I don't know why I waited so long to pick this book off my tbr???? This was an insanely perfect read, the academic expedition vibes, the sapphic yearning (and when I say yearning, I mean YEARNING), the murder mystery, the grumpy narration by the MC, everything was so frickin perfectly tied together 😭

Also the MC? I love her okay, I just want to give her a warm blanket and a hot mug of coffee and tell her she's GOT this 😭

Also also, this book included so many well-written short folk tales, I can't even imagine the amount of talent and effort that went into that!

ALSO ALSO, shoutout to the sunshine love interest, her optimism and whimsy were EVERYTHING

This book is the personification of that scene in wicked where Elphie is lying confused and grumpy on the floor, and Glinda dances around her (also on the floor) singing "Laaaaa laaaaa" (iykyk 😭)

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

This was a fun murder! The characters were wonderful! I also like how well-written ! This was a very fast-paced and fun read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC.

Well, this was a delightful grumpy sunshine romance!

RTC.

This book was steeped in folklore and I truly felt engaged in the story of Lorelai and Sylvia's rivalry and eventual relationship. The imagery and tone of the book was so well done, I truly felt the angst of what Lorelai has gone through. This book will sit with me for a while, I can absolutely tell.

This book completely captivated me from the beginning. The atmosphere? Creative as hell. The tension? Sharp as a perfect winged liner. The vibes? Folklore but make it edgy. If the idea of sentient forests, dark fairytale energy, slow burn rivals to maybeee lovers, and academic angst with actual emotional stakes...you're in for something special. Lorelei was truly a standout narrator, in my opinion. She's prickly, observant, and completely haunted in ways that feel real and entirely relatable. I loved how deeply her Jewish identity shaped the the story, and I appreciated the way the author explored antisemitism in folklore and how narratives have historically been weaponized. It hit me right in the feels. The pacing worked for me...a little slower at first, which would usually lose me, but the buildup was truly worth it. The yearning was so well written, it felt like I was the one yearning. You feel it deep in your bones, but it didn’t overpower the story. Everything unfolded with this quiet ache that kept me turning the pages.

If you love your fantasy with a side of grief, longing and sharp observations you definitely need to pick this up like, yesterday.

I love this cover so much, and the book was very unique! The characters were very compelling and the plot was so unique and magical! And the prose was so lush. I love a book that is water-centered and this definitely delivered. But the messaging of the book was slightly problematic. The politics aspect was not addressed at the end which gives the book a pro-colonialism message that doesn’t sit right with me.

DNF. This book didn’t really deliver in its promise of dark academia. Instead, it was a very simplistic and trope driven romance with a facade of fantasy and academia. The central problems of the books lacked tension.

I’ll admit I had higher hopes, but I still enjoyed it and do recommend to friends when they ask for something atmospheric or sapphic. Overall, I’d give it 3 stars

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

To say I am a little disappointed is an understatement. I'm still getting into some fantasy and this book did not hit the mark.

I'll admit, I loved the writing style, it was not bad at all. It was very poetic, smooth flowing and easy to follow, but I don't know, I also did not know a lot of the words the author used and I found myself pausing to have to look up a word and idk that just bugs me personally.

The premise of the story was interesting, the synopsis is what pulled me in. Add the writing style and boom. But the execution? It just wasn't right... It dragged to me and felt very...flat. There needed to be more depth. I also did not connect with the characters and they felt very one-dimensional and it's really hard for me to be into a book when I can't even connect to a character, but again, that could just be me,

I liked the main characters and thought the romance between the two main women was really great. however, i thought the worldbuilding could have used a bit more development.

This had the appeal of everything I’d like in a dark academia sapphic story but alas it was not for me. It has a promising premise with adventure, gothic folklore, a sapphic enemies to lovers/rivals situation, but ultimately it left me wanting. The politicos were really messy and very pro-colonialist which was unexpected and unappealing. I did not feel connected to the characters or like either of them - sometimes this doesn’t matter and I can still like a story, but I couldn’t get on board.

This book felt a bit uneven, like it was juggling too many things and didn't quite land them. I enjoyed the romance and the "unlikeable" main character.

Had high hopes for this one, but I found the characters and their dynamic to be a little infuriating and overdone.

I absolutely love Allison Saft and have reviewed her books in the past. While I did not have the chance to read this book when I received it as an ARC, I look forward to reading it soon!! I have heard nothing but great things about it.

Magical flora and fauna!? Sapphic romance with a murder mystery? The VIBES? This book was made for me.

I tried. Honestly gave it my best shot, but I did soft DNF around 40%. It’s not you, it’s me. I will pick this up again at a later time, and will most likely love it.
It has all the things I usually love in a book. I’m interested to know how the story unfolds.

I really do love Allison Saft’s writing style and was excited for this book but unfortunately did not end up loving it and instead DNFd. The politics made me uncomfortable and I had a hard time moving past that to really focus on the other aspects of the story.

I was so, so excited for A Dark and Drowning Tide. I am a big fan of Allison Saft, and I big fan of dark academia, and a big fan of rivals to lovers, too, so all in all this one should have been a home run.

And yet it wasn't. The plot was a bit meandering and unsatisfying, the relationship felt messy, and it all ended up feeling far more pro-colonialist than I was comfortable with. I waffled between 2 and 3 stars, but ultimately, the good parts have faded from memory while the bad parts remain, never a good sign.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well this was terrible. The blurb sounded so promising -- folklore! adventure! sapphic romance! -- but the actual result was a mess of nothingburger characters with wildly shallow motivations. That it turned out to be pro-colonialist, Ayn Rand-ian individualist take was surprising and not at all welcome.

Dark academia, but make it nautical. Unfortunately, this one left me feeling adrift.

I wanted to love this. Truly. A sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance set against a folklore-drenched mystery at sea? Yes please. It had all the makings of something I’d absolutely love.

Unfotunately, the vibes were immaculate, and the plot was... not.

Imagine Atlas 6 at sea, but the writer forgot to include any dimension or depth to the characters (full disclosure, I haven't read Atlas 6 but from what I've heard it sounds like a similar Dark Academia vibe with pretty awful humans). The central romance felt deeply unearned and the main character was dumb in addition to being a bad person. The most frustrating part was the author tried to incorporate a very obvious stand-in for Jewishness and it is the main character's marginalization that apparently makes her into such a horrible person. I was shocked to google and discover that Allison Saft was actually Jewish.

There were glimmers of atmosphere and interesting worldbuilding here and there—Saft can definitely write a good sentence—but overall, this was a rare miss for me. I kept turning pages hoping for connection, for tension, for coherence. But in the end, I just felt frustrated and disappointed.