“Back in the days when wishes still held power…”

I wish I could go back and read this for the first time again. From the first page, the writing style was so luxurious that I couldn’t tear my eyes away, the worldbuilding so darkly captivating that I couldn’t help but read on to learn more. Simultaneously, I wanted to inhale the words until there were no more left and drag out each luscious sentence so it wouldn’t end. Following a group expedition to find the fabled source of magic, the plot soon takes a turn when the team’s leader—and our protagonist’s mentor—is murdered before it can truly start. Ostracised because of her heritage and religion, Lorelai must prove her innocence and find the real killer before the the quest’s end. As a Jewish folklorist, Lorelai’s narration was at once richly whimsical, seamlessly interweaving a myriad of folktales throughout the plot, and thoughtfully critical of the antisemitic origins of the real world fairytales from which they take their inspiration. But for me, the highlight of this book was the expertly crafted sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance. The shift was so subtle that I truly didn’t notice when exactly Lorelai and Sylvia crossed into the territory of friends, not until they became something more entirely. And if you think that’s where their story ends, well, you’re in for a surprise. After all, what’s a folktale without a few twists?

Really loved the writing of this book, and I felt very immersed in the world that was built! One of my favourite aspects of this was actually the romance - although it was perhaps a secondary plot, I just really loved the character growth that happened alongside the budding romance. Plus, the ending really amused me with the misunderstanding on the letters...

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

As a fan of Allison Saft (I continue to say: A Far Wilder Magic IS SO UNDERRATED!), I was so happy when I received this arc!!
This enchanting tale blends folklore, fairy tales, and a murder mystery, following six eccentric nobles on a quest for a mythical spring. And to make everything better, there’s also a sapphic romance where they’re academic rivals and cannot stand each other.

All this sounds good in theory, and I did really enjoy the book on the surface. But after I finished, I started to think about some aspects of the book, that I just couldn’t see past it. For example, the book felt a bit pro-colonialism (???). I mean is not in your face, but the clues are all there (I understand the reason for that, it was needed for the characters to have a motive to work for the king. I would be okay with this if in the end it was resolved). Another thing that didn’t sit right with me was some phrases in the romance. What do you mean you want to hurt the person you love? Maybe I’m just too soft. And I’m not going to even dwell on the fact the group of characters tried to have the same type of toxicity like the characters in The Atlas Six.

It feels like a bit contradictory my review with the rating, the thing is: this had everything to have a full rating. The mix of different genres/tropes could make the book too messy. But it all blends really well together and I think that’s hard to do in a story!
I love the writing, and I was totally obsessed with the romance (besides the thing I already said). So, as you can see, this had everything to be a 5 star. It’s still a really good book maybe I’m being a bit too picky.

DNF AT 74%


I know that DNF a book at 74% doesn't make a lot of sense, I mean, I am almost done so why stop now? But the point is that I didn't care about the book and I just reached a point that made me go "Okay, enough" and that's it.
Mind me, I think that this book has somehow a similar concept to A Study In Drawing, but it does it better. It is atmospheric and it has characters dialogues and situations that make sense, and all in all, I think that the other book is poorly done, while this is just bad (for me) but not so poorly done.
And now let's get on to what it didn't work for me:
1) it should be enemies to lovers. I don't think that this is true. Or, to be more precise, it is but just sort of, and for two main reasons:
a) the rivalry is completely one-sided
b)Is it truly enemy to lovers if the two characters are secretly lusting and caring for each other, but one of them has some trauma and cannot cope with her feelings so she resents and envies the other one?
I suppose that enemies to lovers is the etiquette that goes nearer this situation but... but it is not really so correct.
2) Lorelei is a scholar and an academic, and she collected stories from people (and uses these stories to make sense of the world, and this particular thing is a thing I highly appreciated). She should be one of the best in her field, but you don't see it. At all. She is constantly using Sylvia's knowledge to save herself, and never her own.
Also, all the characters in the expeditions are supposed to be academics too, and soldiers, and they should be the best of the best, and yet... the author tells us this, but we don't see it. At all.
3) The characters are all unlikeable. Okay, this is an exaggeration. Ludwig is almost likeable, and Sylvia is not unlikeable. But that's it.
So I just reached a point in which I didn't care and didn't want to see how things progressed.

That said, there are some things that I enjoyed:
1) It is a highly evocative book, the atmosphere is good and the wildleute are interesting.
2) Lorelei uses the story to make the world make sense, and this is such a relatable thing. And an interesting trait in a character. I think it was the thing I liked the best in here.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for sending me an ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow this book was a ride. Needles to say I absolutly adored this book. If you think you would like shappic academic rivals to lovers trying to solve the murder of their professor while they are in an expedition trying to find a magical spring YOU NEED TO READ THIS. Our main character Lorelei- a folklorist goes on this expedition with six other people in the search of the magical spring and when her mentor is killed on board of the ship she teams up with Sylvia- the naturalist to figure out who did it, and what sparks there is pure magic.

The angst in this is incredible I literally felt it in my bones, I adored the pinning and the romance in this book. The world the author created is so detailed and magical, there were so many passages that felt out of a fairytale. There were ghosts and magical creatures in this that were so nicely detailed I absolutly loved reading about them. The writing was lyrical and beautiful and made me want to go to an enchanted forest and get lost there. It was full of German folklore and talked about antisemitism since the mc is Jewish, I really liked seeing how this was explored and I loved the mc with all her flaws and how slowly she was able to break free of some things she was dealing with and learn to be a bit happier.

“Until they returned to Ruhigburg, there was no one to turn to, no one to trust, but Sylvia von Wolff.”

I do not believe that I can objectively rate this book, even more that I don't believe that I can truly rate any book. My reading experience was… particular, and I am afraid that it would play a bit too much on the rating. This book was hard to start for me, even though it sounded perfect.

We are talking about a murder mystery, a scientific expedition with a lot of folklore inspired by German folklore, magical creatures, dark academia vibes (perfect for this start of autumn), and a lesbian rivals to lovers that is kind of slow burning. As I said, it sounds perfect to my eyes. And it became nearly perfect when I reached the middle of the book and finally got into it. And yet, the first half isn’t bad. I just believe that this author has a particular style and that it didn’t suit me for a long time. But that depends purely on me, for once.

The story, however, and its resolution were extraordinary. Once I was in the book, I couldn’t really put it down and ended in 3 days what I had been dragging for 2 weeks. I do believe that when you can get inside of it, this is an excellent book. The murder mystery part was really nice, even though I felt like it was lacking a bit in some parts before the middle. But every time Lorelei, our main character, was suspecting someone from the crew or investigating, I was invested. But I think that the best part of this book was the folklore. There were a lot of stories told across the pages of this novel, and it gave this very peculiar vibe to the story that was really lovely and nearly bewitching, maybe.

And last but not least, the characters. They are the people with whom we spend the novel, so they are, in my eyes, one of the most important parts of the book. And here, it's a hit. Lorelei, our main character, is a bit hard to like at first, she's quite tempered, and she doesn’t really trust people. But that makes her story interesting! She has been an outsider all her life, as she is Yevani (which seems to be the Jewish community equivalent in this fictional country inspired by Germany), she has no reason to trust the crew, especially when some of them are straight up horrible, and she needs to investigate the murder of her captain. So, it took me some chapters to get attached to her, yes, but once I was attached, I liked her very much. And Sylvia!! I do like her very much. She is forced to make an alliance with Lorelei as they are the only two who couldn’t have done it, and she is the other person in our rivals-to-lovers subplot. And listen. I am not the biggest fan of enemies/rivals to lovers. It needs to be really well done in order for me to like it. And here it was really well done. I love them, I love their relationship, and in fact, I started to get more involved in the book when the slow burn started to burn a bit more. As if I was falling for the story at the same time Lorelei fell for Sylvia. As for the other characters, I really liked Ludwig and the relationships between the crew in general.

So I do believe that this is a great book if you want an atmospheric read with folklore, murder, lesbians, and great characters. I would like to thank Netgalley and Daphne Press for sending me this ARC, it goes out today!

Dark academia, mystery, enemies to lovers, sapphic, stunning writing, folklore, I literally requested this for the beautiful cover, and it turned out to be one of the best fantasy's I've read all year, will.be exploring the authors other works for sure! Thank you.

Thank you NetGalley and Daphne Press for sending me this ARC to review in exchange for
my honest thoughts.

"Lorelei knew the shape of a fairy tale: a prison."

I was immediately captivated by this book from the name & cover and it did not disappoint! Sapphic, enemies to lovers, dark-academia, fantasy folklore - *chefs kiss*.

The start felt a little slow and was difficult to get into hence why it's not 5 stars, but after that I was absolutely enthralled with the character dynamics & world-building. I loved the creatures descriptions - anything involving siren/water nymph creatures has me SOLD! Sylvia has my whole heart.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a lush and captivating fantasy tale with elements of folklore, fairytales, murder mystery and dark academia. It’s filled with folklore-inspired creatures, magic and mystery. I loved the atmosphere of this book, the beautiful writing style and the fairytales woven into the narrative. This novel is also an academic rivals to lovers sapphic romance, which I think is quite well done.

What could be done better is the murder mystery. It felt like Lorelei was not really trying to solve the murder but rather blaming the most convenient suspect for it. Also, apart from Lorelei, Sylvia and maybe Ludwig, the characters were predictable and needed more depth. It’s a rather short book with many subplots that needed more space to unfold. Still, I enjoyed this story.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is Allison Saft’s latest and greatest book. Whilst I have enjoyed the unique worlds and magic systems in some of her other books (A Far Wilder Magic in particular) it wasn’t until this book that I fell in love with her writing. You can see the amazing growth and progress she has made as an author since her first Indie book Down Comes the Night.

First of all, the beginning of Autumn is the perfect time to get immersed in this book. When the leaves are beginning to fall and the skies are starting to darken, you can truly appreciate the eerie atmosphere of this book. Personally, I think that Autumn is the best time to read about mysterious woods and adventures in nature. In this book, we not only get a fantastical forest but also plenty of stories about folklore (the perfect combination). The adventure that the two female main characters go on is wonderful and spooky at the same time.

The mix of some academia and an adventure style story was also perfect. It reminded me slightly of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairytales but with more of a murder mystery plot line. Whilst these genres are quite unique, and it could have been easy for Saft to allow the different tropes to overwhelm her own story, I think that she blended them all very well. There is adventure, magic, politics, mystery and more!

The romance in the book was also fun to read about. The academic rivals to lover’s trope seems to be growing in popularity and I think that’s a good thing. It may not be as intense as enemies to lovers, but that just allows the characters to interact with each other and co-exist on the page more. I think that this is Saft’s first queer romance, and I think that it was done quite well. I like that queerness was normalised in this world and that it did not define our main characters. They also had strong friendships and relationships outside of their romance which made them seem more developed as characters. Whilst the supporting cast weren’t particularly memorable, they definitely added to the character arcs.

I would recommend this book to fans of Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies, A Study in Drowning and other books that look at folklore as an adventure and an academic mystery rolled up into one.

Another beautifully written and deeply atmospheric story from Allison Saft! I loved everything about this book, the gothic undertones, the use of folklore, the character dynamic, the pacing, and the list goes on. A Dark and Drowning Tide proves yet again why Allison Saft is an auto-buy author for me! One of my top reads of 2024, without a doubt!

Mysterious dark academia sapphic fantasy romance.

The FMC Lorelei had been an outsider all her life, a commoner amongst royalty. She was quick-tempered and witty, and was determined to prove herself. I really liked her as a character.

I enjoyed the rivals to lovers element and the dynamic between Lorelei and Sylvia. I liked how their relationship didn’t get super sweet all of a sudden, and instead they stayed true to themselves and had their issues. The romance wasn’t the main point of the story but developed nicely throughout the book.

The storyline with the murder mystery and multiple secrets was intriguing and kept me guessing what was going to happen next.

Overall the book was well written, the world felt magical, and both the world and the characters were well developed.

A Dark and Drowning Tide
By Allison Saft
Pub Date: 17th September 2024

Thank you so much to Daphne Press for this enchanting ARC!

This is a magical, genre-bending book, which combines dark academia with fantasy and murder mystery, to create a tale that is also heavily influenced by Germanic folklore!

There is so much to get my teeth into, but I shall begin with the characters, and Lorelei. For me, Lorelei was an instantly captivating and fascinating protagonist: ruthless and logic-wired, with a hard-headed belief that feelings are weakness. It took me longer to warm to Sylvia Von Wolff, who is the opposite of Lorelei: whimsical, bubbly, and reckless, but what won me over was her connection to the mythical creatures. The repertoire between these two was very well done and it was a lot of fun to see it evolve into more!

The other characters were well-written and I was fascinated by their dynamics, but also how ruthless they all were for distinctively different reasons. There was also an interesting sense of characters acting as personifications of different parts of the country, which allowed the tangled politics and inter-country divides to flow in a fascinating way throughout the story. The injections of random fairy tales were also a fascinating thing to add and really imbued the whole story with an extra layer, which was very fun to interact with!

The magical creatures and Germanic influence were a great success, giving the story a unique flair, and making it distinct from other fantasy worlds. The idea of studying magic under a scientific lens was fascinating, but did not stop magic from being a tangible and ephemeral force, that held a strong atmospheric presence throughout the book. What I particularly loved was the strong sense of place, which was really present in the quest chapters and that grew the closer the characters got to the Ursprung.

The plot was packed, going from genre to genre and point to point, to the extent that I can see why the author felt that she fought this book. It is almost trying to do too much. This made the plot unwieldy, especially in the middle, and limited the introspective time that characters needed to undergo convincing pieces of personal development. Pacing was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it was addictive and stopped me from putting the book down. On the other, it moved far too quickly, especially at the beginning: where it sped on without giving me a sense of who the characters were, where they came from, and why they were even going on a quest, in the first place. The fairy tales added to this confusion and often derailed the plot from its original course, making it harder to pick back up again. This all had a negative effect on the ending, which felt a little rushed, and far too clean for a book that was so messy and complicated in its politics.

The only major critique I had was the world-building. The logic of it seemed weak: especially in believing that Wilhelm is a powerful and wise figurehead, when he actually seems not only a slightly pathetic figurehead, but one who cannot make strategic decisions. And why would you send the children of the nobility off on some hair-brained quest? Power seems a meek answer. This book also left me with a lot of questions, especially with how everyone could be happy in the end and how the subjugation of the Yeveni could be swept under the rug. So, all in all, the logic and the need of bureaucratic backbone brought this one down to 3 stars.

That being said, it was a wonderful piece of dark fantasy, with a beautiful cast of morally grey characters, unique world-building, and an enchanting romance. This roller-coaster of a book shall take on a wild-ride and leave you wanting more!

I’d give this a solid 3.5 stars, which I’ll round up to 4. I did like this book, but I didn’t love it. I did love aspects of the book, in fact a lot of the book I did love. I loved the folklore aspect and the way Saft showed how folklore can be used for good and for bad, to put forward your intended narrative. I also really liked the murder mystery, I was not expecting the murderer to be who they were! The ending was very unexpected, which doesn’t happen to me often.
Whilst I did think that Lorelai and Sylvia make a good couple, I did think it totally came out of nowhere. They were rivals and then all of a sudden were lovers, which I found a bit jarring. I also wish there had been a bit more focus on the creatures of the world. None of the other characters were particularly memorable, all of the focus was put on Lorelai and Sylvia. So I think there could have been some more work done on the supporting cast. But otherwise I think Allison Saft’s Adult debut is a success and I did enjoy reading it.
Thanks to Daphne Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

A Dark and Drowning Tide was my first Allison Saft book so I wasn’t really sure what to expect outside what I read of the books description and the heaps of praise I’d heard for Safts writing across the internet. Expectations were expectations.

I really enjoyed the writing in this, and in many ways it reminded me of Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, a series I’m really enjoying, so that stoked a fondness. I really enjoyed the magic system and the folklore and I found that to be my favourite part of the novel.

The much wider plot and political aspect of the novel fell much flatter for me. I didn’t really enjoy it. It was such a large presence in the novel and yet I don’t really feel like it went anywhere and it was all wrapped up rather quickly. I don’t think Saft was able to balance the political plot and all its themes well alongside the magic and folklore, and both suffered from it. Therefore, this book only gets a 3 from me — it was fine, it was good, but there was plenty of potential for it to be way better.

Finally, I really loved both Sylvia and Lorelei. They were both great characters and I enjoyed their chemistry, however I wish their POVs were separated as sometimes I felt the characters blended together. It also would’ve been great to see the story unfold from both of them and get Sylvia’s perspective of her friends.

I enjoyed this, originally it pulled me in by the gorgeous cover/s and I found the characters instantly magnetic and inviting.
This book was so whimsical and original, with an interesting if barely explored world, and a magical-murder-mystery element that kept me on my toes trying to figure out who did what and who to trust.

A sizzling enemies to lovers, sapphic romance with two characters I loved equally despite them being very much opposites. I’d have loved some more depth into them and the world/culture, as this book barely scrapes the surface of the politics, magical system and history.

Although I did enjoy this book, I initially struggled to get into it as it had a very slow start in terms of actual introductions and storytelling. The whole book was quite slow and the plot took its merry time, and then the ending was even more so; it could have been wrapped up much quicker and more effectively.

The story felt a little dragged out for me, though I do prefer fast paced books as a rule. Still, I would recommend for a fun, twisty story full of whimsy.

***

𝘗𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘤. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦? 𝘛𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵.

I wanted to love this one, the blurb had everything going for it but unfortunately I was just so bored. All of the characters were so awful and felt underdeveloped that I didn’t care what happened to any of them. The timing was choppy which really took me out of the moment. The two FMC’s went off on a side quest that felt like was described over 2 days to be told later it was closer to two weeks. Most disappointing for me was that the chemistry between the Lorelai and Sylvia was nonexistent. This one honestly felt like an outline for a really amazing fantasy novel that just hadn’t been polished off yet. Im sure this one will find its audience but unfortunately it was a miss for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Daphne Press for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

For me, this wasn't the kind of book that sucks you in from the beginning, it did actually take me a while to really get into the rhythm of the story and feel somehow involved in the development of the plot. Perhaps because it is a bit slow and does some info-bombing, which doesn't always help in understanding the worldbuilding, but despite this bumpy start, the prose was so beautiful that it sparked my curiosity and it made me really appreciate the eerie yet dreamy atmosphere surrounding the different landscapes.

I must above all applaude the psychology behind Lorelei, our main character - I'd say she got me stressed and frustrated to the point where it made me very angry, but that would still be an understatement - , she definitely isn't your typical nice and easygoing protagonist, but at the same time she feels so real and concrete that I still ended up caring about her, so a really well-rounded and deep construction.

The real issue though was the "main event", the focal point of the plot; beside feeling a bit confusing, it was too rushed, I was hoping to discover more about that kind of magic and feel more connected to it, but sadly that chapter ends at the climax of the whole expedition, and it was disappointing to be left out at the best part.

Still, I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates a character-driven story, which is definitely the strongest quality of this book, and to those looking for a different interpretation of mythical creatures and folkrorism.

There is no simple way to describe this book as it is a combination of fantasy, sapphic romance and murder mistery.

The writting is great, with descriptions of the landscapes and characters that make you feel part of the plot.

The main characters are Lorelai, a folklorist and Sylvia, a naturalist. They are rivals that slowly become lovers.

The story is presented from Lorelai’s perspective and I love the way Sylvia is described throughout her eyes. There are so many quotes that I highlighted.

“Like this, with all the starlight reflected in her eyes, she looked almost divine.”

Another thing I liked a lot is the way Lorelai knew a story that matched a situation or another. There is also magic, fantastic creatures, secrets and hidden agendas that makes everybody suspicious.

Sylvia is my favorite character, but I think that Lorelai is the most complex. There are some plot twists that I did not see coming and betrayal that I did not expect.

I wish there was also a part from Sylvia’s POV and more development of the other characters (especially Heike and Adelheid).

Also, I think the story could be continued. I would read a sequel.

Thank you Netgalley and Daphne Press for sharing the advance reader copy. This is my honest opinion about the book.

This book took me a long time to warm up to it, about 50% in I found my feet! I absolutely loved the themes of fantasy, adventure, academic rivalry, and murder mystery.

I do feel that some of the plot points were slightly lost because of the saturation of themes. Perhaps a greater focus on some of the themes and removing others would have worked better, for example, the magic was a core part of the book, however wasn't explored much, but we got a lot of folklore tales (which were great) that didn't actually contribute a lot to the overall plot (such as the wish theme throughout). I really really wanted to like this book more as the themes are perfect for me. I did struggle with Lorelai at times and just found her to be very difficult to empathise with, and while I know this was intentional and great writing, I found it difficult to connect with her as a character.

On a positive note, loved the representation of gender fluidity, pansexuality and sapphic romance in this story. I feel that this is greatly missing in popular fantasy and adventure books! I also feel that a the mystery aspect tied in well with the academic rivalry, I just think that it got slightly lost along the way to find the Ursprung.

Overall I did enjoy this book, but at times I felt it rushed over important plot points and at other times dragged in parts that could've been glossed over.

I'm rating this 3.5 stars but I think this will be a really popular story, just wasn't my favourite read unfortunately. Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my review.