I felt that A Dark and Drowning Tide had a lot of potential, but didn’t fully live up to it.

Where I enjoyed this book was in how Allison incorporated real world history into her world building and how she tackled antisemitism through a fantasy lens. I found this incredibly timely given its real world rise in recent months.

However, the atmosphere and moody vibes I have come to associate with Allison’s work was missing in this book. In fact, at times the folklore incorporated into the story felt almost pedantic. Furthermore, it felt like the book couldn’t decide if it was a murder mystery or a romance. At different times, it seemed as if one of the key aspects of the story was discarded with focus shifting to the other aspect which made pacing feel incredibly choppy.

In A Dark and Drowning Tide, Allison Saft delivers a delightful blend of murder mystery, folklore, and sapphic romance, set against the backdrop of a magical world teeming with danger and intrigue. Fans of slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance and richly detailed fantasy settings will find themselves captivated by this enchanting tale of ambition, secrets, and survival.

Saft excels at some elements of world-building, creating a lush and immersive environment where rivers are guarded by creatures, forests shift unpredictably, and magic lurks at every turn. The kingdom’s political unrest, tied closely to the expedition’s quest, adds another layer of urgency and intrigue to the plot, as the characters must contend with both external threats and the looming danger of a coup back home.

The murder mystery itself is a well-crafted puzzle, though it does falter at times. Each of Lorelei’s companions has their own motives, and Saft’s character development ensures that no one feels like a mere plot device. As Lorelei and Sylvia reluctantly team up to uncover the murderer’s identity, the growing tension between them – both in terms of their rivalry and their attraction – is one aspect of the novel that is good, but could do with a little improvement to make it truly great. Their relationship is full of sharp dialogue, tender moments, and a chemistry that sparks from their very first scene together, but it never reaches the heights that one feels it could.

Where the book truly shines is in its exploration of justice, loyalty, and the weight of ambition. Lorelei’s internal struggle – to prove herself worthy as both a scholar and a naturalist, while also confronting her mentor’s complicated legacy – grounds the story in a deep emotional arc. Saft beautifully balances this personal journey with the sweeping external stakes of the expedition, offering readers both a gripping adventure and a heartfelt romance.

However, there are moments where the pacing feels uneven, particularly as the middle of the book focuses heavily on Lorelei and Sylvia’s budding relationship and the slow unravelling of the mystery. While these sections offer rich character development, some readers may wish for a bit more action or forward momentum in the expedition itself. The story’s conclusion, however, more than makes up for these lulls, delivering a thrilling and emotionally satisfying finale that leaves the characters and their world forever changed.

Overall, A Dark and Drowning Tide is a gorgeously atmospheric read, perfect for fans of dark academia and gothic fiction who appreciate slow-burn mysteries wrapped in dark, lyrical prose. While the pacing may falter in places, Allison Saft’s storytelling is equal parts heart and adventure, and her deft handling of complex relationships, mysteries, and magic makes this book a rewarding journey from start to finish.

Lorelei and her academic rival join an expidition ordered by the King to find a fountain of magic. Most members of the expidition are friends with relationships forged by violence and blood. When something happens to the expedition’s leader, Lorelei knows the king will make her a scapegoat and likely punish her people unless she can find the culprit.

I loved all the magical creatures in this world, and the sapphic yearning was well done. But I wasn’t swept away by the story. However, I think this will be very popular and I will be recommending it to my followers. It just wasn’t for me.

I'm sorry but it's you and not me this time. I really didn't enjoy what I read of this book. It was convoluted and hard to follow with all of the characters that were dropped in the first 30% of the book. I'm sure this is up someone's alley but nothing about it really made me want to keep reading.

There were many unique elements to this story. The German folklore undertones and the dark academia murder mystery was so great. I loved the romance between Sylvia and Lorelei and the different tensions between the various members of the friend group. The world building was so much fun! The author gives the reader enough information to understand what’s going on but not so much that you feel bogged down.

As much as I enjoyed a lot of the different parts of this story, I unfortunately did not love the plot itself as much as I wanted to. I found the pacing to be a bit slow for most of the middle and I ended up skimming a bit. I think that this unique story will find a lot of fans and I will continue to read everything Saft publishes because I think she is such a talent.

I'm not a big fantasy reader and can tell right away if a fantasy novel will be for me. Sadly, I didn't click well with this one despite it having one of my favorite tropes, academic rivals. I did love the strong female characters in the book, the German inspirations, and the discussion of anti-Semitism. The cover is also incredible amazing!! But the pace of A Dark and Drowning Tide was just too slow for my somewhat fantasy-averse self.

DNF'd at 51%

I REALLY wanted to like this one, especially after seeing all the good reviews and everyone else loving it. But it just could not hold my attention and this is my third time attempting to pick it up and read it so I think it is safe to say that I should DNF while I am ahead. I did listen to about 50% of the book but I could not tell you a single thing that was going on or an ounce of the plot.

This is has nothing to do with the writing, author, or anything else! It just was not the fit for me right now. Who knows, maybe I will come back to this and try again? But for right now it will regrettably have to be put on my DNF shelf : (

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC!

Lorelei and her academic rival Sylvia must work together to figure out who is behind the murder of their expedition leader. The more they uncover about the history of the kingdom and the fabled spring they're looking for, the more they wonder whether they've been lied to the entire time, Overall, this had potential but the pacing was a bit slow and may have benefitted from a dual POV. Readers interested in folklore and lyrical writing may like this one.

Overall I really enjoyed this. As Emmaskies wrote in her review "yearning is so back, baby." And boy is it. The only thing I didn't love about this book is that at times it felt as though the pacing was a little too slow and I found myself bored, not enough to not keep reading, but it definitely felt like a drag at parts. But overall, I did really enjoy it

“How would you like to be extraordinary?”

This book feels like a breathing, living thing. The writing is brilliant and atmospheric and the characters are vibrant, and realistic and serve as a beautiful character study of humanity.

Right when i read the description, I knew this book would check all of my boxes. How can you go wrong with a sapphic, dark academia novel stemmed in magic? This book features elements of found family and a murder mystery. The characters are far from perfect and honestly at times they made choices that made me want to scream but who am I to fault them for being human- or something adjacent. They are all very different, coming from severely contrasting backgrounds but tragedy brought them together and even as adults, it doesn’t relent.

Sylvia is my favorite character, and more than just a love interest, she is a complex individual who will do anything for those she cares about. Loreli hates Sylvia. She sees her as competition, as the one barrier between her and her dreams and yet she can’t stop thinking about her. She yearns for her. This book does enemies to lovers perfectly. There are twists you won’t see coming and the violence, the bloodshed, the pure lust will make it impossible to put this one down.

I DNFed this book at 40%. I haven't read any other Allison Saft books, but a good friend loved "A Far Wilder Magic", and the premise of this sounded promising, so I was excited and ready for a new 5 star authors. Alas, the writing in this was beautiful and very enjoyable, and the premise should have been fun. But I just ended up so bored reading this that I didn't want to keep picking it up. Maybe this was not the best book of hers to start on, and I'll probably try another in the future, but this was a miss for me.

This book is the way to a folklore enthusiast’s heart and perfect for those who can’t get enough of yearning romances. Every chapter had me hooked and I hope I get to see more of Lorelei and Sylvia. Thank you to Del Rey publishing for the arc and one of my best reads this year.

This had a lot of things I love in a book. An epic journey, enemies to lovers, magic, and mythology. The reason I rated it a 4 instead of a 5 was I felt like we needed more passion in Sylvia and Lorelei’s relationship once they got together. There was a lot of angst and longing from a distance with no pay out of their time together.

I really enjoyed the magical system and the idea of a physical source of where the magic comes from and all the mythical creatures we meet along the journey! I felt like it was a mesh of treasure planet and stardust and I really enjoyed this read all together!

DNF @13% - I was super hyped for this book so it pains me to say I DNF’d it. However, there is just something about the writing that keeps me from actually registering what is happening. My brain just glosses over everything. This hurts me so much!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-book copy!

I have enjoyed this author's releases as each new one feels more unique and intriguing than the previous one. I also was excited to see this was Saft's adult debut as I felt the shift would suit her themes well. A Dark and Drowning Tide is about academic rivals Lorelei and Sylvia on an expedition when their mentor is suddenly murdered. The pair reluctantly team up to solve the murder and uncover secrets not only about themselves but the world around them. The first half of this book had me, I was into the banter between the main two and was curious to see how they would get along to complete their journey. However, I felt once the mystery aspect kicked in, the book felt boring. I expected since this book was juggling mystery with fantasy and romance that one would falter among the rest. However, I think since this book has been leaning into romance marketing it felt like that at least should have been strong. Lorelai and Sylvia were great characters on their own but romantically involved they felt stilted. This book would have been better if the development of the relationship had more time. Outside of that, I think this book delivers on atmosphere and lyrical writing so if that's what you like you won't be disappointed.

Magic. Monsters. Murder. If you're looking for a sapphic murder mystery with a quest for a magical spring, this might be a good fit for you. I like this author's writing a lot and typically feel immersed in her books but I feel like this one would have benefitted from being a bit longer with more detail or the same length with a little less going on. I also think if it was in Sylvia's POV or a dual POV I might have liked it more, because I found it hard to like Lorelei. This is a slow burn romance between academic rivals and it gives gothic, dark fantasy vibes perfect for the chilly spooky autumn season. The folklore is interesting and it's overall a pretty quick read. I'd recommend if you like sapphic romance, murder mystery, and folklore!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a digital ARC of this title from Del Rey via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Beautiful prose. Enjoyed the unique setting, characters, and gothic vibe given in the book. Will be purchasing for library.

4 stars! That was a good read. It was captivated in this mix of gothic elements, romance, and mystery really pulled me in. The writing is atmospheric with some tension built throughout the story. The main characters which is the protagonist, are complex and well-developed. The book is a beautiful blend of romance and dark fantasy! This a late review as I forgotten I also have physical copy as well!

3.5 stars
Sapphic romantasy? Yes, please! I enjoyed the murder mystery aspect as well. The world building kind of thrust us into the middle of things so it took me a while to get situated. I had high hopes for all the romantic and sexy vibes but that was kind of the side quest of the story. Either way, Saskia Maarleveld knocked it out of the park and kept me listening!

I loved this dark academia- ish sapphic romantasy! This book was amazing the characters were well fleshed out and I really loved them right away. The beginning of the book took me a little bit to get my bearings but once I did I could not put down this beautifully written fantasy. This book is very atmospheric and it kind of gave me spellshop vibes. This was my first book by this author but won’t be my last. I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.