A Letter from the Lonesome Shore
by Sylvie Cathrall
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Dive into the charming conclusion to the Sunken Archive duology, a heart-warming magical academia fantasy filled with underwater cities, romance of manners and found family, perfect for fans of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.
Former correspondents E. and Henerey, accustomed to loving each other from afar, did not anticipate continuing their courtship in an enigmatic underwater city. When their journey through the Structure in E.'s garden strands them in a peculiar society preoccupied with the pleasures and perils of knowledge, E. and Henerey come to accept—and, more surprisingly still, embrace—the fact that they may never return home.
A year and a half later, Sophy and Vyerin finally discover one of the elusive Entries that will help them seek their siblings. As the group's efforts bring them closer to E. and Henerey, an ancient, cosmic threat also draws near...
“An underwater treasure-chest to be slowly unpacked, full of things I adore.” —Freya Marske
“A shimmering, delicately crafted delight.” —H.G. Parry
“A fascinating and charming story told in a uniquely elegant voice.” —Louisa Morgan
“Both the setting and the story are exquisite.” —Megan Bannen
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9780316565554
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Sylvie Cathrall
- Publisher
- Orbit
- Published Date
- May 6, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 400
- Physical Info
- 1.2 in H x 8.1 in L x 5.4 in W (0.75 lb)
📣 a family-centered fantasy that also has the sweetest romanceThanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.Epistolary lovers have everything they could want with the The Sunken Archive duology. Book 1, A Letter to the Luminous Deep, ends with E & Henerey having vanished, & book 2, A Letter from the Lonesome Shore, picks back up with their deepening romance & their siblings’ search for them using their letters.This book gets a bit too bogged down in fantasy world-building details at times, but I really love how the characters come to life through their writings. The romance is sweet, soft, & satisfying, & the intrusive thoughts rep is unique & fantastically real.4.5 ⭐️, out now.
A Letter to the Luminous Deep was one of my absolute favorite books of last year. I loved the back and forth between the family members and the puzzle of what happened to the Deep House. Unfortunately this did not fulfill on the promise that Luminous Deep created.The back and forth in this one was quite a bit more complicated, which added a layer of complexity to the story that we didn’t quite have in the first one. On top of this our letter writers suddenly became far more verbose and the stream of consciousness writing desperately needed an editor. An unnecessarily large chunk of this novel is spent waxing and moaning about holding hands and sleeping on a bed beside one another. For characters trapped in an underwater, hidden city they spent remarkably little time investigating, and were quickly appeased by the scholars there to keep to themselves.The climax and the ‘big bad’ were incredibly anticlimactic making the feeling of wasted time and frustration so profound. I finished the book and went to bed annoyed and cranky. Do I recommend the first book still? Sure, but I do think you can happily leave the ending where it was with the knowledge that everyone is happy in the end and avoid this one.
This book is just as delightful and whimsical as the first! It continues to tell the story in epistolary fashion, weaving a narrative between people in two worlds trying to connect with each other. We also jump a bit between timelines, but I had no problems following along thanks to the year stamps at the start of each chapter.The romance between Henerey and E. is just as slow and sweet as before, and in this new world E. finds herself blossoming and thriving. If they never make it back home, will that end up being so bad?The romance and the letters aren’t the only part of the story though, and there’s a whole new world and society and rules. Also, that whole cosmic horror coming to eat both worlds and everyone in it. And they somehow have to figure out what that’s about, how to stop it, or at least get everyone to believe it. No pressure!This is an incredibly cozy and unique read and I definitely recommend it. I think you’ll like it if you like cozy, whimsical stories, slow burn and sweet closed door romance, lush prose and eccentric characters. It’s not as much for readers that prefer hard science, more concise prose, fast action and purely logical characters.With that in mind, I thought this was an absolute gem of a duology and I’ll keep an eye out for this author in the future.
A Letter from the Lonesome Shore is a stunning conclusion to The Sunken Archive duology! It took me some time to get back into the story, but once I got my bearings, I eagerly devoured the beautiful prose.Like the first book, this story contains themes of love, sacrifice, knowledge, and mental health. All of the characters experience so much growth, and I loved how the story continued to be told through archival materials. This duology is much slower paced than your typical fantasy, but it has so much depth (pun intended) that many readers will be able to see themselves reflected in the characters in ways they may not have in other novels. The world is beautifully crafted and expands exponentially in this sequel.I highly recommend this duology to lovers of knowledge, the written word, and to all who seek out someone to love them wholly and uniquely for all that they are.Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the e-arc.
