This book is the best sort of slow burn there is. Like a simmering fire with something delectable in it just slowly going from good to better to even better as it goes on. Both in terms of the plot which starts out subtle and easy to follow and goes in places I definitely didn’t expect, to the characters that added depth and nuance to this already fantastical book. I loved every second of reading it.

10/10 for good dark magic, good queer content, and good sea monsters who deserve love too!

I loved the atmospheric quality of this book! It was also a fun read for Pride month since it features LGBTQ+ characters. I did have a hard time learning the world/magic system a bit and it did feel a bit disjointed at times. Overall I enjoyed it and I look forward to reading what this author writes next.

A spooky, magical book about two very different girls that fight hard for what they want while trying to fight the feelings growing between them.

The sacrifices don't work anymore, and island of Caldella is drowning. Every year for centuries, a victim is chosen by the Witch Queen at the festival St. Walpurga's Eve as a sacrifice to the sea. The victim is kept trapped for a cycle of the moon, showered with magic, before the ritual. This year, Lina is convinced that her brother will be chosen, and she enlists the help of Thomas Lin, the boy who was chosen two years ago who somehow convinced the then-queen to sacrifice herself. But through an unexpected chain of events, Lina finds herself as sacrifice, trapped with the young new queen and unexpectedly falling in love with her.

This is a dark, atmospheric read with fairy tale elements, a bi protagonist, and sapphic love, a delightful combination. The setting and the world building are really captivating. The Water Castle, the setting for most of the events, is practically a character in itself (I really wanted to spend more time with the castle). I love how the story intriguingly begins several years after a paradigm-shifting event, Thomas Lin's survival as sacrifice. We slowly learn more details about the events that transpired, and it works really well.

However, the budding interest/relationship between Lina and Eva, the core of the book, didn't grab me. This is a case of irritation turning into love, one of my least favorite relationship types. It felt rushed and superficial despite some nice touches, like Eva's reaction to seeing Lina dance and their first kiss.

But there's still a lot of good stuff in here, and I confess I devoured it quickly. I think a lot of people will like this. I'd typically give it three stars, but I'm leaning toward 4 because of the lovely world building and because we really need more stories that aren't hetero romances.

“The Witch Queen comes on wings of night.
The Witch Queen has your heart's delight.
Hold him, hold him, hold on tight.
Hide him, hide him, out of sight.”

Okay so this was very much dreamy writing with those atmospheric details that make you experience the magic of the setting and and I LOVE that. You've got witches, enemies to lovers, dark lush writing, sibling and family dynamics, F/F rep.....I'm IN you all. Side note: as I am not a member of the LGBTQ+ community I can not attest to the quality of the rep. That's not my lane. I can just say it's there. Then add in the mystic lore and myths and *heart eyes* you all!

My only complaint would be that I wanted MORE from some of the characters. Especially Eva. I want her backstory. You have: a witch *swoon* who is infamously heartless *swoon* with a devouring sea serpent "pet' *swoon* and can I just have her backstory and history please...just more?!?! I wanted more on Thomas too and his relationship with Natalia (but I want to be there in his head and experience it with him) and his history with Lina....like this was all a very complex situation so I wanted those details? Those secrets, and feelings, and thoughts,and tension, and regrets *on the page*.

All in all, Alicia Jasinska is for sure a talented writer and I for sure be looking out for her future works.

I received an advanced copy of this title via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is no way influences my opinion. Thank you Sourcebook Fire and Alicia Jasinska for the review copy!

This book is very atmospheric and beautifully written. It was a bit slow at times because of how intricately told it was. I also found a few holes in the plot that just didn’t make sense and took me out of the story at times. However it was still very enjoyable.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I wasn't a fan of the writing style and the story felt a bit weird because there were so many plot holes that didn't make sense.

I tried finishing this book but the writing is too juvenile. The prose tries hard to conjure up a certain fairytale-esque aesthetic...but it always veered into purply territory. The characters are one-dimensional (all men seem 'bad'). I don't know, this just didn't grab me. Hopefully younger readers won't be as put off by the writing or simplistic characters as I was.

*arc provided by the publisher through net galley, all thoughts are my own*

WHEW, I knew I was gonna like this and I was NOT disappointed.

let me first preface this review by saying that I definitely don’t think this book is perfect nor do I think it will jive with everyone.

it does have inconsistencies with pacing and structure. there were a lot of times where I didn’t really know where the story was going. I think certain elements should have been introduced better and explained better.

BUT.

this book is SO beautifully written and SO gay. both things that will make me forget about your book’s shortcomings.

if you are an aesthetic driven reader, a atmosphere driven reader: THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! I cannot tell you how many highlights I had for this book (in fact I’ll share them here!) I even had to tweet the author to see if she had a Pinterest board for this book. I was so captivated by the masterpiece the author painted with her words. It was INCREDIBLE.

AND HELLO SAPPHICS, WE WON AGAIN!!!! I think if you’re not queer in any capacity (or even if you are!) you may also have some issues with the romance. it is definitely “irritation to lovers” and the transition isn’t really there. BUT I DIDNT GIVE A SHIIIIITTTTTTTT. their tension?? IMMACULATE. their first kiss??? HARD AS FUCK. their growth?? POETRY. I stan (1) cancer x capricorn pairing.

overall, if you love an atmospheric sapphic read, you’ll really enjoy this. if you’re a plot driven reader? proceed with caution.

**Review will be posted to my blog on July 14, 2020**

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

My Reactions:

My Attention: wavered

World Building: dark fantasy world with witches

Writing Style: atmospheric

Bringing the Heat: 🔥 – not much heat, there is a slow burn romance

Crazy in Love: Lina has a major crush on Thomas and basically sets off to rescue him so is she crazy about him? YES…but…things change when Eva comes into the picture.

Creativity: love the dark witchy vibe

Mood: gave me a little but of The Hazel Wood vibes

Triggers: violence

My Takeaway: the Witch Queen is not all she seems

What I Liked:
*I like when a book about witches goes into the dark side. When Lina and her brother Finley make it to the Witch Queen’s palace is where things get fantastical, and dark! The world building is great – we learn about the cursed island and the witches that have to sacrifice a boy to keep the curse away. It’s a very dark story.

*The Witch Queen Eva at first comes off evil…but…we learn she’s more than a witch queen needing a sacrifice to the sea serpent. She’s complicated. I liked learning about her past and her motivations, she has a lot riding on her shoulders to do the right thing.

*Lina and her brother’s relationship made me a laugh a few times because they bicker like siblings do. They do not hold back with one another!

Things That Made Me Go Hmm:
*Lina was so in love with Thomas (the boy who escaped being sacrificed), that went to the witch’s castle to free him…like whoa…but at the end of the story, she starts having feelings for Eva. Like where did that crazy crush on Thomas go?! Haha…

*I think Eva was the most interesting character in this story. At times the other characters felt flat and the story lacked depth.

*Triggers: violence

Final Thoughts:
I definitely would have been more in the mood to read this in the fall. I enjoyed the dark and witchy vibe. The world building with cursed island and the witch’s castle intrigued me and kept me reading until the end. At times I thought the story fell flat but I think if you like stories about witches, you may enjoy this one.

I should have known not liking the comp books, I probably wouldn't enjoy this but I wanted to love it so much because there isn't near enough wlw Fantasy out there. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into The Dark Tide and I chose to DNF.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review The Dark Tide.

This was a magical story, beautifully written of a girl who falls in love with a boy, and wants to save him. In the end she falls for the villain who wants to kill her. I have not experienced a trope of enemies to lovers like this before, but really enjoyed it. It was interesting and unexpected to say the least, especially when the said villain is a girl. Hey, LGBTQ rep.

The writing was like a lullaby. Floating, rising and dipping just like the tide the book is about. It was really lyrical. However, the one negative was the characters. They were quite flat, and there wasn't much growth to them. I didn't care for them or their struggles, and in the end I was kind of just waiting for it to be over with.

I liked the end, and how the queen found a way to solve an old problem, but it left the future quite uncertain. A big cliffhanger if you want to call it that is left, even though the story for the characters seems to be over.

It wasn't a fantasy story I expected going into this, but I would still recommend to those that like lyrical writing.

I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


Fleeing from the Mainland that burns witches and looks down on those who love outside the accepted norm, a witch queen made a deal with the sea. As long as their new home doesn't sink, she and all her successors will sacrifice someone each year to keep the tide at bay.

When the boy Lina loves is chosen to be the sacrifice, she refuses to accept it and storms the castle to save him.

Already I was intrigued because it's very different from the usual guy saves girl. Lina is by no means a damsel in distress and bravely faces the witch queen for the boy she loves. Anger, resentment, betrayal, love, acceptance and forgiveness all play a part.

There is a strong sense of family and right and wrong in the story. It takes one person to enact change and change doesn't happen over night, it is a constant battle and won in small increments.

I enjoyed the story a lot and there are many revelations regarding The Dark Tide and how it came to be. The population is diverse and no one bats an eye at couple dynamics or a boy who wears his sister's dresses. They are very accepting in some ways and narrow minded in others, especially so when the island starts sinking. Some people revert to their old way of thinking before they fled the Mainland, looking to place blame on anyone for the dilemma they are in.

Overall, it's a good read with interesting characters and a lot of revelations. It's easy to relate with each character and I found myself agreeing a lot with the most unlikely one.

My relationship with The Dark Tide is the biggest "it's not you it's me" scenario that I have every experienced with a novel. The Dark Tide includes so many aspects I love and the idea is so interesting and so exciting but I can't get past the first initial segment of world building. I'm struggling mainly with the writing style more then anything else. I'm more dissapointed in myself then in this book, right now it isn't for me. But I will be giving it a shot again some point in the future.

The Dark Tide is a beautifully written dark fantasy following Lina, a girl who sets out to save the boy who she believes is her true love from the witch queen who has captured him... only to fall for the witch queen instead. I was so excited about this premise and it did not disappoint. This plot created a fairytale-like atmosphere that made it feel a bit like a  retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

Lina if from a cursed island city whose survival depends on Eva, the witch queen, sacrificing a boy to the dark tide each year. I loved the atmosphere of this story. It begins when it's almost time for the sacrifice, so the tide is really coming to life and starting to flood the city. It gives everything in the city- and especially in the witches' castle- a really dark, eerie vibe.

Speaking of the witches' castle, I loved the scenes that were set there! The magic in this world has gradually seeped into everything and especially into the castle. It was like it had a mind of its own, which really made the magic feel extra real and immersive.

I also really liked reading about the witches. They were all really cool and each had a unique style to performing their magic. Eva was definitely my favorite with her dark and brooding nature but secret soft spot for Lina and her pet sea serpent.

Lina was a really interesting character to follow. In the beginning she seems to really only care about making sure her brother, Finley, isn't chosen as that year's sacrifice. However, when the boy she likes, Thomas, is chosen, she drags Finley on an adventure to the witches' castle and ends up sacrificing herself to take Thomas' place. This made her characterization really interesting. You get to see her fierce determination to her as she tries to save the people and city that she loves. Plus it's always fun to see a boy being in the "damsel in distress" trope and the girl is who comes to save him.

There was some good moments with social commentary, too. As Lina tries to figure out a way to satisfy the tide that won't involve sacrifices, Eva remarks that she never tried to help fix the problem until it was herself and her loved ones who were in danger of being sacrificed. Another is when Lina argues against toxic masculinity when Eva is mocking Thomas for being cowardly. Lina says, "Boys can be soft and weak sometimes. They're allowed to be." I just think that that's another really important message. Especially since so many men in recently published fantasy just seem overly perfect and reinforce these harmful stereotypes.

Overall, what I loved most about this book was the dark, magical atmosphere and the romance between Eva and Lina. The girls were like complete opposites and I'm always weak for characters who don't seem like they should get along at all falling for each other. I wouldn't quite say it was exactly the enemies to lovers trope, but it was kind of that mixed together with a bit of reluctant allies to lovers. *chef's kiss*

That being said though, their relationship was also one draw back. The book is told from both of their points of view and I felt like we got way more Lina chapters than Eva ones. This made me feel like Eva's feelings for Lina were kind of underdeveloped and sudden. Because most of the time we only got to see how Lina assumed Eva was feeling, instead of her actual feelings that were developing. So I hope that we get to see more of Eva in the sequel. I wonder now if this possibly was a stylistic choice from the author, because Eva never opened up to anyone before Lina so why would she open up to the readers? Which would hopefully mean more chapters from her to come in the next book because I really enjoyed reading about her and her magic.

So in conclusion, I really enjoyed this dark, sapphic fantasy. Lina and Eva were really cool protagonists and I enjoyed seeing them try to tackle the problem of the tide while also tackling their feelings for each other. It was romantic and just gorgeously written. I'm greatly looking forward to the sequel.

My Rating: ★★★★

I Would Recommend This To:
Readers who want more sapphic fantasy.
Readers who enjoy unique witches and magic that comes to life.
Readers who like strong female protagonists.

Rated: 3.5

I really enjoyed this book and it was very different from a lot of YA books I've read recently. I thought the concept of a sinking city and sacrifice sounded full of intrigue and I loved how much heart all the characters had. Even one of the characters described as heartless had a very robust character and she was full of passion in some moments and cold as ice in others. The one thing I wish is that there had been friendship between the two characters because both were such independent characters that I felt like they didn't need a romance to complete them and it seemed very out of character for both of them. Overall, a good first book in series and the ending definitely left me wanting more.

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of The Dark Tide, so that I can share my review with you!

Each year, the sea demands a sacrifice: someone the witch queen truly loves, who she will truly mourn. Without this sacrifice, the dark tide will rise up and consume the island, killing the witches and the non-magical mainlanders alike. For this reason, each year the queen selects one mainlander to fall in love with and to kill for the sea. Lina, a mainlander girl, is convinced that the queen will take her brother, but in her attempts to protect him she catches the attention of the Witch Queen herself. When Lina decides to take the place of that year’s sacrifice, she believes she is acting out of bravery, doing the only thing that could be done to save those she loves. But as the two girls wait for the full moon to bring the date of the ritual, they find themselves inexplicably falling for reach other, even as the tide begins to rise.

You can get your copy of The Dark Tide on June 2nd from Sourcebooks Fire!

I’ve never described a book as “atmospheric” before, but the sea-soaked island world of The Dark Tide made me understand the need to use that particular descriptor! The world was absolutely enchanting and deeply immersive, with a system of magic unlike I’ve read before! Alicia Jasinska infuses the fantasy with real character struggle and chemistry, balancing the world building with a thrilling plot line, making this book nearly impossible to put down! Also, The Dark Tide has a sequel coming out in 2021 (and I’m going to be dying while waiting for it to come out)!

My Recommendation-
If you have been looking for a high stakes fantasy full of witchy spirit, The Dark Tide should definitely be your next read! If you loved A Curse So Dark and Lonely or Winterwood, you won’t want to miss this book!

DNF at 33%

The world-building is pretty cool (seriously in love with the place names), but honestly I'm going to need a little more to keep me invested despite these really lackluster characters.

Lina's all hot to trot for a boy that she loves despite speaking like, two sentences to him over an evening and fantasizing about him ever since he was the one boy a witch queen sacrificed herself for. And Eva is...ho hum boring.

Maybe it gets better, but I'm not planning on sticking around long enough to see.

I received this ARC for an honest review.

The Dark Tide is a spooky, magical and atmospheric book about two very opposite girls that fight hard to get what they want, all while trying to fight the feelings slowly growning within them, that might put their plans upside down.

This is a dual-pov story where we get inside the minds of Lina and Eva, the main characters. Lina is a naïve and passionate girl that loves too deeply and would do whatever it takes to protect her loved ones, even when that means sacrifices herself and not making the smartest decisions. Eva is a closed-off and cold girl that has suffered a lot at her young age, she doesn’t understand how romantic love works and only cares about her own interests. They’re both determined to get what they want, both as the pages go by the lines of who’s the enemy and who’s the ally get blurry, and they start to understand that they might benefit of working together.

I guess we could say that while Lina is fire, Eva is ice. And oh, they balanced each other perfectly. I had such a good time seeing how they slowly discovered what they felt for each other, trying to understand it, and get confused for it. I think the author developed their romance in a very realistic, complex and unique way. Eva and Lina have an amazing chemistry and their differences makes them perfect for each other, and I loved how the author balanced their interactions with the plot of the story and what was happening at the moment. The romance wasn’t too much, neither too little. However, I highly appreciate that the characters stick to their original plans despite the feelings they had for one another, and nothing was sacrificed in sake of the romance.

I want to make a special mention of Eva’s character development. It was a whole experience reading her chapters, she’s a very complex character and you can’t put a “bad” or “good” label in her, she’s somewhere in between and the author executed that perfectly.

The plot couldn’t been more original. It’s very important that you know this: the enemy of this story is not a human, it is the sea. The tradition of giving to the dark tide someone the Witch Queen loves so it doesn’t drown the island is a very original concept, and a great element for the story to revolve around of. The fact that the characters aren’t fighting against an equal, but something as big as the sea itself, blew me away, and makes the reader even more invested in the story and how can the character possibly defeat the enemy.

It’s also important to mention the spooky vibes I got from this book. The atmosphere is perfect for Halloween season or reading it during the night, it’s not a scary book, but the author’s descriptions of the Water Palace and just the island in general trascend the pages and absorbs you into the narrative. I found this to be one of the strongest elements of this book, and despite being an island that might disappear under the water at any moment, I found myself wanting to be there and discover its eerie places.

There’s only two things that made me give four stars of this book instead of fight. The first one is that, despite the plot being so original and intriguing, the events were a little rushed and I just wanted more, but I didn’t have it. This might be because it’s just the first book in the series, and I definitely have high expectations with its sequel, but I can’t help but think that making the book a little longer would’ve had a positive impact on plot and character development.

And the second one is exactly that: the characters. While we had the time to understand and love Lina and Eva’s characters, I can’t say the same for the rest of them, and I would’ve like a little more scenes dedicated to develop the secondary characters in order to understand better the role they were playing in the story and why was really important to have them being a part of it.

To sum it up, I really enjoyed this book. Is one of the best dark-themed books I’ve read in the year, and the high expectatives I had with it were fulfilled.

Review is going to be posted on Bellerose Reads (http://bellerosereads.wordpress.com.wordpress.com) on Wednesday, May 20th.

When I requested the ARC of The Dark Tide I already knew that I was going to love it. Sapphic witches? Dark magic? Yes, please. Also, I'm not exactly known for my ability to resist a gorgeous cover so that definitely didn't hurt.

I have to admit, this book was quite different in tone to what I anticipated. The sinking island felt so much more menacing than expected and overall the mood was a lot darker than I thought it would be. "Dark" YA often feels quite transparent or tries to establish the mood through excessive violence or swearing, but The Dark Tide accomplished this without neither. The very atmosphere felt heavy and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was greatly helped by Jasinska's prose, which is beautiful. Her use of imagery really took my breath away and the way she described the sea and the tide as a living creature without it being on the nose was amazing.

The only thing that took me out of the story a little was the pacing. There were a couple of time jumps where I wish the book had simply been longer but shown the changing dynamic between Eva and Lina in more detail. I think because of the pacing the antagonist didn't carry as much weight either. If we'd seen the change in him, and in Eva's regard of him, more gradually the final scene could have been more impactful.

Basically I want this book to be longer. The characters were flawed in an extremely human manner and their faults weren’t sugarcoated or glazed over. They actually showed real growth over the course of the book (what a concept). I'm so invested not only in the protagonists but also Finley and Thomas. I can't wait to read the next book!!