Each year our grade 12s do a science fiction and fantasy independent reading unit to explore what it means to human - what we can learn from alternate times, places, or societies about ourselves here and now. This book is an excellent addition to that list. We don't usually include romance heavy texts, but this book's focus on resistance and collaboration within and beyond ruling governments will spark lots of discussion and engagement.

I almost DNF’d this book because the storyline wasn’t holding my interest. But I’m glad I stuck with it because the last 15% of the book definitely picked up and became such a thrilling adventure full of sacrifice and self-discovery.

Tw: sacrifice, loss of a loved one, self harm, violence, mention of abuse, alcohol, blood

It’s the witch, not the beast. In most fairy tales, the girl goes for the guy right? In this, the fairy tale is painted gay. Girls don’t want the hero. Girls want to fall for the witch. That’s this book with a flavored cigarette and a sexy suit.

The Dark Tide is a sworm of the fantastical and fairy tale. A witch takes a boy to her palace every year to sacrifice on the full moon. The Queen watched her sister die to save the boy she loved but now as queen, she must not repeat that mistake even if it means sacrificing anyone to save her city. Lina offers herself in exchange for a boy. Accepting Lina’s sacrifice, the days pass and the more the days pass the closer Eva and Lina get.

Swirling in this pot are a bunch of sapphic tales.

Beneath the story is a tale of mourning and grief. The haunting saga of this fairy tale wrapped up in a fantasy combines with the atmosphere to create a quiet and witch-full story for readers to enjoy. Full of magic, sacrifices, love, and hardened loss.

The Dark Tide is like sitting down with those old fairy tale tomes full of witches in the woods, islands of lore, a brother and sister trampling through the deep forest, epic and yet haunted tales of love and loss. All of that but sapphic. I love stories of witches and spells in a eerie fantasy. What are you willing to sacrifice for love? What a family member is willing to do for one another. One of the ways that makes this book stand on its two witchy feet is it is brimming with sibling love, both one of hope and one of loss.

While I did enjoy this book, I will say that there are many times I felt confused by the plot. This is one aspect that needed some more thought and clarity before its publication.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

I was excited to receive a copy of this book for review but in the end I found it just wasn’t for me. The plot felt disjointed and the characters were distant - I had a hard time connecting with them.
I’m not exactly sure what really was resolved in the end , as the Dark Tide was not defeated- just temporarily appeased and the character’s didn’t grow all the much.

The supporting cast deserved more time and development - I found myself forgetting who was who because of how similar they felt.

All in all I can’t say that this was the book for me unfortunately, and I’m giving it 2.5 stars.

I really enjoyed this story. It was extremely intriguing and had a unique writing style. I was very impressed at how captivating the story was

I found this book very predictable and it wasn't that fun that it was so many plot holes around the book all the time and that it was just convenient for the main character for a lot of times, But the rep in this was amazing; bi, sapphic relationship and poc character. More of that, please!

This was the enemies to lovers, slow burn, f/f romance of my dreams! And when I say slow burn I mean it. I loved where their relationship was at at the end of the book and how much room has been left for them to grow.

The atmosphere of this book reminded me of an Anna-Marie McLemore book. It is kind of hard to tell exactly when this is set. It feels modern but historical at the same time. The magic can be dangerous but the descriptions of wandering through the castle halls and exploring all the rooms made me want to live in this world.

Both characters have a relationship that is not the healthiest and we get two very different outcomes to how these are dealt with. I’m very curious to see where one of them goes in the next book because I like how it was handled in this book but I can see the character’s actions being brushed under the rug without this character having put any work in to changing their behaviors.

I've tried reading this book a few times and just couldn't get into it. Some parts were really interesting at the beginning but the middle just got really slow for me. I think it is beautifully written but it just didn't hold my interest.

With rich worldbuilding and prose that’s both gorgeous and intense, The Dark Tide is Jasinska’s debut novel with lots and lots of promise.

Unfortunately, promise is most of what it is for me.

Don’t get me wrong. This book is good. The writing, as aforementioned, is beautiful. I rarely encounter such bewitching prose outside of poetry. Moreover, the worldbuilding is solid and when you combine it with the writing, you’ll get a fictional world that’s so alive, you can almost live in it.

However, this doesn’t extend to the characters. Main characters Lina and Eva aren’t flat per se. Thomas, Finley and Marcin aren’t too two-dimensional as well, but they aren’t as fleshed out as Lina and Eva which I understand because they’re only secondary characters. It’s just that when you’re provided with a world so rich and real, the characters feel lacking in comparison. I don’t know how to explain this better, but despite being privy to the points of view of Lina and Eva, and being able to get to know characters better through them, all of them just don’t feel as real as the world they’re living in.

Consequently, the romance between Lina and Eva appears disingenuous as well. Though, the final two chapters are sweet and they give hope for a genuine love between those two, I spent most of the book unconvinced by how easily Lina falls (in lust more than love, maybe) for Eva when she’s been stuck on Thomas for years, and unconvinced by the reasons why Eva cares for Lina since she has built up walls so high around her that it’s practically an ivory tower. There’s not enough development to make their budding romance feel credible.

Also, I’m not sure if I’m the only one who felt this while reading the book, but the perception of time feels unbalanced. There are scenes when the pace should be quick but gets slowed down by the imagery, and scenes when the pacing should slow down but gets sped up by dialogue and action instead. The time jumps between certain events also lend to the skewed perception of time. Moreover, this unbalanced perception of time throws off the overall pacing of the plot. The Dark Tide began with a bang but instead of maintaining the pace, it slowed down and that lasted for a great many chapters until the near end when the story sped up again.

All in all, The Dark Tide is a book that drags you in, pushes you away and then, drags you in again like the low tides of a morning sea. It’s a beautiful story with the best kind of witchy/fantasy vibes, but I wish it was just a bit more.

Great story and loved the slight romance. Really enjoyed the characters and how the plot moved and how the characters changed throughout the book. I would read this author again.

Unfortunately I DNF'd this book about halfway through. I lost interest and couldn't get back into it.

I've been trying to get into this book for some time now, but we just didn't really vibe. I tried to read it over and over again, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I can imagine that a lot of people will like it though, it just wasn't for me.

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

So I went into this feeling it would be just my thing, and I was right! But it still surprised me with just how swept away I was by both the concept and the characters. I always enjoy books set by the sea, but in this, the sea is a constantly looming, constantly hungry character, lurking in the background. It really works. Honestly, the world is so well built.

I also always love morally grey-dark witches, and these definitely fulfil! The fact that they only have a certain amount of magic, and that they have to trade something of themselves to spend it, weaves nicely against this though - giving them depth against what could be seen as callousness.

And then we have our main characters - the lovely Lina and Eva. Eva is a glorious character, for all that she gets a POV, we spend more time with Lina, which is a tiny bit of a shame. However, she is both cold-hearted and so full of caring, she wants to hope and is struggling to lead against Marcel in the wake of her sisters' death. She is cast as the villain of the book, but really she’s anything but. As queen of the witches, she has to provide the sacrifice, and the love that goes with it. And she is still very much in mourning. She is incredibly sympathetic and I love her. I would definitely have liked more time with her - especially if it showed her getting to know Lena and softening to her.

Lina is headstrong and with a fair and just heart. She feels responsible for so much. I love that we get great bi rep in her, and that we see her realise that she should have cared more before it affected her - I think we all do this occasionally and it’s nice to have that moment of clarity. She is also really entertaining to follow - from her sass to her dancing (LOVE a dancer as a main character, always!). Her snark to Eva is pure joy, even if she starts to realise there’s something more. But she’s also not a hero in the classic sense - in many ways yes, she’s doing what she feels is right, but she’s not perfect and she’s also pretty helpless against the need for a sacrifice.

I liked how the ending played out so much - it perfectly fit both the dark nature of the sea and the book throughout, but also the hope that they somehow manage to rekindle. 4 stars.

I really liked the beginning of the book. The world and the premise were fascinating. Once the main character arrived at the castle, however, things went off the rails. It was so confusing and felt like nothing was really happening.

I started reading this book and initially liked it but after a while I lost interest in it and could not stay invested in the actual story. I liked the blub and the overview of what it was about, but sadly is just was not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.

Here’s what I liked :
The book starts off fast and I was immediately interested.
The lgbgt representation.

What I didn’t care for as much:

Started off fast and then the middle just lost me. I didn’t really feel anything happened to keep me that interested. It had so much potential and I feel like it just missed out on that potential.
The characters were bland and I didn’t feel connected to any of them.

I wish that I had loved this story as it was one of my most anticipated, but sadly it did not.

This book was fantastic! I really enjoyed the build between Lina and Eva, it was slowburn to the max and that's always a big favorite of mine. All of the representation and Jasinka's prose were executed beautifully. The story unfolded with her words and it kept me nearly ripping the page as I turned.

Caldella felt real, and like a place I could visit, that's how atmospheric it was. The world building and explanations of how the magic system worked were captivating and, no pun intended, spell-binding. I can't wait to see more releases from Alicia Jasinska!

Beautiful, twisted, dark, and romantic, this is a great book for fans of the Three Dark Crowns series or The Grishaverse.

Some of the scenes near the beginning of the book where the witches are in town, dancing and sharing magic with the locals, have stuck with me so strongly that they pop into my mind at random times. I absolutely loved the writing, and truly enjoyed getting lost in this spooky, gruesome world.

This simply was not for me. I’m not really a big fantasy fan but the plot sounded great. The prose was great but there were some inconsistencies that made my eyes cross. All in all if you’re a big on fantasy - read if. If not...might want to skip this.
Thanks very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC.