Soft DNF - (for now)

This book is dark fantasy/academia with academic rivals-to-lovers, a perilous expedition, battles against fearsome beasts/monsters, a ‘whodunit?’ murder (where all five shipmates are the suspects), LGBTQIA+ rep, and truly fantastical and atmospheric vibes.

HOWEVER, I am a mood reader, and while I was enjoying the book so far, after a while, the pacing began to get too slow for my liking, and I just needed to put it down and read something else for a while.
I have yet to pick it up and start reading once more, but again, HI mood reader here; it just isn’t tickling my fancy still.

I know I will pick this up at SOME point, I swear, because so far, the plot was intriguing, the dynamics of the FMC’s relationship with one another was like being on a giant rollercoaster of emotions (in a good way), the academic rivalries and the murder finger-pointing accusations were TENSE, and lastly (most importantly for me), I wanna find out who the freaking killer is!!

This was the rivals-to-lovers sapphic romantasy/murder mystery of my DREAMS. And I didn't even know I wanted it.

This book begins by jumping right into the heat of Lorelei and Sylvia's rivalry. The two are about to find out which one of them their shared mentor, Professor Zeigler, is going to choose to be the leader of a royal expedition to find the Ursprung- a source of power that King Wilhelm wants to possess for political gain. Ambitious Lorelei seeks the opportunity to obtain notoriety as a renowned Naturalist. Such a freedom was not awarded to her people, the Yeva (Saft's fantasy version of the Jewish people), non-citizens who are forced to dwell within their city and obey curfew. Sylvia, on the other hand, is joining the expedition with the other nobles as a favor to king Wilhelm, whom all spent summers together throughout childhood. It also conveniently gives her the chance to interact with the wilduette(?)- the magical creatures of this universe that Sylvia has spent years enthusiastically researching and transcribing into books (which Lorelei has definitely not read, thank you very much). When Professor Zeigler is murdered the first night aboard their ship, the two have to figure out who committed the deed and what motivated them, all while completing the expedition knowing there is a murderous traitor amongst them.

Narratively, we stick close to Lorelei's perspective which I <i>loved</i> because I feel that we don't often see things from the perspective of the more cold, calculating one out of this kind of pairing dynamic. Lorelei is a person who has been told all her life she is a ruthless and untrustworthy viper- an assumption born out of the circumstance of her birth. She hears this so much even she starts to believe it. I found myself rooting for Lorelei even when it was clear that she was doing stupid, self-sabotaging things out of fear of never being accepted.

Sylvia's character brought passion and life and levity. They could not be more different. Where Lorelei is analytical and calculating, Sylvia is passionate and whimsical- qualities Lorelei wants to hate to death but secretly admires and is drawn to. This dynamic was SO GOOD, y'all. I haven't read a sapphic duo.... probably ever that was this fun to read.

I really can't find fault with this book. It was riveting and adventurous and arrestingly romantic. I couldn't recommend it enough and you best believe I will be reading ALL of Saft's books.

* Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the e-Arc in exchange for a honest review!

First, thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grumpy x Sunshine trope meets lesbian dark academia in this gothic novel about rivaling academics in search of a magical spring. Full of folklore tales and dramatic tension between the two academic "rivals" (hehe), this book is quite a ride!

In all honesty, it took me quite a while to read. I kept putting it back down for a couple of months until I got to about 100 pages in, and then I was hooked. It reminds me a bit of the Six of Crows series—Sylvia especially reminds me of Nina!

The romance is a slow burn that develops at a perfectly delicious pace. I loved the banter and longing from both sides. There's something especially cathartic about Lorelei's self-hatred—I just loved her character development.

It's a really good read, and I look forward to what comes next!

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a beautifully written sapphic rival romance filled folklore and mythical creatures, with a touch of politics and murder mystery. I loved that the book dives deeper into the racial aspects of fairytales and how, while seemingly innocent, can encourage prejudicism. Lorelei and Sylvia were amazing characters and I was charmed by both. This is my first read of Allison Saft's and I look forward to picking up more of her books.

4.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one was more than a bit of a disappointment; while it wasn't without merit, it was not the Saft book I was expecting to love. I've read all of her work, and enjoyed all of it, but this one left me a little cold. It's the pace, honestly - this book drags in the beginning, throwing you into a group of people none of which are immediately interesting, including the two mains. I didn't mine our main character's prickly demeanor, but she did forbid and shut down a lot of interaction with others, which makes getting to know the cast list difficult.

The second item that was difficult to overcome was the genre itself - is this YA? It's written like YA, but advertised as adult. The only differences between it and Saft's regular YA work is the glacial herky-jerky pace; nothing about it reads as remotely adult.

Things get going toward the end of the novel, primarily when the sapphic romance kicks in, but the about face of hate-to-love was too abrupt. This really feels like it needed two books to breathe and adjust its issues, honestly. A lot of my complaints (flat characters, strange pacing) could have been eased. As it is, this wasn't a bad book; I just have come to expect better from Saft.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries meets The Mummy meets Agatha Christie, but make it sapphic.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is the perfect blend of academia and fantasy adventure novel, with just enough pining and rivals to lovers to make it fun.
I really enjoyed this one! Highly recommend if you enjoyed Allison Saft’s other works, or if the aforementioned stories are your vibe.

I received an advance copy from the publisher, all opinions are my own and a review was not required.

Allison Saft does it again. A Dark and Drowning Tide is the sapphic, dark academia, fantasy adventure tale I have been waiting for. The writing was as lush as always and the magical realism drew me in from the very first page. This sort of book can be very hit or miss with me (An Education in Malice, for example, felt like tinned tropes and Pinterest boards thrown into a bag and all shaken up together), but Saft does an excellent job of weaving together these threads without making the reader feel like she is checking off boxes on a list of “booktok viral hit” must-haves provided by her publisher.

This book is... perfect?????

Saft achieved in this book what some authors can not in a 5 book series.

Allison Saft can wriiiiiiite. What gorgeous writing, with such an expansive world and rich lore packed so neatly in this standalone fantasy. Equally obsessed with the characters and the love story. Gimme more gimme more please.

Thank you to netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Lorelei and Sylvia are old rivals but they must work together when their expedition to find an enchanted spring goes terribly wrong. Not only must they encounter many deadly mythical beasts, but someone in their group seems to have murderous intentions...

As a political quest fantasy with a sapphic romance subplot, this book seemed guaranteed to be a new favorite. Sadly, I had a hard time getting hooked and, while I enjoyed it when I was physically reading it, I never really thought about it when I wasn't or tried to carve out extra time to read it. Sadly, it seemed like there were a lot of interesting ideas that were barely explored.

NEW favorite Allison Saft book!! Thanks NetGalley, Random House, & Allison Saft for providing an ARC of A Dark and Drowning Tide.

PLEASE do yourself a favor and pick this up when it is released! It is fantastically haunted and brimming with longing.

Release Date: Sep. 17 2024
Rating: 5/5 stars
Tropes & Vibes:
- grumpy x sunshine
- academic rivals to lovers
- oblivious lesbians!!
- murder mystery
- dark & gloomy atmosphere

Overview:
On the expedition for the source of magic, the lead researcher comes up dead. With all others present having various motives for the failure of the expedition ranging from marriage proposals to rebellion, our protagonist (Lorlei) and her rival (Sylvia) try to stay to the course while also getting to the bottom of the murder.

Review:
Allison Saft will always have a special place in my heart, and her first step into adult fantasy is an absolute must-read for 2024 releases. A Dark and Drowning Tide is the lesbian academic rivals to lovers that I so desperately wanted An Education in Malice to be (without the vampires though).

Saft is excellent at bringing to life richly magical worlds that have all the same societal horrors of our reality. Prejudices and dehumanization of groups are a strong theme in Saft's works, so expect to see those within this world as well.

I am a firm devotee to grumpy x sunshine fae researchers (looking at you, Emily Wilde & Wendell Bambleby!) and boy oh BOY do Lorlei and Sylvia bring that energy!!

This is a really unique book in the adult romantasy genre. Saft's writing style is able to transport you into this dark, bleak world. The world feels reminiscent of that of Grimm's fairy tales. With fables being central to both the plot and the characterization of our MC, Lorelei. The world feels inspired by 1800s Germany, with germanic names, stories, and themes of war, unification and nationalism. I liked this and found it unique in a genre where most European stories are based on the UK.

The plot is interesting. It follows a group of 7 adventurers who are seeking the source of magic for their king. Their leader is murdered and our main character is the second in command who must try to solve the murder and find the source of magic. While I usually appreciate a standalone book, I actually think this would have worked better as a duology. That would have better allowed Saft to explore all of the elements that she has thrown in here. I'd have liked to see the main character explore her ability to see the dead (this could have been a great opportunity for some character development for her). And politics play a big role in the story but I struggle with stories like this where the author seems to have bitten off more than they can chew and the political issues are too big to be solved in this book.

A lot of enjoyable tropes can be found here like rivals to lovers, grumpy x sunshine, found family. I've seen others say that this is dark academia but I would not classify it as such. The academia portion is all in the past.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for providing an eARC of this book.

And just like that, Miss Allison Saft has earned her spot as an auto-buy author for me! A Dark and Drowning Tide is the third book of hers I've read, and it was beautifully written with lush magic and compelling characters. Lorelei is an incredibly flawed protagonist—a rather unreliable narrator, I daresay—and, without giving away too much, I have to say that her character arc was fantastic. The romance between Lorelei and Sylvia was the best kind of slowburn, with so much tension and yearning that I absolutely LOST it when they finally made their feelings known. These two are actually so funny yet devastating in how they match together, it's insane. I didn't realize that academic rivals-to-lovers was my drink of choice until this book smacked me across the face with this romance.

As with all of Saft's books, plenty of social commentary and politics are at play. Set against the story's European folklore and fae magic, the country's social unrest sets an uneasy atmosphere throughout the novel. Presumably, Saft took inspiration for her setting from the unification of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, and she explores how the dangers of war, nationalism, and antisemitism drive her characters to desperation. I especially loved how she took classic fables that we know in our world and rewrote them to drive home the themes of her novel.

This was a delightful read, and I'll be sure to purchase a physical copy when September rolls around.

I absolutely adored this book! I knew immediately that I would read this book when I saw sapphic academic rivals to lovers, but I was obsessed when I got into the story more seeing the folklore, murder mystery, and political intrigue come to life (if you know me or can judge by my Goodreads, I’m a sucker for political intrigue). That being said, be warned about the world building, it will throw you right into the world and politics so if you want more explanations/to not feel like you aren’t already in the middle of the world, be cautious with this book.

Also side note, can we talk about this cover???

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This may as well be considered a DNF for me, given that I just ended up skimming the entirety of the second half out of boredom. Allison Saft is always really hit or miss for me, mostly because her books always have aspects that have so much potential, from the worldbuilding to the queer storylines, or just fun tropes like academic enemies to lovers. The problem is, for me at least, there is such a pacing problem, and a lack of depth to the creation of the universe and its characters, that I find myself checking out almost immediately.

The romance in this book was one of the worst I’ve read in recent memory, in that it felt unsubstantiated and out of nowhere. The two MCs spend more time hating each other, being whiny, and pissing each other off than they do actually being interested in each other. It is not believable that they would fall in love, nor do I think Saft does a good job of building up that romantic attraction in any way.

The world itself also was relatively indistinguishable from those of her other books. She always creates these fantastical kingdoms that just feel like Europe by another name, and while she will throw around terms for ethnic groups and various places or rituals, rarely does the reader get fully immersed in the world in a way that feels special, fully fleshed out, or new. I found myself disinterested in the Jewish-coded universe, which is a let down because I would have loved to see some of the many amazing tenets of Jewish cultural practice. Instead, they were just victims of coded antisemitism, and lived in basically a ghetto. More could have been done, and I just found my eyes glazing over at the extensive exposition across the novel.

Overall, the plot didn’t hold me, the characters and their relationships were flat, and the world didn’t do its job to pull me in further. I skimmed to the end, and the plot twist wasn’t bad, but it totally would have taken me over a month to finish this book if I actually forced myself to read every word, because I just couldn’t care. For a book that I was highly anticipating, this was a total letdown. 2⭐

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

I was excited to read this book; the description sounded amazing! The story follows Lorelei, a folklorist who is brought on a journey with her mentor and a group of nobles in order to find a fabled spring that grants incredible powers. Very early into the group's quest, Lorelei's mentor is murdered, thus putting Lorelei in charge of the expedition. Nearly everyone on the ship despises her, so Lorelei is left to keep the mission on track and investigate the murder with only the help of her longtime rival, Sylvia. There are many other elements thrown in, as well - such as a sapphic romance, terrifying fantasy creatures, folklore, and more. I love sapphic romance and gothic fantasy, so I thought this would be the perfect read for me. Unfortunately, I was a bit let down.

I read a lot of fantasy; while I love a long fantasy series, sometimes I intentionally seek out standalone novels, because they're refreshing and easier to absorb. This book made me realize why sometimes one novel is not enough in this genre, though. A Dark and Drowning Tide has a variety of interesting concepts, but it never goes into enough detail to adequately build up any of its ideas. For example, there is quite a bit of political turmoil driving the plot. Each character comes from a different region and has unique motivations. We're given little snippets about everyone's background, but none of it is ever clearly described well enough for readers to fully understand everyone's perspective. As a result, it was hard for me to care about any of the characters, since I couldn't understand why they were taking certain actions. This isn't just unique to the politics, though. The magic system, setting, timeline, and other worldbuilding essentials are all far too vague. I would say this is one of my biggest issues with the novel.

Another aspect of the book that decreased my enjoyment while reading was the characters and all of their negativity. Lorelei is the worst main character I have read in awhile. She is so incredibly angry about everything. She's had a difficult life, facing prejudice from nearly everyone outside of her childhood community, so she's justified to be bitter. However, she is relentlessly nasty to every single person she encounters. No matter what happens throughout the story, she reacts callously. She frequently makes decisions she knows will go poorly and then still overreacts when whatever negative outcome she expected occurs. So, it's hard to be stuck following her perspective for hundreds of pages. All the other characters, except Sylvia, also hate Lorelei, but mostly because of their prejudice against her. So, they're also terrible to read about. I found the side characters to be mostly stereotypes, which didn't help me warm up to them. The only character I did like was Sylvia, who is curious about the world and optimistic. Lorelei's extreme hatred of her seemed illogical, though, and I could never believe their romance. While I like dark books, I usually don't enjoy when everything is miserable all the time, as it was here.

The last major complaint I have is that the pacing of this book was very odd, and it made the story drag. Some exciting things happen (they go through a forest that rearranges itself at night, encounter an underwater dragon, get followed by a shapeshifting creature, etc.), but those are all resolved pretty quickly. Instead of developing the interesting scenes, it felt like the author spent more time writing boring chapters that over-explained irrelevant details or repeated previous scenarios. I found the folklore stories to be distracting. I wished that the characters spent more time on the ship, because the claustrophobia and mystery surrounding the murder dissolved quickly as soon as they left during a big chunk of the middle. A Dark and Drowning Tide is not a terrible read (I'll go into the positives shortly), but the slow pace was challenging. I seriously considered not finishing it at a couple points.

I'm not listing this as a negative, but I also did not love the writing. I found it to be overly descriptive, to the point that it verged on purple prose. At the same time, though, there were still some good quotes every once in awhile, and the sentences frequently had a natural flow. So, I think this is more of a stylistic preference that will vary between readers. Some folks may like the lengthy descriptions.

As you can tell, I wasn't a huge fan of this novel, Nonetheless, I do believe there is an audience who will enjoy it, so I want to be sure to mention some things that were done well. Although all of the religions in the book are fictitious, Lorelei is portrayed as the fantasy equivalent of a Jewish woman. Her experiences with antisemitism are described in great detail. Prejudice is a strong theme throughout the story, and I found it to be included thoughtfully. Additionally, there are many unique fantasy creatures that are interesting. I enjoyed reading about all of the different beasts and seeing the difference in how Lorelei reacted to them versus Sylvia. I could have read a whole encyclopedia about the monsters! Finally, while I did not understand Lorelei and Sylvia as a couple, I was pleasantly surprised to see how Lorelei changed after being honest with Sylvia. She experienced a great deal of growth; it was wholesome to see both their relationship and Lorelei's relationship with herself improve.

I might recommend this to romantasy readers who have little experience reading fantasy but want a light dip into gothic fantasy while reading about a sapphic romance. Unfortunately, though, I would not recommend this novel to those who frequently read fantasy, because you will probably be disappointed with the lack of worldbuilding. I'm having difficulty discerning whether this is a book that simply doesn't work for me or whether the story is genuinely hard to get into. So, I'll be interested to see what others think after this is published. I might consider reading more from the author in the future, but I'm still on the fence.

2.5 stars out of 5 stars, rounded down because I really struggled to finish this one.

LOVE LOVE LOVE 4/5 stars

I love Allison Saft's writing style and as I've said many many times before, I will ALWAYS pick up something with sapphic academic rivals. These characters were so moody and absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way. I loved seeing the dynamics between these characters, even the ones I simply could not stand. But I'd rather dislike a character than be indifferent so thank you for these wonderful multi-dimensional characters. (I also might have a little crush on lorelei)

My only complaint (mild confusion???) was the world-building. I was sooo confused through the first few chapters but once you really get into the plot, it is a little easier to understand.

I don't even know what else to say because I'm still just in awe at the beauty of the writing. I will be picking up everything from Saft and I can't wait t get my hands on a physical copy to reread and annotate.

LOVED! READ THIS ASAP.

DNF 25% I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. Dark academia is usually one of my favorite genres but the MC just annoyed me with the self loathing

One of the best sapphic romance books I have read in a WHILE. I love a good academic rivals-to-lovers trope and Allison Saft did not disappoint. The angst and pining *mwah* chef’s kiss. Lorelei and Sylvia’s bickering is hilarious and endearing and I was just giggling and kicking my feet, watching these two try to hate each other, and failing miserably.

The premise of this book is that Lorelei's long-time mentor is found dead in a suspicious manner and Lorelei is tasked with finding out who the killer is or risk being blamed for the murder. The only person who Lorelei is sure is not the killer is her rival, the beautiful Sylvia. They VERY reluctantly team up to search for the killer and complete the mission they were assigned to.

I have some concerns about this book. I am not entirely certain about the magic system, meaning I do not understand what kind of magic it is and who can wield it. I believe that a more fleshed-out magic system would help with the immersiveness of the book, as readers wouldn’t have to figure out what is going on.

I am also 99% sure this book is a standalone and I completely understand that fantasy standalones are rare and have a place in the book world, but man do I wish it wasn’t. I’m just not ready to say goodbye to the characters or the world, and if the author is ever asking if people are interested in this book being expanded to a series, you can consider this my pledge and support for so.

A DARK AND DROWNING TIDE follows a folklorist who reluctantly teams up with her academic rival (who is, of course, gorgeous) to discover who murdered their mentor. Both its romance and mystery threads are a slow burn, but soon enough, it had me completely enthralled and under its spell.

Read this for:
-a captivating sapphic love story
-a folklore-rich world full of creatures, monsters, and a sentient forest
-a fantasy exploration of antisemitism

Allison Saft has done it again!!! A Dark and Drowning Tide is the perfect blend of a knives out mystery, magical realism, and sapphic romance. Our main character Lorelei is a bit of an outcast amongst her 5 fellow expeditioners who have been tasks with finding the Ursprung, which will grant immense power to those worthy for King Wilhelm. When their leader is murders, Lorelei finds her self not only tasked with finding the Ursprung but also finding the murderer.

Allison Saft tells a beautiful story with lots of adventure, magical creatures, and a bit of love. I found myself the edge of my seat, rooting for the characters in one moment and yelling at them the next. I loved the character evolution of Lorelei and her "enemy" Sylvia, their characters showed a lot of emotion and how important it is to be grateful for what you have because it might be so much more then the next person.

Highly recommend!