she urges her to consider becoming the Goddess of Women and Children if she wants power, since no one is more beloved than her.
When Mina returns, Namgi and Kirin know Shin is the Sea God, Shin knows too. Now Mina has to make a wish, a wish that will set everything to rights, but she’ll have to leave. Shin asks if the place she longs to be is with her family, she tells him to find her in a year and ask again. Shin says:
Wait for me, […] where the land meets the sea
Then Mina makes her wish, and she’s gone. Back with her family, she tells them all about what happened and how she met their ancestors. Over the coming weeks they see the effects of Mina’s wish, everything is fixed!
Mina overhears people talking about the emperor and how he’s back. He has no memories of where he was. When it’s time for Mina to meet Shin, he doesn’t appear, or the next day, or the next, then Mina realises his must mean Shin has lost his memories also. Poor Mina!
There’s a ruckus back at the house, the emperor has come? He asks to be introduced to everyone, but it’s clear he’s really interested in Mina. He asks if she’ll walk with him and then tells Mina he DREAMS of her. The dreams he describe sound exactly like Mina’s time beneath the sea… are these memories?
The emperor proposes! Oh my god… I didn’t expect that…
Surely Mina will say no? Say no Mina, tell him you love Shin!
She tells him she’ll think about it. Good on you Mina!
Mina walks to the beach and sits where the land meets the sea, thinking about Shin.
The next morning while Mina is in her garden, the Goddess of Moon and Memory appears to her. She tells her Shin came to see her. Despite the fact he should have no memories of Mina, he’s miserable, he can’t be consoled. Mina putting her faith and belief in the goddess allowed her to believe in herself and now she’s taken up the role of Goddess of Women and Children, she’s loved by all. She hints that she might have given Shin his memories back, and then she’s gone!
Later, when they go to the cliffs Mina is contemplating what to do. Will she marry the emperor or leave and return home? Before she can make her decision a dragon appears in the sky above them… and Shin with it. Shin remembers and he’s HERE! I’m so happy! When Shin calls her the Sea God’s bride, the emperor cuts in to disagree. Mina explains to him that his dreams are real, memories. It helps him to remember everything and he starts to cry, but he lets Mina go.
Mina might be leaving her family, but she is returning beneath the sea, to be with Shin and her friends, where she feels she belongs.
This is so bittersweet because she loved and is loved by so many! I’m content to know that one day, Mina may see them all again!
Make sure you drop all of your thoughts in the comments. I hope you loved The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea and enjoyed the readalong!
See you very soon for our next readalong!
Love,
Shannon
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I really really enjoyed this book! I think that the ending is perfect for the story… I’m so glad that Mina didn’t accept the Emperor’s proposal and that Shin and Mina ended up together. It’s also a little bittersweet since Mina will be separated from her family, but, overall, very fitting!
Thank you so much for hosting this readalong!❤️
I absolutely loves this book. I did see some of the twist coming but I still loved how they were revealed. And Yay Mina and Shin.
Thank you fairyloot for picking such a great book. And thank you, Axie Oh, for writing such a amazing story.
I adore this book!!! I was so nervous so many times that fate would separate Mina and Shin. I love that they choose each other and make their own destiny.
It’s such a lovely story about love, family and being true to oneself. It’s a celebration of ancestors, faith and relationships. I love it so much. It will forever have a place in my heart!
I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH Y’ALL.
I had contemplated that maybe Shin and the Sea God were the same but split apart somehow, between the Sea God being cursed and Shin not having a soul, but I like this way even better.
I also really loved the Sea God accepting that Mina wasn’t meant to marry him once he remembered everything…that had very Howl’s Moving Castle vibes, when Turnip-Head turned back into a prince and briefly was into Sophie, then realized very quickly that was a lost cause haha.
Such an extremely satisfying ending!
(But also I still want Hyeri and Shiki’s story.)
This book caught me by suprise. I had seen people not liking it but I loved it. I read it in one day ?
I really neglected the Goddess of the Moon and Memories too much. I wasn’t paying her much attention but she was definitely a bigger player than I thought. I’m glad Mina was able to leverage that broken pact.
Yay! Mask, Dai and Miki are her family!!
I loved this ending. I’m so happy that Mina was able to have it all. Time to say goodbye to her family and a happily ever after with Shin, the true Sea God.
i finished this this night and i actually cried a bit ;; such a beautiful book. loved the plot twist with Shin being the sea god after all and he was just s very kind granting the emperor the wish and then everything went wrong.
gosh everything was just so so so beautiful, i loved the scenes when Mina was back in the world of the living, seeing her family again and then finally Shin remembering her cause of the goddess (thank god she turned out to be very dope and finally found her real purpose too) and then he took her along at the end <3
Honestly i love Mina, she was such a good main character, i loved the: i would hate myself way more when i just stand still and do nothing instead of at least trying to protect the people i love.
I'm glad Namgi and Kirin made up <3 even tho i wished we would have gotten more scenes or at least maybe something a bit shippy haha, but i can dream.
anyway loved that book so so much!
everything fell into place so well, and not in an annoying way! it felt realistic in a sense, however mystical! Im so glad i joined the readalong and my first was definitely a success! loved interacting with you all and hope you enjoyed Oh’s writing as much as i did!
This book was made for me. I couldn’t possibly enjoyed it more, the story was EVERYTHING. Captivating. Unputtable. I know it’s a standalone and things were wrapped up nicely and how I hoped they would. But I wouldn’t mind more. Maybe a story set in the same world (about Namgi and Kirin + his backstory or the death god and Hyeri or the emperor). I already miss the characters!
The emperor was the missing piece in my theories. I am impressed with what the author came up with! I thought the pearl was the lotus pebble or that it was Shin and they would need to find it. ? How wrong I was! The rest I managed to figure out before all the revelations.
I liked how the book focused on family with enough romance to satisfy the part of me that craves said romance but without it overshadowing the love we have for family members. Mina’s decisions were understandable even though I wept silently during some scenes – like when she chose to go to the Sea God and then Shin still keeping his promise helping her to meet her ancestors. ? And then when she returned home and when the year passed and Shin didn’t appear because he didn’t remember her. ? Glad the now goddess of moon and memory ended up on the good side. What happened with the Imugi? Will lord crane and tiger cause more trouble in the future?
And the Korean folktale that the book was inspired by! That bit was amazing as well.
With no doubt The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea has become one of my favourite books of the year. Thank you for another wonderful readalong everyone! xo
Okay, I can’t stop thinking about the story. ? Is it possible to fall deeper in love with a book days after you finished it? I had some time to process, and I have more thoughts to share. (I’m sorry to whoever moderates the comment section and has to read my long comments (*caughs* blabbing) in order to approve them. ? I feel for you, and hi!)
In the author’s letter, Axie mentioned her brother and her family. It made the love that I could feel of the pages even more profound. Mina always talked with such fondness and affection about her family, not to speak that the first time we met her, she switched her place with Shim Cheong to spare her brother as well. And she took it on herself to save her home from the storms. Her courage and selflessness were really inspiring.
I found it interesting that the publisher wanted to change Joon to be a sister, which was something that was said in the live with Fairyloot. I am glad the publisher respected the author’s wish to keep him a brother. I like these behind the scenes! Speaking of the live, someone asked Axie how she chose names for her characters. And I must admit, that it didn’t hit me that Kirin was a Qilin until the virtual event. It was there this whole time in his name. Wowza! I am so slow. ? (Is he Qilin, right? Or did I get it wrong? ??) While Mugi (Imugi) would be fun, I liked Namgi as Namgi. ?
I didn’t know that the Qilin had healing powers. I wonder how much was the author’s own imagination and what well known info was taken from Korean folktales that she ended up using. I shall do a Korean folktale study in the near future. ? If anyone has any recommendations, books about Korean mythical creatures and folktales, let me know!
Last thing (really ?), I need to watch Spirited Away! Seems like I am missing out. ?
Thank you for hosting the live interview and readalong, FairyLoot. I hope you have a lovely weekend! ??✨
Ahh this was a great read! I think it definitely got better as it went on, and I love all the characters. I’m glad Mina will be with Shin, even though she won’t be able to see her family. I liked the twist at the end with Shin being the true Sea God. I do think the Goddess of Moon and Memory should have had a bigger role throughout the book besides the few scenes we saw her in, but I liked how everything played out. I can’t believe how much we got in a standalone. the characters were all fantastic and there was so much happening.
What an amazing book! I was heartbroken for Shin and Mina.
Not gonna lie, I assumed the twist here was that Shin was who he turned out to be, but I thought no way that it would be because it would be to obvious.
But it was so obvious that I doubted it and was still surprised.
A truly beautiful story to match the beautiful cover. Happy this one ended with a happily ever after.
Agh, why am I so emotionally attached to this book *sob* With every chapter I loved it more and more so when we finally got to the end it was so bittersweet! I was so happy for Mina but also felt like I was losing a friend. Axie Oh’s writing was incredible and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future!
I’m so glad Shin and Mina ended up together, but I still felt like there was something a little bit lacking in the development of their relationship – Shin felt largely absent for a lot of the book and I would have liked to see more growth and interaction between them! I’m glad that Mask, Dai and Miki are all family and that both Mina and Shim Cheong got the chance to go back home, though.
*crying*
So much has happened. All of my suspicions & guesses at the beginning of the story proved correct, but it never felt boring or predictable. It was an emotional rollercoaster with twists & turns, & I loved it from beginning to end!
I wish there could be more at the end – an epilogue, maybe, depicting the life Mina enjoys with Shin in the Spirit Realm – because I’m just not ready to finish with these characters. Better yet, I hope this gets made into a K-drama ASAP because I could feel that quality in it from the beginning (plus, my non-reader friends/family could WATCH it & share this story with me). ?
I lost sleep, but I had to read this book in a day because I couldn’t put it down. It has now been added among my favorite books.
5/5 ?
I loved this book so much. I almost cried when Shin didn’t come back for her immediately. Her waiting on a beach for him like trigger my Doctor Who related trauma. Ugh. They get to be happy together!!
I also called it that Shin was def somehow the sea god. I didn’t know how but I had a feeling. Excuse me while. Excuse me while I stick this next to Six Crimson Cranes as another favorite comfort read. Thanks. Bye.
I finished it!!! Yeeeaaahhh!!
This book take me slowly and hard. I understood that when I start to cry in the last pages. Is so beautiful and emotional, as a myth or a fairytale. It will stay with me forever, that’s for sure ?
That ending is bittersweet. Shin has to arrive just about the right time to be reunited with Mina.
I love this book. I thought Mask was her mother and Shin was the emperor. Also, that moment bet Namgi and Kirin. This is a 5 ⭐️ for me
I really enjoyed the book. The mythology was very different to anything else I have read and the Fairyloot edition is of course gorgeous.
ooh, her family was helping her all along and Shin is the sea god, wow. Though we still don’t know the emporor’s name ?. I don’t know if i really vibed with the romance in the story but i thought everything else was written really well, i finished this book in two days and i had tears at least with THREE scenes.
Though i wish we could have had an epilogue with a hundred years later or something how Mina’s life is, besides being the sea god’s bride. Like maybe she is responsible for checking if the gods are still fit for their chosen believes, how she still looks out for her family and how much stronger her relationship with Shin is now there is nothing between them, that would have been nice
Thank you Fairyloot for choosing this book as part of you’re box and thank you Shannon for the fun readalong, i can’t wait until the next one!
Joined the giveaway! Username is heylittlesiren. This book is so good so far! I really love it. So glad Fairyloot pick it. As I can own the most beautiful book in my hand! Also looking forward for more of the book
I’m a little late but here it is my thoughts of this book!
It’s a light fantasy book with an easy reading writing style, the characters are very loveable and has a beautiful worldbuilding.
There are some twists and the romance is slow but built up well and I loved to read this Asian mythology story.
I really enjoyed Mina and her inner strength and courage. I loved the themes of family, choosing your own fate, destiny, sacrifice, choices, and love.
I would love to read about Mina and Shin’s life after they went to the Spirit Realm, but since this book is a standalone I’ll have to imagine it myself ?
Gosh this book was just everything and that ending was just perfect!!!! The writing was enchanting and had a lyrical feel to it. I feel like I have been floating through a beautiful dream and my heart feels so full!! This book made me feel so much and truly has stole a piece of my heart!!
This was such a good book. And the Goddess of Moon and Memory was a dark horse favorite character for me! I loved her development. Although I do agree that the ending is bittersweet, I feel like Mina made a good choice. The Spirit Realm and her ancestors make that place feel like home. And she was ready to go, even her family could tell, so I think everyone was ready ? I absolutely loved this story!
That was such a lovely story, loved the characters and the myth and the twists, so beautiful!
Thank you for the readalong!