My first Allison Saft book - and what a book it was!

Bursting with folklore and fantasy and beautiful prose, A Dark and Drowning Tide is a divine sapphic dark academia book that I think will nestle into the hearts of so many readers. I have wanted to read a book just like this for so long, and this more than exceeded my expectations. The characters were well fleshed out and I enjoyed getting to know them more and more as the book went on. Sylvia von Wolff has my heart.

The mystery was slightly lacking, but it did not affect the overall enjoyment of the story.

Thank you to Daphne Press and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC, All opinions are my own.

First, I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It's never fun to write a slightly negative review, but it feels unfortunate when the book hasn't been released yet (and has such gorgeous cover art). I also have to preempt this review by saying that while there are elements that did not work for me that are generally applicable, a major reason why this book did not work for me is quite specific and will not apply to most people. If it doesn't apply to you, chances are you'll have a much better time than I did.

Okay, let's start with the criticism specific to me: I am a native German speaker and I was aware this book was inspired by German folklore (it was part of what intrigued me). I don't have super strong negative views on the use of German folklore here, however, the integration of the German language was incredibly frustrating. In general, the choice to sometimes give things German and sometimes English names felt quite inconsistent in terms of world-building, but that was not my issue. Instead, every other use of German was grammatically incorrect or incorrect (or at least confusing) in application/meaning. To give a couple of examples: the magical beings in the novel are collectively referred to as "wildeleute". Now, Wilder Mann (wild man), and sometimes Wilde Leute (wild people), were used in old German folklore. However, it is not spelt together or uncapitalized. Depending on the use within a sentence, it should also be changed to Wilden Leute, for example. I realise this sounds nitpicky, but as a German speaker, these kinds of word choices completely remove you from the flow of the novel. Grammatically incorrect words (often it's a non-use or incorrect use of the plural, time and case) appear in every chapter and it's super frustrating. When it comes to the meaning of words, there are also weird applications left and right. Continuing with the "wildeleute" example, Wilde Leute in German folklore were more frequently called moss people and were specifically associated with the woods. Not water. But all beings in this book are apparently "wildeleute" even if they are clearly water beings, or something entirely different. Look, maybe there is more to this specific application of the term, I don't know, I'm not an expert on folklore. But this stuff happens more often: there is a region in one of the countries that is called "Waldfläche" which literally means forest area. Beyond it being a weird choice of name (a lot of the names given to things feel like somebody just used Google Translate), that same area is known for its mountains. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be irony? Anyway, I disliked the use of German in the book. It read clunky and pulled me out of the writing completely. It is also seldomly explained what the words mean so for non-German speakers German remains mysterious. If you don't speak German, this should not really be a problem for you, so you might enjoy the book more than me.

Moving on, I also was not a fan of the world-building. We get very little exposition and instead are thrown into a world with an unexplained magic system, complex politics and a large cast of characters with complex dynamics. None of these are properly explained. It raises so many questions (I still do not have answers to most of them) and makes the first 1/3 of the book difficult to grasp. By the halfway mark, I kind of got the hang of what was going on but it was impossible to connect with the story or characters cause I didn't understand the dynamics at play in this world. The book also felt like it couldn't quite choose if it wanted to be an adventure or a murder-mystery fantasy. Combining the two is fair enough, but it felt like you were always skipping between the two plots instead of having them integrated as one. The proper connection between them wasn't executed well. Characters and their motivations remain largely unclear for most of the book, and a few of them lack any kind of personality. I understand that there is a mystery involved, but even our FMC remains very one-dimensional. Sylvia is an especially flat character considering the amount of page time she gets. I don't understand her motives properly, I think she might be a bit unqualified to hold any political power. This of course means that the romance element didn't get through to me. I don't think the two have a connection. They have some chemistry when they fight, sure, but all of their fights are childish and are often resolved strangely. Both of them constantly change the way they talk and act and their opinions. It's all very inconsistent. I think the last point I want to make is that I found it very difficult to connect with the cast because their political opinions seem entirely misplaced. From the little that is elaborated upon, I gather that the regions in this country were brutally won through war. Since the regions have been annexed, the people who come from them are treated like lesser. The king is running the regions into the ground and everyone is upset by his rule and the annexation. On top of that, the king wants to gather all the magical power to make sure he can continue to oppress everyone in his realm. He is so clearly not a good ruler, the war and annexation are clearly problematic and the treatment of some groups of people as non-humans is even worse. And yet we are supposed to be against the people trying to stop him and for the ones trying to back him? When he has made no promises to change the way he rules or provide autonomy to the different regions? I don't get it. Maybe other dynamics don't get explained well enough so I've misunderstood the sides. I get that the methods of the anti-monarchy people are maybe not great, sure. I also get that more war is bad, I agree. But then the other option is... oppression. Our FMC herself acknowledges that she is taking up a position where she will be exploited by the monarchy while her people don't get any additional safety!

At the end of the day, there are a lot of things here that I can see working for other readers. Folklore and mystical dark beings are always fun. As I said, if you don't speak German, you will be able to enjoy the writing as well (which is otherwise beautiful). For me, this book was a huge miss, sadly. I am still thinking about picking up some of Allison Saft's YA books since I have heard great things about them.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a dark academia style fantasy thriller about a group of scholars who are on an expedition to find a magical spring that will grant someone the power of immortality. It is packed with folklore about the fantasy world and the main character Lorelei is a folklorist from a marginalised group of people. Her struggles from childhood shape how she views the world and I really enjoyed her stubbornness. She didn't care if she was everyone else's villain as long as she got the job done. Lorelei's dynamic with the rest of the group very much gave me 'The Secret Histories' and 'If We Were Villians' vibes as she was the one entering this already close knit group and was learning more about them as the story progressed. However, the murderer was a mystery in this novel and so it turned each member against each other.

I really enjoyed the interactions with the fantasy creatures, known as the 'wildelute' in this story, they all seemed whimsical but potentially malicious. There is a sapphic rivals to lovers storyline. I would say my main criticism of the story, while an interesting read, I just couldn't completely connect with the world and it's main folk stories. I wasn't enchanted by it. But overall I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark academia and other books like 'A Study in Drowning'.

When I applied for this arc I was so excited. Rivals to lovers is my favourite trope, that coupled with folklore tales in a dark academic setting sounded so perfect.

However I felt incredibly let down. I struggled to get through this book. I can’t even count the amount of times I considered DNF’ing.

Now, the descriptions of the world was wonderful, and I could picture everything. But the story was just so incredibly slow. I felt like basically nothing had happened until 20% in, and even then the event was met with next to no reaction from the characters. That’s another point, the characters. I felt absolutely no connection to any of them, and they all felt lacklustre. Lorelai was so mean and judgemental to everyone, and the rest of them were no different. The rivals to lovers came on so late in the story, and felt quite abrupt. There was no gradual transition or tension.

By the time I got to about 60% of the story, I was still wondering what on earth was actually happening. And even now that I have only just finished it, I just feel meh.

I’m sure that there will be other people who will absolutely adore this book, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

Thankyou to NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

2.75 stars

This book has a lot — murder mystery, political intrigue, adventure, romance and folklore. But in my opinion, the different things distracted too much from each other. For example, the murder mystery starts at the beginning, but then other plot points arrive and I sort of forgot that I also had to think about who had done it. Additionally, I wish the romance was more fleshed out. I picked this book up with the hopes of reading a romance mixed with folklore, but the romantic subplot took forever to develop and felt forced; I wasn't convinced the characters truly liked each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Daphne Press for giving me access to this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

TL;DR: The aesthetics and the glimpses of the world were brilliant, but I felt like this book didn't live up to its full potential.

We are introduced to a cast of very interesting characters, but only end up focusing on Lorelei and Sylvia -- which makes sense, since they are the protagonist and her rival / love interest, but I still was left wanting to see more from the others.

Speaking of our MC, Lorelei... I didn't fully like her. She had understandable reasons to be wary of others, given her background, but some situations felt like gratuitous miscommunication that could have been easily avoided, and like she was being unnecessarily mean to Sylvia.

And the ending felt weirdly rushed and unearned, to me. I will not say more to prevent spoilers.

But let's talk about good things, shall we?

- The magical creatures in the world -- intriguing and bloodthirsty, recipe for success!
- The chemistry between Lorelei and Sylvia was beautifully written. I don't normally care for steamy scenes, but these were fantastic! Not too over the top, but definitely filled with yearning and passion
- The little stories and bits of folklore showing up and being compared to current events. Very nice touch to immerse us in Lorelei's specialty as a folklorist
- The promise this book shows throughout. I just wish it had been developed into something more solid! Spending more time on the murder mystery to make it feel more relevant, learning more about the other characters and the lore of the world... But you can feel the sense of wonder and the love the author put into this book. And that, to me, is huge

This was a very good read for me. It had a mix of romantasy, mystery, and thriller elements that kept me engaged. The writing was beautiful, creating a captivating atmosphere with themes of academia. For me, Lorelai and the expedition crew were the highlight of the story. While the romance didn't fully grab me, it didn't take away from the overall strength of the book. Some aspects of worldbuilding and character motives were a bit confusing, but I could still stick through non the less. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to discuss it with others.

A dark and drowning tide is a Sapphic Cozy fantasy with A dark locked room mystery twist.

I loved the cozy adventure elements of this book and the mystery kept me guessing at every step of the way! The romance was slow burn to the point where I
Was beefing the main characters to wake up and realise what was happening!

Overall I’d recommend it to fans of mysteries &fantasy
It was so interesting a really new twist on the cozy genre

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries meets A Study in Drowning vibes, with a hint of murder mystery, queerness, and academic rivalry.

This one was hard for me to start. The writing is beautiful, but the abundance of new words, world-building, and numerous characters introduced initially was confusing. However, once I wrapped my head around everything, I was fully invested! Every aspect of the book drips with folklore. I adored the academic expedition aspect, and the romance became one of my favorites yet.

I also loved seeing the various ways characters interacted with the fae and hidden creatures. This was my first Allison Saft book, and after this, I'll definitely be moving the others I own up my TBR list!

Potential spoilers below
I spent a good part of the book questioning if it was sapphic, and I was so happy when my suspicions were confirmed. The author handled this brilliantly! The spice was subtle yet perfect.

I guess overall it was a nice story, I enjoyed the folklore elements and sapphic romance, but... it was also so lacklustre? Boring and info dumpy at the same time!?!

Especially as there was a murder mystery to uncover, it didn't feel as well fleshed out as it could have been.

I did like the atmosphere of the location settings and the general info we got about this world but it felt really bogged down and a bit confusing!!

I see why others would love this as it is pretty immersive and magical, but it sadly lacked for me and felt empty of substance.

Character interactions and decisions never quite made sense to me either.

-Sarah

*Thank you to Daphne Press + Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Love this gothic vibe the author was able to convey even through the resting phases between the action.

Not only will I be buying a physical copy but look for the special editions of it. (something I rarely do)

~play Too sweet sjsjjsjs

4,5⭐️

This book was fabulous! Magical, enchanting and wonderful, pulls you into world of tales and fables and doesn't let go.

There's everything: magic, murder mystery, SAPPHIC ACADEMIC RIVALS TO LOVERS, adventure, and lots of folklore.

Lorelei is a folklorist and she must team up with her rival Sylvia - a naturalist - to figure out who killed their mentor. To make matters worse they're on expedixtions with four other people and everyone has their own motives. So lorelei must fight not only magical creatures trying to get her, but also has to sleep with one eye open for her "colleagues".

The romance made me scream and giggle and kick my feet. It was so good I have basically half of their interactions highlighted

the only minus i have and the reason it's not full 5⭐️ is because sometimes, especially in the beginning, the pace was off and it dragged a little

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

This book was…fine. It did not blow me away. I didnt really care about the characters. I Can see why the writing is good for some but for me, it just wasn’t giving.

This was a huge let down as well, because this was high on my list of anticipated reads of this year.

Set in the recently unified country of Brunnestad, a high class member of each of the former countries is sent on a mission to find the source of magic for the king to secure his rule. First things first, the king sounds like a right prat, he is self serving and seems to have no real ambition of his own other than following in his father's footsteps and waging wars to secure more land. An expert in the field, and member of the Royal court staff, is in charge of this mission where old friendships are tested and newer relationships brought to the light. I loved the atmosphere of this book, the folklore creatures included added to the sense of myth and magic. The realtionships between the group from The Princesszin are all fleshed out fully and motivations are explained through a mixture of back story and gossip. Lorelei and Sylvia are an unlikely pair - but this may be more due to Lorelei being the principle narrator and her feelings being Yevanisch and being attracted to the next in line to rule a conquered territory! I loved it, perfect mystical whodunnit mixed in with exploration and uncovering secrets.

Allison Saft smashed it!
A book about dark academia and mystery with a little bit of German lore in it to make everything slowly unfold...
It keeps you on your toes and wonder in anticipation on what will happen next. The guilt that the mc is carrying around is something delightful to see evolve, as it is significant to the story itself. Growing and learning more to become better and smarter.

In this relationship you have the 'opposites attract' trope. Where one falls harder after saying that they could never love someone like the mc.
A SLOW burn okay but in the end everything is nice so what. These characters have so much depth and layers like mentioned before. It shaped them very well and it explains why a certian decision is made.

I would definitely recommend it to everyone if they want to explore more about this type of mystery with sappic tones in it to discover yourself a little bit.

This book completely swept me off my feet, and I didn't even care that there were one or two holes in the plot.
It's a rivals-to-lovers slowburn sapphic romance, which brings both the rivals-to-lovers and slowburn parts to the max. It didn't even take two pages, the "frustration" between our two heroines was palpable, and afterwards this tension remained throughout the book, largely thanks to the humorous narration. It was a lot of fun to be with me when I read it, let's just say it. I'm not a romance reader but with a good rivals-to-lovers, anything is achievable.

The plot was that a university research team on behalf of a king tries to find the Greatest Magical Source Ever, at the beginning of which the expedition leader is killed, which slowly trickles forward and contains a plothole or two, but they were not interested in such a big arc holes that is unspeakable. Many different magical creatures appear in the book, which are called wildeleutes here. You have to communicate effectively with each of them in a different way, which our heroine doesn't understand at all, especially compared to her rival, and I had a lot of fun with their contrast. In addition to these, there are even deeper themes, it has a Jewish main character and exploring antisemitism in folktales, it has a little political shenanigan, it has a little grief processing, it has a little sentient forest, what else can I say to convince you to read it? Or put it on a waiting list until it releases.

DNF at 21%

Unfortunately, I really didn't vibe with the writing style. I found it hard to get through, probably because of the descriptive and flowery language. Also, I had zero connection with any of the characters. Perhaps they would have grown on me as I continued the story, but I believe I gave the book a fair shot. I didn't like Lorelei's character and I felt very disconnected from her.

These things combined made me want to DNF. However, this doesn't mean that it's a bad book. I believe that the right audience will love this story! It's just not for me.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Daphne Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you, NetGalley for this book's ARC.

It's important to say up front that I enjoyed this book so much that I now have a digital preorder and am also trying to get back onto Illumicrate to get their gorgeous hardcover special edition. It's remarkable to me that this is Allison Saft's Adult Fantasy debut because it's so gently immersive and interesting as far as fantasy worlds go and the relationships are complex and engaging.

I'll talk about characters in a bit since those frequently catch and hold my interest. However, in this instance, I think the worldbuilding is truly the star. The politics between the humans based on where they are from, the magical creatures seeped into the world, and the mythical font of power sought by the expedition is nuanced and engaging. Saft's prose helps slowly immerse us in this world and all its fascinating creatures and alliances.

I loved the characters in this book as well, primarily for the way they interact with the world and each other. Lorelai is closed-off, accustomed to racism, and of common birth. As she struggles to gain the respect and position she craves, she has discarded any emotional bonds or support. Sylvia is her rival, beloved by all who meet her and viewing the world through a lens of love and wonder. Lorelai cannot stand her but when their mentor is murdered during an expedition, the two must work together because they're the only ones they can trust on board.

The world is enticingly beautiful and dangerous, the characters have their own agendas and allegiances, and the main characters are obsessed with each other but unable to trust each other enough to be vulnerable. Lorelai, in particular, is relatable with her guilt and suspicion towards all the noble-born members of the expedition and more so when her mentor is murdered, leaving her in charge. The back-and-forth in the rivalry between Lorelei and Sylvia is perfectly executed through this story and is as lush and complex as the magical world around them.

This is an absolutely flawless execution of dark academia, rivals to lovers, politically charged magical quest with a party of dubious nobles and I loved every page of it!

Excellent vibes were promised and a Dark and Drowning Tide went above and beyond with delivering them.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC!

I am so sad this is a stand-alone because this was genuinely the most unique and original magic system that I have read in a while. I loved the interpretation of fairy tales and fae magic.

There is nothing I love more than a messy, reluctant team of slightly psychopathic childhood friends. As much as I adore the found family trope this was slightly more fun complete all the back stabbing and political intrigue that I could hope for.

Saft really mastered the academic rivals/enemies to lovers with this one. The slow burn was excellent with so many moments where I thought this is it - it’s happening! Only for something to come between the Lorelei and Sylvia again and again. The miscommunications were realistic and added to the plot, so instead of being frustrated I was just eager to keep reading.

I do wish there had been a bit more development to the childhood friendships of the 5 in the expedition and the King. It was interesting to have younger characters who had lived such lives already, and I would’ve loved to have seen more stories of this time to ground their relationships even more. I also felt like the resolution to all of Sylvia and Lorelei’s problems were a little too easy given the high stakes but this didn’t tear me up too much because I do love a fairy tale ending.

A Dark and Drowning Tide: A Riveting Blend of Folklore and Fantasy

Immersed in folklore, magic, and mythic creatures, A Dark and Drowning Tide is an ideal choice for readers fascinated by enchanted forests and the enigmatic presence of malevolent spirits.

Though the narrative unfolds gradually, it quickly becomes an engrossing and high-stakes adventure, enriched by a gothic undertone that creates a mesmerizing, fantastical atmosphere. The novel draws upon well-researched German-inspired folklore and history, seamlessly integrating these elements into the academic milieu of its characters. While the myriad of creatures and characters can initially be challenging to track, they ultimately become endearing and integral to the story’s progression.

Saft skillfully provides each character with distinct personalities and roles, making the large cast manageable and engaging. The dynamic between Lorelai and Sylvia is particularly well-crafted, and the development of the characters throughout the novel is both compelling and satisfying. Notably, the narrative's diversity offers a refreshing perspective in the often homogenous realm of romantasy.

With a beautifully evocative writing style that complements its rich world-building, A Dark and Drowning Tide masterfully intertwines folklore and magic with themes of death and high-stakes drama, featuring intricate characters and a captivating plot.