***ARC received from White Tigress Press and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

This is a book that is not going to be for everyone, it deals with a lot of heavy subjects from forced prostitution, murder, physical and emotional abuse, rape, torture and so on. Most of it, particularly the rape is not described in any level of explicit detail but it can be triggering to people. It never felt like it was there to be gratuitous, it is there to help tell the story of Roma and Levi and their people. Its also a slow burn of a book, more set on world building and fleshing out its characters than rushing headfirst into the confrontation. This is a series you are in for the long haul because there are no satisfactory answers or conclusions to really anything this book sets up and I am here for it.

The book jumps between Roma and Levi and I loved them both equally. Roma is a slave girl, a sacred prostitute to serve the upper class. She is traumatized by her first patron and much of what happens shapes her into the character that she is. She is still a compassionate and caring individual not yet fully broken down by the world around her. I liked that she is complex, wanting both to be good and serve but also longing desperately for her own freedom and the freedom for her brother. There is more to Roma though that only gets hinted at right at the end but is set up well for the next book.

Levi, Levi, Leviathan… How much I adore him. Levi is all sorts of shades of grey, he is not a good man nor does he ever admit to being a good man but he has a broken heart that can’t fully get on board with all the horrible things he has done. Levi is a weapon and uses his skill as best he can, his means to an end are at times violent and bloody but there is no enjoyment in what he does. Levi is trying to do right by his people, trying to help as best that he can. We get glimpse of his past, the soft boy he was that completely conflicts with the hard edges of his current self. I liked the interaction between Levi and Roma, they do not trust each other at all but there is a connection there that I look forward to see who it is explored in the next book. They also play well off each other, two good people broken down and rebuilt by their society and the treatment of others into who they are.

The mythology and world building in this book is lovely. The author is clearly crafting a story using stories and themes that mean a great deal to her. The depiction of the caste system and the abuse easily inflicted upon those without voices by those in power is stark and at times difficult to read. Even though this is set in a fantasy world you can still draw parallels to what is happening then to what still occurs in modern times. There are at times that the writing gets a little clunky and scenes go on a little longer than they should but the writer has a passion for what she is writing about and the characters and themes dragged me in and kept going.

My only complaint is I wish the glossary had been at the front of the book and not the back especially on a digital copy, since bookmarking it from the start would make going back to it easy to reference even if after a little while I was able to pick up what the words meant.

3.5 stars rounded up

This is a fantasy based on some very real horrible practices that occurred in the Indo-Persian world. Female children were given to temples by their parents to appease the gods and give favor to the families. The children were sex slaves, forced into prostitution and never able to leave or have their own lives. Because of this, there is quite a lot of rape in this book so please be aware if that's an issue for you.

I know nothing about Islamic Arabian mythology or Indo-Persian practices so I did like learning about the magical stories and how society functioned. I felt bad for Roma and the other girls who endured some pretty terrible things. It's hard for me to believe that it was considered regular and people didn't see that they were abusing children.

I would have liked some romance between Roma and Leviathan, but they started out as sort of enemies so they have to work through that first. They did push each other's buttons and Roma challenged Levi's actions, forcing him to reevaluate his stance. There was some character development for him and I look forward to seeing what he does in the next book.

The pacing of this is very slow, with all the action happening in the last quarter. It was a bit difficult to get through all the despair and abuse, but the ending was intriguing and I am interested in seeing what happens next.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was A LOT to process. I was hooked by the synopsis that presents a classic enemies unite under a common cause, but any similarities stopped there.

I absolutely adored the main character, Roma, and admired her for her perseverance through the challenging life she has had thus far. Leviathan was nothing like I expected. Anticipating a morally grey character, he fought more for the under privileged and refuses to follow his tyrant of a father blindly. Although romance between the main characters was not a large influence in the plot, I found myself still enjoying the plot. Normally, I can’t deal with a book without romance, but with this book, I found myself more invested in the characters lives than the romance itself.

In a generalized sense, this book felt more like a prequel plot wise. The characters have not shown the growth and interactions we typically see, but I saw this as a book to introduce readers to this world. We learned the traumatic backgrounds of our love interests, and I can see in future books how the growth may play a factor.

In addition, the world-building was slightly hard to follow. While I enjoyed reading an Indo-Persian inspired fantasy world and found many similarities to We Hunt the Flames (another one of my favorites), I got confused often with the magic and people introduced to this world. But, as it’s a debut novel, I could see the effort and research the author has put into her world building. Once I read the second, I’m sure to reread the world building parts to familiarize me in that setting. The plot has major potential, and I can’t wait to see the path the author takes in the upcoming book.

This book deals with a lot of dark issues that unfortunately occur today. The author did an amazing job integrating these issues into the story to shine light on the realistic and terrible nature of them. Some of the issues include abuse, rape culture (although no graphic description is included), and the human trafficking of young children.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who’s a fan of We Hunt the Flames and Dark Shores.

4 stars *may change
Trigger Warnings (And thanks to the author for providing these at the beginning of the book): physical and emotional abuse, mentions of rape (not described in detail), mention of sodomy (not described), human trafficking, child trafficking, drug abuse, suicide (off-page), sexual assault, transphobia (mentioned)
While I usually love books that are carried by the character interactions in them (I really don't pay attention to the plots), I also prefer them to be very fast-paced. I'm someone who likes books to throw boom-boom-boom at me constantly. That being said, this was more of a booooooooooooooooooooom-boom.
A better way to put it: this is slow-paced for real. It took to the 50% mark until things actually really caught on. It's not that it was uninteresting before that (I liked the characters fine enough and wanted to know what happened next), but it didn't catch on until halfway through, and it didn't take a full hold on me until around 80%. now THAT"S when things were crazy. It's like the first 2/3 was a normal car ride and the last bit was a crash.
Although I really don't like when fantasy books are slow, I understand all of the character and world-building that went into this. The author even provided a glossary, which I'm forever grateful for because I've got a horrible memory. This is set in a colonized Indo-Persian inspired world (Allegedly, according to Goodreads, whom I don't trust) and has influences from Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. I enjoyed how every part of this world seemed researched and like one of its own. I also liked all of the details, like how the Devadasis wore cholis and lehengas, and all of the titles used. It made the world seem a lot more real to me.
What stood out the most, in my opinion, was the characters. Roma is strong-willed and a survivor. She's been a Lamiadasi all her life and goes through some of the most horrific things in this book. Seriously. Ana Lal Din does not shy away from recounting the terrible experiences these women had to go through. I was aware of the triggers beforehand, but I still felt incredibly sick reading it. I had to keep taking breaks.
On the other hand, Leviathan is the son of the Firawn and far above in zaat (caste) to Roma. He's a ruthless killer dealing with his own internal struggles and rage. Their dynamic was interesting throughout the book. I'm a big fan of protagonists hating each other. Don't know why, but there's just something about powerful hatred that is just so compelling. I loved it.
The Firawn is a character I hope to see a lot more of in the next book. He didn't really cross my mind for most of it until near the end, where he was in one of my favorite scenes.
I think the second book in the series will be far more compelling in terms of pacing since this one was really just setting up the world and characters. I'm excited to see how the story will carry on from there.
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for providing an arc.

I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

In Ana Lal Din's debut novel, a young woman and a young man's destinies interlock as a Tyrant hunts an ancient treasure that will doom humankind-- a living treasure to which Roma and Levathian are the ultimate key.

Roma is a Dēvadasi, slave of God,  a lower caste that serves patrons to sustain the balance between the Gods and men, and all she wants is her freedom. Roma has faced many hardships already as we first meet her and  when Roma and Levathian's paths meet... she again is faced with even more problems. Levathian is not a good man, however he isn't heartless. He is a killer. A monster. ‘The worst kind of monsters are those who pretend they’re human.’ However he is entirely selfless although he never admits that to himself. Neither one of these characters is the "perfect hero", they are reckless and flawed and it helped me connect and see these characters as more then fiction.

Ana Lal Din's story telling is captivating, artistic, and sophisticated.

This book deals with a lot of heavy topics, I would definitely check out the trigger warnings before reading. Some of the themes include rape, suicide, assault and human trafficking.

I definitely do recommend this book, just not for the faint of heart. I give this book 5 stars! Once I started this novel, I could not put it down! The Descent of the Drowned is available for pre-order now! Its release date is March 15th 2021.

Thank you to Netgalley, Books Forward and Ana Lal Din for the opportunity to read this masterpiece for my honest review!

"Men. [...] They'll tell a woman she's less, so they can believe they're more."

This book hurt in the best way possible and I cannot wait for a sequel! I need to know more!

Okay but let me explain: this book deals with a lot of heavy topics so please look up trigger warnings before reading it. Some themes of the novel are prostitution, the caste system and human trafficking of adults and children, which made it hard to read at times. There were certain scenes where I had to put the book down because I physically couldn't look at the page anymore. But what this really means to me is that Ana Lal Din is an exceptionally powerful writer for making a reader feel so hard and deep for a fictional character in a (mostly) fictional world. It felt horrible and disturbing and terrifying but most importantly of all, it felt real.

The world building was tricky for me to get into but as soon as you understand the basics of it, it becomes fascinating. I especially loved the magical element of the story that was introduced later on. I also had difficulties understanding all the foreign terms sometimes but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story at all, and also, there is a glossary explaining all the words at the end of the book, which is super practical!

Now, let me talk about my favorite part of this novel: the characters! Roma is one of many badass heroines in YA fantasy books, but the way that she differs from them is that she is not supposed to be fearless or invincible. It's quite the opposite, actually. She is a young and sometimes naive girl that has faced way too many hardships in life and still remains strong. That doesn't mean she's not scared. One thing I especially appreciated about her character is her anger. Roma had every right to be angry at the world, at the gods, at men, and she never hid that anger. She was mad. And I love that. Our other main character, Levi, on the other hand, was fearless but not heartless. He was tough on the outside, a warrior and killer, but soft on the inside. He cared about other people and even though he'd never admit it to himself, he's entirely selfless. One more thing I enjoyed about the two characters was that they were never made out to be 'perfect heroes'. They were messy and flawed and acted recklessly at times, which made the story way more captivating.

Now, Ana Lal Din is a fabulous storyteller, I think I already mentioned that. But damn, this woman can write like nobody's business! The amount of quotes and passages I have highlighted in this book is a lot. The writing was so sophisticated and artistic, I would never have believed her to be a debut author.

Okay, I think this is all I have to say, except for: READ THIS BOOK! PREORDER THIS BOOK! PLEASE! (Also, thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this masterpiece).

this was fun, and look at that book cover! i enjoyed it, but i think i expected a bit more from it, but this is my first book from this author and i would love to read more to see her progress and growth! a solid read and would recommend!

Thank you NetGalley, White Tigress Press, and Ana Lal Din for the opportunity to review this ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Before I review the book itself, it is important to note the many trigger warnings that this book has: rape, self-harm, torture, addiction, miscarriage, and physical abuse. While these topics do contribute to the depth of the story and compassion for the characters, they can certainly be problematic for unsuspecting readers.

As for the book itself, the prose is beautiful. As the title implies, you feel yourself being drawn into this dark, imaginative, Indo-Persian world following two characters Roma and Levi. Roma is a member of a lower caste who tries to sustain the balance between the gods and men. Levi (Leviathan) is the bastard son of an immortal tyrant and is considered casteless - the lowest of the low. We follow these two characters as their stories wind together in their attempt to move forward from their heartbreaking past and deal with what life currently has in store. Their story lines build and build and I enjoyed the way it all came together in the end.

This book gave me chills. The descriptions of past traumatic events were so visceral that I had to put the book down for a little as it affected me so. I think that this book is considered truly character driven and as such, the first few chapters were a little challenging for me to keep all of the information straight. I would have loved and benefitted from the author including some information about pre-Islamic mythology because I found myself looking up some of the information to find out more for myself or I felt I would not quite understand the story. It also made the world itself a little hard to understand and follow. I could totally see this being a book where this is a set up for a second book in a series that could be action-packed as well.

Overall, I recommend reading this book and am looking forward to what comes next from Ana Lal Din.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Descent of the Drowned was one of those books that I really wanted once I saw the cover. It was just beautiful and intrigued me so freaking much. Then I read the synopsis and I was basically sold. So when I got the beautiful eARC to read it, well - I freaked the freak out!

So, yeah, long story short - I was really excited to dive into it. Once I did though, meh, it was an okay book. I wouldn't necessarily say the entire book blew me away because it felt like for most of this book - nothing happened. Zero. Zilch. Yeah, we see Roma's eyes finally opening up to how horrible her life is and that she lives near or with a bunch of assholes.

In other words, she gets in trouble a lot. It just sucks that she does because she makes some really good points and everyone's like - stop spreading lies and start spreading your legs. Yeah, no thanks.

Back to Roma, now she was an interesting character that we didn't know much about. There was something dark about her and I just wanted to know more about that. Eventually we did get to see it and that's when the action really picked up. I mean, the entire book was just better in the last 25% of it.

Plus I kind of like her and Levi together as work partners. Not sure if there's going to be a romance between them or not but after that ending - I really want the next book. I need revenge and fire so freaking badly. Bring it on.

3.5/5

Reading this was truly a slow descent into an imaginative world unlike anything I've read in a very long time. The Descent of the Drowned is a captivating novel that follows the lives of Roma and Leviathan, two vastly different people, whose destinies intersect as they struggle to rebuild themselves and protect the people they love. As an ancient treasure is sought after, one that will have terrible ramifications should it be found, the two of them become more important than they realize as to whether or not it will be and the fate of humankind.

It is incredibly important to note that this book deals with some very triggering topics. I have listed them at the bottom of this review and I highly recommend checking them out before you consider reading. This is a book that grabs your attention, first with its lush descriptions, and then with its characters and their distinct emotional and physical journeys. There really is a lot of page time devoted to laying out the background for these characters, which payed off in the long run as they were the strongest aspect of this book. Character driven stories only really work if the characters can stand on their own, and that was definitely the case here. The story itself was so intricately layered, building up the plot development in the most subtle way, I almost missed it entirely. You could almost say it was too subtle. The last few chapters were where I drew breath, waiting to acknowledge everything that had happened from start to finish. As to the things that didn't work for me, this was primarily the pacing. It really dragged at times, especially during the beginning chunk of the book, or it was simply too fast. Trying to immerse myself with the story and understand the conflict occurring became even more difficult. Build up too, could have been less slow, and clearer upon reaching the end of the book. This clearly is a well thought out story, just not executed to that exact same degree. However, I can already tell that this is just the opening act in Roma and Leviathan's story. The potential build off from this is absolutely something I am looking forward to reading in the future.

Trigger warnings: rape, miscarriage, blood, violence, murder, suicide, death of a loved one, sexual harassment, slavery, physical abuse, self-harm (mentioned), grief, addiction, drug abuse

Beautiful. This book was captivating and stunning the entire way through. I had to check several times to make sure I read the genre correctly though. I am a bit shocked that this book is Young Adult. The themes in it are so dark and strong and descriptive. There is a ton of rape and abuse which are not things you typically find in young adult books.

From the start, I was very curious if there was going to be actual Magic involved with Roma. The cobra was happy to see her and seemed to understand her. I loved the imagery and the intertwining of cultural lore and mythology that was present throughout the entire book. I am greatly hoping that number two comes out sometime soon so that I can devour it as well! I love the characters and learning about they discontent with the way things are and how they go about trying to fix it.

I would recommend this book to older young adults and to adults. Once again, the story was amazing and I loved every bit of it, but it is dark and filled with violence and rape.

When this book is released, I will write a more detailed review of the actual story but I do not want to give away too many spoilers before its out.

There are some books where, no matter how much you want to love it, you just can't click with a story. Such is the case with this one. And I think it stems from the fact that this story very much feels like a debut novel, with so much room for growth and development.

The inspiration of Arabian mythology is something I find fascinating, but the world-building in this is soooo confusing and assumes the reader is already familiar with Indo-Persian culture and folklore (which I am not). It got to the point where I completely gave up on trying to understand the world-building and just focused on the plot. There is also so much potential for the characters and many opportunities for their development, but they all fell flat for me. Like, I could tell they had depth to them, but there is too much focus on their trauma itself, rather than how the traumas affect them. And the stagnated writing style takes some getting used it, too.

So while there is so much great representation and inherent positives about this story, I'm not quite sure it plays to all its strengths. Although I probably won't be picking up the next book in the series, I hope the author develops her style a little more with progression of the story.

Really enjoyed this book and am excited to see what else Ana Lal Din has planned for this series. The description of Roma’s pain and experiences are hard to wrap your head around and flatten her character in the first part of the book but if you can get past that, by the end of the story so much is revealed that you’re left wishing the next book was already published.

I unfortunately couldn’t get into this book. I was intrigued by the mythology and did enjoy the world-building. However, I couldn’t really get into the story, and I felt like I was more or less thrown into the world with very little knowledge of what it was.

Promising and intriguing

Honestly, this is a great book, very promising for the sequels. I want to take a second to applaud that beautiful cover. The beginning was slow, I'm not going to lie, I had trouble getting into it. But once the action is set... Amazing! The characters are very well built and fascinating, with interesting and realistic personnalities. The world building is good, original and captivating. Beautiful writing style. The story in itself is very intriguing and the ending leaves us asking for more.

All in all, a very good beginning for a promising fantasy series!

"The worst kind of monsters are those who pretend they're humans."

Book review
Where do I begin? First I want to thank Netgalley for allowing me the pleasure to read this book for free, in return for my honest review.
With out trying to spoil the story for anyone, I did like reading it. The beginning was a little confusing but toward the end I started to figure out the characters, the story line, and the point of views. I love how strong the main characters are in the story, especially the strength that Roma had. The story is quite dark compared to what I normally read, but it was interesting. There was so much visual description within it that it was easy to picture the world the book was trying to capture.
Now the story line, I started to like it best towards the end. The two main characters felt so alone in the world. They were forced to accept their fate and the lies they were taught all their life’s. A huge part of them always seems to fight what the world wanted them to become, which I admired. They were both in paths that they hated, and had few people that cared for them. The few people that kept them human. As much as they fought to protect those they care, they pushed them away to protect themselves from heart break. But in Roma’s case, through grief she finds a hidden truth she never knew lingered within herself. In Leviathan case things start to change when he learns of his heritage from a unlikely alliance. Both their lives start to intertwine more towards the end and keeps you wanting to know more. Will they finally learn to trust others and each other? What more will be revealed of their heritage? Can they both learn to fight together to make a change in the world they live in? I guess we will have to wait and see!

This was alright. I wasn’t a fan of the writing, but the characters and plot were OK. Would probably not buy or read again.

Thanks to the author, White Tigress Press and Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book!

Life is simple for Roma, she is meant to dance and serve as a slave for the goddess, and take patrons to ensure balance is maintained in the world. But is it really the goddess she serves? Roma wishes for freedom from both the gods and the men that rule her life, and wants to protect her younger brother from the same fate she had. Leviathan is a vengeful man, determined to find out what happened to his mother, even when it means defying his father, the all-powerful Firawn. He wants to protect the people of the clans, his blood, who are ruthlessly mistreated by the Wardens and the members of the higher zaat. Roma and Leviathan’s lives collide as they both fight to do what’s best for the people they care about.

The Descent of the Drowned was my first read of 2021, and it’s going to be a tough act to follow. Wow did I ever love this book! The writing is superb, Ana Lal Din has a poetic way of describing things that really paints a picture in your mind. The plot is very intriguing, and I enjoyed the way it developed and became more complex as the story went on. The world is rich and full of intricate details that really pull you into the story. Roma and Leviathan are very different characters, but the way their stories slowly become more entwined holds the readers attention and leaves you wanting more.

“It was easier to rule a people once you put the fear of gods in, once you convinced them poverty was a divine punishment, not the consequence of men’s greed.”

There are a lot of strong themes in The Descent of the Drowned, and the plot tackles some pretty heavy content. Ana Lal Din manages to strike a perfect balance, exploring these themes in depth and shedding light on some unsavoury topics without losing focus or overpowering the plot. There is a lot of mention of the caste system throughout the story, which I thought was excellently depicted. The topics of prostitution as tied to religious worship, and the mistreatment of the Hijra (transgender or third-gender) community are mentioned as well. I have not read a fiction novel that previously addressed either of these topics, and the way Ana Lal Din brought them into the story was well executed. Darker themes of ethnic cleansing and human trafficking are also broached, and I thought they were handled very well. This is definitely a book that will stay with you after you are finished reading it.

I would not call this a happy story. It is dark, and powerful, and hauntingly poetic. You will feel several different emotions as you read it, but I think the strongest emotion will be the desire for a sequel as quickly as possible. I highly recommend this debut novel for any and all fantasy lovers, it is a must read book that will be available March 15th, 2021.

Spoiler Free review

“What did they do?” she asked. “They made the stars weep.”
“Is it what scared you?” He shook his head.
“Then what?” “We were all burning,
“We were all burning—except you.”

The thing that caught my eye in descent of the drowned was definitely the short description of it. C’mon it sounded awesome, cutting down to the chase- I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. Ok on to positives. The concept of the plot was one to be admired and I did. The book talks some moments that may be triggering to some people so trigger warning. The characters were well-developed and likeable. The books pace was slow but not boring slow. The aesthetic of the book was dark yet good. The writing in our story was quite decent and made the book told well. Overall I think it was good, not horrible, not perfect (for me at least— opinion wise), but good. I definitely know some people who would probably enjoy this more than I did so go ahead and read this book if you like the genre fantasy

‘We must all pay for our sins.’ He’d be paying for a long time then.

e-book given via netgalley.
“Quotes” from book

Reviewed: 1/4/2020