Curious Tides, by French-Canadian author Pascale Lacelle, is a dark academia fantasy novel for fans of magic, mystique and moon-gazing. Simply put, dark academia is an internet subculture concerned with ancient arts, classic literature, and Greek and Gothic architecture.

Wikipedia identifies the subculture as drawing on “idealised aesthetics of higher education and academia” and often featuring books, libraries and coffee shops, as well as activities such as museum visits and all-night studying sessions. While it is said to have captured the imagination of a “maturing 'Harry Potter generation'”, some have attributed its rise in popularity to the shutdown of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Which is fair enough, and Baz, one of the protagonists in Curious Tides, is certainly a book nerd who prefers reading and archival research over the use of magic. In contrast, the other protagonist, Emory, is reserved and often feels herself unworthy of the prestigious Aldryn College of Lunar Magics. Still, she is determined to uncover the truths behind the deaths of eight of the school's best and brightest students.

Like the other characters in the book, Emory and Baz have magical powers that are decided by moon phases and tidal alignments. The magical system here is complex and fascinating, based on the moon's waxing and waning and the tide's ebb and flow. Not to mention the lunar and solar eclipses that produce variations of existing magics and even rare new ones beyond them.

As Emory and Baz investigate the mysterious deaths deep inside Dovermere Cove, they encounter secret societies and bloodletting rituals, drowned gods and missing pages of origin stories, underground archives and residential halls disguised by illusions, dream manipulators and nightmare weavers, covert actions to remove memories and bleed out life forces, mythical creatures and magical doorways, and plenty of conspiracies. There's even a motorbike!

Indeed, although the 530-page book is quite a long read, it's also a thrilling ride through a magical world meticulously built upon vivid and vibrant imagination. The dazzling array of magical powers are eye-opening, the setting atmospheric, the twists and turns unexpected, and the horrors enthralling and absolutely terrifying.

It's true that the pacing can be more balanced throughout, but the flaw is minor when the book's overall literary merits are taken into consideration. Particularly worth nothing is the stunning design. Readers are advised to read the print book and enjoy the beautiful maps and illustrations of moon phases.

In a TikTok post in late 2023, Lacelle said she started writing Curious Tides in 2020, “inspired by the murder mystery and secret societies of Ninth House, the portal fantasy and book-within-a-book elements of The Starless Sea, and the magical college vibes of The Magicians”. In another interview, she also mentioned The Ten Thousand Doors of January that inspired “the idea of stories and worlds that might be more real than they seem”.

While these books may help readers gain a better understanding of Lacelle's work, there is no denial that Curious Tides is a breathtakingly original story. Highly recommended.

Note: This book review is scheduled to be published by Ranges Trader Star Mail in Melbourne, Australia, on April 9, 2024.

I loved this book. As a huge fan of dark academia, I had no doubt this Was a book I would enjoy. One thing I did want though is a bit more romance. But nonetheless, I enjoyed magic, witchcraft and dark and questionable characters whose fate I didn’t know until the very last page!

Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for a copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
After the death of her best friend Emory had to find out what happened to her. After finding that her magic was not what she thought Emory joined a secret group and thought that she finally belonged and felt seen. However as Emory began to understand that all was not what she thought and with the help of Baz, her best friends brother she is able to discover truly what she was capable of and what the secret group really wanted from her.
I enjoyed this book and could not stop reading and didn’t want it to end. It took a bit to like the main character as she came across as selfish however she did redeem herself in the end. The writing was easy to read and the world building good as were the cast of characters. I look forward to reading more from this author.

:: I received this as a free ARC. Thanks, NetGalley! ::

Oh wow! I loved this so much. I even looked up the moon phase when I was born to know my house - House Waxing Moon.

I enjoyed the world-building and the explanation of how the magic works made sense. The interspersion of the storybook driving the character was a nice touch - I loved to have all the pieces put together in one place. The overall mood was dark and ominous, with the Tides always looming.

Emory was a little easily led at times by those giving her attention, but I remember being the same as an insecure teen/young adult so it was realistic, even if it had me yelling at her XD

I'd recommend people give this a read.

I recently had the pleasure of delving into this book, and I am beyond impressed with the mesmerizing world that the author has crafted. From start to finish, the intricate plot weaves a tapestry of suspense, emotion, and unexpected twists that kept me eagerly turning the pages.

One of the standout features of this book is undoubtedly its characters. Each one is meticulously developed, breathing life into the narrative with their unique personalities, motivations, and flaws. The protagonists are not just names on paper; they are relatable, complex individuals with whom readers can form a genuine connection. The antagonist, too, is not a mere foil but a multi-dimensional force that adds depth to the story. The author's ability to create such well-rounded characters is a testament to their storytelling prowess.

The plot unfolds seamlessly, drawing the reader into a richly layered narrative that expertly balances tension, drama, and moments of poignant reflection. The pacing is impeccable, maintaining a perfect rhythm that keeps the reader engaged without sacrificing the depth of the story. The author skillfully navigates through various plot arcs, interweaving them with finesse to create a cohesive and satisfying whole.

What sets this book apart is its ability to tackle profound themes while maintaining an accessible and engaging narrative. The book seamlessly combines suspense and emotional depth, making it a truly immersive experience. The author's prose is both elegant and evocative, painting vivid imagery that lingers in the reader's mind long after the final page is turned.

As I reached the conclusion, I found myself yearning for more from this talented author. Their ability to craft a gripping plot and bring characters to life is truly commendable. I eagerly anticipate future works and would wholeheartedly recommend this book to any reader who appreciates a masterfully told tale. If you're searching for a book that seamlessly blends captivating characters with a compelling plot, this is a shining example. I can't wait to explore more literary worlds crafted by this exceptional storyteller.

Although this book has a good concept and I am a huge fan of dark academia, the story felt boring, predictable and some times childish. It was slow moving and I found it hard to keep reading on.

The saving grace for this book for me was the setting of the world, the magic system & the character Baz. I didn’t feel an emotional connection to the other characters.

In short, I loved this book! I’ve never really read much Dark Academia, but I think I found a new favourite genre in this book! The academic setting mixed with the fantasy elements of this book were absolutely perfect together. The magic system was so unique compared to anything else I’ve ever read, and while it was definitely confusing to start off with, I understood it all by the end. I will say that it definitely would have benefited from the inclusion of a chart of sorts to show all the different types of magic and their tidal alignments, but I did manage to figure it all out eventually. I enjoyed all our main characters in this book and even though there was a love triangle involved (usually not my favourite) I didn’t mind it so much. I do wish that we got to see more of Romie considering how much she was talked about though.

My only real issues with this book weren’t with the book itself, but rather with the layout of the book on kindle. Since my copy was an e-arc from netgalley that potentially impacted the quality of the file, but it had a few issues that hindered my reading experience a little. All of the excerpts from Song of the Drowned Gods that were included in the book were unreadable because the text was almost white… and white text on a white background makes for a very difficult reading experience. I wish I had a physical copy so that I could have just flipped back and forth between what I’m reading and the map in the front of the book because that’s one of my absolute favourite things to do, but oh well. it was still an amazing book despite those things!

This book had taken my heart and torn it out of my chest, tears running down my cheeks from being touched so deeply. It is filled to the brim with dark academia vibes! It literally set in this fancy elite academy for those with above average magical abilities AND there is a secret society hidden behind its walls. But that wasn't even my favourite part of the book! I absolutely loved the magic system! It was so unique and refreshing plus VERY complex! I mean each moon phase had a bunch of different magical abilities attached to it with their own rules and limitations. BUT WAIT THERE'S EVEN MORE! The secrets and mysteries were just expertly crafted throughout the book! The hidden secrets behind eclipse magic and the true intentions of certain characters were definitely hinted at throughout the book but still revealed to the characters in a way that had me never wanting to put the book down!

Curious Tides is a YA dark-academia full of mystery, secrets and an intriguing magic system!

Emory is starting her second year at Aldryn College, however she is feeling like an outcast after being the lone survivor of an initiation that killed eight other students, including Emory's best friend.

The magic system is truly interesting and unique. Each person gains a different set of gifts, based off the moon phase they were born under. Emery is a Healer, born under a New Moon. Or at least that is what she has always been led to believe.

Curious Tides has lots of darker aspects including drug use, unethical medical treatments and cultish vibes.

I really enjoyed Curious Tides and I am excited to continue the Drowned Gods series!

Emory Ainsleaf is a student at Aldryn College - a prestigious magic school for those blessed, by the Tides and the lunar cycles at their birth, with magic. Emory is a Healer, born under a New Moon. Or is she? When her best friend, Romie and three others go missing during a failed initiation ceremony that killed four other students, Emory discovers mysterious other abilities that should only be accessible to those born during an eclipse. Torn between Romie's brother Baz and Kieran, the most popular guy at Aldryn finally noticing her, she soon finds herself at the centre of a conspiracy to wake the gods and destroy all Eclipse-born.

Curious Tides is a YA dark-academia novel, filled with magic, mythology, teen dramaz, youthful angst, conspiracies and much more. It is dark - it opens with the four deaths, and does contain drug references ("synths") , forced medical treatment and the occasional sexual reference (one fade-to-black sex scene)

Overall, this was an utterly spellbinding read, with *different* magic - no wand-waving here, rather they called on the tides and the different lunar cycles amplified the different powers. The concept of Collapsing - drawing too much power and going supernova - was one I havent come across before, and provides natural consequences - and laws, through the Regulators - for the use of magic. The focal point of all the magic is a mysterious tidal cave called Doveremere - a theoretical portal between words and the location of the climax of the story.

The characters were all well written takes on the common teen drama tropes: Emory's makeover from mediocre Healer to popular Tidecaller ; bookish Baz, scholarly and carrying a torch for Emory; Kieran, smooth, charming from an influential rich family; Liziveta the cool, uber-popular queen bee,and so on.

But calling Curious Tides "just" a YA novel, or"just" a teen drama is selling this short - its an incredible tale, and I look forward to reading book 2!

NOTE: I purchased the audiobook so I could listen concurrently with reading this book. The narrators read it well, doing the voices and infusing the story with emotion. Highly recommend both the print and the audio versions.

~ Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review ~

I should have loved this one. The synopsis, the world, and magic system are all right up my alley. Yet it was so hard to get through this, especially the first 30% or so. It definitely gets better, however with how large the book is I considered many times dropping it. Baz is a lovely character. Emory occasionally got on my nerves.
I love the premise of Lacelle's world - but I think the presentation could've been done in a more concise and clear manner.

DNF at 25%. I was really intrigued by the magic system in this, but unfortunately even after struggling through the first 25% the story just never got going in a way that gripped me. I didn't care about the characters and there was nothing to keep me invested in finding out what really happened in the Caves.
From reading other reviews, it seems like things do pick up eventually, but with so many other things to read I've decided to move on.

I need the next book now!

Honestly, it took me a while to become enrapt in this story but around the halfway point I seriously couldn’t put it down. The way Baz is just so in love with Emory is so wholesome.

I cannot wait until the next one so I can find out what happens next. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Pascale Lacelle for the advanced copy in exchange for a review.

Congrats to Pascale Lacelle on her debut novel! If this is her first, I can’t wait to read more!

I haven’t read a lot of fantasy novels so can’t really compare this to others. It wasn’t a fast read for me and took me a few chapters before I was fully committed, but once I was, I couldn’t put it down. The characters were mostly likeable and relatable. There were some twists along the way, with romance, deceit, and suspense. While predictable, I still enjoyed the journey. I look forward to reading the next instalment.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and the author for an advanced copy for review.

“Curious Tides” is an interesting and original fantasy novel that I enjoyed a great deal. A note of warning, however: this is the first of a duology, so don’t expect every question to be answered or every plot point resolved.

The novel is set at Aldryn college for lunar magics. The type of magic that students can do is dictated by the phase of the moon they were born under. This also dictates their magical strength at different times of the month.

Emory Ainsleif had been desperate to study at Aldryn, to have enough magic to earn an interesting career and life. But she’s returning to Aldryn for the new term crushed and somewhat disconnected. She’s the sole survivor of an accident which killed eight of her classmates, including her best friend since childhood, Romie.

Romie’s brother, Basil, is still a student at Aldryn, and he’s suffering too. He distracts himself with a beloved book, “Song of the Drowned Gods”. Although fiction, many think it explains a lot about the magic “houses”. Basil, who has a type of magic often shunned, thinks that the missing epilogue could cast everything in a different light.

As Emory searches for answers to what caused the deadly accident, and Basil for the manuscript, their quests begin to align. There’s a lot of secretive things going on, and it seems that Romie might have trespassed into more than one.

World building is often critical to a fantasy novel’s success, and here it is strong, vivid and believable. Things are consistent and make sense in the context of the world. Although the focus is on Aldryn, there is a strong sense of a world surrounding it.

Characters are strong, too, and while their concerns are often very different to our non-magical ones, others are highly recognisable. The emotions characters experience, and the things they do, are believable.

I enjoyed this, finding it both absorbing and unique. Exposition and explanation is well woven into the story, so that it flows well. Although some parts of the novel feel a little mystical, it’s always easy to follow the action. While not a complete story, there is enough of a sense of resolution to satisfy the reader.

I’ll be watching with interest for the conclusion to this duology. There are plenty of loose ends waiting to be explored, and this is powerful enough to stay in my memory until the next instalment is published.

I will return to add links once this is posted to my blog

Thank you so much, Netgalley, for giving me an electronic copy of Curious Tides in exchange for my review. I love books with the Dark Academia vibes, and this story was facsinating read about captivating world of unique Moon and Tide magic divided into poweful Lunar Houses with different abilities. The magical knowledge is sacred, and anyohe born with the gift can get only one magic manifestation.

The story starts with the tragedy. Emori, the main character, is a student from Aldryn College of magic. She becomes the only survivor after one terrible night when a group of her most powerful in magic classmates die in strange curcuimstances. Unable to forget what she saw, Emory is haunted by nightmares and a growing fear that after facing the horrors of that cave where her friends died, she might possess some power which people like her are not supposed to have. Emori encounters Baz, her old friend from childhood, for requesting to help her to understand what happened in that cave and, most important, what happened to her.

This book is a solid five star read and can't wait to read the next instalment!

This dark academia was such a fun read with a gorgeous and unique magic system based on the moon phases and the tides. The story follows our main character Emory as she returns back at school following the death of her best friend and classmates. Emory decides this year she will focus on trying to uncover the reason for these mysterious deaths. Featuring secret societies, magic and a love triangle; it is also planned to be a duology and I can’t wait for the next book!

A gorgeous cover and a dreamy, intriguing magical plot were enough to have me requesting an ARC of this YA fantasy book. Unfortunately it turned out to be an average read for me, mainly due to the unlikable main character of Emory and the sheer length of this chonky book.

Firstly, I have to acknowledge that this book absolutely delivered on the dark academia vibes - a college where students go to learn to wield their lunar magic, a mysterious and deadly sea cave; and deaths and drama happening left, right and centre. We are given two POVs, one is Emory whose Healer magic is extremely mid, the other Baz, her best friend's older brother who has the power of controlling time. Emory's friend and Baz's sister Romie was killed last year, and they both want answers about her death. 9 kids went into the local mystical, dangerous sea cave and only one came out - Emory. Unfortunately, she doesn't remember anything about it. What follows is a meandering and slow-paced story involving a secret society, greedy magical kids and a scary dreamscape full of monsters.

The character of Baz is endearing and we do fall a bit in love with his quirky loner persona. He's always had a crush on Emory but it was clear his roomate Kai is in love with him. Unfortunately this plot went nowhere (perhaps in the next book?). Emory herself is a hateful cow - always resentful of her friend's extroverted popularity and now finding herself in possession of dangerous new powers doesn't hesitate to use and manipulate people to get what she wants. I really ended up disliking her a lot.

The magic system is a bit complicated but also a bit familiar - like the Grishaverse, different powers have different affiliations, but are all linked to the phases of the moon. The world also has a pervasive religion/myth associated with the Tides (hence the title) and a suitably deep and complex text on which it is based - the Song of the Drowned Gods. I have to admit, even after wading through 500+ pages I still didn't fully understand this part of the story or whether the myth was real or not.

I considered DNFing a couple of times but decided to persevere. Though ending with a thrilling climax, it is clear that there will be at least another book but I don't think I'll be continuing the series. Recommended if you enjoy YA and dark academia.

This book is filled to the brim with dark academia vibes! It literally set in this fancy elite academy for those with above average magical abilities AND there is a secret society hidden behind its walls. But that wasn't even my favourite part of the book! I absolutely loved the magic system! It was so unique and refreshing plus VERY complex! I mean each moon phase had a bunch of different magical abilities attached to it with their own rules and limitations. BUT WAIT THERE'S EVEN MORE! The secrets and mysteries were just expertly crafted throughout the book! The hidden secrets behind eclipse magic and the true intentions of certain characters were definitely hinted at throughout the book but still revealed to the characters in a way that had me never wanting to put the book down!

Oh and did I mention the storyline is tied around myths and legends of Gods and a book? It also has a touch of forbidden magic and complex, messy characters who are just trying to prove that they are enough.

I just found this book jam packed with everything I love! It was so intriguing and the mystery kept me flipping page after page! I loved the development of all the characters and thought the author really did well at giving them realistic faults as teenagers. Also I still cannot get over the immaculate world building! Like it was SO complex but I was able to understand it and found it so interesting! I cannot wait for the next book to see how the author continues this mystery, the adventure and develops the magic even more!

The one thing I will say is that it took a little bit to peak my interest and at times it was a bit repetitive, the plot was great maybe a few points were predictable but the lead up was still written amazingly. There are not many negatives I can say because the premise really did just hook me in after the first part!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the eArc, this in no way affect my review or thoughts.

I HAVE FINALLY FOUND THE BOOK OF MY DREAMS.

Dark academia meets lunar magic in this absolutely enthralling tale. Gloomy days and secret societies, myths and legends, moon cycles and the effect of the tides; it's all so beautifully woven to create a masterpiece of a book. The world-building was immaculate, the characters well-developed and distinguished, and the plot so unique and refreshing. I fell in love with this book from the first page and it continued to absolutely capture my attention and keep me intrigued throughout its entirety. We also have a teensy love triangle (which I don't usually like, but it works here) and alternating dual POV chapters. The way this story is written is simply magic.

So, a quick rundown: we begin our tale with our FMC, Emory - a mage, mourning the loss of her best friend Romie due to a tragic drowning accident. Baz, our MC and Romie's brother, is also mourning the loss of his sister and this tragic death brings estranged Emory and Baz together again. This shared loss and grief takes them on a journey they never expected, with secrets unravelling and even more questions being raised. They attend an elite school of dark academic witchcraft, and students are sorted into houses based on their birth date; or rather, what phase the moon was in on the day that they're born. This concept of having moon cycles as collegiate houses excited me and captivated me in a way that's hard to explain; it's like two of my most favourite things coming together to provide an intense result. I love it. Such a seemingly simple concept that was executed in such a fantastic, unique and refreshing way.

Another concept I absolutely love in this book, was the excerpts we encounter from Baz's favourite book, Song of the Drowned Gods. The way this was such a key part of the story, the way the prose practically ran off the pages in rivulets, and was so reminiscent of two of my favourite books/authors of all time: The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern, and A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross. its easy to say this book just captures the essence of storytelling.