5/5

A Letter to the Luminous Deep blends mystery and a light academic romance between two scholars as their correspondence uncovers a secret long buried about their world. Like dense fronds of seaweed unfurling, Sylvie Cathrall untangles a beautiful epistolary academic romance between shy but inquisitive "E" and esteemed scholar Henerey Clel who find a connection deeper than the boundless depths in which they reside. Split between their initial correspondence and the two siblings left behind to unravel the mystery through the letters they penned, A Letter to the Luminous Deep instills a quest for the truth, while providing insight into both the past and the present. Including discussions around mental health, academia, and scientific exploration, this magical underwater adventure leaves plenty to investigate. A wonderfully curious debut that completely enraptured me!

This review will appear on my blog closer to publication!

The style of this book takes some getting used to, but overall, I found this to be a unique and interesting adventure story with a compelling plot!

I did find the letter format to get a little tiring towards the end of the book, simply because it no longer made as much sense, but with the right graphic design, this could be a great book, especially if they take the time to design the entries.

I will say, it is not as cozy as some of the marketing comparisons suggest - this is far from a TJ Klune book, but it has a charm of it's own.

Thank you so much Orbit and NetGalley for sending me A Letter to the Luminous Deep!
I so badly wanted to love this book, unfortunately it was just not for me. Early on, I felt it a bit difficult to follow, but still very engaging. I did thoroughly enjoy how each scene was set and I could picture how everything looked. However, the style just wasn't my cup of tea. I hope to circle back and reread with a fresh perspective later this year!

This book was nothing short of beautiful. It is written in the epistolary form which I was nervous about as I wasn't sure if it would hold my attention but I was completely wrong. I was completely connected to each of the characters who all had their own distinct voice and I was on the edge of my seat as the mystery unfolded. The world building was done in such a deliberately slow way that things are revealed to the reader at exactly the right moments. The LGBTQ+ and OCD representation is done so naturally and with care. I eagerly await the next book in the series. Thank so you so much to Netgalley and Orbit books for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Giving this one 3 stars for the portion I read. I chose to DNF at about 25%. Although the quirky writing style of the correspondence was charming at first, it became tedious and cumbersome after a while, and it left me feeling annoyed and uninterested. It’s such a shame because the plot sounds intriguing, and that cover is just gorgeous!

I wish the characters had been given more unique voices rather than all sounding like one and the same. I do appreciate the fantasy elements and normalization of queer relationships.

Thank you Net Galley and Orbit for the chance to review with an honest opinion in exchange for the ARC.

This is the first book I’ve read where the story unfolds through correspondences of the characters, whether they be of letters to each other, journal entries, interviews or article publications. Allow me to start with the pros. It’s an interesting concept and I loved the fantasy aspect of living underwater and the adventures that come with it. The author normalizes queer relationships and it touches on topics such as depression, isolation, anxiety, OCD and agoraphobia. This book was beautifully written but it just wasn’t for me.

In each letter, no matter who the writer was, it was in the same format with no unique quirks to differentiate the characters from one another. Even a change in font would have helped just a little. I had to reread the heading of each letter just to be sure I knew who was the sender. A singular format of writing created unmemorable characters. This book is also an excruciatingly slow-burn. Nothing happens. The siblings of E. and scholar Clel are trying to uncover clues about their disappearance but the story moves at a snail pace. I wanted to complete it but I DNFed at 25%. I struggled since 7% and couldn’t continue it anymore. From skimming through other reviews, I found out this book is book 1 in a series. It also sounds like the first book is more of a build up to the plot that starts in the 2nd book. From that information I’m okay with not uncovering its mystery.

Thank you to Orbit and Netgallery for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to be completely honest..I DNFed after a couple of chapters. The writing is fine, but a story told entirely through letters written between characters just isn’t for me. I’m bummed that I couldn’t push through, because this book sounded so interesting to me!

I wanted to love it…. It’s kind of slow, rambles all over the place and bluntly I found it a bit tedious. If you’re in the mood for an epistolary fantasy I’d recommend Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot instead. Sounded great but no…

A Letter to the Luminous Deep caught me by surprise. I have observed this book has a more mixed reception, but I believe I am exactly the target audience for it! The anxious characters, the penpal development, the academic vibe and the underworld setting have captured me. I took more time in reading this book to savor the prose in many of the letters and believe this will be a book I return to more than once.

The beginning takes a little bit of time to develop, but it is well worth it! There are two levels of correspondence. On the outer frame, we have two characters who are trying to put together the events of the last year prior to their respective brother and sister going missing after an underwater earthquake and presumed dead. As each digs through letters, journals and other save documents of their sibling and shares it with the other, those letters reveal one of the sweetest romances I have ever read. Henery and E. are both socially awkward academics who share a love for the deep sea and classification of sea creatures. While both share social anxieties it becomes apparent that E. is also often riddled with intrusive thoughts indicative of OCD. As they take comfort and companionship in each other through their letters, it is wonderful to also see Henery's brother and E.'s sister find joy in in seeing their sibling happy and loved in reading the letters. I can't do justice to how stunningly beautiful this dynamic is to read through the layers of correspondence assembled.

However, this is more than a penpal romance, but also a fantasy mystery. The key questions at the heart of the plot is what happened to Henery and E and what caused the earthquake that destroyed the "Deep House" where E. lives. The last few chapters of the story provide us with some answers, but also more questions, all leading to a cliffhanger conclusion. To develop the mystery, we do see correspondence introduced from other characters that, while needed, takes the focus off Henery and E as the central characters. While I missed their voices in this part of the book, I am hopeful to see more of them in the books to come.

This was truly a unique reading experience. I can't wait to see what is next for all of the characters. Cathrall's storytelling, from the form to the sentence level prose, is simply superb.

I love the idea of an epistalory novel, but this one had so many characters mentioned with so many nicknames it was difficult to follow.

DNF
I was very intrigued by the letter writing style of this book at first. I feel like books written in this style are typically fast-paced and easy for me to read. I think since the letter writing feels formal, and is also introducing a different world, it was very difficult for me to get interested and invested in the story. I am very much a mood reader, and I also don’t think the writing style is for me. If you’re interested in the concept and like the writing style, then I would suggest you pick this book up, but it just could not hold my interest and I feel like I needed something faster-paced.

I adore this book. I think it's a wonderful corrective to the depictions of academia and entitlement in the Emily Wilde series, and it's a wonderful representation of mental illness and neurodivergence in a way that was deeply relatable to me. All of that being said, this book will certainly not be for everyone: it's incredibly slow, and I found myself taking this book in small sips over the course of a month, instead of my usual binge-reading approach. I love these characters, the gentle world, and the hints at a much more epic story to come in the sequel(s?). I can't wait to own a copy.

An epistolary, fantastical under-sea romance that I was incredbly excited for, but unfortunately I think the writing just didn't work for me. It was hard to distinguish characters due to their narrative voices being so similar, and the pacing was just a tad too slow for me. I think others will get a lot of enjoyment from this novel!

This was absolutely lovely.
A Letter to the Luminous Deep follows Philosophy "Sophy" Cidnorghe and Vyerin Clel as they grieve the loss of their siblings and begin a correspondence to archive all of the beautiful letters their siblings wrote to one another. Watching E. and Henerey fall in love through their words, mutual interests, and in spite of E. facing severe anxiety, agoraphobia, and OCD, was absolutely breathtaking. The writing style of this book was exclusively letters and emails, and it really helped understand the feelings of each of the characters. It pulled you in and provided an air of mystery around the grief. Because while you're reading about Sophy and Vy's exploration of these letters - at the same time you're watching this adorable love story unfold.
I will admit this went a bit slow for me. Mostly due to the discussions of deep sea exploration - something about being that far underwater makes me nervous, despite this whole book taking place in a world where people live on floating cities above the water or in houses nestled in coral reefs - so with those well acquainted with sea life. It also has a very scholarly air as all of the characters are scholars and are focused on research in one way or another. It is very fascinating to see how their disciplines all inter-connect by the end.
Please please please pick this up. Truly, I love the evolution of E. and Henerey's relationship and it is so unlike anything else I have read this year. Just lovely.

Thank you for the ARC. I was really looking forward to reading this book, however I think I would have preferred it as a narrative rather than letters between characters. It was difficult for me to follow who was writing to who. The difficulty took from the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for allowing me the chance to read this book early! This is my honest opinion.

I thought I'd give a new style of storytelling a chance. I never quite got invested into the story I found it hard to read and the voices seemed pretty similar and the constant back and forth between letters is to much for me. I enjoy most cozy fantasy and will ready diary/encyclopedia style books but the letters were to much. I never could get invested in the story and when I read I don't want to keep log of when what is happening. I really wanted to like it but it was a miss for me. But the story premise and world seem really cool.

This book was a 3.5. This was written in a very different style that I was not expecting. Its all through letters, journals, etc. It took about 30% of the book for me to understand how the flow of events was working. Once I got the hang of that, I started to appreciate the book more. About 70% is where the book started to pick up and I felt more involved in it. I am not sure if the ending is a cliffhanger or the reader just being happy that the book is over with.

The cover is gorgeous and the concept sounded fun. Unfortunately it never caught my attention and was kind of boring. I was exciting about the letter concept, but it felt like more article than letter.

dnf at 15%

usually i try to get through arcs but i could tell very quickly that i wasn’t going to enjoy this at all!

this story is told through letters from four people—great, excellent, i love an epistolary novel. except that all four characters have identical voices and it’s more or less impossible to tell them apart. every letter is written in the exact same style and tone, and also, as an added bonus, in the style of a 2014 tumblr text post.

the plot gets lost quickly—while i enjoy that it’s told nonlinearly, there are so many tangents in the various correspondences, and a whole bunch of unrelated letters thrown in, that the plot is nearly impossible to follow.


the world building is almost interesting, in that the world itself is written very sci-fi. if i had to compare the world to anything, it would be murderbot but underwater. the problem is that i don’t think this is what the author intended—it’s not advertised as sci fi anywhere, and based on the advertising it’s presumably supposed to be a very lyrical fantasy world. i love sci fi, but the world building unintentionally creates a very different vibe than the story itself, and it doesn’t mesh well.

overall, i just didn’t want to spend the time reading a book i knew i wouldn’t like. unfortunately this one is a no from me.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep is a underwater world setting with magical academia vibes.
story that is written as an exchange of letters- starts off with E and Henerey who begin to exchange letters however after a devastating incident happens- both E and Henerey vanish. The book picks up with E's sister Sophy and Henerey's brother Vyerin begin to correspond in order solve the mysteries of the disappearance if their siblings.

This book at first was hard to get into at first but once I was able to get the premise of the story/characters- it was easier to follow.

I can't wait to read the next book.