Reviews - Curious Tides | The StoryGraph

1.95k reviews for:

Curious Tides

Pascale Lacelle

3.84 AVERAGE

3xhhheather's review against another edition

3.0

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

janelane01's review

3.75

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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: Yes

Slow to medium paced book - the narrators were very introspective so prepare to spend a lot of time with their thoughts. The world building was very solid and the magic system was easy to grasp - the author did a fantastic job of explaining the system and I felt very familiar with it by the time any plot relevant magic appeared. The mystery behind the plot was also very well done. I enjoyed the characters quite a bit.

violettinwonderland's review

4.0

4.5. I listened and to this on audiobook so it took me a while to get through but otherwise I really recommend the recording I think the three voice actors did a great job. The world building in this book is really amazing — even more so when I looked at a physical copy of this book in barnes and nobles and saw that in the front of the book there are some great maps and charts to keep track of the magic system. Overall the book was really good— Baz’s twist came as a complete surprise though Kieran’s twist was incredibly obvious from the minute we met him and the Selenic order.

xcgirly2016's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

breenyreads's review

4.5

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

the_tartan_pumpkin_reader's review

4.0

Curious Tides is an immersive, dark academic novel full of chilling secrets, heart-wrenching twists, and morally grey characters you will love to hate. The plot has a sprinkling of everything from murder mystery and fantasy horror, built around an intricately created world of tides, divided magical classes, and lost histories. The storytelling is hauntingly beautiful, like a cold, crisp winter moon's silver light that sets a stunning atmospheric, gripping pace featuring a dual POV from two characters trying to uncover the mysteries of tragic students' deaths.

A completely authentic lunar magic system sits at the heart of Pascale Lacelle's imaginative worldbuilding settled around Aldryn College, and a complex social structure based on types of lunar powers inherited by the population at the phases of the moon of their birth underpins this enthralling world. The level of gorgeous descriptive writing brings to life every nook and cranny of this ancient academic seat, the desolate and dangerous boundary between land and sea, and the elaborate mythology of this realm.

I'm in love with the remarkable, rich characters of Curious Tides – it was like watching Mean Girls with treacherous games of manipulation being played from all fields of the cast of morally grey characters. It's juicy as characters prey on the feelings of others and weaponize lust to obtain power. You never know who is going to be betrayed next or cheated.

A stunningly magical debut that will sweep you away into a dangerous world of lunar magic, mystical secret society, dark secrets, and mysterious deaths. Curious Tides has definitely whetted my appetite for picking more books of the dark academia genre/trope in 2025. I'm hoping to get the sequel to this book very soon, as it's such a cliffhanger ending!