I loved seeing the Indo-Persian world and the pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. It was interesting to see how the culture was.

Going into this book, I knew that it was a dark fantasy with a few cultural aspects to it. That was enough to convince me to want to read it. What really captivated me about this book though, was how unrelenting and raw it was. It had a lot of brutal themes and I liked the way the author highlighted them in an unforgiving way, shedding some light to the harsh realities of the past and even the present in some cultures. The cultural influence really sang throughout the book. The writing style was so beautiful and had me hooked throughout. I don’t know if it’s just me who thought this but the whole book, from the beginning, had an eerie vibe to it which I usually don’t see much in fantasy novels but I found really interesting. And not only because it was a dark fantasy novel. I’m honestly so excited to read the sequel and see where she takes the story.

The Descent of the Drowned is a promising start to a new series fro, Ana Lal Din. The premise was interesting, and I was quickly captivated by the lush world-building and loved learning about aspects of pre-Islamic Arabian mythology, though the book was a bit heavier than I was expecting in exploring themes of colonization (though I did appreciate how this reflected reality, however devastating it may be). Due to the heavy subjects (including rape, self-harm, suicide, torture, murder, and more), I think I would hold off on recommending it to a younger YA audience. I do appreciate that the eARC I received included content/trigger warnings at the beginning, but I wish I had been aware of them before requesting the title.

While I loved the vivid and immersive world-building, I did find the pacing to be slow and I struggled to get invested in the plot until around halfway into the book. The writing also seemed rather choppy at times, which jarred me out of the story more than once. For these reasons, along with the heaviness of the subject matter, it took me a while to get through reading this book. I also wish that the magic system had been explored/explained more, but perhaps that will happen as the series continues. Roma and Levi were both fleshed-out well, and I enjoyed reading both of their perspectives.

Though The Descent of the Drowned fell somewhat flat for me, I think that it is a solid start and I look forward to continuing the series. Thank you to White Tigress Press and Netgalley for providing me the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

An outstanding latticework of Arabian myth and magic.

How to best describe this extraordinary book: take the political intrigue of JENSEN’S The Bridge Kingdom and mix it with the fantastical universe of ADHIEH’S The Wrath and the Dawn. Add in a dash of romance and lush prose, and you have ANA LAL DIN’S debut.

Thank you to Netgalley for this find.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to go through with this. I might come back someday.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

unfortunately I couldn't get into this book even though it sounded exactly like my type of book. It is very dark and discussed some difficult things which i found hard to read at times. I read almost 60% of the book but i still didn't feel any attachment to the characters and couldn't get invested in their story.

i loved the characters in this book and i especially loved the author’s writing style. it was different from what i’m used to, which made it all the more interesting to read

Amazing! Mythological books with diversity just hit different! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this author!

3.5

This was a good start for the series, I really liked the world and the magic system and the characters (especially Roma) but the first half was very slow-placed and the romance is a slow-burn almost inexistent (excellent chemistry that I'm sure will be developed later, but still). After the introduction part, I found the plot really interesting, this is one of the kinds of books that you read slow and for times till you catch to a part when you can't put the book down, and I loved that, but I struggled with the beginning.
In general, this book has potential, and I liked the characters very much so I can't wait for the second book.

The Descent of the Drowned had interesting concepts and a fully fleshed-out world, but it ultimately suffered from pacing problems and a lack of direction. It was never able to strike the proper balance between character moments and plot, and the narrative was rather aimless for the first half of the story before things started to tie together somewhat later on in the story.

On one hand, I appreciate the bitterness of the main characters and how they seemed to thrive off of spite alone (lots of fun!). On the other, I was frustrated by how much of the story was spent on showing us just how awful and terrible this society is. All of the long descriptions about how Roma and her sisters are treated as nothing more than glorified prostitutes were intriguing at first, but became tedious as time went on and there was no actual plot. In a similar vein, there was a lot of time spent on classism and the tragic persecution of the clans. But all of this felt like background information without a plot to tie it all together in a meaningful way. In the midst of showing us this awful society where the poor are mistreated and women are always living under the threat of violence, I couldn't find a solid narrative thread to grasp. The characters themselves didn't develop, only suffered, and the world seemed fundamentally unchanged from the beginning to the end. By the end of it, I was asking myself "what was the point?"

In short, my main gripe with this book was that it felt like it existed for the sake of creating a lush Central/South Asian atmosphere and causing the main characters pain. The plot only started to show up near the very end, but by then I was already mentally checked out of the story.

3/5 stars for The Descent of the Drowned! Check out my channel by Marina Cee for a full, spoiler free review. https://youtu.be/J_FD82emFEs

Before I begin this review I want to mention some TW within the book:
Trigger warnings (including but not limited to): rape (not explicit), self-harm, suicide, death of a parent, violence, addiction, human trafficking, transphobia, and prostitution.

I’d like to thank the author Ana Lal Din and NetGalley for an eArc of this debut novel☺️

Ana Lal Din is an artist. For a debut novel this was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed it — not wanting to put it down at all. Every time I set it down I couldn’t wait to pick it up and see what happened next. It’s not predictable. She drew you to the characters immediately. Their feelings were intricately described. When they felt something, I found myself familiar with their emotions by the way she wrote them.

As a Muslim born Canadian, I really appreciated the pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. It’s not something commonly touched on or written about often in fantasy novels, or novels in general. I never learned much about it, so it’s really intriguing to me to read it in this setting.
Some of the language took me a moment to understand but she described it well — without descriptions being lengthy.
Also, at the back there’s somewhat of a glossary with all of the translations for anyone who may have difficult remembering or following. It was nice to read for the words I may have misjudged their meaning or didn’t follow.

Descriptions of the clothing were detailed enough to allow you to picture them without because too overwhelmed by words.

The world building was painted into your mind. Especially the home of the rebels. (I’m not going to say their names or describe the location as I don’t want to spoil it).
I’m hoping in the physical copy of the book that there’s a map. I would really love a map🥺.

I’m excited to see the character development and learn more about them and who they are.
I love the characters. I reallllllly love the characters. Leviathan’s and Roma’s histories are complex and enthrallingly written about. There are some darker histories to these characters. A lot of things in this novel were darker than I’m used to reading — but I understood why they were part of the story. There was one moment I had to skim over but it was short.

I really enjoyed this book and I’m so grateful for the representation. Not just in the book, but also the author. It’s surreal to me to see and read work by authors of colour who look like me or are from the same world as me. It makes me even more proud to have read this book and to be rating it now.

Thank you Ana Lal Din for being inspiring to readers and aspiring authors like me and beyond❤️

I cannot WAIT for the sequel!! BECAUSE THAT CLIFFHANGER???!!!!😰😰😰

Review also posted on Goodreads.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this as I really only knew that it was fantasy. When I actually got the eARC it actually provided trigger warnings at the beginning of the book which you don’t see often, and after seeing them I can understand why. And after reading the book I can under why it could be triggering. Don’t go into this books expecting sunshine and rainbows because this one gets DARK.

I really liked the way that the author makes you feel like you are with the characters on the journey with them. I also really enjoyed getting to learn about the rich culture and complex systems in which the book was set.

On the other hand, the complex systems and the large number of names that were introduced in a short span of time was slightly overwhelming and it was hard to differentiate and tell characters apart sometimes.

Overall, a great debut that speaks to the potential of the author and what it to come. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

This was so slow to get into. I get the importance of themes in this book, but it took so long to finally get to the main plot point that the book just got so boring. The beginning was also confusing, as I had a hard time understanding the world. I would prefer more explanation, especially at the beginning. Roma's role and past were unclear for most of the book. As for Levi and his relationship with the clans, he kept trying to prove himself and they rejected him and that whole plot was also confusing.

This was a beautiful, powerful debut. While this is a young adult novel, I would argue that the themes are very adult: trafficking, abuse, torture, war, suicide and rape. These difficult subject matters are handled very well and an essential party of the plot and character arc of Roma, the female protagonist. However, readers should heed the trigger warnings.

This book is set in a colonized Indo-Persian world. As such, the customs, language, and terms will be foreign to many readers. There is a glossary at the end and I did google some terms to have images to go with the story. Please do not let this deter you from reading this book. Reading about other cultures sometimes requires you to learn about those cultures outside of the text - it is an enriching exercise. What I love about #ownvoices books is that the stories are written by and for members of that culture. It would be ridiculous to expect an author to white wash a story and, hopefully, that time in publishing is on its way out.

There is a great deal of world building and establishment of the culture and relationships in this story. I think the action begins at about 40-50% of the book. Once it starts, the pace of the story is much quicker and plot development occurs quickly. Things are not what they seem in this world, and there are mysteries and magic to unravel. Without giving anything away, Leviathan and Roma both have a role to play and must battle within themselves to determine who they are and what they are willing to fight for. The strongest parts of this book are when Leviathan and Roma are together - when fate seems to pull them together again and again. The ending is unexpected and surprising and definitely leaves room for a sequel. This is definitely a darker YA fantasy book and there isn't a great deal of magic for most of the book. However, I found myself immersed in this world and hoping for a better life for all the children in it.

I first want to thank Netgalley and Ana La Din for giving me an ARC for my honest review.

Let me start off by saying I have MANY friends that loved this book. I think it is a wonderful book of you have a strong stomach and can handle A LOT of traumatic situations. Unfortunately, I am not that person. This book is full of rape, racism, slaves, sex slaves and so much more. I got about 250 pages in and I physically could not stomach this book. The beginning was mostly about the pure hate that is being brought on to the main characters and their families and friends. There was also a lot of words that I believe are Indo-Persian or mayve that were used in pre-Islamic Arabian Mythology, but I truly had no idea what I was reading 50% of the time. I ended up getting out my phone to look up these words. I know that this was enlightening to this language, but it made for a very difficult and choppy “start and stop” reading.

I can not give a full review on this book simply because I could not finish it. I hope that other readers enjoy it and can over see the violence of it to enjoy the story line.

I didn't care for this story. There was no connection for me, although I'm sure others may enjoy it. I typically like mythic fantasy but this one fell short, in my opinion.

The amount of layers in this first novel is marvelous. Leviathan is the child or a tyrant, the Firawn. A manipulative ruler that loves the idea of being perceived as a god. Roma is one of the children devoted to the gods, a girl that will embody goddess Lamia for the pleasure / blessing of the man that decide patron her.
Leviathan is not willing to follow his father's steps, that man took so much from Levi.
Roma is not excited to be auctioned, she still doesn't understand the logic of her having to just nod and agree whatever with what other decide on her behalf.
Power, strategy, self-history, limitation of magic resources, social hierarchies... SO MUCH to be seen and I am already looking forward to read the second book.

This was really hard to finish. Usually I can finish a book in a day but this took me weeks. The plot was a great idea and the concept intrigued me. The writing was just hard to dive into, it seemed stilted and moved to much around from person to person and sudden changes.

I also struggled with the sheer information dump of the places she was at times then suddenly very little information. It was also hard to picture the different locations.

I did enjoy Roma and Levi as characters they seemed real and well defined and their stories that made them was sad but intriguing. I just wish the author flowed a bit more and truly brought you into the world you were reading about more.

1.5 stars.

I was very excited that this book had Indo-Persian culture and Pre-Islamic Arabian mythology which I never read about (and so was very looking forward to).
Being an Indian, some insight into the Indo-Persian culture referenced throughout the book (like lehengas and cholis- I own these and I wear them!) etc., from my side: I always knew that these were introduced by Mughal conquests like Delhi sultanate, Nizams etc., I guess they were mixed into India after Mughal empire got them from their being largely Persian culture (though Turkish in origin), and then when they invaded India. That’s actually so cool how the culture carried over. Purely Indian things like dhotis, maangtikkas etc are also mentioned.

But I kinda liked the representation of sacred prostitution and caste system.

But that mythology part was misleading. On some digging around the web (mostly Wikipedia and YouTube), I found out that Pre-Islamic Arabian religions were indigenous Arabian polytheism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Iranian religions. In this case, I think the mythology was supposed to refer to the indigenous Arabian polytheism which is entirely different with none of the same gods and customs mentioned in the book. It’s all just a fantasy mythology with no connection whatsoever to the indigenous Arabian mythology. I felt betrayed.


Writing:
The writing felt so stilted and didn’t rope me in from the beginning. It always made me break my focus on the story. Reading felt like a chore as there was no clear development of plot in sight. The focus on trauma was too much imo.

A quote from the book- “Kinfolk related by their internal and external scars, as if they could look at each other and read every personal tale from how deep a cut went, or how hollow someone’s eyes were. It seemed to be their identity now, an identity whose weight they had paid in blood, or with their very souls.”

The writing was somewhat weird at times. Like- “When Amma unsealed the door..”, really? Unsealed?

I did find some unintentional pov shifts during narration.


Glossary:
The glossary is lacking many non-English words like shirina (there was no meaning anywhere in the book for this). Some were explained in the text but were not mentioned in the glossary. I think they should’ve been in the glossary too, as I forgot the meanings of the words soon after reading them (there was quite a heavy info dump which had me referring the glossary many times tbh).

Some words like Ghameq and Ghaib were not even precisely explained (they’re not human and made of energy but they’re also a tribe?)



World building:
The world in the book was so confusing. I honestly didn’t get where all the places were and after a point I gave up imagining them and focused on the story. A map would’ve been great.

Also, the descriptions of the cities(?) were just an info dump with not much importance to the plot. You could just remove them from the book with little to no damage to the non-existent plot.


Plot:
As I mentioned, there’s not much plot tbh. And too many loose ends. All the events were scattered and don’t always contribute to a solid plot line. This made continuing the book very difficult considering the stilted style of writing and a very slow pace. Too many tragedies give us a perspective on the society (though much less would’ve been sufficient) but it would’ve better to do this along with a plot that leads us on.

All the terrible tragedies, one after the other kinda desensitised me. The Chirag’s tragedy was too far man.

We get the first of the only two interactions with the main antagonist, the Firawn at about 50%. Until then, I was making sense of the world, googling shit and trying to feel bad for the protagonists but couldn’t.

The magic system was not explained at all. At the end, we don’t even get a good idea on the ‘ancient treasure’, the Firawn’s hunting (and don’t forget the child trafficking thing as everyone in the book seems to have left it alone for now).


Characters:
The side character dump was too much and had me checking all the relations between the lamiadasis many times later in the book.

I absolutely hated the dynamic between Levi and Junho. Junho just shouts at everyone and Levi just inclines his head or glances at him or slices his eyes at him and Junho just shuts up. smh.

I loved the name Leviathan for a character. But the character didn’t live up to it’s name. Levi was so annoying. I know what his dad did to him was sad but I hated him when he made the decisions for Roma by himself. The lack of communication between Levi and Roma annoyed me (leading to all the unnecessary drama).

I found this so funny- Levi’s pov and thoughts while seeing Roma for the third time- at about 19% (Until now- no talking, no interaction, just a glance for a couple of times.)-
“His gaze skimmed down to her squared shoulders, the straight spine. He recognised unbreakable strength when he saw it. That brazen stare of hers never wavered. She watched the world with cynicism. There was heat in her. There was power. He doubted she had any clue about it, or she wouldn’t have settled for the herd. She’d have led armies and burned down cities.
If he wanted to test his theory for a second, it was because seeing such potential pulled at him like a battlefield before the bloody call of war, the empty stretch that’d soon sing with the sound of steel against steel.”

Okay, I didn’t get what potential he meant by the second paragraph but I just can’t with the first one. Did I miss something between them or what? Pfft- On exactly what basis did he assume all that? Squared shoulders and straight spine? Lmao. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a strong female lead more than anything but this description, in this point of the book, with no interaction, was just ridiculous.


Ending:
A broad enough cliffhanger with many loose ends for thorough pick up in the sequel.

Summary:
A very slow paced book, too dark for YA genre, with confusing world building and under developed plot with too many tragedies.

Thoughts:
I liked the representation of sacred prostitution, caste system and Hijras. It’s not a society I would ever wanna live in.


Trigger warnings:
Violence, panic attacks, murder, slavery, kidnapping, sexual abuse, drug abuse, domestic abuse, rape, suicide, mutilation, genital mutilation, femicides, torture, transphobia, abortion, self-harm, prostitution, trafficking.

Total time spent: 11h 50min.
Oof. This took forever to finish.

~ ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review.