For the most part, I really enjoyed this book a lot. There's a thick air of gothic charm over the entire book, especially when coupled with the murder mystery element. Where this book shines the most, though, is the main character, Lorelei. She's stubborn and grumpy and prickly and a little dumb and I love her a lot. Her relationship--from hatred to reluctant allies to something like friends to something like more--with Sylvia is an absolute joy. I will say that I wish the other characters around Lorelei were a bit more fleshed out. It's not that they weren't to a degree; it's just I felt like they could've used a bit more to really make them stand-out, despite not being the main focus.

I especially loved the exploration of culture and power and how easily the majority can demonize and villainize the minority. I think the magic, too, was interesting--magic is based solely through water and the way that manifests and works in the world is very fascinating.

My biggest issue was that I felt like the murder mystery portion lacked a little something and that the ending was a bit too abrupt. I read another comment that mentioned that the story would've been a bit more interesting if the book focused more on the political intrigue lurking in the background and I agree. Especially because while the motive for the murder made (sort of) sense, given how much focus is placed on it in the story, it needed a bit more to really be satisfying.

Also, this is just a minor thing, but while I did like the inclusion of fairytales in the book itself, there were times when they popped up during a moment of tension and I really wish they wouldn't have. It sort of bled a bit of urgency out of the moment. Not entirely, but enough that it took me a little out of the story.

Overall though, I feel like this is a fun read for Sylvia and Lorelei's relationship alone. Definitely worth picking up if you appreciate some sapphics being hopeless and a little dumb (affectionately, of course).

My HEART.

The writing, the prose, the tone, the atmosphere. This book is rich and decadent - poetic and lyrical.

Lorelei is unforgiving. She is harsh and blunt and pragmatic. All the things she thinks have made her stronger are actually her biggest weaknesses. I love an unlikable main character who has a beautiful arc. It's one of my favorite devices in a book. Lorelei was the most grand, spectacular and beautiful version of that archetype that I have ever read. She has a lot of trauma, but even working through that trauma and learning to bring her walls down does not change her. Her lived experiences have made her who she is - and love or anything else under the sun is not going to change that. She learns to warm up, to accept small doses of love, but she is still a brutal and pessimistic creature. I absolutely love that she doesn't change. Too often character arcs move a character towards an enlightening where they have a sudden bout of happiness and drop their cool mask of indifference. But that mask is part of Lorelei and despite everything she learns about herself it is still part of her.


The world in this book is also lush and beautifully built. We move through areas quickly but each one stands out and feels tangible. My only qualms in the entirety of the experience reading this beautiful book were a few plot holes and misstep here and there that are hopefully adjusted before publication. Who sent the creature after her? How was her necklace ripped off but it still around her neck in later books? Why was the button never explained? I also wish the creatures were explained a bit more in depth before popping up. Even with these few points this book was brilliant. Absolutely remarkable down to every dot of ink on the page.

"𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐… 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦." 𝘚𝘺𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰, 𝘐…𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦."

the TENSION, the YEARNING, the PINING between these two almost made me want to rip my hair out, yet I enjoyed every second of it. Every interaction between them had me waiting with bated breath, anticipating, DYING to know if this would finally be the moment one of them would act.

𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.

I’m literally foaming at the mouth.

"𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦," 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. "𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭?
𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵?"

I would have immediately folded.

a beautiful and heartbreaking, 𝓐 𝓓𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓓𝓻𝓸𝔀𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓣𝓲𝓭𝓮 brings the sharp sting of betrayal, the soothing balm of finally finding where you belong and the terrifying rush of finally letting yourself be open to love.
this dark fairytale is fully ready to unhinge it’s jaw and swallow you whole.

(I literally need to know if the alp finally got it’s damn coffee)

thank you to the publisher & to NetGalley for letting me read and review an advanced reader’s copy of this book

I’d like to thank Netgalley for this arc!

And now I must admit my vanity….that cover was what gripped me. It was my sole purpose for wanting to read this. However, I stayed for the storytelling and its pacing. I love how well this is written and I honestly couldn’t read this fast enough.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the characters in it! I fell in love with Saft’s writing style, it felt like I was feeling what the characters felt at that moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for allowing me access to to the E-arc.

4.5*

Wow! This arc was so good! I enjoyed all the vibes that it gave. The two main characters were very interesting and captivating. I enjoyed their stories so much. It would be awesome to have character artwork of them. I really liked the fact that the plot was fast paced. It was hard to put it down. Im so glad that i got to read this.

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a more gothic tale! I look forward to reading more from this author.

I read and enjoyed Down Comes the Night, one of the author's YA books, and so was very excited to see that the author was putting out a fantasy for adults! It was not dissimilar to the YA book I read - a gothic fantasy centered around a core mystery all tinged with horror. And she pulled it off! There's an immediate closed door murder mystery, loads of court intrigue, and tons of folklore and worldbuilding, mostly of the fae variety, but with lots of cool critters I had never encountered (and I've read soooooo many fairy books, y'all). The mc is Jewish, so there's loads of commentary around anti-semitisim, which feels unfortunately timely. And romance can be very hit or miss for me, but I really enjoyed it here. 4 stars - I really liked it! Would generally recommend to adult fantasy readers or mature teens.

I'm conflicted on how to feel about this read, I was so excited to pick this up early but was left feeling a bit disappointed. The overall plot and writing was intriguing but not enough really keep me invested or willing to convince myself to look past what I wasn't vibing with. All thoughout the book, the writing seemed like it was overcompensating when the pacing would slow down and when it would pick up I was so uninterested I didn't catch myself getting back into the story or its characters. I'm still a huge fan of this author and I can't wait to see what else is released in the future, but unfortunately this one was a bit of a miss for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

There were times I enjoyed this and other times I really didn’t. The world was interesting and is full of lots of folklore and traditional fantasy and magic, but I felt like with a standalone we didn’t really get to delve into it too much. It also read very much like a YA novel, instead of adult. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing it just wasn’t what I was expecting. The romance in the novel fell flat for me. It was very much enemies and then wam bam now they are in love. It felt very unexpected. In the end I think many people will like this, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. There were definitely times I was interested and I have no doubt I’ll pick up another Alison Saft book in the future. This one was maybe just not quite for me.

4.5⭐️

This was academic rivals at its finest. And an adorable love story as well.
If you liked Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries but wanted more adventure, this is the book.
A murder mystery that kept me guessing until the very end.
On a more serious note, this book covers the topic of antisemitism in a way that is not to over-handed.
I though this truly was a beautiful book.

Not my thing. Too much misogyny. Mean characters. Granted I picked this book up because I saw it on my fyp so I didn’t even know what it was about. My fault. First and last book by this author. Definitely a DNF for me. I bet it’s an amazing book but I’m a character driven person and I simply didn’t like the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.
Academic rivals, their mentor, and a group of others that are the top of their various fields are all sent out on a quest by their prince. Their mission? To find the source of all magic. There is tension amidst the group, which quickly turns to suspicion after one of the members of the group is found murdered. Who caused this death? Could it be one of their own? Or perhaps another reason caused it… An absolutely beautiful tale! Filled with folklore, mystery, adventure, creatures, magic, and love.

I have now officially read three Allison Saft novels. This is her adult debut. A sapphic dark academia with a murder mystery and academic rivals to lovers, all tropes that I freaking LOVE. Not gonna lie, sometimes I felt like Lorelei was autistic and managed to turn her special interest/hyperfixation into a career (but then again that's me as well sooo...). This was insanely atmospheric and haunting and beautiful.

Thank you to the folk over at Net Galley for an early release of this book in exchange for an honest review.

IM GOING TO NEED A MINUTE TO PUT MY THOUGHTS TOGETHER FOR A FULL REVIEW, but what I can tell you right off the get go is Allison Saft's writing is only getting better. I think she really went out of her comfort zone for something more Sapphic, but damn does her talent really shine in intermingled folklore, imaginative magics, and spell binding story telling. It's got that perfect blend of slow burn romance and heart gripping plot that really keeps you invested.

A immersive and fast paced fantasy filled with folklore, nature, and sapphic love, A Dark and Drowning Tide is everything I love in fantasy. It is dark and atmospheric with beautiful fairytales woven in. I particularly enjoyed the discussion about why fairytales and myths are so important and how they impact society. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I huge thank you to netgalley, Allison Saft, and the publisher for this ARC.

I adored Allison Saft's A Far Wilder Magic, and just recently purchased Down Comes the Night, so you can imagine how much I squealed when I got this as an ARC.

I loved it. I give it 4.5 stars, I rounded up for on here because I really would recommend it to everyone! The characters so real, with fleshed out backstories. It touched on some things I loved, like found family, and people sticking together and trusting each other because they have been together / friends for years, but finding that just because you have known someone forever, doesn't mean that you know them at all.

The main characters I adored. I fell in love with them as they fell in love with each other. Sylvia was my absolute favorite.
I also loved the little whodunnit plot inside the main story.

My only wish was that the ending didn't feel so rushed to me. As much as I love a slow burn, I'm sad we didn't spend more time with them in love. What a pair!

More of a review on my Instagram - @bookish_starry_skies

Ms. Saft, if you are reading this - please approve me for A Fragile Enchantment! I would love to spread my love of all your books.

An amazing and compelling story with beautiful writing to go along with it. I found the writing a bit dense in the first part, but after I sped through this book, I couldn't put it down—full review on Goodreads.

I absolutely devoured this book. The first couple of pages pulled me right in with the characters and the bickering and kept my attention until the end. Lorelai Kaskel is a folklorist who is sent on an expedition, along with 6 nobles, to find a mystical body of water for a King. While on this expedition Lorelai is tasked with solving a mystery and she is forced to work along side her academic rival, Sylvia von Wolff. The story that unfolds is an angsty tale of sapphic loved intertwined with beautiful and poetic folktales that seem to call out injustices. The tension and slow burning build of the relationship is so delightful. It is grumpy/sunshine done in a gothic dark academia way. *chef's kiss* The adventure and action is sprinkled throughout and keeps the reader on their toes. And the mystery is perfectly drawn out and solved in such a satisfying way. A perfect combination.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Del Rey for this advanced copy! You can pick up A Dark and Drowning Tide on September 17, 2024.

I really enjoyed this one! The magic system and world were fascinating, especially learning about all the legends and creatures in Brunnestaad. I appreciate the level of detail Allison Saft went into to paint this picture for us.

The academic rivals to lovers was really well done! Lorelei's attention to Sylvia was perfect, though I did see Sylvia's feelings from miles away. I wish they'd gotten together a bit sooner, but the payoff was worth it when they finally acknowledged what they are to one another.

At times, Lorelei's self-sabotaging nature did grate on me, but it also felt realistic. People don't change their nature overnight, and I shouldn't expect Lorelei to be any different. She was an interesting character to root for, especially when sometimes I just wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her.

Overall, a great read for people who want a bit of a darker, fairy-tale-esque fantasy with some in-depth cultural ties and great academic rivals to lovers sapphic romance.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! The cover of this book is what first drew me in first - it’s beautiful.

This standalone fantasy involves a group of individuals that embark on a journey to find the Ursprung (a fabled source of all magic and the King’s current obsession) with an emphasis on two academic rivals, Lorelei and Sylvia.

The writing in this story was beautiful. So descriptive with a flourishing vocabulary (highly recommend reading on Kindle so you can have a dictionary at the tap of your finger) that made it easy to visualize their magical world.

Standalone fantasies can be hard to execute, especially when it comes to world building. But, I felt that Saft did well with giving information when it was necessary.

If you want a to be immersed in a world, but for a quick read, then give this one a try.