Fantastic fantasy, one of the highest books on my lost of new releases and it didn’t disappointed at all, the story was amazing and I was hooked since the beginning, loved every second of it

What a cool book! I don't read many books in epistolary format, and when I do, I always love the experience.

I took notes while reading at the start, then promptly forgot about them as I was too engrossed in the story to remember to jot down any thoughts for a review. Oops. I did manage to mention that I loved the writing. The prose is excellent and the diction is lovely; it all flows nicely.

After that, I was hooked! I very much enjoyed reading all of the letters between E. and Henery, and between Sophy and Vyerin. Their characters were well developed, which I Imagine is not an easy task solely through letters. E. and Henery's romance was so wholesome and it made my heart swell reading their nerdy and adorable correspondence.

The concept of the Deep House was so cool and unique. It would be fascinating to be able to visit such an underwater dwelling. I relished in imagining this one-of-a-kind home, picturing the incredible views of the captivating and enigmatic ocean and its creatures. Even Sophy's missions sounded interesting, even though I would probably never join them out of fear.

I also appreciated the anxiety and agoraphobia representation in E. As a recovered panic disorder sufferer and agoraphobic, I could empathize with E. and her struggles.

The pacing can feel a bit slow, as there is a lot of world building and set up and attempting to figure out what happened to E. and Henery, but it's worth it to continue on and read to the end. I'm very much looking forward to book two!

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall is a story of light academia, romance, whimsy, and mystery that is told through letters. Set in a world where the deep ocean contains more wonders than we can understand, two main characters, E. and Henerey, fall in love through their mutual love for discovering these wonders. E. is a homebody who lives in a house underwater. She sparks a correspondence between herself and a scholar, Henerey, before both of them go missing. Now, E.’s sister and Henerey’s brother are trying to put the pieces together by going through their letters to one another.

This novel is very unique in its premise and structure. I have never read a fantasy/romance/mystery epistolary novel! The author created an interesting fantasy world with a complex plot. The flaws I noticed lay in its character development. I believe some of the development was lost on me in it being told strictly through letters. It was sometimes difficult to tell the difference from character to character, as their voices sounded sort of the same. On the other hand, I did enjoy the passionate writing found in the letters between E. and Henerey as they fell in love.

Overall, I found this book intriguing, and it did capture my attention enough to keep reading. I am certainly interested in checking out the rest of the series as the books come out. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Fantasy Romance in which a missing couple's siblings are left to solve the mystery of their disappearances a year ago using the correspondence they left behind.

1/5 stars: Cathrall's writing and character work are nicely done and I very much appreciated the epistolary format. Cathrall does touch on some sensitive topics; so take care and check the CWs. Unfortunately, I just lost steam on this; leading me to DNF it at 37%.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books, Orbit in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

HIGHLIGHTS
~an underwater house
~an archipelago in the sky
~mysterious eels
~academia politics
~a love letter to questions

You know the craving you get for books that make the inside of your head go quiet? The kind that softly, gently make the world around you disappear, so all there is is the story? A story which is like cashmere wrapped around your brain, a story which is never boring but also never…never stressful? One that never feels like work to read, that manages to be pure, warm escapism like a mug of your favourite hot chocolate?

Hi, let me introduce you to A Letter to the Luminous Deep.

The title is apt in more ways than one, and I decided to let that frame this review. Thus!

REASON THE FIRST
The first reason the title of this tale is so perfect is that the book is literally made up of letters (…not the alphabet kind)(I mean, obviously those too!) as the style is epistolary, each chapter comprised of missives and notes passed between E and Henerey, and between E’s sister and Henerey’s brother, with the occasional interjection of letters and reports from others, like E’s brother or honorary aunt. I happen to really love epistolary stories, but I think that even if you don’t, Luminous Deep is likely to convert you; and if you’ve never read an epistolary novel before, then this is a pretty excellent introduction to the form. Each character has a very distinctive voice (vitally important when all we have is their first-person communications!), and each missive is clearly marked with sender, receiver, and date, making it very easy to keep track of who’s talking to whom and when. And though I do not think first-person is a guaranteed way to make the reader feel more connected to the character/s, Cathrall made me feel like I was a part of the conversation the characters were having, not a witness to it but participating in it, and that’s not a common writerly magic!

It doesn’t hurt that the cast is packed full of lovely people that I loved getting to know. E has intense clinical anxiety and has been a shut-in for years, but she’s very brave (even if she doesn’t think so) and fiercely curious about the world around her (one of my favourite character traits, in real and fictional people both): she kickstarts the whole story by writing to a naturalist – Henerey – about a sea creature she’s seen that might not yet be known to science! Henerey proves to have been a good choice to write to, as he’s a wildly enthusiastic sweetheart, who’s not very socially adept but is more than smart enough to see how wonderful E is, which would earn him major points with me even if he wasn’t also the human equivalent of an excited, lovable puppy.

Alongside these two are our other main characters; Sophy, E’s sister, and Vyerin, Henerey’s brother. The conceit of Luminous Deep is that, a year after E and Henerey mysteriously vanish, Sophy and Vyerin get in touch to try and figure out what happened, sharing with each other the correspondence their respective sibling sent to the other’s. The two timelines are completely interwoven; Sophy and Vyerin communicate back and forth in the same chapters as E and Henerey do, so that a quick note to Sophy often directly follows one of Henerey’s long letters to E. In the hands of a lesser writer, this could have been confusing or messy, but happily it was nothing of the kind, and Sophy in particular became very dear to me. She’s much more vivacious and outgoing than her sister, whereas Vyerin is a little more withdrawn (at least until he gets to know Sophy better) but feels things just as intensely, even if he isn’t always able to commit them to paper. Sophy also has her own story going on while Henerey and E were communicating; a scientific endeavour during which she met her now-wife, and during which she and E often exchanged letters too. Henerey and E’s developing friendship, then near-romance, is charming and delightful; Sophy’s adventure is fascinating, but also anchored in emotion and human relationships, which I appreciated.

(There’s also E and Sophy’s brother, who is a bit of an ass, but luckily we don’t have to deal with him very often.)

REASON THE SECOND
As for the second reason as to why the title is so appropriate; not only is this a book written in the form of letters, the vast majority of those letters are going down into the depths of the ocean. E lives in Deep House, a large and cosy one-of-a-kind home on the sea floor designed by her (now-deceased) mother. It is not, however, at the bottom of any of our oceans.

I wasn’t sure what to expect re the setting, going into this book, but Cathrall has created an entirely new, separate planet for her debut; a world that is almost entirely covered in water, with very little natural land accentuated by a handful of artificial islands, and a fair few communes built or lashed together that float along on the ocean surface. That already makes for an interesting set-up, but what made my jaw drop was learning that humans aren’t native to this world at all.

Hi, I love this??? The reveal that humans came from elsewhere is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment – it’s really not relevant to the plot, or the characters’ lives, at all – but it’s the kind of detail that just makes me light up. And it does help explain how the society of this world is the way it is, and it’s the kind of thing that might be very relevant indeed further down the line – my personal theory is that the big mystery E and Henerey uncover is Not Unrelated. But that you’ll have to read about for yourself, because that definitely would be a spoiler.

A not-insignificant number of letters go deeper still into the waters – more Depths! – following Sophy while she is part of a scientific team exploring something similar to the Marianas Trench of our world. It’s the deepest humanity has ever gone in this world’s oceans – a Very Big Deal indeed! – but thankfully, Cathrall declines to write this plotline like some kind of The Meg (2018) nonsense; far from being some kind of thriller-horror mess, this, like the E-and-Henerey storyline, is quiet, almost cosy, focused on the interactions, emotions, and developing relationships between the different Scholars (as this world names its scientists) as well as the sheer joy of scientific discovery.

Which segues nicely into…

REASON THE THIRD
I’ve often seen (and you probably have too) artworks called ‘letters’ or ‘love-letters’ to different topics or themes. And that’s the third way in which this book’s title is perfect for it, because Letters to the Luminous Deep is in itself a letter – a love-letter to wonder and curiosity, questioning and discovery, to diving into the depths of the unexplored or unexplained or even completely unknown, and celebrating the urge to learn, learn and share what has been learned. This is a love story, yes, but not only because what E and Henerey have becomes a romance, or because of the wife-to-be Sophy meets in the darkest part of the ocean – it’s a love story because it is a story about the love of learning. That’s what brings E and Henerey together; it’s what brings Sophy and Niea together; and it’s woven into every page of the book. Luminous Deep fairly glows with it – pun unintended.

I don’t know if I’ve seen that before – a book that celebrates curiosity and the yearning to know and the delight of discovery. I can’t think of another example, and that’s sad, because these are qualities, concepts, things that we should celebrate, and that I would love to see more often in my sci fi. I feel like this should be a foundational aspect of science fiction, actually, now that I think about it – every piece of sci fi is fundamentally an answer to someone’s what if?, is it not? Then what could be better, or more natural, or more correct, than science fiction that is not just an answer to someone’s what if?, but also encourages the audience to ask their own questions? Not just of that particular piece of art, but of the whole world?

Which is to say: this is a warm, lovely book that will not hurt you, that manages to be soft even when it is a little bit scary, that is charming and fun and wonderfully readable. It is not action-packed; there is not even much in the way of actual plot for at least the first half of the book. And it would be enough – more than enough! – to ‘just’ be soft and sweet. We need more of that in the world.

But Letters to the Luminous Deep manages to be soft and sweet, and to celebrate and encourage curiosity and learning. Which I think makes it something very special.

Honestly, I think it’s utterly perfect, and you’ll be seriously missing out if you give this one a skip.

Wow. This was good for a first book in the series. I love to concept of a romantasy book with the setting of being underwater. It gives, adult little mermaid and I am here for it. The only thing I want to say is that I felt like the pacing was a little off. It was very slow at times and felt rushed at other times. Overall, I think this is going to be a great series.

I can’t rate this book because 10% in a realize this wasn’t going to be for me . I will however share my first impressions because this book is for someone just not me .
First of all , that entire book is written in letters to and from various characters. Had I of known that I never would have picked this up.
It is also a very academic/scholarly tone to the book. Again not for me . I don’t have the best of luck with these types of books.
This does have queer representation and sea exploration. I received this as an arc from netgally but I misunderstood the content.
Again don’t let this discourage you from reading. If the things I didn’t like sound like your thing, please give it a try.
(I have to rate it. But ignore. )

I'm so sad this didn't work out for me. I just can't read something where every character sounds the same. Unfortunately, not for me, but it seems to be working for a lot of other people.

So despite the title i was not excepting this to be an epistolary novel. And it was. I personally have a difficult time falling into epistolary novels every new letter head just reminds me that I’m reading and sort of rushes me to finish. So while the story had a interesting premise I couldn’t really get into it and have no idea who is related to who despite the numerous mentions of brothers and sisters, additionally it appeared as if there was some sort of romantic tension between letter writers but both i was confused by their romance tension as work and proper work edict took up a lot of their concern in their letters. Additionally both of these characters were already married. Overall, I am lost and confused and have no idea what the hell is in the Luminous Deep that makes it require a sequel. Perhaps i will try to reread it later on but for now. I will remain confused,

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the ARC!

E., a reclusive young woman, and Henery, a renowned scholar, begin a correspondence that grows from academic curiosity and respect to something much more. Together, they work to uncover the truth of the mysterious Structure, a crystalline object that has appeared outside the Deep House, E.’s underwater familial home. As their investigation culminates, a seaquake destroys the house and the reef it’s built upon, E. and Henery disappearing, presumably dead. In the year following their disappearance, E.‘s sister Sophy and Henery’s brother Vyerin begin a correspondence to, at first, read through their siblings’ letters to heal from shared trauma but come to find themselves unraveling the mystery of the months leading up to their disappearance.

This is an epistolary fantasy - told entirely through letters/written communications. I’ve read novels with letters used to supplement before, but this my first time reading an entire novel formatted this way. The idea is creative and the formatting is done very well, though I find the constant shifting perspectives and formal/academic language of the letters to take time to adjust to. There are also a lot of characters in this story, so it can be confusing at times to keep track, on top of complex world building told only in snippets through these letters and correspondences. The world building and structure is very unique and engaging, if a little complicated.

I found the first two thirds of the book slow to work through, though the budding romance kept me going. The romance and mystery factors are really where this book shines, and are worth the time it takes to get to them. I found the portrayal of two very neurodivergent people falling in love, both so wholly accepting and embracing the other to be really lovely and well done. Both Henery and E. are well written and fleshed out characters, even as you’re only hearing their voices from the past.

Overall, despite a slow start and a challenging style, A Letter to the Luminous Deep was a well written, beautiful story of love, grief, hope, and magic. If you’re up for an unconventional format, this book pays off. It’s worth it to note, however, that this is the first in a series so it leaves off on a cliffhanger!

I couldn't really get into the story as much as I thought I would because of the format. Fun premise but the epistolary aspect took some effort to read for me. But the concept is so great and I am really interested in where the story goes! I'll definitely pick up the next installment, I'll just need to go into it knowing it will take a bit more effort

A delightfully cozy story told through letters, part penpal romance, part mystery, and a all around cozy time. The story is through 100% epistolary (writings and letter correspondence). The story revolves around two scholars that share an interest in marine life, who begin sending slightly flirtatious letters between each other while trying to solve an under sea mystery (they also live in separate pressurized spheres under the ocean in the year of 1002) and we flash forward to 1003, where both of them have suddenly disappeared, and a correspondence between their siblings begins, as they try and piece together what happened between them. Henry and E are both introverted individuals who are socially awkward but find a blooming pen pal relationship growing between each other. They are so sweet and their romance was adorable. Sophy (E's Sster) and Vyerin (Henry's brother) begin a correspondence with each other in which they read their siblings letters to each other as they try and figure out what happened to E and Henry. The book is the first book in a duology! This is an extremely cozy slow build book, it builds a beautiful deep sea life and the loneliness and depths of the ocean are so beautifully detailed. I had fun with this one and enjoyed the various character dynamics and the letters were great. I am excited to see where the next book goes and what happens to E and Henry!

*Spoiler: it is revealed that E and Henry survived their departure together and landed somewhere. Sophy and Vyeryn both agree to go out and try and find them*

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books | Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book creates a beautiful world under the sea. I really enjoyed how the book is written through letters. It is unique and kept me interested in the story. However, I felt like the formal writing of all the letters didn't make the characters stand out. I wished that there was something from each characters letter to give them something to distinguish them.

Thank you to NetGalley and orbit for the gifted e-arc.

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and Orbit Books. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: SFF, Adult Fantasy
Time Period: I have NO idea...
Format: Epistolary

I happen to love books filled with letters. And that's what A LETTER TO THE LUMINOUS DEEP is, though it took be a bit to get into, and here's why:
Sometimes, I cheat and have my phone read my Kindle to me while I'm cooking or doing another task. This one doesn't work that way because it would need different voices for the different letters. You really need to read it or get an official recording with good voice actors.

The number of people writing made it a bit hard for me to follow—this might be a "me" problem since I was interrupted with life. If I focused and just read this and nothing else, I think that would significantly help. It will be interesting to see if other readers felt the same way.

The setting felt both futuristic and historic at the same time. I'm okay with ambiguous, but I'd like to have a feeling for myself. I chose future for the setting...what would you choose?

I was curious to find out what happened to a couple of different characters as the novel progressed. It took a long, long, long time for me to really feel any romance vibes. Maybe I just expected it sooner instead of having the letter writers tell me outright.

The ending isn't quite what I expected.

This is definitely worth reading. If you dive in (the pun comes to you at no extra cost), then I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Happy reading!

(dnfed) a letter to the luminous deep was one of the most magical, fascinating books i’ve ever had the pleasure of reading! i’ve never had the opportunity to read an epistolary novel before and i can confidently say i adore this style of story-telling.

this book feels like a combination of divine rivals, the octonauts, and the life aquatic with steve zissou. the underwater academic setting and aesthetics were so incredibly captivating! it had so much potential and so many elements i couldn’t help but love.

however, there were specific elements of this book that made it difficult to read. as much as i adored the writing style, it handicapped a lot of the world-building and helping the reader understand the setting. i found myself really confused with how said underwater academic setting worked.

a lot of the writing felt repetitive and the overall tone of the book felt the same. i got fifty percent into the book and had to stop because i was confused and bored. it was really upsetting and disappointing since i loved so many aspects of this book– but it wasn’t working for me.

i do feel i’ll probably benefit from reading this book physically (along with an audiobook) when it is published and officially released. sylvie cathrall is an extremely promising author and i will intend to read more of their work in the future! as a letter to the luminous deep is a part of a series, i do believe this book suffers from “first book in the series syndrome” so hopefully the series will get better as it goes on!

but as always, thank you to netgalley and orbit books for kindly providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review!

This was probably the most interesting and different book I have read. Personally, I did not like the style of writing in letter form. It is hard for me to see progression in the story and to visualize the story if it's written in letters. It also felt really slow and a bit confusing for me. I did love the marine and biology talk. And I also liked that it was really mysterious and intriguing. There were so many good things going for it but personally, I just could not get past the writing style. It is just not for me. I would probably recommend this title and I do think there are people out there who will love this book, just not my taste.

I don't think I've ever read an epistolary fantasy book. I really liked it--I found the letters to be really compelling, and the mystery of what was lurking in the deep. I thought that the pace of the plot as it was being unfurled through the letters was really well done, too. I was a little hesitant, just because I had never experienced this format before (I honestly think I have only read maybe one or two other epistolary novels), but I'm glad I took a chance because I absolutely adored this story! I cannot wait for more from this author.

I may not have an elegant review (not that mine are ever elegant anyways) because I have very strong feelings good and lukewarm about it. First. I really, really like the story. I loved spending so much time under the sea and in academia; I also really enjoy epistolary style books. I quickly became very invested in the 2 main characters and in the 2 main sub characters of the story. I was easily able to predict the bulk of the finale of this book at about 25% in - which isn't my issue. My issue, here come those lukewarm feelings, was that from 25-75% of the story, I didn't learn all that much expect some minor details that support the overall plot. It made the story pacing extremely slow; like a snail and a turtle are racing in quicksand slow. Beyond 75% I thought it picked back up decently. I was fully engaged again, super ready to see what happens beyond my prediction. THEN, IT JUST STOPS. Ends. See you later folks. Blindsided. I had no idea this wasn't a standalone. I am one salty crustacean currently.

In all fairness, I really did like this book and would strongly recommend it to the right reader. I don't think this should ever be a general recommendation to just any reader out there.

Final Rating: 4.5

I'm so happy that I ended up enjoying this book! I won't lie, I was a little nervous at first because it took a little bit for me to get familiar with the writing style and the format It also took me a little to get a better idea of the world and how everything is set up as you really are just thrown right in at the beginning, but once I got these all sorted out in my brain I really enjoyed this!

I loved the romance between E and Henerey and how it developed over time with their shared love of the ocean. I also liked the friendship that developed between Sophy and Vyerin because of their shared grief over their sibling's disappearance, and the casual inclusion of LGBTQ characters was nice as well.

I found myself getting really involved into the mystery and wanting to know what happened to E and Henerey, and how everything connected together! It was fun to piece that together with Sophy and Vyerin.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next book, and I'm so grateful that I managed to snag one of the beautiful Fairyloot editions as my finished copy!"

A Letter to the Luminous Deep is an epistolary academic fantasy mystery that takes place underwater. It delivers exactly as promised – a tale of love formed between the shared letters of two mutual acquaintances. However, in a world of fast paced, high tension novels this will be the exact opposite. It’s a turtle paced story that slowly unpacks the events of the past while trying to solve the mystery disappearance. That’s not to say it isn’t an enjoyable experience, because I certainly enjoyed it. However, I think it’s important for readers to fully know what they’re getting into to better connect with those readers that will enjoy the book. My biggest struggle is that I felt like I missed connecting with the characters since the entire story was through written materials – letters, journal entries, etc. Most of the epistolary books I’ve read in the past were not told entirely through that format, so this was a change that I had to get used to. However, reflecting on the story, I still felt like the author did a good job with the world building and developing the characters. I felt I had a good understanding of the setting and who everyone was even if I wasn’t connected with them. The plot, while predictable, was also well written with enough breadcrumbs to lead you. Although, at times, it felt like there was nothing really happening. When I read this, I didn’t realize it was part of a series, so the ending felt rather abrupt. I went in thinking this was a standalone, so I was rather surprised to find out that there will be at least one more book in the series. Overall, I did really enjoy the story and would recommend reading it if the synopsis hooked your interest, and you enjoy slower paced stories.