A review by lucyofthewood
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

I really enjoyed most of the book. I found their expedition compelling and I enjoyed the aspects of mystery. Lorelei was an interesting protagonist, and I enjoyed the romance as well.

However, the ending was hard for me. To go through all of the hardships of the expedition, and have almost half of the crew die, to then chose to remain loyal to Wilhelm didn't make a ton of sense to me. They took their positions of power to keep the kingdom together, but it honestly felt more like self preservation. I think it also took away from Lorelei's growth, when she spent a lot of time learning to reconcile with the fact that her mentor hurt her relationship with her culture and family. It, to me, didn't make sense to then move away from her family to live in luxury. She also spent her entire life dreaming of being a naturalist, and then took a desk job. I think the ending was somewhat rushed, and it honestly I wish there were a sequel or something rather than ending with 'well that was rough ok everybody gets married now'. That being said, I liked Lorelei and Sylvia. Lorelei being somehow too dense to realize Sylvia loved her was kind of funny to me but also made sense for her character.

I started this book mostly because the cover art is gorgeous and for the most part I enjoyed it, despite it's flaws. :)