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A review by corabookworm
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
NOTE: I procrastinated on writing this review, so many of my opinions weren't fresh enough in my brain to word them well. But this book was amazing, one of the best I read this year!!
Lorelei, a grumpy folklorist out of place among her noble peers, is selected to lead a group of talented, tight-knit scholars on a quest for the king. But the mission quickly goes awry when their mentor is found dead. Lorelei and her academic rival, Sylvia, must team up to solve the mystery, even as they are caught in webs of politics and hindered by both their peers and the magical creatures of their world.
I absolutely loved this book. The first thing that came to mind when trying to describe it was The Atlas Six meets The Cruel Prince. The beginning, especially, has all the elements of a good dark academic fantasy, featuring a group of scholars with wildly different personalities and complicated relationships. You will hate and love pretty much all of them. Except Sylvia, who is an angel. But it also strongly reminded me of The Cruel Prince, with fae-like creatures, complex politics, and a BEAUTIFUL enemies-to-lovers romance. But this one is sapphic. Which obviously makes it better. I haven’t fangirled over characters like this in a while.
The plot of this book was very well constructed, incorporating elements of high fantasy, adventure, and mystery. I thought I was actually onto something with the whole murder, but I was completely off! The addition of political intrigue made it even more fascinating, and the water-based magic system was super cool. I do wish we could have seen more of the worldbuilding, and the author definitely likes using big words that make my brain hurt. But this book was pretty exceptional overall, and I highly recommend it!
Lorelei, a grumpy folklorist out of place among her noble peers, is selected to lead a group of talented, tight-knit scholars on a quest for the king. But the mission quickly goes awry when their mentor is found dead. Lorelei and her academic rival, Sylvia, must team up to solve the mystery, even as they are caught in webs of politics and hindered by both their peers and the magical creatures of their world.
I absolutely loved this book. The first thing that came to mind when trying to describe it was The Atlas Six meets The Cruel Prince. The beginning, especially, has all the elements of a good dark academic fantasy, featuring a group of scholars with wildly different personalities and complicated relationships. You will hate and love pretty much all of them. Except Sylvia, who is an angel. But it also strongly reminded me of The Cruel Prince, with fae-like creatures, complex politics, and a BEAUTIFUL enemies-to-lovers romance. But this one is sapphic. Which obviously makes it better. I haven’t fangirled over characters like this in a while.
The plot of this book was very well constructed, incorporating elements of high fantasy, adventure, and mystery. I thought I was actually onto something with the whole murder, but I was completely off! The addition of political intrigue made it even more fascinating, and the water-based magic system was super cool. I do wish we could have seen more of the worldbuilding, and the author definitely likes using big words that make my brain hurt. But this book was pretty exceptional overall, and I highly recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Colonisation, and War