Reviews

Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys

ainsleym's review against another edition

3.0

Extremely slow with no plot and little character development. I liked the relationship between Aphra and Charlie. It seemed the most fleshed out and convincing. I wish the book had focused more on strengthening that rather than adding so many other characters that weren't developed. It was interesting to see how the author developed Innsmouth and its culture. There weren't any stakes to this or anything that the plot seemed to be building towards and while I was ready to go with it at first, not enough changed to make the directionless plot worth it. I also wish that there was more mystery. The Yith acted like a human who just didn't always pick up on social cues/follow social conventions, which like relatable, and I don't want to relate to the Yith, I want them to be alien and unknowable! So much of this story was about understanding other people and researching magic which didn't mesh well for me with what I like about cosmic horror, which is facing the unknowable and exploring how people react to facing something incomprehensible. The writing was decent and there were some parts of this that I liked but it didn't do special anything for me. I won't be reading more in this world but I'm not mad that I read it, if only for curiosity about the gorgeous cover. 

baconandmegz's review against another edition

1.0

Not for me. Lots of explaining and re-explaining. Very little action. Just as I thought it was going to get interesting it just didn’t.

zuly's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

scary_as_folk's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

1.5

fulcrumreadsbooks's review against another edition

3.0

Originally thought this story was more of a thriller/horror. It’s more of a slow paced fantasy that lacks dramatic tension I was craving. The characters are fleshed out and diverse. The additional world-building from Lovecraft’s original work that is expanded upon was interesting but felt like fan fiction. Debating on reading the sequel.

mariexlupin's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

childdeirdre's review against another edition

3.0

I really enjoyed some parts but, overall, they were 366 awfully-long pages. I'm not up for more.

magnetgrrl's review against another edition

4.0

I tried to read this the year it came and could just not get into it. This time I found I enjoyed it quite a lot; it was easy to get into, even if it started to drag halfway through, and I found that didn't really improve.

This book has the same odd ambling nature that Among Others or Angry Young Spaceman has after you get about 1/3 in. It reminds me of actually playing a Call of Cthulhu campaign, wherein, no one wants to take any big risks (because you'll go insane or die, which is kind of the point) and so endless amounts of time is spent wandering around "researching" to little avail.

I love, love, LOVE the depiction of the Yith in this world. The whole Innsmouth people are also super interesting, but the fact that there's literally ONE town is a bit odd... it's also strange to me that 2 people want all these books back when they literally have nowhere to put them. Working just to get access might be better. That is never even resolved! The whole plot takes some weird left turn and then THAT isn't really resolved either. Now that I think of it, I could go on for a while about the things in this book I found frustrating.

All in all, I love that there's more in this world after The Litany of the Earth and the world-building is stellar but I want there to be more that actually happens. I will for sure read Deep Roots and I have high hopes.

jeremyjfloyd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

vannychopiny's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5