I don’t know what’s more beautiful, the cover or the lyrical writing within these pages.

Things my first book by Saft but will not be my last. This had such a haunting and beautiful vibe that transported me into this gothic tale. I cannot recommend this enough for lovers of beautiful writing

A Dark and Drowning Tide 🌊 ✒️

This book started off really well with folktales and fairytale creatures and the promise of a thrilling adventure! But having read other reviews before getting to this I didn't have super high expectations, which I actually think helped me enjoy the story more. It had a lot of really good ideas and a wonderful atmosphere but unfortunately fell flat on delivery.

My main issue was the main character 😬 Now, I love an unlikeable main character but Lorelai was just downright unpleasant for 90% of this book. We are told she absolutely loathes her academic rival by the name of Sylvia Von Wolff. We are told how annoying and irritating and rude Sylvia is but we never see a hint of this for ourselves. Throughout the whole book I was struggling to understand how this was considered enemies-to-lovers? Sylvia appears polite and kind to Lorelai throughout most of the novel. Due to this, Lorelai unfortunately came across unfairly mean-spirited. I think I know what the novel was trying to do but it needed to play up the cultural differences, misunderstandings, and rivalry which would cause constant friction between the two.
With her culture being continually persecuted, Lorelai has justifiable reasons to dislike the main group of characters in this novel but I felt we were thrown into the novel too late to quite grasp this. The war was over, the group dynamics already decided, and their time studying together nearly completed. I wonder if it would've made more sense to delve further into these relationships within the novel rather than reveal most things through large sections of backstory.

By the end of the novel I was overcome by the sheer amount of 'miscommunication' trope going on. I absolutely could not stand this. Lorelai, a smart, quick thinking character, was reduced to levels of stupidity I didn't know were possible, all for the sake of a cheap plot line. This was the one completely unforgivable part of the novel for me 😬

Enough whining from me! I loved how Lorelai viewed the world through the lens of a folklorist collecting stories and weaved them in and out of the narrative.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a dark academia fantasy with a murder mystery thrown in the mix. This sapphic novel was written well and the characters and their relationships were carved out well. The pacing at times felt a little off and the info dump was a little much but the story overall was great and the developments really carved out a great novel.

I was very excited to receive this before i got the special edition from illumicrate. Fairly well written, and easy to follow along.

* Sapphic
* Rivals to lovers
* Folkloric expedition
* Murder mystery

*A Dark and Drowning Tide* is a sapphic, academic rival fantasy that blends dark academia with a thrilling murder mystery. Initially, the whimsical vibe and the world-building left me a bit disoriented, as the author introduces many characters and details without much context. It took a little while to get my bearings, but once I did, I was completely hooked.

The relationship between Lorelei and Sylvia, the sunshine and grumpy duo, was so beautifully developed. Their chemistry, paired with the unfolding mystery, made for a captivating experience. The blend of folklore, magical elements, and complex histories kept me engaged from start to finish.

The twists, especially the betrayal and murder, kept me on my toes, and the romance was a sweet addition to the story. Allison Saft’s writing had me hooked, and I can’t wait to see what she does next! If you love fantasy with mystery, this is a must-read.

This sapphic back-back adventure story sounded right up my alley and for the most part it was definitely that. I had some issues with the writing style, at times they feel clunky and overwritten but with such a whimsical setting I could see why they were chosen.

I would recommend this book if you enjoyed Emily Wildest Encyclopedia of Fairies, The Hobbit & some of T.Kingfishers work. It's whimsy, it's adventurous, I would even say it borders on 'cozy fantasy', it features an academic rivals quest story, fantastical creatures, romance and a murder mystery!

DNF at around 50%

I wanted a sapphic fantasy murder-mystery but all I got was this lousy headache.

I could not tell you how many times I have started and restarted this book over the last few months. I finally made it past the first chapter, but I continued to have the same problem. This book just did not grip me at all. I constantly felt like I was missing something, going back to try to glean whatever information I was missing but it just wasn't there. Simultaneously, it info dumped and set the scene/atmosphere very poorly. Another reviewer said "it almost felt like i needed to keep up but it was purposefully leaving me behind" which summarised things well. How dare the blurb sound so COOL and it turn out to be this??

The main character is described as sharp tongued and god I love me a bitch, but she was just boring? The romance equally so, and it felt like Lorelai was just trying to convince herself not to like Sylvia. There are multiple reviews that touch on the Jewish and Nazi influences that can explore this topic more eloquently than I. Frankly, I didn't care about anyone or anything. I should've taken my difficulty starting as a sign of things to come and given up whilst I was ahead. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Please take my review with a grain of salt since I am probably not the right audience for this book as I am not a great 'romantasy' reader.
It was very character driven but the main character was extremely boring. The other characters didn't add much either, and the pacing/plot advancement felt glacial. Adding to that, grumpy/sunshine is not a trope that I really like in romance, because I consider unfair that only one in the couple has to carry the emotional intelligence to balance the couple's mood on his/her/their own.
The story world seemed interesting, and perhaps the story could have been improved if the focus was on the magic elements/creatures of the story. As it was it didn't kept me invested enough in the characters or plot.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There’s no denying that Alison Saft knows how to write! Her world building and character development is so meticulous and detailed. However, I did struggle with this and I don’t enjoy it as much as her other works.

Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft has a promising premise but falters in execution. The worldbuilding feels underdeveloped, leaving gaps that make it hard to fully immerse in the story. The characters and plot have potential, and the writing in itself was beautiful, but without a rich backdrop, the narrative falls flat. It’s a missed opportunity that could have benefited from more intricate detail.

Omg this was so good! I love this author and would recommend this book to anyone! The writing style is so easy to binge, and the atmospheric vibes were perfection.

This was a fun blend of fantasy, mystery, and sapphic romance. Really enjoyed it. I was grateful for the mystery and romance, as it kept the story interesting rather than the standard folklore fantasy expedition that it could have been otherwise. I hope to keep up with this author's future work. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Allison Saft is the master of beautiful, whimsical and dreamy prose that keeps pulling me into her well-crafted fantasies. Book by book I am more eager to stay longer with the characters, the magical and lush setting and the carefully created plot.

This adult debut felt new, yet familiar and I loved the lore woven throughout the story. Sylvia is one of my favorite characters ever and I giggled through their banter and swoony romance.

Beautiful, lyrically written and a tender sapphic romance? Sign me up immediately.

Allison Saft, I will now be reading your entire backlog, cheers.

Thank you to Daphne Press and Netgalley for this eARC!

Unfortunately a DNF for me at 25%. I struggled to connect with the characters and I feel like the enemies-to-lovers trope is just no longer working for me.

gorgeous world building, amazing character development along with a soft and kind romance.

This was giving holly black and i absolutely devoured it

a very unfortunate read for me, as much as i had wished to have loved this book, i just couldn't connect with it, at the end it just left me with a lukewarm feeling. not that there aren't people it would work for but it just wasn't for me

When their mentor is murdered on an expedition to find the source of all the world’s magic, Lorelei Kaskel and Sylvia von Wolff must put aside their academic rivalry to uncover the truth behind the crime.

A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft is a gothic romance brimming with folklore. As her adult fantasy debut, Saft has crafted a luscious tale that captures political and cultural turmoil as a dominant nation fights to unify a region through brute force.

While initially this novel began with a slower pace, it was necessary to establish the stakes once the murder plot unfurled. Once Ziegler had met her demise, it was as if the pacing had figuratively hiked its skirts. It seems that the group of six intrepid researchers were no stranger to ill-fortune. Between treacherous colleagues and the wildeleute, it’s any wonder progress is made in the expedition.

The narrative arc of Lorelei and Sylvia is the stuff of kick-your-feet-in-glee. Lorelei, a veritable storm cloud of a lass with childhood and cultural trauma to boot, creates chiaroscuro against Sylvia’s literal brightness. I loved that Saft preserved Lorelei’s rude and offhandish manner despite a softening of her inner dialogue.

There is a strong emphasis on the impact trauma has on a person and their lens on the world. Desperate people will lash out – Something reinforced time and time again in A Dark and Drowning Tide. In the current global climate, I feel that this novel stands as a bold reminder that people and nations are complicated beasts that have a myriad of motives.

I’m truly pleased to have started my 2025 with this gothic fantasy full of magic and hardship. Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for the digital review copy in return for an honest review.


Review TL;DR:
Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
Strongest elements: Character development, folklore-esque magic, and world building.
Content warnings: Antisemitism, murder, sexual content, colonization, war, vomit, blood, confinement, mental health issues, injury detail, child death.
Genre: Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy

Disclaimer: e-Arc provided by Daphne Press via Net Galley for Review. All thoughts are my own. My thanks to Daphne Press, for providing me with the arc for review.

Plot
This book follows an academic Folklorist Lorelei and her rival Sylvia. When a cast of characters heads off on an expedition, things soon go awry when Lorelai’s beloved mentor is found murdered. Lorelei reluctantly teams up with Sylvia, as she is the only one who believes her innocence, to discover the truth.

Thoughts
Rating: 3.5 Stars

This book has many things I like in books: a whimsical magic system in a fantastical world, a close cast of characters and a sapphic romance at the centre. However, it just hit the mark for me.

This was another atmospheric read from Saft, whose A Far Wilder Magic is one of my favourite books of all time. A Dark and Drowning Tide leans heavily into folklore and mythical creatures whilst also serving on the world-building and characters.

An academic mission featuring a rivals-to-lovers Sapphic romance, murder, and mystery kept me engaged and interested, though the pacing could be uneven at points. The main characters were rich and well-crafted, and the secondary characters were handled well, even if some of them didn’t really carry this through to the end. The core romance reminded me a bit of Divine Rivals, just more angsty and with a much more irritable grump. The book attempts to tackle some challenging themes, such as colonialism, racism, and oppression, and I can see where Jewish horrors and histories have influenced the story. That said, Saft’s writing is beautiful and lyrical, and there are some amazing moments where I was thoroughly lost in the magic of it all.

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Daphne Press, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.