This was okay. I generally enjoy fantasy but lately it’s been very difficult to read. This writing was not it for me.

Although I loved the mythology I have to say that the story and world building was confusing. I felt like if you didn't already know the basics of the mythology that you would be as lost as I was. I liked the characters but as the story progressed it was just more and more confusing and I do not think I will continue this one. I know that this was a debut so I do think that if this author writes another story (not in this series) that I would try her work again.

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.

This was such a good debut, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed an ember in the ashes or these violent delights, the romance and world building were very similar

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.