An absolutely lovely read!! A quirky, emotional, curious and deep dive into a magical underwater world. Highly recommend to those that love the Emily Wilde series!

Thank you again to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a chance to read and review an advanced copy of this book!

This is such potential with its cool concept and world! I usually love epistolary novels, however I didn’t mesh with the writing style. I understand the reasoning behind the academic language, but it made the book feel harder to connect to. Overall, not for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I need something to happen within the book for it to hold my attention. Essentially nothing truly happened. Granted I thought this was a standalone but it’s not.
The underwater world is beautiful and there is not a book out there like it, I can for sure tell you that! It makes you want to venture down there
The book is written in the form of letters. I absolutely love that idea, however I have found that I do not particularly vibe with the formal historical aspect of it. There were a couple of times where I was struggling to imagine the story line. Due to this, it made it seem extremely slow, we have the saying “slow as a turtle” no this was slow as a snail”. I ended up putting the book down multiple times….. did anyone else feel that it was mostly fluff?

I just need to stop requesting books with side plots revolving around romance, and specifically straight romances. I know I'm not gonna like them.

I give Letters To The Luminous Deep 3.5 stars! This story takes place in a unique underwater world. 🐠🪸 This was my first epistolary novel, and I’ve learned this particular format isn’t for me but will resonate with readers who do enjoy reading the story via letters. I did enjoy the book and found it to be very charming and cozy. The writing is beautifully done!

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

Sadly, i could not get into this book. No worries, didn’t books satisfy different people! That’s the beauty of reading.

If you’re a fan of Emily Wilde you will love this book. It’s an easy light academia read and I love that the entire story is told through letters. I’m also a complete sucker for an academic romance!

This book had me so excited because I love when other beings tell a story besides a human. But this was too in depth for a shorter non series book & it had me very confused from the beginning.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep is a unique, cozy fantasy set partially underwater. It's also epistolary, and takes place in a sort of high-tech fantasy Victorian setting. The language used is old-fashioned, formal, and flowery, which almost made me feel like I was reading a Jane Austen novel. It was definitely a slower book, since it is essentially recounting the leadup to a specific event, and the letters can be rambling sometimes. However, I enjoyed the writing style so much that the slow beginning and middle didn't really bother me. I really enjoyed the romance, as well, and I'm excited for the second book.

First and foremost, many thanks to the author and NetGalley for the advance copy!

I absolutely adored this book! A Letter to the Luminous Deep is written in correspondence format, meaning it's almost completely presented as letters between these wonderful characters, each of whom had a clearly different 'voice' and personality shown in their correspondences.

It was so fun to read along with Sophy and Vyerin as they not only got to see the blossoming relationship between their siblings (her sister E. and his brother Henerey) but they also unraveled the truth of what happened and how they and other friends were intertwined. It was also lovely to see how Sophy and Vyerin were able to bond in both their grief and discovery, making this both a novel of romance and found family.

My only critique is that I wish we got to see more world-building! We learned a decent bit about societal structure, history and the denizens of the ocean, but I would love a deeper look at it all. It looks like the book leaves off in the hope of continuing and I truly hope it does well enough that we get to see another installation that maybe provides all this!

I was beyond excited for this book as I heard it was Emily Wilde meets the ocean! As a millennial who grew up wanting to be a marine biologist (but is now a librarian) I was sold! Also I love a good epistolary novel, however, this fell flat for me as all 3 characters sounded the same in their letters. It made the story hard to keep straight of whose perspective I was reading. Gorgeous cover and intriguing idea. I was not a fan this time around but will definitely give it another try in the future because I really want to love it.

I wasn’t really into this book the way it’s written is in letters and my adhd brain can’t keep up with that

This was very well done. I really enjoyed the writing style and progression. The academia setting was interesting. I think this book has a lot of potential going forward with hopefully more to make a series.

Unfortunately this was a “did not finish” for me. I may try to return at a later date. The writing was strong, the world intriguing, and I was interested in the mystery of what happened…. But I had trouble connecting with the characters and the format instead of being unique and compelling just made it really hard to get into.

I had such a lovely time with this epistolary novels. I do love how letters can be used to set scenery and build characters within a story. Here Cathrall uses them.not only to craft her plot around the missing E and Henery, but also to show how their disappearance brought about the friendship between their siblings, who start up a correspondence as a result and how the romance bloomed between E and H.

The letters are cozy and show the depth of intelligence and vulnerability of each character. The mysterious Structure that appears and that seems to herald the arrival of some unknown entity also adds a layer of interest to the happenings around our scholars and their expeditions.

I have always loved letters and how they can be used to tell a story. I look forward to the next installment in this series.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall is a captivating debut novel that immerses readers in a whimsical underwater world through the intimate exchange of letters. The story begins with reclusive E. and scholar Henerey Clel, whose passionate correspondence uncovers a deep-seated mystery. When tragedy strikes and both vanish, their siblings, Sophy and Vyerin, are left to unravel the secrets hidden within the letters, sketches, and field notes left behind. The novel’s strength lies in its epistolary format, which intricately weaves together themes of romance, academia, and familial bonds. While the slow pacing and complex timelines may pose challenges, the book’s rich character development and heartfelt exploration of mental health and queer representation make it a compelling read for those seeking a thought-provoking blend of fantasy and introspection.

I dnfed this at 9%.. Its alright but i just couldn't get into it. I didnt like the writing at all and that was my main obstacle. I'm not saying its bad, i just think im not the intended audience.

3.5 stars

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.

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on August 3rd.

I don't think this is a bad book by any standards but I do think this wasn't the book for me. Things I did enjoy: the setting, I loved the world, the characters, and the plot. It felt very unique and so fun! Things I did not enjoy: the writing and the setup. What I mean by this is that I didn't click well with the writing style and the format. I think with it being written as letters, the author needed to do a better job of differentiating characters by writing style. It wasn't done very well so it just all kind of sounded the same, the characters lacked individual voice in my opinion. The writing was also a bit cumbersome to read through. Because of these issues, I ended up DNF-ing the book, but I do think this book could hit really well with some people that don't mind the writing issues or even really like that. Because, as I said I think the world and setting is really awesome, so ultimately it is a really cool story, just sadly not for me. Overall I would give this a 2.5/5 but I've rounded up here because I can't give half stars on NetGalley.

I ended up dnf’ing this book unfortunately. I couldn’t connect with the letter style of the story. It just wasn’t for me.