Really enjoyed this book and am excited to see what else Ana Lal Din has planned for this series. The description of Roma’s pain and experiences are hard to wrap your head around and flatten her character in the first part of the book but if you can get past that, by the end of the story so much is revealed that you’re left wishing the next book was already published.

I unfortunately couldn’t get into this book. I was intrigued by the mythology and did enjoy the world-building. However, I couldn’t really get into the story, and I felt like I was more or less thrown into the world with very little knowledge of what it was.

Promising and intriguing

Honestly, this is a great book, very promising for the sequels. I want to take a second to applaud that beautiful cover. The beginning was slow, I'm not going to lie, I had trouble getting into it. But once the action is set... Amazing! The characters are very well built and fascinating, with interesting and realistic personnalities. The world building is good, original and captivating. Beautiful writing style. The story in itself is very intriguing and the ending leaves us asking for more.

All in all, a very good beginning for a promising fantasy series!

"The worst kind of monsters are those who pretend they're humans."

Book review
Where do I begin? First I want to thank Netgalley for allowing me the pleasure to read this book for free, in return for my honest review.
With out trying to spoil the story for anyone, I did like reading it. The beginning was a little confusing but toward the end I started to figure out the characters, the story line, and the point of views. I love how strong the main characters are in the story, especially the strength that Roma had. The story is quite dark compared to what I normally read, but it was interesting. There was so much visual description within it that it was easy to picture the world the book was trying to capture.
Now the story line, I started to like it best towards the end. The two main characters felt so alone in the world. They were forced to accept their fate and the lies they were taught all their life’s. A huge part of them always seems to fight what the world wanted them to become, which I admired. They were both in paths that they hated, and had few people that cared for them. The few people that kept them human. As much as they fought to protect those they care, they pushed them away to protect themselves from heart break. But in Roma’s case, through grief she finds a hidden truth she never knew lingered within herself. In Leviathan case things start to change when he learns of his heritage from a unlikely alliance. Both their lives start to intertwine more towards the end and keeps you wanting to know more. Will they finally learn to trust others and each other? What more will be revealed of their heritage? Can they both learn to fight together to make a change in the world they live in? I guess we will have to wait and see!

This was alright. I wasn’t a fan of the writing, but the characters and plot were OK. Would probably not buy or read again.

Thanks to the author, White Tigress Press and Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book!

Life is simple for Roma, she is meant to dance and serve as a slave for the goddess, and take patrons to ensure balance is maintained in the world. But is it really the goddess she serves? Roma wishes for freedom from both the gods and the men that rule her life, and wants to protect her younger brother from the same fate she had. Leviathan is a vengeful man, determined to find out what happened to his mother, even when it means defying his father, the all-powerful Firawn. He wants to protect the people of the clans, his blood, who are ruthlessly mistreated by the Wardens and the members of the higher zaat. Roma and Leviathan’s lives collide as they both fight to do what’s best for the people they care about.

The Descent of the Drowned was my first read of 2021, and it’s going to be a tough act to follow. Wow did I ever love this book! The writing is superb, Ana Lal Din has a poetic way of describing things that really paints a picture in your mind. The plot is very intriguing, and I enjoyed the way it developed and became more complex as the story went on. The world is rich and full of intricate details that really pull you into the story. Roma and Leviathan are very different characters, but the way their stories slowly become more entwined holds the readers attention and leaves you wanting more.

“It was easier to rule a people once you put the fear of gods in, once you convinced them poverty was a divine punishment, not the consequence of men’s greed.”

There are a lot of strong themes in The Descent of the Drowned, and the plot tackles some pretty heavy content. Ana Lal Din manages to strike a perfect balance, exploring these themes in depth and shedding light on some unsavoury topics without losing focus or overpowering the plot. There is a lot of mention of the caste system throughout the story, which I thought was excellently depicted. The topics of prostitution as tied to religious worship, and the mistreatment of the Hijra (transgender or third-gender) community are mentioned as well. I have not read a fiction novel that previously addressed either of these topics, and the way Ana Lal Din brought them into the story was well executed. Darker themes of ethnic cleansing and human trafficking are also broached, and I thought they were handled very well. This is definitely a book that will stay with you after you are finished reading it.

I would not call this a happy story. It is dark, and powerful, and hauntingly poetic. You will feel several different emotions as you read it, but I think the strongest emotion will be the desire for a sequel as quickly as possible. I highly recommend this debut novel for any and all fantasy lovers, it is a must read book that will be available March 15th, 2021.

Spoiler Free review

“What did they do?” she asked. “They made the stars weep.”
“Is it what scared you?” He shook his head.
“Then what?” “We were all burning,
“We were all burning—except you.”

The thing that caught my eye in descent of the drowned was definitely the short description of it. C’mon it sounded awesome, cutting down to the chase- I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. Ok on to positives. The concept of the plot was one to be admired and I did. The book talks some moments that may be triggering to some people so trigger warning. The characters were well-developed and likeable. The books pace was slow but not boring slow. The aesthetic of the book was dark yet good. The writing in our story was quite decent and made the book told well. Overall I think it was good, not horrible, not perfect (for me at least— opinion wise), but good. I definitely know some people who would probably enjoy this more than I did so go ahead and read this book if you like the genre fantasy

‘We must all pay for our sins.’ He’d be paying for a long time then.

e-book given via netgalley.
“Quotes” from book

Reviewed: 1/4/2020

Amazing! Ana Lal Din's debut is very ambitious, very promising and it delivers!
First, I can promise you that this book will definitely immerse you in a deeply South Asian inspired world that is so very dark and so very luring. The worldbuilding in this book is top notch!
Second, the characters are super complex and they are in a super complex world, thus they do terrible things but you still want them to be better (sometimes you want them to do terrible things)
And third, this book is original. It is such a new take on magic, on life and on truths told as stories in general, that as a South Asian person it warms my heart!
Fourth, the book deals with several difficult themes adeptly. Rape, prostitution, castism, slavery, and wars. Ana Lal Din doesn't sugarcoat things but she delivers her message clearly.
Fans of Sabaa Tahir's relentless pace and compelling, morally grey characters, Brandon Sanderson"s worldbuilding and G.R.R Martin's plottting will devour this book!
I believe Ana Lal Din is just setting the stage for the next book, but what a magnificent stage it is with cobras, magic, plots and a dark, dark world!

This book was honestly so good.
The worldbuilding was absolutely amazing - I loved the incorporation of languages, the way the world was built, how we saw different people living different lives. The author managed to showcase a lot of very important modern issues within her world and her writing, which I found really interesting to read about. Due to the complex worldbuilding, the book was sometimes a little slow and also confusing, but I didn't mind that a lot.
I really liked the characters. Roma was an amazing protagonist, and it was so easy to emphasize with her struggles and to understand her actions. I also loved the interactions between the characters.
The writing style was so beautiful, and one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I feel like the plot was also pretty solid, but the pacing was a little off and the ending felt rushed in certain aspects. I would have liked some more explanations during the last chapters and some added details.
However, this was still a great read, and I would definitely recommend this book. It touches on some very important issues which I haven't seen discussed in fiction a lot.

The only way to describe this book would be *exquisite*. The writing style is gorgeous, the characters are so fleshed out and unique, and their pain and emotions are so clearly visible through the pages. The character’s perspectives on certain decisions in terrible circumstances are understandable and the world-building weaved with fantasy elements and a cultural background is perfect. Ana Lal Din masterfully uses the context of historical Arabian must hooky to create a multi-layered world, with clear distinctions between the elites and lower classes, as well as the destruction and power imbalances that come with greed and desire for wealth. Certain moments in this book are so beautifully described, showing snippets of happiness and an escape from reality even in this dark, treacherous environment.

This book works with so many themes and topics, knitting them into the environment of this time. These themes make up the identities of the different characters. These topics are difficult and horrid with the circumstances presenting in the world-building, but there are developed perfectly, adding depth and opportunists for victims to express their discontentment. These ideas are weaved into the world-building, working to show flaws in the world and the clear imbalances between different powers.

This story involves two perspectives, adding great depth to the plot and flow. Roma, even as a girl dealing with terrible pain from her past, continues to remain strong and fight for good and justice. She is wonderfully developed throughout this story, and we can clearly see her need to retain strength and a will to go forward to protect those she loves. Levi, on the other side of the power balance, has a clear background and motive to fix the unjust actions of his people. Due to the actions of his father, this is made difficult, causing him to struggle with morals and understand what is right and wrong. He, along with all the other characters, is so flawlessly developed, and even with the violent things he has done, he appeals to the reader through his intentions and respect.

I was initially a bit confused with the start as we were introduced to the world and the characters, and the first half felt a bit slow. As the perspectives are not labeled in every chapter, I did find myself needing to reread a paragraph or two to understand who is narrating. Even in this case, the perspectives are easy to understand as there is some context at the beginning of each chapter, and the story picks up and flows perfectly throughout the rest of the book.

The sceneries, the clothing, the gore are all so beautifully described, though retaining a dark taint due to the harsh circumstances of society. I honestly found it very interesting to be able to understand the snippets of the world’s language (Urdu/Hindi) used to add great authenticity to the world-building as well as greater distinctions between different classes due to the use of honorifics.

Overall, this book was absolutely amazing! The characters are developed beautifully, the world-building is *exquisite*, and the themes and topics add so much depth to the plot. The ending completely surprised me, and although I feel the need for more books after this (I have to know what happens next!), this could be read as a standalone.

I loved every moment of this, and will definitely be reading any and all books from this author!

This book blew me away.
Everyone add this to their tbr’s right now!

I want to first start out by saying that this book deals with extremely heavy topics. The author includes trigger warnings at the beginning. Please do your research and please read with caution.

The Descent of the Drowned takes place in a very corrupt world. As children, Roma and Leviathan were both thrown into jobs that they wanted no part in. Because of what he did in his past, Leviathan is known as the Blade. Because of their past traumas, Roma and Levi spend everyday trying to escape their pasts.

The culture and world described in this is absolutely captivating. The author is so descriptive with the world’s traditions and clothing and even languages. There is a focus on world building and character development in this book, but I think that focus was intended. There is a good plot, but I do think the most important part is the character development for Roma and Levi.
The beginning of this book is rather confusing, mainly because of all the new names and words thrown around. The author includes a wonderful glossary in the back of the book but it’s hard to flip back and forth to it in the ePub arc version, which is one of the many reasons i wish I had a physical copy while reading.

I found myself relating a lot to both our main characters. There’s an encompassing darkness within both Roma and Levi. The world has been horrible to both of them, and their own personal demons are always lurking in the shadows. Watching them cope and learn to move forward no matter how hard it might’ve been was one of my favourite aspects of this novel.
I hope that in the second installment of this series, Roma and Leviathan can grow together and learn to trust each other. I can already tell that this is going to be an incredible slow burn romance and has potential to be on of my favourite romances ever. Roma and Leviathan are two incredible people.

I didn’t want this book to end. As I turned the last page, all I wanted was more story, more info on our protagonists, more anything from this world. And don’t even get my started on the cliffhanger ending...
I think that is the true test if I loved a book or not. Although I don’t think this book was perfect, I was more than fully invested in our protagonists. It was heart wrenching and beautiful and enthralling. This book tapped at the darkest parts of me, it reached its fist our and grabbed my heart wholly.

Just as a reminder, this book deals with extremely heavy topics. It is not for the lighthearted however it is an incredible story and deserves to be read by anyone and everyone who don’t mind reading about such dark topics.

*thank you so much to NetGalley and the Books Forward and the Ana Lal Din for the advanced readers copy!

DNF at 10%
This book looks like a powerful and important story set in a colonized Indo-Persian world with rich mythology, but unfortunately this one wasn't for me. The world-building looks intriguing, but I didn't click with the writing style at all. It felt choppy and I had trouble concentrating on the book because of it, so sadly I did not finish it.

*Thank you to Ana Lal Din, NetGalley, and White Tigress Press for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Trigger and content warnings: mentions of rape, suicide, addiction, human trafficking, emotional and physical abuse.

"The gods were always angry. That was why people lived in constant fear of them. It was as if one couldn't worship them out of love or want. Anger, punishment, and revenge were the traits by which they were defined."

I got to start by saying how much I loved this book! From the first few pages, I was completely hooked; the story, the setting, the culture, and the entire world-building drew me in and I couldn't put down the book. The story follows 2 main protagonists–Roma and Leviathan. They come from very different backgrounds yet are similar in many ways. Both struggle to forget the demons from their past and deal with the ones that are plaguing them at present. Few chapters in I was fully invested in both of their storylines and the way it all came together, in the end, blew me away! Seriously, the twists and turns were so well thought out and satisfying *cough* Roma's last chapter *cough* IT JUST GAVE ME CHILLS 🐍🐍🐍 I cannot wait to see what's next for both of these characters–together and separately. I hope the next book will be a bit gentler for both of them and they can heal and develop some kind of friendship and later on maybe even something more. I feel like this couple has the potential to be epic just from the few interactions they had in this book. They will be the slowest slow burn and I am here for it!

In conclusion, I'm absolutely OBSESSED with The Descent of the Drowned. It has intrigue, ancient magic, budding romance, COBRAS, secret plots, amazing fighting sequences, and cool supporting characters. I'd recommend this book for fans of Hafsah Faizal's We Hunt the Flame series.

This was an excellent book! With a riveting plot, and detailed - and realistic - character development, you will definitely enjoy reading this title!

The Descent of the Drowned is a dark, lush, and immersive read! I thought it dragged a little bit too much, hence the three stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and White Tigress Press for this digital ARC!
The Descent of the Drowned is a shining debut that absorbed me from page one! (Side note: would recommend taking a look at the trigger warnings before reading) These characters are so well-developed and their arcs are completely satisfying. I love my morally gray and strong characters, and this book’s cast did not disappoint. The indo-persian setting is absolutely amazing and the writing is beautiful. And that ending! Highly Recommend!

First of all, thank you so much to Netgalley, Ana Lal Din and White Tigress Press for providing my very first arc!
Secondly, oh my god.
This book might be a bit hard to get into at first because the language and the world building are so complex, but if it isn't worth it!
The zaat system is intricate and unique, the characters are extremely human and the plot leaves you hooked from the beginning.
I'm obsessed and I can't wait for the rest of the series!

a great debut, imo; i read it in one sitting.

although occasionally unpolished, the writing is well-crafted and heady with emotion, which i think can sometimes be hard to pull off in third-person. the setting, politics, culture, and people of the descent of the drowned are vibrant; the world-building i think is this novel's greatest strength.

this is a difficult, heartbreaking book; structurally it echoes a young adult fantasy novel, but—and this may just be me—the content is graphic and reads like it should be for an older audience. it is also incredibly slow; its complexity, and the various strands of its plot (which are all a bit miserable) make it a little overwhelming. i'm not sure if that would change if i were in a different headspace while reading.

as it is, however, i began to struggle midway through, faced with absolutely no reprieve from the myriad traumas every character experienced, over and over and over. it's not gratuitous by any means, but i found it tense in a way that i didn't love. i also felt either completely neutral, or outright unsympathetic, towards all of them save the protagonists, junho, malev, and—obviously—the children. this is pretty much what knocked my rating down: i think the author is heavy-handed, trying too hard here to do too much, and the execution may have been slightly more enjoyable if the plot had been narrower in scope. that said, however, the author depicts trauma and grief so expertly—it is both realistic and sensitive, and i appreciated that.

roma is easily the best character, but i was most intrigued by leviathan's (whose surname (?) i dislike immensely—it feels out of place lmao) more cerebral chapters and his encounter with the white wolves. i will say the description definitely led me to believe their paths would actually cross more than they actually did, but i thought the cliffhanger ending was great. i'll probably pick up the next one!

3.75 stars rounded up.

*arc received from netgalley & publisher in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: magic, fantasy, Indo-Persian culture, Indo-Persian mythology, dual POVs

Blog review for this book will be out 2/3/21

TW: rape, sexual assault, suicide, transphobia, human and child trafficking

The summary of the book sounded really interesting. I'm always gunning for more non-Western fantasy and mythology YA, so it was exciting to see Descent of the Drowned come up on my dashboard. I will say that the premise is a little off, since Chirag isn't the trigger for Roma wanting to escape the confines of being a Lamiadasi, though he is a focal point, and Leviathan isn't really exiled until about 60% of the way through the book. However, Din does come through with the promise of Indo-Persian fantasy and I really enjoyed the setting for the book.

To start with I'll say that the book does contain trigger warnings, so I was warned when I went into reading it, but based on the descriptions from some of the other reviews I didn't think it'd be an issue. Rape is mentioned, though not graphically, a lot. I thought it would just be at the beginning of the book and in some mentions of the past and that would be that, which for the first ~50% of the book it is, but the last quarter of the book gets very dark and it becomes a lot more prevalent. I know it's kind of one of the themes of the book and that it isn't graphic, but something about it just bothers me a lot. I don't think it was necessary for the ending, I think there were other ways to push that into happening, some of which were already in motion, and it definitely turned me off a lot to the book.

My next biggest complaint is about two character deaths that also occur toward the end of the book. Admittedly I'm more upset about the first than the second, but both do bother me and while I understand plot-wise why they happened, I am wondering why the first one had to be so damn brutal. It's a small thing, both characters are minor-ish characters, but they're the ones that you end up rooting for without necessarily realizing it, so adding that to the last 25% of the book was kind of a blow and, with the rest of the darkness of the ending, made it hard to enjoy the book.

These two points really drove down my enjoyment of the book, but up until around the 50-60% mark I was really enjoying it. For one, the setting is really well described and I felt like I was in the city or in the village or temple with Roma or Leviathan. The first half of the book definitely drags from a plot perspective, but Din definitely makes up for it in the richness of her descriptions. I enjoyed reading about the festival prep and the descriptions of Lamiapur, though life might have been less than stellar.

I enjoyed the characters as well, and Din did a good job of making Leviathan a sympathetic character (to a point). For Levi, he's grown up with the brutal training of his father and has had to deal with killing some of his people. Despite that history and some animosity, he clearly cares about the clans and wants to help them. He also has a good bond with his two comrades, Malev and Junho, though he can sometimes be a bit too hard on the latter. It's also clear how much he cares for his horse, Cinder, whom he developed a strong enough bond with that the horse basically roams free but never runs off. Leviathan also makes at least one major mistake, though, about 55-65% of the way through the book and I definitely didn't like him for that, though he does at least feel regret about it.

Roma has got fire in her, even if she lets it lay quiet until about halfway through the book. Her past involves sexual assault, and she still has trauma from it and doesn't like to be touched. She also clearly cares about the clans and risks getting in trouble a couple times to help them, though it isn't explained how she came to know Mai and Khiraa and the rest of them. I thought it was nice that Mai was something like a mother to Roma when she visited the clans, since Roma really does need someone like that in her life. She's also fiercely protective of some of the other Lamiadasis, though she might not always understand them, and she is particularly protective over Chirag, her brother. Something I'm confused about re: Roma, is how she really did seem to know that Lamiadasis were just glorified prostitutes from the beginning, but is shocked upon having it revealed to her. Like...she touched upon that 'secret,' using almost the exact words used in the reveal, but is still surprised and kind of reels from the revelation, which seemed odd.

For side characters, I actually found myself really enjoying Yoshi, even though she could be a bit harsh at times. She is brash, and she may make a bad decision, but she does seem to care about other people and unlike some of the others, she'll tell hard truths to Roma straight to her face. Chirag was cute, though he wasn't actually in the book as much as I'd been expecting. I do wonder, though, why Roma didn't mention a specific ability of his that could've saved them some trouble if she had.

On Leviathan's side, I liked Malev more than I liked Junho. Malev certainly seems to be the more sympathetic of the two, both as a character and to other characters, and has some lines he won't cross. Junho was a character I actually liked until the Incident about halfway through the book, after which he's rather harsh to Roma over being angry at Levi for something that even Levi feels bad about and for which she has 100% justification for being angry. I liked the parts with the White Wolves, though, and I wish there'd been more time spent with them, rebellions are kind of my literary jam.

As for the ending. There's a revelation at the end (two technically, but I'm talking about the second one) that I would've appreciated having a bit more build-up. There are hints about it dropped throughout the book, and I was picking up on something, but I was kind of confused about what was actually happening by the time we got to the revelation and what the significance of remembering vs. not was. Also, I'm still not entirely certain what the reveal actually revealed. Like, yeah, the character is different and powerful...which we already knew, but it doesn't really give a ton of background on what that new title actually means, so a bit more explanation would've been nice.

Overall, I liked only about 50% of this book, maybe less. The beginning was fine, and I even could've dealt with what happened in the middle, but the ending was just...a lot. It definitely brought down my enjoyment of the book and I don't think I'll reread or check out the sequel. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, I think this book should be rated as new adult or adult, it's a bit heavy and dark for YA.

3.5 stars

First of all, this book is categorised as YA, but with a large chunk of the YA audience being teenagers and people under the age of 18, I believe this book should be moved into the New Adult category. The book does come with trigger warnings so the reader is aware of the story they are approaching, but I still found the book hard to digest.

I liked the writing style and the world building. The book is set in a world that I have read very little about so it was an intriguing and interesting experience for me.

The cliffhanger left me with a book-hangover, but again I really struggled with some of the darker elements to the book, and I’m unsure if I want to continue with the series.

I was given an ARC of Descent of the Drowned thanks to Ana Lal Din, White Tigress Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.