That absolutely stunning cover caught my attention – and then I read the premise and decided to give it a go. Would I enjoy this gentle-looking adventure told through letters and journal entries?
BLURB: A beautiful discovery outside the window of her underwater home prompts the reclusive E. to begin a correspondence with renowned scholar Henerey Clel. The letters they share are filled with passion, at first for their mutual interests, and then, inevitably, for each other.
Together, they uncover a mystery from the unknown depths, destined to transform the underwater world they both equally fear and love. But by no mere coincidence, a seaquake destroys E.’s home, and she and Henerey vanish.
A year later, E.’s sister Sophy, and Henerey’s brother Vyerin, are left to solve the mystery of their siblings’ disappearances with the letters, sketches and field notes left behind. As they uncover the wondrous love their siblings shared, Sophy and Vyerin learn the key to their disappearance – and what it could mean for life as they know it.
REVIEW: This ultimately intriguing story starts quite slowly. But what really had me breaking off several times while reading, is the grief both Sophy and Henerey express for their siblings. I found this quite difficult to read, given that I lost my own much-loved sister only four months ago.
That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this epistolary tale where the story unfolds through letters and journal entries. The correspondence between the two sets of siblings, both before and after the major accident gives a very clear indication of the different characters. E, in particular, is extremely well depicted. She clearly struggles with acute anxiety, which is discussed by herself and her sister and we get a clear insight into how it impacts on her life. I found these passages poignant and absolutely believable.
The language in the letters is more than a nod to 19th century prose, with the formality and use of longer words. I was very comfortable with the style and thought it fitted well with the post-apocalyptic world, in which civilisation had to pick itself up when the highly technical flying habitats for some reason all failed together and ended up crashing into the sea. This planet is largely covered by sea, so people now mostly live in cramped accommodation tethered to atolls or small islands. Though E. lives beneath the waves in Deep House, where she and her brother and sister were brought up in the dwelling designed by their brilliantly clever mother.
The descriptions of the sea life, both flora and fauna, is vivid. I like that we are treated to E.’s lovely poetic evocation of life beneath the waves and also Sophy’s more scholarly view of the lifeforms. And in amongst Sophy and Henerey’s sadness, is a drive to try to work out exactly what happened to their lost siblings, hence their mission to sort through their papers and correspondence to discover what they were thinking and feeling right up to the time they disappeared. However, other events intrude on this investigation – Sophy finds herself undertaking a dangerous and ground-breaking exploration of a particularly deep part of the ocean. And bit by bit, we start to learn that something else has been going on – something that goes back to Sophy and E’s mother.
I found myself reading far later than I should as the pace steadily picks up in the final quarter of the book, as many of my previous conclusions about what is going on are suddenly upended. It’s cleverly done and a warning – this book ends on a doozy of the cliff-hanger. I’ll definitely be wanting to read the next one. This deceptively gentle-seeming story has hooks that have left me thinking a lot about this one since I put it down. Very highly recommended if you’re looking for an otherworldly fantasy story with a difference. While I obtained an arc of A Letter to the Luminous Deep from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10
Brainfluff 
Lovely review! I’m glad you were able to get past the harder parts. It really was a wonderful story, and I’m so curious to see where things go in the next book.
Thank you, Tammy:). Yes – I’m very pleased that I stuck it out, because it’s a really special book that offers something completely different within the fantasy genre. And like you – I’m keen to get hold of the next book.
If you were able to give this book a 10/10 rating despite the emotional turmoil it brought up, then it must indeed be a book worth reading! Thanks for sharing 🙂
It certainly is a special read. There were a couple of times when I was tempted to put it on one side – but I cared too much about the characters and wanted to know what would happen next.
Compelling review! I enjoy epistolary works when done well. Interesting about the formal language choices… sounds brave to me. I’m glad it worked!
Thank you, Priscilla:)). The formal language was a brave choice, especially as it slowed the pace somewhat. But I think it worked really well.
This one passed me by. Others have also made note of the harder parts, makes me think I’ll wait until I’m in a more patient mood to tackle this. But I still plan to read it!
I hope you manage to get around to it – I’d love to get you thoughts on it. Though I agree you do need to be in a patient frame of mind as it is definitely a slow-burn read:).