Review: The Floating World by Axie Oh

I received this book via the publisher Feiwel & Friends. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

The Floating World by Axie Oh
Series: The Floating World #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on 2025-04-29
Age Range: 13+
Length: 368 pages
Reviewing eARC from the publisher Feiwel & Friends
Rating:
Reading Challenges: #NGEW2025, 2025 New Release Challenge

From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this lighthearted romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.

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. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime―a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.

Meanwhile, far to the east, 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. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from―and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize she's the girl that he―and a hundred other swords-for-hire―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...

The Floating World by Axie Oh is a YA fantasy inspired by the Korean legend of the Celestial Maidens. Sunho, an ex-soldier with amnesia, lives in the Underworld working small mercenary jobs for a living. He hopes to one day find his older brother who can piece together his past. When a light shines out of the mountains far to the east, Sunho is hired along with others to find the girl who wields the power. The girl, Ren, is a traveling performer who lives a mostly happy life with her adoptive family until a demon attacks and changes her fate.

Ren is naive, but ever optimistic. You can’t help but be drawn to her. She’s always looking at the bright side of things despite her past. Ren hides a powerful secret, one that could bring the nation to its knees, but she wants nothing to do with it. The only thing she wants is a cure for Little Uncle, her friend and part of her adoptive family who was struck ill after the demon attack. Ren sets off across the mountains back to the land she ran from ten years earlier.

Sunho is an interesting character. He is cunning, brave, and can fight. But the only thing he really wants is to find his brother. When he’s hired to find Ren (though he doesn’t know it is her yet), the man who hires him says he knows Sunho’s brother and can help him find him if he’ll bring him the girl first. What the man and Sunho do not count on is Sunho falling for Ren.

This is a fast-paced plot full of adventure and thrills, but is at its heart about the characters. The story bounces between Sunho and Ren’s perspectives with occasional chapters from Jaeil’s perspective (the captain who hires Sunho). I appreciated getting all the different viewpoints in this story. It helped to build the world and layout what to expect. The romance was a little too instalove for me personally, but I think that was done intentionally as a part of the retelling. We’ll see in the next book.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Floating World. Ren’s adventure across the mountains and into the Underworld is exciting and thrilling as we see it mostly from her perspective. She’s entranced by all the new things she encounters. Sunho’s self-discovery as more of his memories come to light is both heartbreaking and revealing at a deeper threat to their world. I’m excited to continue the series. If you are a fan of YA fantasy with a touch of romance and a heap of action, I highly recommend it.

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