A review by wordsareworlds
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

Emrys turns Lovecraftian lore on its head in a way that defies his bigotry and hatred on every level. Horrors still exist, but they are perpetrated by Men of Air as often as any others. As one of the characters says, "We're all monsters here." 

This book is a slow burn, but that pace enhances the tension and allows for welcome character development and revelations within them all. There are no perfect solutions to the problems presented, but the book ends on a hopeful, if bittersweet, note.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Racism

Minor: Blood

The books has flashback scenes describing the MC being kept in a US concentration camp. While not graphic, the abuses of the guards and soldiers who originally took them there are referenced. The book is set in 1947, and the author does not shy away from acknowledging the casual racism and misogyny of the time, but there are no hate crimes committed on page, and the anti-Asian slur is called out in the moment. A secondary character is Jewish, and there is some surface-level discussion of the Israeli state, as it relates to his position in the US. Rituals in the book require drops of blood, but in the climatic scene The description of wounds is not graphic, but I found the scene and the descriptions of pain intense