The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

3.5 stars - I enjoyed the story but lacked a little for what I considered a great read (see my rating system below).

Here are some areas I felt could be better:
- Quantity of description: The author provided nice descriptive sentences in almost every sentence. However, there was too little about the environment or the characters' feelings. I felt like I breezed through them and was unable to form a deeper impression. Some key turning points in the characters' feelings and thoughts could be much more fleshed out.

- Variety in structure and tempo: there was little variety in the sentence structures. Sentences were mostly in the most basic structure “he did this”, “there was that”. Sentences in general were pretty short too. I would not want to attribute it to target audience because there are many examples in books targeting elementary readers that prove otherwise. Because of this, it honestly read a little monotonously to me. It could be an intentional stylistic choice but it wasn't for me.

What I enjoyed:
- The plot was interesting, and as an East Asian I really appreciated a book based on elements I was familiar with - dragons, kirins, architecture and Sea God lores
- looking forward to what the author puts out in future still!

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My Rating System:
5⭐️: Excellent book AND influenced a change in my views
4.5⭐️: Excellent read
4⭐️: Great read, will recommend
3.5⭐️: Enjoyable read but missing something that will make it great ⬅️⬅️⬅️
3⭐️: An okay read that I didn't regret spending time on it
2⭐️: Didn't enjoy
1⭐️: Wouldn't have read it