Instant 5 stars. Pacing was steady, and the story came together really well. I loved the characters, even the ones that disappointed me. The character that disappointed me had me second-guessing myself throughout, which I loved! The world and the lore was so immersive and easy to read about. I really felt the Final Fantasy inspiration and loved imagining those aspects as I read. I love the two main characters with all my heart and I can't wait to see how they fair in the sequel. Phenomenal read, I can't wait for book 2!

A little slow moving to start, but it eventually picked up and it was fabulous! I loved the tension, the push and pull, the twists and turns. That slow burn between Ren and Sunho was beautiful, and the addition of Jaeil took everything up another notch. And that cliffhanger, can't wait for book 2!

“Even in darkness, there is always light.”

When Ren releases a blast of silver light that is seen, it sets off a hunt for her by those that want to use her or see her killed. Sunho does odd jobs and is hired to track down the girl that emitted the light. Him and several hundred others that were hired. When their paths cross, he does not realize that she is the girl that he’s looking for as they agree to travel together.

This adventure really felt like it started early and just kept rolling and going without pause! It certainly made for a fast paced fun read. I had to know what else was going to happen with Sunho and Ren. I absolutely loved the unique world, with the ones that live in the shadow of The Floating World— the Under World— the ones outside and then the world above. It actually makes me really want to stay in this story to lean more about it!

We follow three perspectives in the story, all third person, and I loved every one of them. I needed to learn more about Jaeil, but I did mostly love our lonely swordsman for hire and our hidden powers performer. I felt for both of them much more and wanted them to be happy and find their place.

If you do love fast paced, action packed, well written and unique reimagining based off a Korean legend of Celestial Maidens, then I believe this is the YA for you. I do love how it is solidly Young Adult as well and gives me nostalgia for those books and manga that I loved to read back in high school or college.

Thank you so much for the free eARC on NetGalley! Truly appreciate to have been able to read this and cannot wait to receive my copy!

The Floating World has all the classic elements of a great epic fantasy: a long lost princess, a dangerous but good-hearted swordsman, an evil empire, and a found family. It's fast-paced and full of adventure, with protagonists that feel like real people. I am particularly invested in the morally-grey third wheel to the main couple, Jaeil, who deeply deserves a hug and his own special person!

But there's no tension. Until the obligatory cliffhanger at the very end, any challenge faced by the main couple, Ren and Sunho, is resolved within a chapter or so. She lies about her identity, he's too in love with her to care. He needs to break into a military facility, the guards are already in a drunken stupor. She needs a miracle cure for a mysterious illness, oh look there's a helpful evil scientist who just happens to have it in his pocket and would be glad to share. The story couldn't decide whether to be epic or cozy, so it didn't quite succeed at either in my opinion.

I wanted to love it. I kept expecting to love it, even as the pages sped by. I just didn't love it in the end. I'm not certain whether I'll read the sequel. If I do, it will be in the hopes that Jaeil finally gets his hug.

Thanks to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A boy seeking his lost memories and his brother. A girl hiding from her past and the responsibilities. And two worlds that are at odds that will force them together.

It takes a moment for the worlds and the characters to grab hold of the reader, but once the story gets going and the connections start falling into place, it was beautiful. The contrasts between Sunho and Ren, the flashbacks to their previous memories, their separate quests that brought them together, the stakes. I really enjoyed this book and am now kind of bummed that I'm going to have to wait for book two especially with that second-to-last chapter. Oof, talk about a stab to the heart.

Oh I love this author...... and this book includes so many reasons why I love her....... she can write a contemporary story and have it be amazing and then she can take you out of this world into a fantasy..... her characters are so real and her writing is so beautiful. I loved everything about this book. I had to purchase this book and I can't wait for book 2.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't struggle getting into the story. This is my first title by the author so I'm not sure if its the specific story or if maybe the overall writing style just isn't for me.

I felt like the pacing was incredibly slow, it took until over a third of the way into the book for the main character to even meet one another. I appreciated being able to see who they were separately and what their lives were like but at the same time it just felt like an awful lot of filler.

The world building felt really unique but I did struggle keeping different locations straight in my head - I usually don't have much of an issue doing that but with this story I constantly felt myself needing to double check where someone was or where a location was in relation to another location.

Sunho's back story and character interested my far more than Ren, Ren seemed very two dimensional and I found myself speed reading parts that specifically had to do with her.

The syntax felt strange at times, almost like the wrong words were being used? I'm not sure how to fully describe it but it felt how dubbed animes sometimes use a "synonym" for a word but it's not quite the right word despite being technically accurate. That's likely more of a personal issue than it is a book issue though - so take that with a grain of salt.

I can see the comparison to Shadow & Bone (with Ren's power and being hunted) but I felt like it was also similar in vibes to Demon Slayer and Five Broken Blades. The Floating World has some similarities in plot and world building to those which is always fun for fans.

Overall, it wasn't terrible but I can't see myself rushing to pick up another book by this author for a little while.

This was such a fun and well written book. I never heard of the author before but I will immediately buy anything that they write in the future. Such a great story. I very much enjoyed it.

The Floating World by Axie Oh is a beautifully written novel with a strong emphasis on atmosphere and emotional resonance. The prose is elegant, and the setting is richly imagined, offering readers an immersive experience. However, while I admired the lyrical writing and thematic depth, the pacing and plot development did not fully engage me. Although it was not a personal favorite, it remains a well-crafted story that will likely appeal to readers who enjoy quiet, introspective fantasy.

Axie Oh is becoming one of my favorite authors. Once again, she wrote a book filled with magic, adventure, and romance. She is skilled at building magical worlds and this one was no exception. I genuinely liked the characters and their development throughout the story. This is the first book in a series, so I'm hoping the magic will continue in the sequel without losing its momentum.

I loved Axie Oh’s Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, but something about this book just didn’t work for me.

The pacing was both simultaneously too fast and two slow. It felt like the story took too long to set up between the 3 POVs, and even with the time it took, it didn’t feel like the characters had any real solid motivations for being dragged together and from place to place.

I enjoyed the characters, Ren and Sunho are quite sweet and I love that they both look out for each other. But I wish I had more of Jaeil’s POV because he seemed much more intriguing than we got to see in this first book.

I was quite underwhelmed with most of the book as it felt like things I had seen before. That’s not to say that it was bad! It wasn’t! It just had to many similarities to other plots I’ve seen before. And then the book picks up a ton of speed and I finally felt invested only for the book to end, when it felt like the story was really beginning.

I enjoyed the high stakes action scenes, and how things began to play out towards the end, but I wish I didn’t have to wait so long for the plot to really hit. Given the way things are left at the end of this book makes me have hope that the sequel will kick up the action and raise the stakes, but it felt like this whole first book was just a set up for the real story to come.

I enjoyed Axie Oh’s novel The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea, so I was excited when this next book was said to be Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone.
This world that Oh has created felt very much like Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky.
Factory and innovation exist alongside traveling circus performers. There is a Floating World, that is above an area of land that exists to mine the mithril and is in darkness, though it’s not the entire continent. While the world feels big, it also feels incredibly empty. Especially compared to Oh’s previous work.

I feel this may be suited to younger readers. The two main characters are supposed to be 17ish and yet their behavior and insta love feels more like 13/14 year olds. They are caricatures more than individuals with purpose, and as a caricature, their personalities and memory change depending on the situation in a way that didn’t feel organic.

It wasn’t a bad book, but I do feel torn on whether I’ll continue the series. I probably won’t.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan publishing for this ARC!

Axie Oh had me at Castle in the Sky meets Final Fantasy. Sign me up!

I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish. From the world-building, the tension, and the action? Wonderful. Ren and Sunho’s relationship was slow-burning and well-developed. Rounded down from 4.25 simply because of the pacing at the beginning, which may be a struggle for others to get through, and then the ending felt rushed. I'm glad this is a duology because I can't wait to pick up the 2nd!


Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and their imprint, Feiwel & Friends, for this e-ARC and I cannot wait to have the hardcopy in my hands upon release!

i love Axie Oh’s fantasies so i knew i was going to enjoy this one. this is like if Ty Lee from Avatar met Mal from Shadow and Bone in a Final Fantasy-inspired world that actually reminded me a lot of Fledgling by SK Ali. the world-building was so well done and Ren and Sunho are so soft 🥹 i do think both books probably could’ve been a standalone and the romance felt a little rushed and therefore unearned between the characters but the last 30 or so pages were super action packed. excited to see how this craziness gets resolved in book 2 later this year! thank you to Fierce Reads for an early copy for review!

It's giving Princess Mononoke meets Howl's Moving Castle for my ultimate Studio Ghibli fantasy dream.

At first, I was a bit worried that Axie Oh had given the game away too soon, but silly me! With "The Floating World," Oh, as expected, weaves a beautiful tale of magic, self-discovery, and, of course, young love, that is compelling without relying on hijinks that have become all too common in today's fantasy.

Big reveal? Nope. Our players are set from the beginning, yet the tension is still high because wait for it - the plot is rock solid. Ren's fight to save her uncle is filled with action, humor, and growth. And unlike some characters I've recently read about, her desire to forsake her destiny feels lived in and embodied in this character. She's brave, loyal, funny, and the most beautiful girl in all the worlds.

Annoying third-act break-up due to miscommunication trope? HELL NO. When Sunho said, "We're not going to do that. We're going to talk to each other and make decisions together," I SWOONED. Let's be real, what's more romantic than a man committing to open and vulnerable communication and then following through?

What kept it from being 5 stars, you ask? The pacing in the beginning 10% was a bit slow, IMO, but I KNEW it would pay off. And it did. But then, the last 10% felt too rushed. I just know that if we'd gotten more of Sunho's climb or an emotional confrontation with Lady Maya or quality Ren/Yurhee (hello book 2!!!), the conclusion would have been even better.

As always, major thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and their imprint, Feiwel & Friends, for this ARC. Also, Axie Oh, you are a gem of a human. I love being a fan of yours- you treat your readers with such kindness.

Sunho is a former soldier tasked with tracking down an unassuming girl who supposedly wields light. For some this is a sign of the return of the celestial maidens, the true rulers of the Floating World. Could this girl be the lost princess or an imposter?

A lost princess and a broody soldier with light amnesia, what more could a girl want? I enjoyed this from start to finish. The world building, tension, and action were pure perfection. Ren and Sunho’s relationship was well developed and a true slow-burn. With the twists and turns, I was hooked. I am so excited (and anxious) for book two!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC!

Living in the Under World with perpetual darkness, Sunho can't remember much of his life before two years ago. An ex-soldier, he does odd jobs until he hears about a girl who wields silver light. In the east, acrobat Ren is performing when the village is attacked by horrific demons. She releases a blast of silver light that kills the monster, but not before her adoptive family suffers devastating losses. Trying to save her uncle from a poisoned wound, Ren heads for the mountains and meet Sunho. He doesn't know she's the one that every mercenary is looking for, and the two grow ever closer during their travels.

This is the first half of a duology. Here, the Floating World is an island mass suspended over part of the western side of a mountain range, and high-ranking nobles and ministers live there. Beneath it, in the Under World, are the workers, mercenaries, military, and lower classes that will never earn enough to make it to the Floating World. Demons are real here, creatures that have vaguely humanoid shapes but otherwise are mindless killers feasting on humans and destruction. One of them poisoned Ren's foster uncle with its blue blood during an attack. She crosses the mountain range looking for medicine; she has three weeks to find it and make it back to save his life. In the meantime, Sunho is one of hundreds looking to find Ren without a clear description; the higher-ups don't care if they kill each other or random people who meet the description given. Of course, they become friends and choose to protect each other even when the truth is revealed. Others want to capture or kill them, and there are multiple factions in play.

I am very much reminded of anime favorites like Battle Angel Alita with the world-building. The complications that Sunho and Ren find along the way evoke strong imagery of real-world areas and movies, which makes the book a really fast and fun read. They have their missions, along the way, we find out about the past, what happened to the people, and the different groups fighting for the future. It's a compelling read, and I'm already eager for the second half of the story.

From the same author who gave us The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea, this new title does not fail to impress. The Floating World is a lyrical, dreamlike journey through a realm suspended between myth and memory, where every detail feels soaked in soft magic. With aching beauty and a heroine who grows through loss, courage, and self-discovery, Axie Oh once again proves her talent for weaving heart and myth into something timeless. The worldbuilding is lush and ethereal, characters linger like echoes long after the final page, and the emotional resonance hits just as deeply as her previous works. It’s a story that gently devastates before stitching you back together, more whole than before.

I saw this described as Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone, and while I can’t really speak to the Final Fantasy side, the Shadow and Bone comparison felt spot on. If you like layered fantasy worlds, a little magic-meets-politics, and a writing style that leans upper YA, this is one to check out.

The world-building is super creative, with a lot of unique elements, but I did find myself wishing for a bit more detail at times. There were moments where I was fully in it—and others where I was mentally filling in the blanks, trying to connect the dots. Still, the originality shines through, and some of the imagery was really striking.

The strongest part of the book, for me, was the emotional weight behind the creation of the “demons.” It was equal parts horrifying and heartbreaking, and that tension made the story feel deeper. I also really appreciated how the class dynamics were woven into the plot—they didn’t feel tacked on, but like a natural and important part of the world.

First, I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for this book for multiple reasons. It is pitched as Final Fantasy means Shadow and Bone, and as a fan of both, I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on it. Not to mention, I am a sucker for Korean mythology and generally anything Axie Oh writes! What a brilliant writer.

Okay, so obviously, I loved this book. There was so much to love, so I want to break it down piece by piece for those of you who are interested. Let's start with the main characters Ren and Sunho! I was amazed by both of them. Both with tragic pasts their running toward and away from. They're the very definition of opposites attract. One born of the light and one of the dark! Despite these differences, they bring out the very best in each other, and it was wonderful to see unfurl on the page. All of the characters in this world were well developed, and you couldn't help falling in love with even the smallest character. I truly hope to meet so many more of them in the next book.

Let's move on to worldbuilding. If I wouldn't so obviously die a tragic death in a fantasy world, I'd be leaping into this one. It was so brilliantly spun that I don't think I'll ever look at the color blue the same way. You'll have to read it to get the reference, but blue will always have a special significance to me now. I could so vividly see the world, and not in an annoying info dumpy way, but in the way the character themselves saw it. The different places held significance for them, and seeing it through their perspective made it all the more special. I cant wait to go back.

Plot! This story held so many things that I love in a good plot. Character development, amazing backstories, mythology, and a fight for what is right. There was so much emphasis on the love a family can have for each other, and not just as blood, but as a chosen family. The relationships built in this book really made the plot and the journey special. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but I will say that I had an array of emotions while reading this book, and I can't wait to see everyone reactions.

Another brilliant story from Axie Oh! I can't wait to see where the next part of this journey goes!