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.

Any book with this amount of intense sapphic yearning is bound to get five stars from me. Lorelei is my new crush and I will carry her with me for all of my days. I LOVE black cat/golden retriever vibes holy shit. The magic system and creatures are so fucking cool and you don’t have to super understand the intricacies to have a good time with it. The whodunnit mystery aspect kept things going at an entertaining pace. The elements based on Jewish experience and folklore were gorgeous and the politics kept my interest. What a good fucking time!!!

A lush, atmospheric fantasy steeped in folklore, with a clever murder-mystery and simmering sapphic chemistry. Saft's prose is rich. The pacing and romance sometimes move slowly, but the emotional climax and magical revelations are worth the wait.

Lush descriptions of this world and fairly deep character development did not save this book from having the most unlikable FMC. Also, the colonialism…?

I really like Alisson Saft's writing.
And although I loved the prose, and for the most part, the characters in this book.
I didn't actually end up loving the book. I can't quite put my finger on what threw me off.
Maybe, I will try again another time, and love it!

This one combines a few different genres. It is heavy on fantasy with world building. There is romance with major tension. It is also a murder mystery with twists and turns along the way. It also gives dark academia vibes that drew me in.

It took me a while to get into it. I felt like it was a bit of a slow burn on the romance. I was confused about some of the characters' back stories. I am glad I stuck it out. It was interesting to see how things went.

This premise was so so exciting but the book fell very flat for me. The entire resolution felt like it didn’t actually resolve anything? Just a big disappointment

A Dark And Drowning Tide
Allison Saft
3⭐️

Pub Date: 9/17/2024

Dark academia, adventure setting, with people in a ship for a journey. And then there's murder. This book reminded me a lot of Voyage Of The Damned plot. Obviously the premise/plots are different however they both gave off the same vibes as I was reading them. But in addition to that, there's mystery and academic rivals turned into Sapphic romance aspects to this. It took me a while to actually be immersed into the story. It got interesting as I proceeded but it didn't captivate me. The world building was brief but adequate and well written. The characters were not very likeable to me, even the main ones. One thing I really liked about this though is the addition of various folklore. That was a really nice touch and I had fun trying to figure out if I know them. I think this book is good and can be enjoyable. There are so many positives to it but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you @netgalley and Ballantine- Del Rey Books for a gifted e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 70%

I don't like how the politics are talked about in this one. I don't like that someone from an oppressed group was able to be manipulated into being apart of the people who are oppressing her people

3.75 (rounded to 4)

I think the most dazzling part of this book is the atmosphere and world that Saft has built in this book, although I do think it lacked depth. When first introduced to the magic system, I thought it to be new, but I don't know if it was really delved into. I found the characters, especially Lorelai to be unique in how she included folktales in her character development. It had such a distinctive voice compared to other books I have read and I enjoyed that this was more adult from the author.

Plot wise, I did struggle a bit. I think what really compelled me was the characters and the romance. I think I ended up forgetting it was a murder mystery for a large part of it. Definitely moreso of a fantasy book with romance and hints of murder mystery. I also wished we had more of them together at the ending since it was suchh a slowburn. But regardless, the romance was my favorite part! While not my favorite of Saft's books, it definitely deserves a place on my bookshelf.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a dark academia fantasy romance and I really enjoyed it! The world building and details were so good, I was captivated. I definitely recommend reading this!

A Dark and Drowning Tide completely pulled me under with its moody, immersive setting and haunting tone. From the very first chapter, there’s this creeping sense of unease that lingers throughout the story, and I loved how the author built that tension slowly, layer by layer. The coastal imagery, the folklore elements, and the themes of grief and isolation all blended together beautifully.

The protagonist’s journey felt intimate and raw—watching her navigate fear, memory, and the murky line between reality and something darker was deeply compelling. I appreciated how the supernatural elements were woven in subtly, never overshadowing the emotional core of the story.

The reason I’m giving it four stars instead of five is that a few parts felt slightly underdeveloped—certain character motivations or pieces of the lore could have used a bit more depth. Still, the atmosphere and emotional weight carried it through.

If you’re drawn to gothic fiction with a slow-burning mystery and lyrical writing, this book will absolutely deliver. A dark, melancholic read that leaves a chill long after the final page.

I do think the sapphic fantasy needs more representation in the broader fantasy genre but it being sapphic cannot be what makes the story unique in the genre. Where I struggle a little bit with A Dark and Drowning Tide is that the story - separated from the romance - does feel very generic YA to me. I think the background characters were exactly that, meant to fade into the background. And even now trying to write this review I can’t remember anyone but the main couple’s names.

Ultimately, I’m glad this story was written. And that it is well written. But I would have liked it to step more outside the genre norms of YA and do something different, agnostic of the romance.

Thank you to the publisher Del Ray for providing an e-ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

I didn’t particularly like Allison Saft’s previous books. A Dark and Drowning Tide so far is probably my favorite by Saft.

I thought the book was 50 page too long, but I liked dark academia, rivalry romance and queer couple.

I also appreciate the fact that the ending wasn’t a perfect ending but more like a compromise or suddenly have a magic wand to make all the complicated court politics go away.

3.5 ⭐️

DNF. I was really looking forward to reading this, but it did not live up to my expectations as soon as I got into it. I couldn’t connect with the characters and it just seemed like the story was dragging and not much was happening.