An emotional and dark book with amazing characters – I’m already looking forward to book #2!

First, however, the synopsis of this book… in my opinion, it doesn’t quite do the story justice. Yes it touches on some of the major themes, but to say the plot revolved around Roma rescuing her “brother” would not be 100% accurate. I would say the overall story is more about Roma learning to break free while overcoming her past trauma, and the subplot involving her brother is important to that journey but not the only one she must deal with.

Moving on, the first third or so of this book was so saturated with information— character intros and backstories, descriptions of food and clothes and customs and settings, info on the magic system, multiple subplots, and more —that it left my head spinning. However, I ultimately appreciated all of this information because it helped paint a clear picture of the story moving forward as it’s all woven together. By the end, I felt truly immersed in Roma and Levi’s worlds.

In addition, I would highly recommend reading the trigger warnings for this book and evaluating the state of your mental health before diving in. Because Ana Lal Din’s intent was to “explore a formalised system of inequality", heavy themes relevant to the overall plot are introduced early on in quick succession. This made for an emotional and impactful story that ripped my heart out and made me want to see the characters succeed even more. That being said, I did have to alternate this book with a romance novel because it was so heavy at times. I cannot speak to the #ownvoices rep in this book, but Ana Lal Din’s heartbreaking and poignant exploration of injustice in a colonised Indo-Persian world was clearly well researched and executed in a deliberate way I wish was more prevalent in YA.

I absolutely loved Roma and Levi and wished I could give them each a big hug. They were such well developed, nuanced characters whose decisions I could understand even when they were questionable. There is no romance in this book, but I loved seeing Roma and Levi’s paths cross and their relationship grow. Of course, my romance-loving heart is hopeful this will change in the future books, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see… and that ending! So unexpected and such a cliffhanger.

This book is definitely a standout in the world of YA. Overall, I learned about and reflected on so many important topic, and I know this story and its characters will stay with me well into the future.

Thank you to White Tigress Press via Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you, to NetGalley and the publisher, for offering this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A dark, compelling read, The Descent of the Drowned by Ana Lal Din immensely impressed me with its rich cultural descriptions, complicated characters, and slow-building plot. So much so that I already own a copy for myself.

Inspired by pre-Islamic Arabian mythology and culture, The Descent of the Drowned is the start of a YA fantasy trilogy that definitely leans hard on the older side of the scale due to its many heavy themes, which are addressed headfirst and unflinchingly. I recently read a book that equally horrified and enraged me at how gratuitous its violence and sexual themes were to be directed at a younger audience than truly appropriate. Therefore, my guard was up when I started this book, which tackles topics regarding sacred prostitution, rape, sexual assault, torture, self harm, suicide ideation, and many others.

Turns out I needn’t have bothered to be so wary. Each of these issues—and others—are treated with the gravity, horror, and fury they rightfully deserve. Readers have time to sit with these issues along with the characters and experience how these issues affect and inform the characters and their world, which is lovingly detailed with rich descriptions juxtaposed against the ugliness of human trafficking, transphobia, rape culture, caste systems, ethnic cleansing, and other cruelties. While reading, nothing ever felt glossed over or overdone, yet I also never felt hopelessly mired down by darkness. That’s because Lal Din managed to walk a delicate line between bringing awareness to these issues while also crafting a sincerely enjoyable story with characters I couldn’t help but be drawn to and root for.

What also helped this balancing act immensely was the book’s slow-paced nature. Rather than meandering along without purpose, The Descent of the Drowned is a rare book that allows its characters to breathe, its world to be laid out to you in a way that may seem daunting at first but which you have plenty of time to dip your feet in and explore.

While the content is vastly different, this book reminded me of how The Bear and the Nightingale was written, how it allowed you to get to know side characters and how their personal struggles and prejudices also related to the main characters, each of them deeply influenced and affected by their world. This quality of writing and its dark content often made me question its status as a YA book as it feels far more suited to Adult Fantasy to me, not to mention the price of the hardcover and paperback editions are far more inline with adult literature prices. But I’ll not argue the point further.

I’ve decided to skip over giving my usual synopsis because there’s far more value in simply reading the book yourself. Instead, I want to talk about our two main, point-of-view characters, Roma and Leviathan.

A sacred prostitute, Roma is an outstanding protagonist, reckoning with both her past, off-page rape and her unknown destiny as something dark and vengeful. She wants to rail against the injustices of the world as much as she wants to believe that there has to be a truth behind it, a purpose to it somewhere. She is a character who has been forced to become a survivor yet is still young enough to unconsciously cling to whatever innocence and naïveté she has left. She wants to protect others while still looking out for herself because who else is going to?

Roma is the kind of feminist protagonist I like reading, one who doesn’t have to be taught her worth because she intrinsically knows how bullshit the world is and her lot in it. She doesn’t need to preach to others or be preached to about the life she has been given being born a low-caste woman in a society designed to use and harm her. She has lived it from birth and knows this is wrong, her words, thoughts, and reactions to all that is done to her and others being as justified as they are venomous. I love her so much, and my heart continuously hurt for her.

Then, there’s Leviathan. Oh, my word, I didn’t know authors could still write a male character who claims to be monstrous and actually demonstrate them being that way. I thought this art form was dead. Not here. Leviathan is a bastard-born solider to the Firawn, the country’s immortal tyrant. Despite Levi’s casteless status and blood ties to the land’s persecuted clans, he “benefits” socially by being the Firawn’s sole heir. As a result, he’s been trained for years to stifle his humanity and emotions, becoming a ruthless killer in the process.

And he truly is. He has killed before and kills many times throughout the book without remorse to achieve his ends, though not without being harmed in some ways himself. This is a character who is trying to cling to his humanity and right past wrongs but by doing all the wrong things. Simply put, I love this character. I love that his compassion still exists but is buried by callousness. I love that he views his sins as unforgivable but is still trying to find the correct path to do right by those who have suffered, some even by his own hand. It’s about the internal struggle.

And yeah, he’s sexy and badass and my problematic fav, what of it? Thank you so much, Lal Din, for writing him this way because there’s so much more you can sink your teeth into when a character isn’t wholly good or wholly bad. Levi is at once despicable and completely understandable; he is ugly and beautiful and terrible and jagged in so many ways alongside Roma, all because that’s how life has shaped them both. I both love and hate the awful circumstances that cause Levi and Roma to be intertwined and the pain such fateful collisions cause them. But it’s also so stirring, so delicious. I wouldn’t call what happens between them in this book a romance, but the groundwork has been laid, the beautiful, too-often neglected groundwork. If a romance is due to happen, then it is meant to be the slowest of slowburns, no doubt being gradually shaped across the entire trilogy rather than rushed into happening in this first book, and that is exactly how it should be done. Especially given both of their own circumstances. Lal Din said, “Instalove sucks,” and is instead writing out all three forms of a sonata with these two.

That being said, each character has their own storyline happening independently of the other, oftentimes carrying the narrative on their own until the POV changes again. The parts of the book where they do meet and interact is like watching destiny unfold, gradual, inevitable, and often tragic. I already miss the both of them dearly.

I also love Malev, Junho, and Ashar very much and hope I learn even more about them in the sequel. Each of them stands out on the page in different ways, regardless if a chapter is in Roma or Levi’s POV, and I honestly could use so many more interactions with them.

While I know I’ve praised the descriptive writing in this book before, I need to do so now in a different way. The descriptions alone of fashion, food, and setting are visual feasts, intimately embedded throughout the novel in some of the most persistent, inspired-by-real-culture world-building I’ve ever seen. You know how you pick up a book that’s “inspired by” something, but you really can’t tell how? Sure, there might be a vibe there, but you’re not seeing any of the nuance? You will not have that problem here, and to help you, there’s even a glossary in the back of the book, and we love to see it.

I do admit that some of the fantasy elements like the magic system and the pantheon are a bit hazy juxtaposed to a world with guns and cigarette lighters, but part of that is due to my own ignorance. I was learning a lot while reading, which is a beautiful thing to admit. I nonetheless enjoyed everything I read, from the magical, storytelling sand to the Sleeping Forest to the Ghaib. It didn’t take much to adjust my brain to a sort-of Pan’s Labyrinth sense of viewing the world-building, where instead of separating the fantastical world elements from its war-torn reality, I just envisioned them as being one in the same.

And yes, The Descent of the Drowned absolutely works for that stunning snake cover. I cannot wait for the sequel to this and to see what awaits me with its cover and intriguing contents. I cannot wait to learn more about everything this book introduced. If Lal Din’s debut novel was this good, then I tremble at what will come with her sophomore release.

First, I would like to thank both Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I would first like to say that I truly enjoyed the important conversations about classism, patriarchy, and survival. I thought the author did an excellent job of explaining these issues, and drawing attention to them. It made the book hit hard at certain points, but it was also refreshing to read. With this, I thought the author succeeded in making her readers reflect. In addition, I truly enjoyed both main protagonists. Roma and Leviathan were both well-developed, and the author succeeding in making me care for them.
I mainly struggled with two aspects of this story. First, a great deal of the story felt told rather than shown. While I understand that this is necessary during some points of world-building, there was too much of it in the story for my preference. However, this is something that is a personal preference in writing, and some readers may not have an issue with it. In addition, I wish the author had taken more time to develop and explain her magic system so that readers could truly understand it.
However, this book is one I enjoyed and one that I would quickly recommend to fellow readers. I cannot wait to see what else the author comes up with in the future!

She is bound to serve. He is meant to kill. Survival is their prison. Choice is their weapon.

I really liked this book! The story is good and I liked the writing style. It was my first book by Ana Lal Din and I'm looking forward to reading more from her. If I had to choose one con it is the cover, I just don't vibe with it.

Ana Lal Din writes about a culture that has it's people labeled by caste. They are poor, struggling to survive and face at a young age to serve those that are higher than them and to be auctioned off to a man. They believe in a goddess that leads them to their purpose in life to live the kind of existence they are born into. The main character Roma strives to escape out of that state of being and many wish they can but know they cannot.

Within this storyline Ana Lal Din portrays the real life awful occurrences and atrocities that takes place around the world from the past to the present, e.g. sex trafficking, prostitution, violence, not accepting people that are different, drugs.

This book is well written and has good world building. It is a slow start but is intriguing nonetheless as the story evolves and progresses.

Thank you BooksForwardPR for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/5 stars

The Descent of the Drowned does a fantastic job taking a stab at some important real-world issues but falls flat in the storytelling aspect.

The Descent of the Drowned was so good in so many ways, but also subpar in so many ways. It's a dark, enthralling high fantasy that also talks about important real-world issues, but the execution and storytelling aren't fantastic.

This book, according to the author in the acknowledgments, is meant to bring awareness to real problems in and around the middle east. She does an excellent job talking about them in a way that feels authentic, even in a high fantasy novel. That was her purpose in writing this book, and I'd say she fulfilled it!

But aside from that? The Descent of the Drowned suffered. One of the biggest problems that bothered me was the magic system. Or rather, the lack of one. We are slowly introduced to magic throughout the course of the book, and it has no real rhyme or reason. To be fair, this is just the first book and it seems like the second one will be handling the magic, but I would like more clarification.

I normally enjoy books that make up their own language, but I also appreciate it when I can actually understand it. There was a helpful glossary in the back, but because I was reading an ebook it was extremely hard to access. A few of the words were explained, but the rest you were supposed to look up yourselves, which I couldn't do.

All in all, the author succeeded in her goal of writing The Descent of the Drowned but was lacking in every other area.

I dread having to write a review because while there are many things I love about this book, most are very personal. And to put them into a well thought out review instead of one massive incoherent rambling is.. not easy.

But let's try.

Right from the first chapter, I was struck by how beautiful the writing is. Ana Lal Din really has a way with words that makes each sentence flows so smoothly that it is poetic yet still easy to read. The world and setting of this book feels very immersive and vivid thanks to that. I also love that the worldbuilding feels very familiar to me, which only adds to my enjoyment of reading the book.

The book itself tackles some very heavy topics. Set in an oppressive and tyrannical society with caste system, the lower caste has to face injustices and unjust law, and the women have to suffer for the sins of their fathers and brothers. This book can be hard to read at times because of how unjust the society is, but I do feel that these topics are handled very well. Especially the struggles of women in a very oppressive society.

Seeing the world through the lens of the two main characters: Roma and Leviathan, who are very different yet very similar, is so fascinating. Their social standings are like heaven and earth. With Leaviathan being the Firawn's son and Roma being a devadasi of lower caste. But their longing for freedom, for getting out of the cage that comes with being the Firawn's son and a devadasi, and for being more than what people tell them they are, couldn't be more similar.

But I do wish to see more of the side characters, because from the little I see of them, they are all very interesting characters. And I love a big ensemble of characters and multiple POVs. But I also understand that since this is only the first book, the author needs to lay a solid foundation for the two main characters. So that's not really a problem to me, I just love these side characters a lot.

Overall, I really love this book and I can't wait for the sequel!

This book shattered be in a thousand pieces—but in a good way.

I started this book knowing the story would be gritty, dark, hopeless. And yet, I was not prepared for the way the universe was so beautifully woven, capturing me from the very first sentence, so I kept reading and hoping. The culture was so rich! I readily immersed myself in this new world, looked up everything I didn't know, and practically devoured this book. Not only is it an important tale about colonialism, slavery, and the perils of religious devotion—it also reminds us that as readers we MUST go and read beyond the usual tales inspired in the european and western culture. This book gave me the opportunity to dive deeper into a different culture that I'm now sure to keep researching.

The pace was a little slow at first, but when it starts picking up and everything falls in place, I was already hooked. Do not let the pace drive you away; instead, relish in everything that the first half gives you in terms of worldbuilding. You're going to need the energy for the second half, once we start to understand more about who Roma is, and what the Firawn wants from her. As we realize there is more to what we see. The incorporation of the magic system was pretty cool, but I do wish it was explained a little bit more. However, I do see how keeping that bit in the shadows works for the story, and for wherever it'll go next.

The characters! They were so painfully and beautifully human. I especially connected with Leviathan; his pain sang to me, and his struggles with vulnerability made me root for him even more. The complexity of his character was amazing: a boy that's more than just a killing machine. His conflicting emotions and the desire to be able to craft an identity of his own is fascinating. Truly a tridimensional character! I want to see how his character develops in the sequel. As for Roma, our main character, the rebirth of her resilience is something that I was thrilled to read. Her path to slowly uncovering the truth behind the lie she's lived her whole life is one I really connected to, as someone who walks a path of spirituality. I sense a corruption arc that is sure to have us all in a roller coaster.

Ultimately, this is a story about redemption, empowerment and rebellion. The writing is simply exquisite. As heart-wrenching as it is, it was an immediate five star for me. Remember to read the trigger warnings before diving into this book. Should you choose to do so, I promise the experience will be 100% worth it. I can't wait for the sequel to come out!

“When your sins push you to your knees, you crawl toward redemption”

tw: torture, rape, violent assault, mutilation, emotional abuse, manipulation and more.

this book was everything I wanted it to be.
The two characters were amazing to learn about (I love roma for sure).

There was a lot of information thrown on you in the beginning that you truly do not completely understand unless you reread the sections or search it up. It seems that the book relies on more so you already knowing about Arabian mythology and indo-persian culture, so maybe fresh up on that a tiny bit. Nonetheless, this was a jaw-dropping book in my opinion.,

I was captivated by chapter, and although the book was a tiny bit confusing and just slightly predictable, I kept reading and reading and could not put it down.

Pacing was a little off, its really slow in the beginning but it quickens pace as you get into the plot.

The only reason that the book is rated a four star for me is that the magic system still remained unclear by the end of it. I understood must of it but I still had some questions.

ALL IN ALL, I love this and cant wait to buy my own copy.

The Descent of the Drowned appealed to my love of all things mythological. This book ventured into the realm of Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. It took a bit for me to get a grasp on the flow of the book, the characters and so forth. Once I did, this story really pulled me in and took off.

It is told from dual points of view by two very different people who are just trying to survive the brutality of that world. Roma is a strong, resilient young woman who has been raised from birth to be a servant of one of the goddesses. It translates into her never having her "own" life and living in fear of who her next benefactor will be. In my opinion, it's basically sex slavery with a fancy title and the belief that you are "special" and "privileged." Leviathan is the illegitimate son of their ruler (a cruel and heartless man) and a woman from a lesser clan. He constantly feels the tug between both worlds. His father expects for him to be an unfeeling machine but he has guilt over the treatment of the lesser clans in their kingdom. As the story progresses, their paths cross at different intervals. It's clear they both have a destiny to fulfill, but will they be on the same side of history or face one another as enemies?

This story wasn't light by any means. It was full of heavy and difficult topics. There is content that could be hard for some to read. The world this book takes place in is harsh and unforgiving. It's brutal and it's clear that the weak are preyed upon and attacked. There are instances of rape, abuse,, suicide, drug usage, and more. However, on the flip side, there are also moments of positivity. Times where you see how humanity rises up to fight brutality. The female empowerment that finds its way into the story is powerful and moving. Seeing the hardships that the people of the lesser clans lived through and how they weren't even viewed as equals or human was horrific. They were treated worse than animals in many situations. When you see people stand together to work to overcome this type of oppression, you have to be moved.

All in all, this book was done well and I really enjoyed it. It leaves the reader on a bit of a cliffhanger and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

- The representation made me so happy!!!! I adored the outfits and just the description of the sceneries was amazing!
- It was extremely well-written and it was easy to picture some scenes in your head, although sometimes I did find it difficult to keep up with everything happening. It all flowed really well.
- The characters were fantastic and the enemies to lovers... I can almost SEE it in the sequel. But I like how the author is just waiting for the right moment for Roma and Levi and not jumping right into it just because the tension is obvious. Hey, she might not even make it happen but it's the fact that she keeps you enthralled from the minute you meet the characters, I really liked that.
- Roma is a QUEEN! Her character is super powerful considering the situations women face in her world and in the real world. The situation that occurs for a lot of the women in the book is an actual reality and Ana Lal Din does not hesitate to approach how real it is through this book. It may have been a fictional story but reading those horrific & sad situations were 100% real.
- I am honestly blown away by this book as I did not expect to enjoy it all so much. I hope this book gets the hype it deserves.

Thank you to NetGalley and White Tigress Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Descent of the Drowned incorporates a lot of dark and heavy themes that could be very triggering, so make sure you check the trigger warnings before reading! Because of this, I would definitely consider this book more NA than YA.

This book is SO GOOD. It’s refreshingly unique, and the Indo-Persian influence creates such a fascinating world, mythos, and magic system. All of the characters are incredibly complex. Roma and Leviathan are both flawed in a way that makes them feel very human. I hurt with them and i rooted for them, and many of the side characters are just as complex and well-written. The writing itself was clear and easy to follow, and the plot left you guessing—I absolutely devoured the last 15 or so chapters because I needed to know what happened. Plus, I just love a book that includes a glossary.

I won’t lie—this started a bit slow, but I was never bored. In the first half of the book, a number of different plot threads are set up, and while all of them were interesting, it made it a bit confusing to figure out what exactly was the overarching plot. Many of the threads seemed virtually unrelated, and while some of them came together towards the end of the book, I felt some could have been incorporated sooner or had more emphasis placed on them.

As the first in a series, this book does exactly what it needs to: it gets you invested in the story and characters, sets up the world, and leaves you anxious to find out what happens next.

There are some books where, no matter how much you want to love it, you just cant click with a story. This was the case with this one. I was so excited to read this book. The synopsis sounded great, and there was so much potential for this to be right up my alley, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

This book is amazing! I did not expect to love and adore it as much as I did. There are trigger warnings for just about everything, and this book was so much darker than I was anticipating. However, I love dark books, the darker the better. I love that this is book is published by an indie/small publishing house and written by a POC woman author.

The Descent of the Drowned is an Indo-Persian #ownvoices novel inspired by Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology, and told in dual POVs.

In a world divided by castes, Roma has been dedicated to the goddess Lamia since childhood. As a sacred slave to the goddess, she and her sisters are sold to men from the highest castes, so that they may experience laying with a "goddess". However, Roma learns early on that what she always believed to be her sacred duty as a "chosen one" is nothing but a lie.

Leviathan is he bastard son of an immortal tyrant. Trained since childhood to become the deadliest of soldiers, he is torn between his duty to his father, or the memory of his mother and her people. Levi struggles to make choices that stop his descent into becoming the monster everyone believes him to be, even himself.

This book ended on an epic cliffhanger and I cannot wait for the next installment.

This book was unlike anything I’d read before! Even as she demonstrates a fluency with the tropes and themes of her genre, Lal Din crafts a unique story here, not only via the setting, which is obviously cool ("a colonised Indo-Persian world inspired by pre-Islamic Arabian mythology"). Above all, I found her complex, fierce characters enormously compelling and human in their complexity. The protagonist, Roma, comes to political consciousness during the course of the novel, as her desire for truth leads her to uncover the corrupt nature of her religious order, which has long profited off the bodies of its women while covering over this violence with its discourse and traditions. She is a survivor of sexual abuse endured during a "contract" with one of the patrons, and throughout the novel, Roma struggles with PTSD as a result.

The other character defined as a "survivor" in this book is Roma's ally/adversary/would-be love interest, the corrupt ruler's son, Leviathan, who's got the "tortured (ex?-)killer seeking redemption" thing going on a bit (was reminded of the Daevabad trilogy a little here). Brought up to be a killer, he is sympathetic to the rebels and is trying to rid himself of his father's influence. Despite Roma's distrust of him, not all of which is unfounded, the two protagonists are drawn together time and again, and this will undoubtedly continue in the sequel. What Lal Din does uniquely well with Levi is allowing for certain contradictions in his character, which are realistic but difficult to portray. Namely, she depicts the emotional labor Levi must take on before he can fully commit himself to the rebel cause; he must sort out the deep roots of attachment he has to his father, even as he actively repudiates everything his father is and stands for. At the end of the novel, he's beginning to better understand the necessity of working through these wounds left by his father's emotional abuse.

While the structure of this story seems to set things up for a typical YA fantasy "enemies to lovers" romantic resolution, there is nothing easy about this story or its ending, which given the content was the only route to take. Although it made for difficult reading at times, I was particularly impressed by how Lal Din did justice to Roma with one of the most realistic, unflinching portrayals of PTSD (specific to a victim of sexual abuse) I've seen in fiction. In this regard alone, I think Lal Din brings something really important to the table with this novel. I'm not 100% sure where she'll be taking us with the sequel, but it's clear that as with Levi, she allows for a similar complexity - and darkness - to Roma's character that moves beyond a simple victim position. I look forward to seeing her explore more of that in her next book, and to learning more about the magical system and our protagonists' place in it.

One final note: it’s disappointing to see reviewers criticizing the book for its unfamiliar cultural elements - that shouldn't reflect anything but the need for more diversity in fiction and for some broader reading on the part of the reviewer. I found the glossary at the back of the book to be adequate for my needs. (I think it’s also completely fine to just keep reading even if you don’t 100% understand something, that’s just part of the reading process sometimes right?)

Raised as a vessel for the goddess Lamia, Roma finds herself questioning the path set out for her and must fight for survival without condemning her fellow sisters. Leviathan, the bastard son of an immortal tyrant, was raised to kill in his father’s name. But they both cannot run from their past forever as they find themselves inexplicably linked as the tyrant’s search for power threatens the world as they know it.

When finishing The Descent of the Drowned, my first thought was the books’ blurb really does not do this book justice. The catalyst event that the blurb suggests (Roma’s brother being sold) does not occur until well over the story’s halfway mark, which may confuse some readers. The story does take some time to take off truly. That being said, I still really enjoyed this book. Lal Din paints a brutal world. This book is hefty in terms of the story, touching upon rape, suicide and human trafficking. (see Halla’s content warnings for more) The story highlights the caste system, abuse of the trans community, ethnic cleansing and colonisation. And Roma is just one of many women suffering under its harrowing grip.

The Descent’s story is split between Roma and Leviathan (Levi) as their paths slowly converge together. Roma is counting down the days until she is given to another male patron. Her last time being a few years prior, which resulted in her harming herself. She finds herself questioning her position and whether her spot is truly divine given or not. But when everyone around her is adamant in their belief, she must be careful where she treads or risk endangering her temple sisters and brother’s lives. Levi was raised a killer but found himself struggling to forget his past when most of the blood he sheds are members of his mother’s clan. He tries his best to help, but the persecuted clan wants nothing to do with him. When a rescue plot turns awry, Levi finds himself chasing up on the elusive White Wolves, an opposition group working towards taking down Levi’s father.

It takes some time for the two to meet. I found it fun reading their perspectives because it felt like reading two different stories, but I don’t mean that in a bad way. Roma’s story highlights the lives of the oppressed and casteless. At the same time, Levi’s strengthens the worldbuilding beyond what Roma is never allowed to see. I, personally, preferred Roma’s side of the story, partly because it had taken me some time to warm up to Levi. Roma grows more in the story in a consistent way, while Levi takes some time to appreciate. He’s not a bad character; he just makes some decision that I didn’t agree with that soured my opinion of him.

What I loved the most about their story is each protagonist’s respective group. Levi has his own brothers-in-arm. As mentioned, Levi does not make good decisions, deeply affected by his past trauma, but his friends, Junho and Malev, will do anything to help reel him back in. Roma’s side consists mainly of her temple sisters. Despite her conflicting opinion, Roma truly cares for her sisters. Her actions are rooted in making sure they face the least amount of harm, but she can’t stay silent forever, and one wrong move puts her entire family at risk. I personally found the story very slow, but the characters make up for it in abundance.

Inspired by Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology, The Descent of the Drowned is a thrilling yet terrifying read. Roma’s journey is powerful and heartbreaking. If anything, the story ends too soon, with its worldbuilding taking up most of the page. Regardless, I’ll anticipate its sequel because this story feels like the stepping stone to something extremely remarkable.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
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4*
Pros: Despite the cons and trigger warnings (if these are not triggers for you), you will devour this book in one sitting. It is a bleak but candid portrait of the world under the fist of a conquering and colonising empire. Complex and immersive world-building and writing style, inspired by Indo-Persian culture and pre-Islamic Arabian folklore. Refreshing main characters that are not meant to be loved, but still demand that we bear witness to their stories. Talks about living in forced prostitution, about being a slave and oppressed. Not exactly focused on empowerment, but more on survival and trying to remain true to our selves and our values in face of adversity. No romantic focus.
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Cons: Yearning at first sight. Too much info-dump, lacking context and hard to keep track of. Male lead uses female lead's trauma and painful experiences for his own purposes. Confusing ending.
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Trigger warning: Slavery. Prostitution. Multiple graphic rape scenes. Hate crimes and extreme oppression. Graphic physical and psychological violence. Suicide attempts. Drug abuse.

arc provided in exchange for an honest review

THE DESCENT OF THE DROWNED is, in many ways, a painfully brutal book. set in a colonized world inspired by pre-islamic indo-persian mythology, the subject matter is heavy and sensitive, describing torture and off-screen rape in great detail. in short, ana lal din's debut novel is not for the faint of heart.

that said, i have to compliment din for her realistic portrayal of a life controlled by a rigid caste system, as well as the ways sexual violence is used as a weapon in society. additionally, din provided some insightful commentary on how transphobia directed towards hijras is a way for cis people to use the gender binary as a mechanism of oppression.

DESCENT OF THE DROWNED did suffer from some pacing issues, with the first 35% setting up the worldbuilding, and the story really only picked up in the last 20% or so. while i do love a book heavy with character development instead of action scenes, this could definitely have benefited from more agency.

I will admit this story definitely took some time to get into because the pacing was a little slow for me. However, once the story started to flow, the story took off. Also, I will admit this book is a bit darker and heavy toned so keep that in mind when reading.

I enjoyed reading the different points of view because they helped the story move along. But, we also got to see the differences between the main characters through their minds. Sometimes having varying POVs can cause inconsistencies, but the story stayed consistent.

I did like the worldbuilding throughout the story, and I know other reviews had issues with it. For me, the story brought so much to the table. It talked about things that people might not be aware of, but they should. The story also had elements of magic and mythology throughout weaved through the story.

I am interested to see how the second book continues with the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and White Tigress Press for providing me with an ARC of this book and the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF at 20%.

I'm sorry, I really want to continue but I am in a reading slump right now and having difficulty processing digital screen words to my brain. I don't know why. I think the idea of this story is awesome.

There is a lot of world building that it's pretty overwhelming. Just when I thought I got the hang of things, new information is dropped on me via place names, people, objects, concepts, etc. I was also confused as if this was a full on fantasy world with magic or if there were like real world incorporations? Because I was really surprised when a bunch of characters were massacred through the use of guns.

Levi's chapters were what really kept me going and if it was just from their pov I would've really powered through. The author's writing is good so don't be deterred. Maybe I'll try again if I find a physical copy.

eArc provided by NetGalley.