I have mixed feelings about this book.
I loved the magic system! The powers being related to the moon was so interesting. I ended up looking what the moon phase was on my birthdate. I did think that there were places where it got a little info dumpy and the villian was very obvious from the beginning. The one thing that fully stopped me from giving this 5 starts was the Main Character. I thought Emory was horrible. I did not like her at all. I thought she was selfish and some of the decisions she made were completely stupid. I did like Baz and most of the other characters. I really ;liked the school and the sea setting. I also am a sucker for the other worlds trope. This book reminded me a little bit of The Magicians. If you liked that book and like romance in your fantasy then you will like this.
Even though I did not like the main character at all I still want to read the next one and think that this is a low 4 STARS!

This was not a bad book. But I did find the comparisons to Ninth House and Deadly Education to be inaccurate. I think of those books as having a strong, sarcastic female lead and rich, dark humor. Neither is present in Curious Tides. This book suffers from a meandering plot and is prone to over-description rather than plot advancement. The dual POV didn’t work well as the characters had little chemistry and weren’t terribly likable. They skewed very young. What I did like was the well developed and unique magic system and world building and many of the side characters were delightful. While I didn’t dislike this title I likely won’t be reading the next book. I can see some YA readers really liking this and perhaps Olivie Blake fans as well. Overall not for me but likely a win for others.

I loved the unique magic system based on the phases of the moon and the tides, and the first quarter or so of the book was really strong as we are introduced to the world, the school, and the characters. Unfortunately my interest fell off pretty sharply around the middle of the book. The plot lacks urgency and at times seems to be a bit too close to its comp titles, making it feel derivative.

A delightful dark academia debut! The magic system was interesting, the layers of lore and mystery were captivating, and I kept turning the pages eager to figure out where the story would take me. The love triangle was a little contrived, If you like books within books, secret societies, stories by the ocean, and unfurling mysteries, then this is the book for you! If you want something more character driven, then this might fall flat for you. But overall an excellent debut!

Lacelle creates a dark atmospheric world filled with magic and mystery in this first book of the Drowned God's series. Those looking for that dark academia vibe will fully devour this book. The story alternates in points of view between Emory and Baz. Emory still struggles after the drowning death of her best friend, Romie. Baz is Romie's brother and has been estranged from Emory since his sister's death. When not so completely dead bodies of students start washing ashore, the two are brought together. United by the mystery and their survivor's guilt, the two work to find answers.

Curious Tides is a wonderfully lush and vividly written story. The world building is top notch with the a well developed magic system. There is a lot of magic and mystery in this book sprinkled with a bit of romance and that atmospheric moodiness that makes dark academia so great. While the book paces a little slow in the beginning with all the ground work for setting the world and story, it's really worth it for the whole book and to experience Lacelle's imaginative writing. Overall, a great book one and I look forward to adding it to our collection.

I already knew I would love this book from the first page. Curious Tides has an extremely unique world that draws you in from the very beginning and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The magic system is fresh and unique, especially in a classic "magic school" type setting.

I found the characters to be relatable and heartfelt, and I cannot wait to see where they go in book 2!

Despite the slow rolling start, I found this book to be enchanting and engrossing. I wanted to devour every detail of the world building and the elegantly crafted prose. So. Darn. Good.

Thank you to the author (I'm not worthy), to NetGalley, & to Margaret K. McElderry Books for the eARC!

I am totally grabbing this in audio when its available because (depending on the voice artist obviously) I think this would be a marvelous tale to hear read out loud. I am 100% IN if you'd like me to do it. Anyway, this was a journey through loss, pain, & guilt. You could feel the emotions of the two main characters, Emory & Baz, and how the tragedy and mystery became their motivation and quest. I don't want to give much of this one away, so I will leave you with this. BUY IT, be patient in the journey, & really let yourself enjoy this book. You won't regret it! I don't!
4.2 stars outta 5 (That slow start had me a tab frustrated at times, but totally worth it.)
NO REGRETS!!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for my e-ARC! The opinions, however, are all mine.

If you love Dark Academia, if you love powers and magic, if you love characters that you love and love to hate, you must read Curious Tides. It's an awesome debut for author Pascale Lacelle into the world of YA books, but take it from this 51 year old middle school teacher, you do not have to be young to read it. It does seem daunting at over 500 pages (which is why I gave four stars instead of five), but every page is worth it as it helps create the world of Curious Tides. I honestly could not put it down!

I have been VERY into dark academia this summer/fall and Curious Tides was an expert melding of both this subject and fantasy (which I love so much); CT had echoes of Ninth House and The Magicians, two series that I've previously very highly rated and enjoyed.

In alternating chapters we follow Emory, a teen magician mourning the loss of her best friend, Romie, following a tragic accident the schoolyear prior; and Romie's brother, Baz, who is still coming to terms with his own grief. After student bodies begin washing up on shore, Emory and Baz find themselves having to work together to solve the mystery.

Lacelle does a BEAUTIFUL job of world-building, including the myths and legends that Emory and Baz find themselves following. Her details and prose are gorgeous, putting the reader directly next to Emory and Baz in their thrilling search for answers. I sped through the last few chapters, breathless for answers, and am very much looking forward to Book #2.

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

I’m giving this book 4 stars but really consider it a 3.5. It’s so long, it lost my interest a few times. The start of the book was really confusion for me, trying to figure out the houses and which moon phases they aligned with. Then add in all the different Magic’s that each house had. I think the story is good and I will read the next book. However, I didn’t really care for Emory. Our FMC was infuriating at times, clueless and living in self pity. There were other characters that saved the book for he though. Good book, just didn’t live up to my expectations.

This was harder to get into at first. The magic system and world building are more complex than what I’m used to in a lot of YA fantasy. This definitely leans a little more adult, perhaps New Adult? However I think that has great appeal with todays teen readers as they tend to read up, wanting more adult books. I thoroughly enjoyed and look forward to sharing with teens in my library.

Dark and vibrating with ominous power, #CuriousTides absolutely swept me away. The #DarkAcademia setting at a magical school,a mysterious book that may be a children’s story or may be the key to unlocking limitless power, a magic system based on lunar cycles, and a secret society with deadly demands worked together to forge an experience reminiscent of the Starless Sea, the Diviners and Ninth House for me. Be prepared. This is the first half of a #duology and @pascalelacelle has created a story that will not let go. You will want the second half immediately upon finishing this. The pacing brilliantly moves the action forward; the segments of the hidden book read like beautiful Tolkein fantasy and the slow burning love triangle will engage readers. Definitely a #StealThisBookFromYourTeen selection. While savvy readers will figure out some mysteries early, it won’t ruin the experience because of other unexpected surprises lurking toward the end. This is a book that celebrates friendship, especially the unlikely kind forged in childhood that survives into adulthood. This is a book that champions risking in order to harness one’s full potential. This is also a book that celebrates the magic of stories. One that I read as an #ARC and enjoyed so much I plan to purchase in print. Thanks to #Netgalley and @simonteen for the opportunity to read this book available now.

It's such a slow burn, but I really feel like it's worth it. The comparisons to Ninth House and A Deadly Education are spot on - a dark academia atmosphere with secret societies and underlying mysteries. The magic system was quite fun, basing it on the moon and tides though I don't entirely understand the correspondence of each magic type to the moon phase. In typical fashion, I absolutely fell in love with Baz. Give me a nerdy boy any day! Overall it was a YA fantasy plot, but I'm hoping that things evolve a bit in Book 2.

*Thank you to Margaret K McElderry Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and Book Club Favorites for the gifted physical copy*

I received an ARC of Curious Tides for free from Netgalley and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Curious Tides came out of left field and smacked me upside the head. I was not expecting to like it as much as I did, especially after drudging through the beginning of the book.

Let me start with the characters, mostly because I have not had a character evoke such rage from me in quite a while. This may seem like a bad thing, but for the author to create a character that evokes emotion in the reader is a big deal, and Pascale Lacelle did it perfectly with Emory. If this book smacked me upside the head, I wanted to do the same to Emory. This girl fought tooth and nail against logic for almost the entire book, and I nearly threw my phone across the room multiple times because of it. I was rooting for her. I wanted nothing but good things for her. And then she kept making bad decision after bad decision, most of the time even going against what she thought was right. It was like watching a bad teen drama, but you can't look away because you're just glad that mess isn't you.

But I loved it. And what makes it even better is that I understood why she made the decisions she did because the author gave Emory a personality. Gave her motivation. Gave her the things that make characters three-dimensional and interesting and human. And all of the characters were like that. I understood why everyone did the things they did, even the side characters, which is saying something. I have read too many books where a single facet of a character becomes their personality, and it was beautiful to read one where they were adequately fleshed out. So, as much as Emory annoyed me, it was a good thing, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Moving on, a lot that happened in this book, so much so that I still don't know if I understand how it all ties together. Thankfully, this is going to be a series, so we'll get some answers to the burning questions left after that ending, but it took so long for some of those plot lines to start making sense that it was easy to lose interest, particularly in the beginning of the book, which was very slow. It was not slow enough to put it down, but those first chapters took me longer to read than they should have as I dredged through the information I was getting. It did feel a little like info-dumps in places, but because of the academic setting, it kind of ... worked? I don't know. Usually, this bothers me, but it didn't here, so I guess the author was doing something right.

My one gripe was the world-building. There was so much of it, yet there wasn't enough in other places. The magic was fully fleshed out and very interesting, one of the most interesting I've read about in a while. The foundation of the world was there, but I'm confused about the setting. We're by the sea, at a college, in a fantasy world? In the real world, with fantasy elements? Is this actually urban fantasy? I don't know. I don't know where we are. The names of places were unfamiliar, which led me to believe that we were in a fantasy world, but they had cars and electricity and most modern conveniences from what I could tell, and there was no real definitive thing that let me know where we were. I suppose it's hard because most fantasy worlds don't have advanced technology, so that's the norm, and that is why I'm questioning where we were. I would've liked something to show me exactly what the rules of this fantasy world were instead of floundering through the entire book wondering.

That was it, though - my only critique. I loved Curious Tides and would recommend it to anyone looking for dark academia with moon magic, cults, and creepy magical deaths.

Wow. What a book! I honestly loved it. This YA dark academia was the perfect start to fall. The world building??? I was so invested in this story from the moment I read about the Lunar Houses and all of the different types of magic wielders. Every person’s magic stems from what moon phase they were born under. What an incredible concept that the author laid out so well!

Some of the plot twists, I was able to put together, but there were some that I GASPED to! There were so many Easter eggs sprinkled throughout with clues + when I realized I was really impressed by the writing choices. Baz is for sure my favorite character, and he must be protected at all costs!!!

Lacelle did an incredible job with this book, and I am so excited that there’s more to this story!! I need to know what happens to everyone.

Do you love dark academia?? Forbidden magic?? Secret societies?? Fantastic world building?? Betrayal?? Mysterious deaths?? And so much more?? Then I highly recommend this book!

5 stars

I was sold with the synopsis and comparisons to books I've enjoyed. This is the kind of fantasy book that hooks me and keeps me reading.

I loved the setting of this book and dark academia feels were perfectly executed. The characters are nuanced and complex with realistic flaws. The world building was great and i felt like i was transported to the coast. I'm not overly knowledgeable of the moon phase and tides so the charts in the beginning were useful. The pacing started slower and was built throughout the book. A secret society thrown in was like the cherry on top of an already great Sunday. I did question the characters actions occasionally, but then I remembered the ages and forgot about it. I could gush on and on about this book because I enjoyed it so much. I recommend for pretty much any reader.

This was an amazing debut and I can't wait to read more from the author.

Thank you to the publisher and Turn The Page Tours for my early copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Emory attends Aldryn College for Lunar Magics and is learning about healer magic when her best friend Romie and a group of her classmates perish in a ritual, leaving Emory as the only survivor.. Now Emory has returned for the next semester and finds herself with unexplained abilities that she should not have according to her power designation and she's determined to find out what Romie had been doing and how it's all connected. She turns to Baz, Romie's brother and the one most familiar with using different magics, to attempt to learn how to control her magic since it is seen as dangerous by everyone. Emory and Baz discover that there is something more sinister going on, that explains not only the deaths of the students but also reveals a deeper truth about the magic they use and the people trying to control it. Overall, an atmospheric novel with interesting world building and a conspiracy that will hopefully be explained in the second book.

Overall, I’m intrigued by this world. I want to know more. I like the characters. I like the school and the magic.

Overall, this one fell a little flat for me because there were parts that really dragged. I think the school/houses are so cool, but I felt confused about it most of the book.

The ending is really good and I’m intrigued enough to continue. Especially since dark academia is one of my favorite genres, I think I’ll end up rereading this to see if I understand it better.

It’s dark academia season, and this book is certainly an interesting take on the more fantastical dark academia. The world-building itself was pretty interesting, if a tiny bit contrived and/or cliched at some points. It feels uniquely conceived, even if many of the plot points and characters feel already known. Throughout reading, there were multiple times where I was fairly confused as to what was actually happening, there were always fairly good stakes but I struggled to know where the characters landed on them. Although this book doesn’t quite live up to the comparisons of A Deadly Education and Ninth House, they were good reference points for what kind of thing Lacelle might have been going for.

Character wise, I think I enjoyed the potential that I saw in the characters more than the characters themselves. Personally there were multiple times I felt there was queer potential, and a few actual moments, but for the most part it fell short. There were also multiple times when it felt like the author might push away from the cliche YA fantasy elements and yet it never happened and the whole story felt less exciting/interesting as a result. There were more interesting choices and pieces of information near the end of the book, but it felt like too little too late.

As a whole, I’m not sure this book was entirely for me. I love dark academia fantasy and when I don’t I typically find it incredibly interesting. This book fell a little bit short in both cases for me personally, although I could see people who love more classic YA fantasy loving this. Maybe the second book in the duology will improve upon this, but for now I can’t quite say I’d recommend this for everyone.

"But the gods could not be vanquished, and in the end his naivety led the other heroes and himself to their doom."

Curious Tides is the beginning of a moody YA dark academia fantasy series featuring moon with magic based on the moon! In a world where your lunar phase of birth determines your magical prowess and when you can use them - the best study and hone their craft at magical schools.

Unlike the rest, those born during an eclipse are able to use their powers regardless of the lunar cycle which makes them both feared and hated by the rest of the world. They are branded as dangerous as their "unmaking" aka using too much power causes blows outs around them, killing those around them.

Meet our two MC's respectably - Emory a healer, Baz is eclipse born and able to control time itself. The book opens with the start of a new year where Emory is reeling from the death of Romie, her best friend and Baz's sister after a ritual in the caves ends with eight of the most promising students dead. But Emory has a secret - she was there too. And now a new magic seems to be alive in her veins too - magic that she shouldn't have access to under her birthright.

Out of options - Emory chases down leads for Romie's death with a secret society headed by the school's golden boy that she can't seem to stop thinking about. She's also got lessons with Baz to try to control her new found powers. But when the bodies of the dead students start showing up alive before dying again in gruesome ways, and her dreams are being haunted by Romie herself, time seems to be running out.

Baz has his own internal demons to fight with. After his own father unmaking, he was taken into custody at "the Institute" a place where Eclipse born are caged by dampers to keep their powers locked, leaving Baz scared to ever use his powers besides short bursts. But rumors are flying that it's not just a jail but also where illegal testing is being done on them. When the only other Eclipse born, and his friend Kai is taken - he decides to investigate the rumors himself.

Lacelle knows how to FILL a book with plot. This thing was 500+ pages and every single chapter was needed. Truly a fully fleshed out magic system and setting was unravelled beautifully over the chapters alongside the character's actual development. Emory and Baz have such a strong slow burn, he falls first which is my FAVORITE trope. This book left me on such a cliffhanger and I can't wait to read book 2.

rep// bi MC, queernormative cast and setting

cw// death, violence, gore, grief, murder, branding, body horror, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, drowning, bloodletting, self-harm, magical substance abuse, magical asylum, institutionalisation