Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle is a stunning YA/crossover dark academia debut told from the dual POV of Baz and Emory, two students at Aldryn College for Lunar Magics who must work together to uncover the truth behind the mysterious deaths of their classmates and the cult-like secret society that may have had something to do with them.

I knew I had to read this book as soon as I saw what it was about. Dark academia, murder mystery by the sea, secret societies, lunar magic. It was everything I’ve ever wanted in a book, and it didn’t let me down!

The magic system was really cool. Magic based on moon phases and tide levels. Science being used to manipulate magic. Limitations and very real consequences of losing control of that magic. At times it felt like a lot of information being given at once, but it got easier to remember as time went on since things were repeated more than once.

There were several heavy themes explored throughout the book. Death, grief, and loss was a big one, and I feel that the author did a great job touching on this from multiple perspectives. The loss of a friend, a sibling, a parent, a child, a student, a classmate, or an acquaintance. Different types of grief: mourning the death of a loved one, grieving the “death” of someone as you once knew them, or feeling the pain of missing someone you never had in your life to begin with. Survivor’s guilt, anger, blame, and the morbid fascination people have with death and tragedies.

Another important recurring theme was the prejudice against people born with certain magical alignments. There was a strong sense of “othering” even when those around them weren’t behaving in an outwardly hostile or discriminatory way. This is unfortunately a common theme in our world as well, and probably a relatable experience for many readers. Because students get the sigils of their lunar Houses tattooed on their wrists, these people are essentially branded as outcasts (their sigil is even tattooed onto their left wrist instead of their right wrist like every other House). But even excepting those born with the rarest and most “undesirable” alignment, there is a clear unspoken hierarchy and elitist attitude that changes the way people are treated and the opportunities they are given, such as better jobs and educational opportunities. In fact, if your alignment is not deemed desirable or useful, you may not be able to get a magical career at all.

I did not feel a strong sense of attachment towards either of the main characters, nor did I find them particularly likeable (Emory especially), but I still found myself invested in their character development and seeing the results of their often poor decisions. Emory struggles with a complete lack of self-worth and feelings of never being good enough, especially compared to her incredibly talented, likeable and confident best friend Romie, who she is envious of even after her death. I found Baz (who happens to be Romie’s brother) much more relatable. He just wants to stay home, drink coffee and read books, but keeps getting pulled into trouble by Emory and is seeking answers himself, for his sister and friend/former roommate. My favourite character was one of the side characters, who it seems may have a greater role to play in future story events, so I am excited to see how that will play out in the sequel.

My favourite part of Curious Tides was the beautiful and magical world that this story took place in. I could practically hear the waves start crashing around me every time I picked up the book. It was as dark and atmospheric as I hoped it would be! It is filled with beautiful prose and vivid, enchanting descriptions. From the dark and dreary caves to the cozy, lived-in commons to the starry, otherworldly dreamscape. Gorgeous libraries with vine-covered shelves, magical lanterns, blankets and hot cocoa carts. Candlelit parties at abandoned lighthouses with opulent food and drinks. After reading Curious Tides, I feel like I’ve been to each of the places I read about.
“Because this book is magic. It’s like a portal, you see. It lets you step into other worlds and exist there for a time.” - Curious Tides, Pascale Lacelle
I can’t wait to go back.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the arc in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle drew me in from the very beginning. Emory wakes up in a cave, bodies floating all around her, her friend Romie among them. Somehow she survives and she doesn’t know how. I really enjoyed the mysterious setting of Aldryn College for Lunar Magics and the houses based on the phases of the moon, especially the House of Eclipse and the powers each student is born with. Emory is a healer, or so she thought. After waking up in the cave, she discovers that she possesses new powers that she must learn how to harness and control. The dual narrative between Emory and Baz provides an opportunity for the reader to learn more about the world of the Tides as they help each other harness and explore their powers. Baz being an Eclipse means he possesses many powers. There is a pull as strong as the Tides between them.

This book centres around the power of books and the myths and legends they contain and how the quest for power can corrupt. Secret societies, missing story pages, mourning, and belonging come together within the school and with its students. Although parts of the story were predictable, I found myself rooting for Emory and Baz to find common ground and work together. The concept of collapsing and the characters being institutionalized was interesting and I hope we continue to learn more about the secrets within. I look forward to reading the second book in this duology to see what happens to our main characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A highly atmospheric read; we feel the sea brine, the mystery in the air and the slightly oppressive atmosphere throughout the book.

It is not my usual type of story; the relationships between the characters are more flawed than my usual preference, but the writing and the plot are so well done that I can’t give it less than 4 stars.

The character are flawed young adults, sometime so relatable in their flaws and insecurities that it made me uncomfortable. Their flaws have a huge impact on the story which is told in the third person point of view of our two main characters: Baz and Emory.

There is some romance, but it’s not exactly the swoony kind. It’s as flawed as the characters and not the main focus at all.

Perfect for fan of the Scholomance series by Naomi Novak and of the Atlas Six by Olivia Blake.

While being marketed for YA and being perfect for that age group, it’s also sufficiently complex and mature to please other reader group.

Lots of LGTQ+ representation.

I enjoyed this but didn't love it. I think the setting and atmosphere were stunning, but the book felt too long to me. There just felt like there were elements and scenes that could have been condensed. Also everything in this book was just leading up to a sequel which isn't really my favourite type of book, I like it more when the first book still feels like it has its own story

I absolutely adored Curious Tides (just bought my copy of it! I love dark academia, and this did not disappoint. The magic system was so interesting; I loved that it was based on the tides and the moon; it was such a fascinating system! I also loved the main characters. Baz and Emory were both a lot of fun to follow, and they contrasted quite a bit, which I enjoyed when the POV switched. The plot moved pretty slowly but it was really interesting (very mysterious, loved how the plot centred around a mysterious book), and the vibes were immaculate. I can't wait for the second book!

Curious Tides is a wicked debut YA fantasy / dark academia novel written by Canadian Author, Pascale Lacelle. Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect and ended up loving it. Pascale’s writing swept me up and I was immersed in the story relatively early in the book. I enjoyed the world building aspect and how descriptive it is. The plot was unique and interesting, the alternating POVS between Emory and Baz were fascinating. That cliff-hanger got me, so I’ll be continuing the series for sure.



Come on, a secret society that may be involved in a good friend’s death. Say Less.



Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada and netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I heard about this book in the S&S Indigo fall preview presentation I knew I would absolutely love it, and boy did it live up to my expectations. Curious Tides has everything I love in a book-- a magical school setting, exploration of female friendships, a diverse cast of characters, a textured and interesting romance, and heaps and heaps of whimsy. Pascale Lacelle managed to include well-loved tropes while writing a book that feels fresh and unpredictable.
To start, the magic system in Curious Tides is so well thought out and compelling. The moon and the tides hold power over the character's magic. This system works for me in two big ways. First, intangible magic being tied to something tangible in the book's universe rather than just being an inexplicable ability makes the whole magic system and world at large feel more real and plausible. Second, the limits to the magic characters are able to wield at any given moment keep the plot and characters grounded and the stakes of the book believable. Too often in fantasy, characters (especially protagonists) are able to access limitless stores of power, giving them the upper hand in every battle and making every obstacle they face obsolete. This was not a problem in Curious Tides, as even after Emory uncovers her greater tidecaller powers and Baz discovers the truth about Eclipse-Born, there are still limitations to how much power they can wield.
Now, about the setting. It's clear that Pascale Lacelle set out to write a dark academia book that would scratch that itch for those of us who simply cannot get enough of that genre, and she executed it wonderfully. The descriptions of the commons and libraries made me feel so warm and at home, which balanced perfectly with the sense of foreboding coming from the nearby caves and rising tides. The result is a beautifully atmospheric campus that I can so vividly picture myself walking through at this very moment.
Each character in Curious Tides was given the grace and time to become rounded individuals. This is rare, especially with side characters. Of course some characters are more explored than others, but I really felt a sense of understanding of each side character. Kai, Virgil, and Jae are some of my favourite side characters that I've read in a long time. Even Romie, who for the majority of the book is revealed to us through flashbacks and memories, feels like a friend I've known my whole life. The exploration of Emory and Romie's friendship especially felt very personal and real to me. I think the complications of female friendship-- oscillating between fierce love and shameful jealousy-- is a very common experience for women and Lacelle hit that bittersweet feeling right on the nose. The love triangle is the only thing that I had reservations about, since that's a trope I don't usually love (despite my formative Hunger Games obsession), but I actually ended up quite enjoying it here. I think it illustrated really well how power-hungry men often take advantage of women's love in order to get what they want, and the shame and regret that comes with realizing you've been taken advantage of by someone you trusted. I slightly suspect Kieran's betrayal but found myself questioning my judgement often while in Emory's POV chapters as he continuously lied to her to get his way. And Baz-- I'm not sure if I can put into words how much I love his character. He is so sweet and curious and good. I cannot wait to read more of these characters in the next book (please, please, let there be a next book!!!)
Finally, the plot. I was kept on my toes the whole time and by the end of the book there were enough questions answered to satisfy me, but enough left up in the air that I am itching to get my hands on a sequel to find out. As soon as I see any announcement of a sequel ARC I will surely be first in line to request it.
I will absolutely be hand-selling this book to every customer I see lingering in the YA section, every person picking up other dark academia and romantasy reads (The Atlas Six, Fourth Wing, etc), and babbling on about it to my co workers until they have no choice but to read it too. This has been one of my favourite reads of the year and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to read the ARC before release.

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

What an amazing start to a unique new fantasy series!

Loved - the setting. A magical school rich in history, mysteries, secret clubs and cozy libraries.

Loved - the magic. Set by the moon, the magic was fascinating and complex.

Loved - the twists and overall storyline. The mystery, the relationships, the unexpected turns and developments.

Loved - the narration. The audiobook was amazing and had me switching back to it often over the ebook.

Didn’t love - the characters. Unfortunately I often got the side characters confused with each other and never found a character to obsess over like I normally do with a fantasy! They were all fine, just nothing all that special.

Overall I am very impressed and can’t wait to read what comes next! Thank you to @simonschusterca for my copy. This one was out on October 3rd and really is a perfect atmospheric novel to read this month.

#curioustides #simonandschusterca #simonschuster #netgalley #kindle #ebook #bookreview #newbookreview #booksta #canadianbookstagrammer #reading #newseries #booksbooksbooks #bookthoughts

I was absolutely hooked on this book from the very first page! The writing is stunning, the interior illustrations are also stunning, and the characters are so fleshed out and well-developed. This book was unlike anything I've read before, it was so unique and beautiful in every way.!

This main character is Emory, who is starting a new year at the Aldryn College for Lunar Magics.

At the end of the previous school year she followed her best friend Romie to the magical Dovermere sea caves. She witnessed Romie, and 7 other students participate in a mysterious magical ceremony before tidal waves swept in drowning everyone except for Emory.

At the start of this book, Emory is clearly traumatized by last years events, but determined to determine what the other students were doing in the caves and why she, the student with the weakest magic was the sole survivor. She turns to two other students for help. Baz, who is Romies brother and is serious and shy, but possesses extremely powerful but potentially dangerous magic. Keiran, who is also a powerful wizard but is handsome, magnetic and popular. Emory isn’t sure which boy to trust, so she ends up keeping secrets from them both.

What I enjoyed about this book:
-unique magical system
-the untangling of all the mysteries
-some of the characters, especially Kai and Baz

What I didn’t enjoy:
-Emory is an ok character, but her self doubt and poor decision making drove me bananas. It’s hard to root for someone who keeps making the wrong choices
-the plot really meandered in the mid section of the book, and my attention started to wane. I think some serious editing of this section would benefit this book. If not for this section, I probably would have rated this one four stars.

However, the magical system and mysteries were unique enough that I will definitely be reading the second book in this series!

I would rate this one, ⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book to read and review!

Gifted copy provided by Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for my honest thoughts.

I ended up DNFing this book at 25%

This book is very heavy info dumping for the whole 25% I read. It was a mix between an explanation of the magic system and the different classes coupled with history on the characters.

Honestly this felt like stepping into a sequel rather then the first book in a series. It felt like we were playing catch up on a story that had already been told without enough present action / storyline to keep me interested.

That being said this book was interesting, the lunar magic system is unique while the school setting adds depth. But none of the positives were enough to keep me reading.

This is one of the best book I’ve read in a while! I love Dark Academia and the magic system is amazing!

I loved the initial explanation of the moon cycles, tides and eclipse that explain the powers. It helped a lot to understand it!

I truly cannot wait for book two!

Amazing debut book for Pascale! Also her dedication for herself very well deserved!

A world with magic governed by the phases of the moon, a mystery with hidden depths, and a truly profound story within a story. Well? Sign me up already.
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Curious Tides combines the beauty and ethereal atmosphere of lunar magic and unpredictable tides together with the lure of dark academia and secret societies. I was captivated by how truly real the world in this story felt, and how much thought was put into its construction. I’d like to step foot in it, if only in my dreams. I appreciated that the author leaned into characters with a flexibility that pushed them out of traditional roles and monikers (hero, villain, victor, vanquished- what if they are each a part of all of those?)
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There is room to grow in how the reader is introduced to the characters, the structures of government and magic, and the intricacies of the various mysteries contained in this book, but I would consider this an incredibly strong debut. I am anxiously awaiting the announcement of a sequel to Curious Tides, there is so clearly an incredible part of the story left to tell.
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It was an honour to get to read this debut novel from a hometown author. Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley for providing access to an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Well, I think this was one of the great surprise of the season. I didn’t much about this book before getting my hands on an eARC on NetGalley, and I’m so glad I requested and got approved. I find that Dark Academy books can sometimes be hit or miss for me, and I have so say that I really enjoyed this book. Pascale Lacelle created a really interesting world, with the dark academia vibe, but with a pace that kept me in the story (I find that I often struggle with getting into the stories in dark academia).

I’ll be honest, I was a little scared when I saw the description of the different Moon and powers, and thought it would get confusing, but I find that everything just work nicely and I could follow the story without having to look back at those first few pages.

I think it was quite interesting to follow both Emory and Baz, and even though Emory really was the main character, Baz’s story does add without feeling just like a filler to support Emory’s narrative, which I enjoyed. I liked them both, and it didn’t feel like the dual narration was something we could have taken out. I like Baz, so I wouldn’t want less of him.

Overall, it was a great book, and I’m so glad I got to read this book. Definitely can’t wait to read more!

3.5 stars

This one is a bit difficult for me to rate. It was an overall enjoyable and interesting book, but there were a couple of things that really shit all over it for me.

#1 Emory is kind of an asshole. The way she treated Baz made me want to backhand her. In my opinion, she wasn't redeemed enough by the author. Her choices all pretty much seemed opportunistic and selfish, the things she chose to share and chose not to share, etc. She didn't even seem that interested in Baz in the scenes where she was meant to be interested in him. She would take advantage of him or lie to him, feel briefly guilty, and do it again and again.

#2 I saw this Keiran shit coming right off the bat, and I think almost anyone probably would, so a good part of the book was just kind of frustrating. I wanted to punch Emory in the side of the neck. I hate it when books make me want to yell at the characters because they're doing stupid shit. This also meant that I couldn't get into any aspect of the Keiran romance and did not have that strong urge to pick the book back up once I put it down. During most of their scenes, I just wanted to slap every face multiple times.

I'd read the next one if it crossed my path, but I won't seek it out.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. The following opinions are my own.

I'm admittedly a bit on the fence with this one. It was an interesting idea I'm just not sure of the execution. Maybe it wasn't for me. As I read other reviewers comparing it to Maggie Stiefvater. It clicked that was why I wasn't loving this one like everyone else.

Thanks so much for the chance to read this early - the vibes and writing of this were more than I could have DREEEAMED of but the pacing was a bit off and the world building was slightly repetitive.

PUMPED for book 2 though.

• 3.5 stars • (rounded up for the rating system)

This book is a dual POV following two students at Aldryn College for Lunar magics, Emory and Baz. Both characters have their own unique magic that correlates to the lunar cycle they were born on. Full moon, waning moon and eclipse for example. Following the drowning of four students in the previous term, Emory is grieving the loss of her best friend and Baz his younger sister. They are both determined to figure out the mystery of the caves of Dovermere and figure out what happened that night. Emory and Baz work together to learn the truth and are confronted with dark secrets, a mysterious cult and much more.

I think this story has a lot of potential to it. The magic system is very unique compared to other fantasy books/schools for the magically gifted books I have read and the world seems very interesting. However, I felt at times the story was very dragged out and was slightly over-explained at times. There were a lot of points throughout the book where I was taken out of the fascination with the world because of the extensive worldbuilding. Sometimes that can be a good thing but it felt as though 50% was just reexplaining things that had already been explained in the beginning.

I've seen other reviews say that the two main characters felt boring compared to the side characters, and I have to agree a bit. I feel like Emory and Baz are complex characters that can be explored more in the sequel but felt underdeveloped and were slightly 2 dimensional. I want to learn more about them and for them to have a bit more personality to them like some of the side characters were given.

Overall, I think this is a good debut novel with room to improve in the sequel. I am still looking forward to what comes in the next book and will still try to continue with the series. Hopefully, now that the world and characters have been introduced, the plot can pick up a little in speed for the sequel.

I loved the unique magic system in this book! A unique plot with interesting characters and emotional depth. This book kept me on my toes solving mysteries, analyzing clues and rooting for my favourite love interest. It gives angst, mystery, found family, dark academia and more. The perfect fall read!

This was really good! It takes a while to get going and I think the first half of the book could be a little shorter, but the payoff in the second half makes it worthwhile. Set in a magic college, I think this would be perfect for both adult fantasy readers and YA readers. To me this is somehow reminiscent of both Harry Potter and Ninth House, odd as that pairing may be. The magic system is like nothing I've read before, and the world-building is amazing. I think the sequel will be even better since a lot of the world-building elements that slowed down the beginning of the book are already established. Really well written, only complaint is the pacing. Can't wait for the follow up.