by Axie Oh
Release Date: April 29, 2025
2025 Felwel & Friends
Ebook ARC; 368 Pages
ISBN: 978-1250853080
ASIN: B0D7TF344S
Audiobook: B0DGVQDXBP
Genre: Fiction / Fantasy / YA / Mythology
Source: Review copy from publisher
3.75 / 5 Stars
Summary
Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of
perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life
from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and
his sword.
Ren
is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family
and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their
festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific
humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of
silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the
monster.
Ren sets off over the mountains, where the
creature came from. Her
path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize
she's the girl that he is looking
for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize
that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them
could have imagined...
My Thoughts
The Floating World was a fascinating blend of Korean mythology, adventure, celestial magic, and found family. The world-building was really good as the author didn't waste time info dumping, but threw you into the world and you figured things out and learned with the characters, something that I love. But the author is quite skilled at weaving the fantasy world into the story so you have no trouble keeping up with the story even if you aren't quite sure how everything fits together at the moment.
The story is told in multi POV, but it all flows seamlessly. This type of storytelling can be confusing, but when done right, works very well, and this was done right. The author did a great job of revealing just the right bit of information to continue the plot, but not so much that you stopped guessing as to what may happen. The worldbuilding is a bit strange at first, and it reminds me somewhat of Jeff Wheeler's Harbinger world, a world where there is a city in the sky and one below and that is what I kept picturing as I read this at first. However, the author's descriptive writing soon made this one her own and it definitely stood on its own after a while. The themes floating through this book were interesting, everything from found family to generational trauma to genetic manipulation to loyalty. Grief was also at the center of this story. I personally would have liked a bit more on the political side as that is my interest, and I found that part of this story a bit lacking. It didn't take away from the overall enjoyment, but because of this, I found the last quarter of the book to be rushed as the political factions started taking over with the development in that area being a bit smudgy, if you know what I mean.
The two main characters were somewhat well developed, but I did enjoy their journeys, both physical and mental, throughout the story. Both Ren and Sunho were suffering from loss of family and identity crisis, and I love how subtly this played into their relationship. Their romance was quite slow and took a while to build, something I appreciated as I am not a fan of insta-love, and it really wasn't a main part of the story, just something that happened so I wouldn't necessarily call this book a romance by any stretch. A lot of it was about Sunho and him learning who he really was as he searched for his brother and reclaimed his memories. I could understand his frustration at not knowing how he developed the strength and abilities he has, but also his fear as to how he will react when he finally learns the truth as he understood that could be worse.
Verdict
The Floating World was a pleasant surprise and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The worldbuilding and plot were well developed, even if I found the last quarter to be somewhat rushed and lacking in the political explanations. The characters were unique and interesting, but I am hoping a couple of the secondary characters will be more developed in the sequel as they were just as interesting as Ren and Sunho. Overall, while I did feel this was somewhat predictable and not necessarily unique (as mentioned, Jeff Wheeler's Harbinger series also has this dual world), I did think it was fun and I enjoyed it quite a bit as it was refreshing and easy to follow. It could be that I just needed something lighter at the moment, and this fit the bill exactly.
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