As someone who loves books with letters and emails, I couldn’t pass up this epistolary fantasy that released this year. A Letter to the Luminous Deep was very much whimsical like was described in the synopsis. Today I want to tell you more about this book and what I thought!
A big thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with an eARC to read and review. This didn’t influence my opinion in any way.
Dive into the curious correspondence of Sylvie Cathrall’s delightful debut novel, A Letter to the Luminous Deep.
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.
Perfect for fans of A Marvellous Light and TJ Klune, A Letter to the Luminous Deep is a whimsical epistolary fantasy set in a mystical underwater world with mystery and heart-warming romance.
Review
A fantasy book that partially takes place in an underwater world and is told through letters? Yes, please! It’s like this author knew exactly what I love in books. A Letter to the Luminous Deep is described as a whimsical fantasy, with a heartwarming romance, and a touch of mystery. I can say all of these things are true and I really enjoyed my time with these characters.
This book starts off with two pen pals: one lives underwater and the other is a scholar on land. What starts as an educational/professional correspondence, turns into a really sweet romance. ‘E.’ and Henerey are both so sweet and innocent and I loved every minute of it. I definitely sat there smiling while reading about these two getting closer. What I wasn’t expecting was that these two characters would start the mystery that the other half of this book is about.
Besides the romance, we have Sophy and Vyerin who become close and deal with grief and trying to find out what’s happened to their siblings. I loved that besides the romance, that friendship was a huge part of this story. Sometimes others can know how we feel and everyone needs that sometimes.
The only two things that kind of pulled this story away from being a five star read was the pacing and the timelines. The pacing is kind of slow and then just speeds up out of nowhere. I would’ve liked it to be just a bit more gradual. Also, we’re kind of just thrown into this world and that made the timelines a bit confusing at times. The beautiful writing and heartwarming characters made up for that though. I can’t wait for the sequel.
A Letter to the Luminous Deep is a perfect read for a rainy day! I’m very excited to see how this story will continue. Have you read any epistolary books that you’ve loved? Let me know in the comments. I’m always looking for more!
