My friend and I decided to pick a couple of books to read together. We picked the Crane Among Wolves and this one. When we first picked them out, I thought that I was going to like the Crane Among Wolves a lot better. But I was definitely mistaken. This book surprised me, and I'm so glad that I ended up reading it.

I thought this book was just about a girl who had sacrificed herself to the Sea God to save someone from her village, but it was much more than that. After Mina sacrifices herself, she finds herself in the Sea God's palace and notices that the Sea God had actually been asleep for all of these years. She has a bond with the Sea God that turns out to be a Red String of Fate. However, she meets three men who break this bond between her and the Sea God, vowing to protect the god. Despite this setback, she sets herself on a mission to find out how to wake the Sea God and protect her village from the unpredictable storms that the Sea God's slumber has caused. Along the way, she meets the other gods of this world and finds that no one really believes in the wishes of humans anymore. She's heartbroken, but she doesn't give up. And through this journey, a Red String of Fate accidently forms between herself and the man who had broken her bond with the Sea God: Shin. At first, she thinks that he's the same as everyone else, someone who doesn't care about humans. But she comes to realize that he cares more than both of them thought- and they end up falling in love.

I really loved every part of this book- it became a favorite for me nearly right away. One thing I loved most about this book was the world-building and environment. Before I read this, I knew that people had related it to Spirited Away and other Studio Ghibli films, but I didn't realize how true it was until I read it. Every part of the book just feels whimsical and it was like I was under the sea with Mina. What really helped with the mood and environment of this book was the fact that it was based on Korean folklore. I've always loved books that are based on fairy tales and folklore, and this book was no exception. This book just felt so lively and colorful to me, and I appreciated that.

The other thing I loved so much about this was the romance. They had misunderstandings of each other from the start, but they were resolved after learning more about each other. It first started when the Red String of Fate formed, but then it blossomed into actual love. I could really feel how much they cared for each other and I appreciated how Shin tried to understand how Mina felt. I was somewhat surprised when Shin turned out to actually be the Sea God, but I was actually glad. From the beginning, Mina was supposed to convince the Sea God to care about the humans, and Mina had tried to convince Shin of that throughout the entire book. I was sad when Mina returned to her world, but I was glad that she was able to see her family again. Although I was relieved when Shin came back for her, I do wish there was a way that she could have stayed with her family while being with Shin.

My favorite aspect of this book was the plot. This book was only a little over 300 pages, but it managed to fit a well-written plot in it. I felt like there were so many different scenes and plot points, but it all flowed together smoothly. Mina failed in her mission many times, but then she just kept going with it and finding other ways to succeed. All of the characters were well thought out, not just the main two characters. My favorite was definitely Namgi. I appreciated that he had a light-hearted demeanor and was kind to Mina from the start.

I suspect that this book will remain one of my favorites for a long time, so I highly recommend it.