Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Curious Tides

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Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

8 reviews

hom's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I find the way Kieran manipulates Emory to be similar to how the Darkling manipulates Alina in the Shadow and Bone series.

The middle is a slog, but the ending was fantastic.

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achay91's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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cneighbors36's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one! The main things I loved about the book were the world-building, the magic system, the dark academia atmosphere the author was able to create with her writing, and the dual POV. The book was slow for about the first half because the author introduced all the characters and the world. However, the last half was fast-paced, with a good amount of action. The things that I believe were negative, in my opinion, were that it took a while for me to feel fully invested in the story, and at times, some of the writing felt a little repetitive. Additionally, I found most of the ending to be predictable. However, I think the way the author executed them and the additional plot twists were great.

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4 ⭐ CW: violence, self-harm, murder, death

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle is book one in the Drowned Gods duology. This is a YA dark academia with a magic school! I really liked the magic system in this book surrounding the moon and the tides. Neither of the MCs seem to be queer (yet), but we do get a few sapphic and achillean side characters.

We follow Emory, a New Moon student with mediocre healing abilities, who is returning to Aldryn College after a tragedy the semester before killed several of her classmates. We also follow Baz, an Eclipse student with the ability to control time, whose sister was part of the tragedy. When one of students who had been presumably swept out to Sea, is returned to shore, only to die a horrible death, Emory discovers she has powers no healer should have. Baz is the only one who knows, and was able to keep Emory's powers from going out of control.

Not only do we have a magic school, we get a secret society, a magical prison with a jailbreak, scholarly obsession, and a portal to another world. I do wish we had gotten more world-building. We get a bit about the discrimination that Eclipse-born endure as well as the exploitation at the hands of the Institute Regulators.

I pretty much guessed all the twists not far into the book, but it was still enjoyable. I did find Emory to be a bit annoying, and she treated Baz like crap, when he deserves better. I completely ship Baz and Kai, so I really hope that happens in the next book instead of him ending up with Emory. I wanted to love this book, although I enjoyed it, it still fell a little flat in a way I can't really articulate. It could just be because it's a debut book. Looking forward to book 2!

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

In the world of Curious Tides, the moon phase of your birth determines the type of magic you possess. Not everyone is powerful enough to study magic in college, but Emory and her best friend, Romie—a prodigy—made it in. But after a mysterious ritual turns deadly, Emory must do whatever it takes to get Romie back. As death haunts school grounds, Emory’s magic, once-lacking, changes into something much more powerful—even dangerous. The desire to be special and the need to find her friend lead Emory to a cult-like society and into the arms of its magnetic leader. Meanwhile, Romie’s brother, Baz, of the ostracized House Eclipse, is determined to uncover the mystery that stole his sister and to save Emory before it’s too late. This atmospheric, gripping debut is sure to appeal to fans of astrology and moon magic!

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taryn_g's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

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