A Dark and Drowning Tide is a brilliant example of just how well acquainted Allison Saft is with her genre and her skill. Her writing style immediately immerses you in a world full of enchantment, relatable characters and well written Sapphic romance.

Saft’s dialogue is great and the characters are well formed and relatable, with sharp tongues and string personalities that shine through. Each character compliments the next perfectly.

The murder mystery aspect definitely deserved to be more fleshed out in places but it didn't take anything away from the book overall.
The unique magic of the world and the creatures along the way make for a very whimsical fantasy.

I also enjoyed how Saft touches on more serious topics throughout.

Thank you to Daphne Press and Netgalley for the ARC

I was excited to dive into A Dark and Drowning Tide and the plot did not disappoint! The concept of the expedition to find the lake, combined with a thrilling murder mystery, kept me intrigued throughout. The cultural elements and differing perspectives added richness to the world-building, though I found myself wishing for a map to help navigate it all—probably the downside of an ARC!

The inclusion of fascinating creatures, especially the alp, was a highlight. I loved how it kept reappearing, and by the end, it played a crucial role in the story. Also, the coffee obsession? Relatable. I’d do anything for coffee, too!

Character-wise, this book was a slow burn. I struggled at first to connect with many of the characters, and it took time for me to warm up to them. But as part two rolled in and the ‘dream teams’ cracks began to show, I found myself more invested in each character’s depth and the complex dynamics between them.

This was my first time reading a queer romance, and I really enjoyed it! The romance followed an enemies-to-lovers arc, which is always fun, and the development of their relationship felt authentic and satisfying.

Overall, A Dark and Drowning Tide was an engaging read, and I’m so happy I had the opportunity to experience it as an advanced reader! If you’re into slow burns, complex characters, and thrilling mysteries, this is one to pick up.

‘A Dark and Drowning Tide’ is everything I have been searching for in a fantasy book all year. The politics, lore of the world and foundational characters, whilst initially confusing, as are most foundations of a fantasy universe are, became incredibly familiar and easy to follow as the book progressed. Whilst the prose in this novel is an absolute love letter to the written word, the true highlight of this novel is Saft’s characters. Whilst the book is written in third person, we are primarily following the thoughts and feelings of the determined, introverted and calculated Lorelei, who I instantly fell in love with. Sylvia Von-Wolff may now be one of my favourite book characters of all time, and felt like the heart of the story on most occasions, with her quick wit, abundance of positivity and kindness throughout the story. Enemies to Lovers can be very over-exposed in literature nowadays, and Saft has nailed the trope perfectly, the stakes between Lorelei and Sylvia felt consequential no matter how their relationship developed, and whilst I was rooting that the both of them could find happiness together, the stakes of their relationship felt authentic to the story and created this beautiful atmosphere amongst the entire world. So much can be said about the entire cast of supporting characters as well, it ultimately felt like a chaotic ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ party meets a ‘Secret History’ Secret Society where once again, the entire cast had differing opinions, values and motivations that made the stakes of the story feel authentic to this world. This world is on the precipice of a war that could devastate everyone, and every character had completely different opinions, thoughts and plans that allowed the world to exist in such a thoughtful way that I couldn’t believe a single thing any of the characters were saying at any time.

I could recommend this all day, every day. What an absolute masterpiece!

Being a huge fan of Allison Saft's previous books I was incredibly nervous for A Dark and Drowning Tide, it's so different to what she has written before but it blew me out of the water nonetheless.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a fabulous example of just how well Allison Saft can write. Her luscious writing style sweeps you off into a whimsical world full of enchanting moments, relatable characters and the most delicious Sapphic romance.

I was particularly fond of Lorelei, whom we spend the most time with, and I really enjoyed the banter between her and Sylvia. Allison's FMCs were very relatable, the sharp tongue of Lorelei and Sylvia's sunshine mentality complimented one and other really well.

The murder mystery aspect was fun, I felt as though it could have been a bit more fleshed out in places but it didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the book. I loved the unique magic system and all the different mythical creatures we meet within the book, this is very much the perfect book to get lost in if you love whimsical folklore vibes.

ADADT does touch on a few serious topics (like prejudice) but being Allison's first Adult Fantasy I wouldn't expect any less.

Overall, a very well rounded and enjoyable book.

I love a dark academia and liked the sapphic romance between rivals, other than that I really struggled with finding the motivation to read this book. It just didn’t grip me but I’m sure other people will love it! Allison Saft writes so beautifully, this one just wasn’t for me. Thank you for the arc!

I don't have much to say except that this book was everything, it was amazing and I can't wait to get a physical copy as soon as possible.. Lorelai and Sylvia and everything

Thank you to Netgalley and Daphne Press for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

The story follows Lorelei a sharp tounged folklorist on an expedition with 6 nobles to find a magical spring that promises magical powers to those who are worthy. While on this expedition her leader and mentor is murdered aboard the ship turning the story into a murder mystery of whodunnit.

Lorelei receives word from the king that she must figure out who did this as well as the spring or be blamed for it herself.

Her only ally on board is her academic rival who she hates Sylvia can she trust her fully and figure out who did this and find the Ursprung and get them back to pass this information too the king and save her life?

It took me a while to get into this but that was more my reading slump than the book itself.

Once I got over this slump I found this story to whimsical, magical and intriguing I loved the added murder mystery aspect and the grumpy/sunshine trope is one of my favourites.

The world building was immersive and captivating and the story and characters arc were all well crafted. All of the suspects have motives that could be realistic added to the suspense of the story and the mystery.

From the ending I assume that this was a standalone and I felt like this story wrapped up wonderfully.

An enchanting story for fans of fanstary magic and murder mystery stories. I would fully recommend this story for fantasy lovers.

I have trouble with getting through this book, since it is really complicated and there are so many Dutch words in it. Even some names are normal Dutch words, making it really hard to read. I put it down for now, but might try to finish it later on

I expected a murder mystery with quite a lot magic and some romance. When I finally DNFd at 43% and about 160 pages, there had been a murder, but no sleuthing whatsoever. The small bits of magic were tempting, but there was little to no explanation of the water-based magic system. And no romance.

I disliked all of the characters. They are a bunch of arrogant nobles with a good smattering of institutionalized racism. The main character Lorelei is a bitter, negativ and hateful woman. She has no redeeming features, although she is the one they all discriminate against and theoretically the hero of the narrative. In the book blurb she is mentioned as witty. I saw none of that.

The world of this book is based on imperial Germany, the king is even called William II. Lorelei is Jewish by a different name, living in a ghetto in the main city of that world. All the nobles in her traveling party are either from the royal families of conquered lands or part of William‘s military, with a strong dose of antisemitism.

What is it all about? To stabilize his kingdom, the king sends forth an expedition to find the fabled source of magic in his kingdom. The mentioned nobles and Lorelei are the expedition members. One of those nobles is Sylvia, Lorelei’s eventual love interest. Shortly after the expedition has gathered, the leader of the group, Lorelei‘s mentor, is murdered. The expedition is undertaken anyway, now under Lorelei‘s leadership. There is some traveling and fighting of mythical monsters and plenty of uncomfortable conversations between Lorelei and the rest of the team that didn‘t add much to the story. It made me miserable and I dreaded picking up the book. This was not what I had signed up for based on the book blurb. I disliked the constant racism and the slow pace didn’t help, aka I was bored on top of it all.

On the plus side the book has a beautiful cover. And there are some enthusiastic 5-star reviews out there. You might like it, but I can not recommend it.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.

Firstly, I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, Allisons Saft’s book, A Dark and Drowning Tide, failed to deliver what it promised and it didn’t convince me completely. I wanted to dnf it around the 60% mark, but i pushed through, without any improvement. In detail, i thought that:
- The characters were quite bland, had no personality and were quite unlikable
- The folklore and the worldbuilding were underwhelming
- The writing style was pedantic
- The pacing was odd, uneven and too slow for a 300-page novel

I liked the mystery and the romance, even if both were quite predictable.

I so wanted to love this book but….i just didn’t! I found it so slow, way too ‘wordy’, couldn’t really grasp what was going on for ages and yeh! I struggled to read it, so disappointed that I didn’t love it. However, the cover is beautiful 😂 maybe I’ve read too many fantasy books lately and there’s just so much to live up to?! Or maybe it’s just boring?! I’m hoping the first option… I really hate not liking books!!

3.5

‘A Dark and Drowning Tide’ is German inspired adult fantasy/dark academia tale, and a sapphic love story. It’s very steeped in folklore, which was interesting, and strongly reflects Jewish history.

Set in a recently unified kingdom, the young king is seeking a fabled spring, rumoured to give a chosen figure extraordinary power. He sends out a team of naturalists to try and locate the spring for him. Among the ranks are Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist who has much riding on the success of this expedition, her academic rival Sylvia von Wolff, and a variety of other characters from different backgrounds and classes. The stakes are turned up even higher when the leader of the expedition, their professor (and Lorelei’s mentor) is murdered on the first night - who of their team killed her? Who can be trusted? And will they be able to find the spring before more members are harmed?

While I absolutely adored the atmospheric setting of this book, I never fully connected with the characters, which was a shame. I loved exploring the murky fantasy world they inhabited, but just felt held slightly at arms length from them, which dampened my overall enjoyment of the book. But truly, I cannot praise the world building enough.

The folklore elements were really well done, and I loved all the different creatures, and the variety of tales, that were weaved into the story. I also found the magic system really intriguing, and the romantic yearning is pretty great. I mostly loved the building tension within the novel. The element of fear while a murderer remains at large, the ongoing quest to find the spring, the questioning of long held beliefs, the stakes of opening up to be loved.

Saying that, I wasn’t fully sold on the relationship aspect - but I think this was again due to not feeling totally drawn in by the individual characters. It truly is the one thing that held me back from really falling in love with this book, sadly.

I do think Saft quite skilfully handled the anti-semitism themes in this book, with the Jewish main character, and how that ideology pervaded in this fantasy world.

Simply put, this book isn’t bad by any means - indeed, certain parts are wonderful, but I found it to be slightly dragged down overall by its characters. I’m still interested in the author overall (I have two of her previous books sitting on my shelf, still waiting to be read) but I was a little bit underwhelmed by my first foray into her work.

Thank you to the publishers, and netgalley, for the copy to review.

DNF at 20 percent.

This book just wasn’t for me. Firstly, the formatting on NetGalley wasn’t great which didn’t help, but secondly it was just really boring and dry! The prose didn’t draw me in, neither did the characters and the world building seemed lack lustre. I was truly excited for this book, but in the end it proved to be a disappointment. What am I missing?

The Dark and Drowning Tide is a gripping and atmospheric story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It blends folklore, magic, mystery and sapphic romance together to create this fantastic Dark academia with amazing world-building and morally grey characters.

Lorelei is a fascinating character who in most cases you should like; she's frustrating, quick to anger and at times feels incredibly cold. However the more you get to know her character and the issues she's faced due to her heritage you start to realise why she acts that way and why she struggles to trust people, including the idealistic Slyvia. I loved the slow burn enemies to lovers between the two and loved seeing the way Lorelei fought against her feelings.

Allison Saft had a beautiful and lyrical way of writing that vividly paints the scenery and it's characters clearly. It makes the experience of reading this book more immersive and I now need to pick up Saft's previous books.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a disappointment and nobody is more sad about it than I am. It seemed like the perfect book recipe for me, however this bored me do death. I wanted to dnf at about 20% but I pushed through because I had hope it could improve and become a decent 3 stars book, but in the end I have to stick with my original impression.
The mystery part was not as present as I expected but that would have been okay if the plot itself had been interesting like its premise and the stunning cover art. I did not particularly care about any of the characters and found the fmc to be insufferable so the romance lost my interest too at some point. The fantasy aspect was interesting but not enough flashed out, some creatures simply appeared from time to time. It's not a horrible book, I am sure some people will like it but I've read too much fantasy to enjoy this.

DNF at 47%

I really did try with this one. I wanted to DNF at around 17% but I held out because I thought it would get better as the story went on. Sadly, it did not.

It dragged on for what felt like an eternity.
I don’t think I could even tell you what was going on apart from women hating on women and a murder.

I saw a lot of amazing reviews about this that made me so excited to read it! But unfortunately, I was left disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley & Daphne Press for this ARC.

I requested the ARC of this book from @NetGalley because I enjoyed @allisonhsaft's A Far Wilder Magic - massive thanks to the lovely people at @daphne.press for the approval -
and the same brilliant immersive world building is on display here. The loosely Germanic world, with shades of the Austrian Empire, is full of complex characters, secrets, political machinations and plots, as well as a fascinating water based magic system. Lorelei is a compelling main character, spiky and abrupt as she wrestles with what she wants (to be a great scholar) and her Yevan heritage that marks her as an outsider and the trauma of her brother’s murder when they were children simply for being Yevan. The Yevani are an explicitly Jewish analogue and with the world building analogous with the late 19th Century, Saft explores the effects of Anti-Semitism and obviously its current
resurgence with the rise again of far-right politics as Lorelai has to contend with the exceptionally bigoted Johann whose beliefs and violence are barely held in check by his love of Adelheid, who weaponises his hatred and brutality for her own ends. This adds to the tension and the strain
relationships of the expeditionists. The central relationship between Lorelai and Sylvia is brilliant and I enjoyed watching Lorelai have to challenge her own prejudices and influences as they draw closer.
The romance itself is tender, sweet, and heartbreaking and I was so invested by the end! Saft’s
descriptions of the world are so lush, and I really felt myself traversing Brunnestad with the characters! Plus you can get the gorgeous edition above from Waterstones so GET ON IT.

I really did like this book! It gave adventure vibes with a whodunnit feel on top of that. I loved the story but I think I did struggle a little with the characters. There weren’t any that I particularly liked and I think because of that I did get myself quite confused by them in parts. Other than that is was a great book and it’s for sure something I would recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

I'M IM LOVE WITH THIS BOOK

Yes, it took me some time to actually get into it. Yes, it was a bit slow at the beginning. BUT, and it's a big but, when it gets there... It just gets amazingly there.

So I completely understand that that first 15% or so sets everything else in motion, so you understand the premise, the themes, the world and obviously the characters

Because let me tell you: a dark academia sort of vibe, with a very clearly inspiration on German folklore, rivals to lovers (maybe enemies at some point?), a murder and some political conspiracies. This needs to have a strong base, so I now thank those first chapters.

And the rest of the book you ask? It's a Y E S from me. And a strong one. So strong that I bought the physical copy, so... Yeah.

I have to say, the ambiance is my favourite part, because it feels like a bow that ties everything else up. But the characters... Oh mama. The characters. Love the main character, she is so grey... I mean, she is good, but she knows how the world is not, so she sometimes has to make decisions for her and just her. Don't worry, you'll like her. She is a brooding lesbian. And so smart and so... so stupid.

If you like dark academia, rivals to lovers, complots, folklore creatures, and brooding lesbians, this is your book.

DNFd at 57%.

I tried and tried really hard to get through this but I found it far too boring and the world building to be too poorly explained.