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verin_04 's review for:
A Dark and Drowning Tide
by Allison Saft
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I quite enjoyed this book for the most part, I loved the world building and the magical creatures. It had just the right amount of whimsy and dark academia vibes - even tough I would have wished that the folklore aspect of Lorelei's character had played a bigger role, instead of just dumping in some tales here and there.
The writing at times was so beautiful. And then the next sentence would be so clunky it hurt haha. But overall I really enjoyed her writing style.
I actually liked the romance too, I thought Sylvia was a really refreshing character. She is kind and hopeful but still strong and determined, it felt balanced out really well. Only the old 'I've always liked you, you just interpreted my actions wrongly' was a bit meh in my opinion, I feel like you could have worked better with the 'rivalry' that's set up and then never actually explored.
What threw me off, as many others, was the ending. It just felt so strange with these pro-imperialist vibes.
They had come to realise that Wilhelm would do whatever suited him to stay in power and yet they just handed everything to him despite having the means to do things differently. How could Lorelei especially be content with her position when she tells us again and again that the ones in power will always use her people as scapegoats if necessary. Like?? I just hated that ending, it could have been handled so much better and actually show some character development.
Also, as a German, it kind of caught me off guard that all the magical creatures (except the nixies for whatever reason) had German names. At least the names made sense for the most part so I guess the author did her research but it just took me out of the story.
The writing at times was so beautiful. And then the next sentence would be so clunky it hurt haha. But overall I really enjoyed her writing style.
I actually liked the romance too, I thought Sylvia was a really refreshing character. She is kind and hopeful but still strong and determined, it felt balanced out really well. Only the old 'I've always liked you, you just interpreted my actions wrongly' was a bit meh in my opinion, I feel like you could have worked better with the 'rivalry' that's set up and then never actually explored.
What threw me off, as many others, was the ending. It just felt so strange with these pro-imperialist vibes.
They had come to realise that Wilhelm would do whatever suited him to stay in power and yet they just handed everything to him despite having the means to do things differently. How could Lorelei especially be content with her position when she tells us again and again that the ones in power will always use her people as scapegoats if necessary. Like?? I just hated that ending, it could have been handled so much better and actually show some character development.
Also, as a German, it kind of caught me off guard that all the magical creatures (except the nixies for whatever reason) had German names. At least the names made sense for the most part so I guess the author did her research but it just took me out of the story.