A darker, atmospheric, moody, academia novel that was just what I needed going into fall.

I adore Saft’s stories, the plot, the characters are always well done and I am always fully immersed in the story. I loved both Lorelei and Sylvia so much.

There is a lot of love about this book;
𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘵,
𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨,
𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴,
𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴,
𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴,
𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘭
and in theory, this should have checked all the boxes for me.

And while I did enjoy the story (for the most part), the plot-driven narrative had so much going on that I found the character development to be diluted, and the pacing clunky.

𝘚𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴:
𝘼 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙥-𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙜, 𝙖 𝙛𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙪𝙥 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 (𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡) 𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙧’𝙨 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧.

A Dark and Drowning Tide feels a bit like Emily Wilde as written by Naomi Novik, all whimsical folklore mixed with heavier themes of anti-semitism and colonization.

The strength of the book lays in Saft’s beautiful writing and immersive folklorist atmosphere. I can imagine many people loving this whimsical adventure, but strong character (and romantic) development is a must for me, and in that department I found this book lacking.

4.5 stars rounded up.

I haven't been impressed with a fantasy novel in a while!

A Dark and Drowning Tide hit all the right spots for me: extensive worldbuilding, multi-faceted MC and love interest, engaging plotline.

My only complaint is that I want so much more out of this world and its characters now. Give me a book about Sylvia and Lorelei's childhoods and undergraduate years. Hell, give me another book about their ancestors and Brunestaad's history. Or even a book about Ziegler's adventures and political schemes.

Like, honest to god, I would die for a Witcher level of historical, geographical, and political worldbuilding.

It's been a week since I finished this arc and I already miss the mythical creatures, the expedition to find the Ursprung, Sylvia's sword-wielding, the slow burn will they/won't they between Lorelei and Sylvia.

I won't lie, I didn't care much about the rest of the characters in the expedition (Ludwig, Heike, Adelheid, and Johann), but they did serve their purpose in the murder mystery plotline. At first, I found it hard to tell them apart, but as the Ursprung expedition went on, it was easy to tell who's who and what their motives might or might not entail.

Also, Ziegler's fate seemed like it came out of left field. I wish it hadn't been such a kneejerk reaction. (Even if it technically wasn't, Lorelei's decision seemed out of character.) ***SPOILER*** [The way that they just tossed Ziegler's body overboard was so weird??? Lorelei admired her so much, they couldn't have used their magic to make a morgue and kept her body for a proper burial?? Made NO sense.] ***END SPOILER***

Allison Saft wasn't on my radar before, but I'm definitely interested in her previous and future books now!

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the arc.

A Dark and Drowning Tide follows a folklorist leading an expedition of scholars to find the source of all magic in a northern European-inspired fantasy world where science, myth, and magic are all intertwined.

From the first page, the world building and narrative style of this novel drew me in. The voice is fresh and mystical with a layer of reverence that makes it feel romantic and academic all at once. I loved how the folktales of the world were woven into the story, creating a fully fleshed out fantasy world that is both unique and classic. The natural imagery is sparkling and bolsters the novel's themes of imperialism and power.

The characters' struggle for agency is mirrored in the romantic subplot, which is full of so much sapphic angst and yearning that my head almost exploded. Genuinely, Lorelei and Sylvia were so hot I was sweating. Lorelei makes me understand the phrase "book girlfriend." I appreciated the queer normative society existing alongside the themes of oppression and Jewish identity. In general, the characterization was stunning and effortless. I will definitely read more from Saft in the future.

Come get your whimsical, sapphic, academic rivals to lovers fantasy while it's hot!

Lorelei, a brooding folklorist, and Sylvia, a charming woman obsessed with befriending the wildeleute, are academic rivals who have been doomed to solve their mentor’s murder and uncover her secrets.

This sapphic romance gave me all the dark academia vibes I have been wanting for the oncoming fall. The characters were easy to love and hate and although the plot length threw me for a look, I genuinely enjoyed this book. I’ve read all of Allison Saft’s books and although this one wasn’t my favorite, I loved the reading experience. I would definitely recommend this one!

This stunning dark fairy tale immerses you into a world of political unrest, German and Jewish folklore and historical parallels, dark academia, and tense rivalry, with a dash of sapphic enemies to lovers romance.

We’re introduced immediately to a crew of characters that are about to set sail in search of the Ursrung, to study the source of all magic for the sake of the king. At the center of the story we have Sylvia, an Albisch princess in line for the throne, who’s also an acclaimed folklorist academic. And her rival Lorelai, a Yevani (which is a an ethnicity which faces prejudice and persecution parallel to what the Jewish people have faced historically). She is a folklorist who faces intense challenges of racism and microagressions, but has been able to climb the ranks and is respected as a great scholar with a fierce constitution. They're usually butting heads and constantly trying to best each other but now that they’re working towards the same goal, they’re stuck together, forced to hash out their frustrations in order to move forward. But how far from hate is love really? They’re obsessed with each other, and their rivalry and passions creates tension you could cut with a knife.

This story has a heartbeat, it flows between genres effortlessly, and creates a deep and dark atmosphere of dark folklore, mystery, and heady romance. With elements similar to the tone and academic feel of “Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries” while talking of the different magical creatures of this world as if from a textbook. At times the atmosphere is dark and moody, with a huge focus on racial prejudice and its effects, and plot twists left and right it’s also reminiscent of “A Study in Drowning”.

This is a perfect read for Autumn and a blend of the subgenres I love. I’ll definitely be giving this a re read at some point.

4 stars / This review will be posted on BookwormishMe.com and goodreads.com today.

Can we please make this a series? I absolutely loved this novel. The characters! The setting!

Lorelai Kaskel is an outlier. Handpicked by Ziegler to learn how to manipulate aether and follow in her footsteps, she does not fit in with the popular crowd. She is Yevanisch. A culture of people who have no homeland, while her fellow classmates are all upper class, some royalty from the lands. Yet all of them have been chosen to search for the magical spring that their king is after.

Ziegler is the leader of the pack, Lorelei the assistant. Her nemesis, Sylvia von Wolff is the naturalist that will help them navigate the wildelute they will encounter along the way. When Lorelei finds Ziegler murdered aboard the boat, she is tasked with solving the murder and returning to Brunnestad with the location of the magical spring. Can Lorelei survive the trip with the others all vying for favor with the King? Or will there be yet another murder?

I really enjoyed this. It was slow to start, as all fantasy novels can be until you get the locations and lingo down. What a fabulous story of love, power, entitlement. In many ways it mirrors our world, with its divisiveness. Excellent and fun read that I wish would be a series. I want to know where our adventurers are off to next!

🎙️David Addison: “Could've fooled me.”
🎙️Maddie Hayes: “A gnat with a lobotomy could fool you.”

📺 “Moonlighting”, 1985

Hear that exasperation? That dry wit? The casual dismissal from one character and the livid come back from another? These are the dulcet tones of rivals-to-lovers.

Allison Saft lost me in A Fragile Enchantment, but she came back swingin’ with A Dark and Drowning Tide, slapping me upside the head with a heady, atmospheric, thoughtful, well-plotted, completely alchemical rivals-to-lovers folkloric quest fantasy.

One of the first things I thought when I started to read this book was it was so much more charming than I thought it would be. I know that may sound quaint, but when I say “charming”, I mean the experience was so pleasurable, right from the start. It was engaging and quick-witted, with interesting and vivid characters. The opening scene with Sylvia and Lorelei was vibrant and really set the rivals-to-lovers vibes right from the start.

Another thing this book establishes from the start and continues throughout the book wherever it can is a sense of whimsy, which is something I always treasure in the books I read and I wish more books had. The whimsy slants more dark than light in this book, but I’ll take it however I can get it.

If I had one complaint about this book it would be that I almost wish it were in dual-POV. I usually never complain about this with books, figuring the author chose the POV and it was for a reason. With Lorelei (our narrator and protagonist) being from a marginalized ethnicity compared to the other characters I’m assuming having the sole POV being from that marginalized POV was the entire point of writing the book that way, but there were times I felt this book would have really benefited from some of the story seen from Sylvia’s POV.

It’s a wonderful read, definitely great for fall and spooky season. Full of folktales, magic, adventure, chemistry, romance, treachery, and love it just hit the spot.

I was provided a copy of this title by the publisher and author via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Dark Fantasy/Romantasy/Folk Fantasy/LGBTQ Fantasy/Sapphic Romance/Standalone Novel

"A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor's murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness in order to secure his reign over the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come true: to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she's only read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader - Lorelei's beloved mentor - is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are the five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again - and a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the dark: forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons hiding beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth - and resist their growing feelings for each other - they discover that their leader had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, and if this kingdom is worth saving at all."

Yes, wonderful dark world, but you see there's also a locked room mystery at it's heart! Be still MY heart.

I was so excited to read this as it was one of my most anticipated books of the year. The idea of it was right up my alley, but ultimately fell short in many aspects. I found the lack of world building along with the random lore-dumps to be a little confusing. I loved the dynamic of the two main characters and their story to be beautiful, but it still didn’t make up for the rest of the book.

For me, this was disappointing. While the writing itself wasn’t bad, but the characters were really one dimensional. I never really felt anything for the romance or the mystery. For me, the biggest problem was that it didn’t manage to stand out in an overly positive or negative way. It was just there and felt fairly forgettable.
Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 rounded up! Thank you to Del Rey, NetGalley and the author for the arc of this book.

Atmospheric, immersive and filled with folklore tales- the best way I could describe this book was a less cozy, dark and sapphic Encyclopaedia of Faeries with a twist of DnD adventure. I’ve found I much enjoy stories with a group of adventurers!

What I liked:
-Folklore tales woven into the storyline
-Magical creatures
-Loralei’s character development
-Sylvia as a whole. What a wonderful character. Gentle, intelligent and strong. I could go on and on about her character and how it shows compassion does not equal weakness.
-Academia undertones
-High stakes mission with a murder mystery thrown in.

My critiques:
-Hardly any time spent at the university.
- More writing revolving around the heavy character bonds to further drive the plot. These characters have known each other for 20 years. This is hard to achieve in one singular book, so understandable.
-The pacing was a bit disjointed at times.
-The murder seemed like a little sprinkle of plot over a larger plot, which isn’t a bad thing, but there wasn’t a lot of upset surrounding it. It was also kind of predictable who committed it.

Overall, I was leaning towards a 4 star rating but that ending was spectacular and so I’m bumping it up to a 4.5 stars. This was an incredibly ambitious story to write so I have to give credit for the well thought out planning.
This is a book for a specific audience and I don’t believe everyone will enjoy it, especially if you don’t like a slow burn. However, I loved it and will probably be thinking about it for a while!

4.5 stars. This was an incredibly fun and dynamic read. My only ask is that I would have maybe made it longer so their was time to really describe certain characteristics of the various religions and types of people. However I did kind of love that the author just moved forward as if we knew the information. It kept me on my toes.

I could see this becoming a yearly re-read for me in the colder months. The hint of academia and themes of whimsy and worth were gorgeous. If anyone is pressed about the ending (and Im sure some people will be), I will FIGHT them. There was so much character growth!

Also this author is NOT afraid to kill people. GODDAMN

I DNF at 60% . The writing isn't bad but the chemistry between the characters lack in that department. I found most of the characters boring it took forever for the plot to go anywhere. For awhile I forgot they were trying to find Ziegler's killer. I'm sure others will enjoy this. Unfortunately I don't think this was for me. I'm sorry. Thank you NetGallery for the ARC.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is the academic rivals to lover novel of my dreams. Allison Saft is an incredible author, but this novel is definitely my favorite of hers! The atmospheric writing style, the gothic elements, the absolute YEARNING and swoon worthy romance- ALLISON!!! What did you do to me?! I am already telling everyone I know that they need to preorder this book.

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on this book, some good, some meh, but overall this book I think left me feeling wanting. I was really excited for a sapphic romantasy adventure book, but I found that what was described wasn’t quite what was delivered. I don’t think it is a bad book by any means, but what I was expecting and what I ended up reading were different.

There were things that I thought were done really well in this book and that I appreciated. To begin, I did think the author had a lyrical way of writing that was really pretty. I did this one mostly on audio and there was a certain atmosphere to the book that developed out of the writing that was really enjoyable in this format. I found it was very descriptive and the style was intriguing. They also incorporated a lot of folklore into the story that was well done. I enjoyed how it fit well into the academic exploration to have ‘citations’ of lore included to help with defining or explaining things. It reminded me of the Emily Wilde’s series style of writing, which is a series I quite enjoy. My academic heart was loving this!

There were also a lot of parallels in this book to World War 2 and how the Jewish population was treated, both by the government with laws and by every day people with their discrimination. Even some of the rules and nomenclature followed by the FMC felt like it fit into this groups’ history. You could tell it was well researched and the inclusion was well done.

However, there were quite a few things that just didn’t quite fit for me. They weren’t necessarily bad, but just not quite right for my personal taste and reading style. As always with a critical review, these are my personal opinions. This is not a negative reflection of the author or other readers who liked it.

I saw this marketed and promoted as a sapphic romantasy and while it is a queer normative world and the characters do eventually get together, it is a stretch to call it a romance. This is more fantasy book with a tiny sprinkle of romance vs a romantasy book. I don’t think there is anything inherently wrong with it being written this way, I do think it wasn’t marketed correctly and this left me disappointed. I wanted a lot more romance. Also, because it wasn’t romance forward, some of the romance elements felt a bit forced between the characters or unnatural. I didn’t quite get the feeling of a building romance. I think it needs to be heavily emphasized that this is a book with a minor romantic subplot vs a romantasy novel.

I found the world building a bit difficult, especially at the beginning. As I said, the description of things was very atmospheric, but the actual development was where I struggled. A lot of the politics had me confused and I found myself needing to go back. I was very confused with the setting in whether it was modern or historical (even with fantasy based stories, there is usually a context of what kind of world we are in). I eventually just went with it, but admittedly I was confused by who people were or what their relevance was.

Speaking of people - I struggled with character development. I never really felt all that attached to the main characters. They were interesting, but I wasn’t cheering for them. More so felt like an academic observing. I also really struggled with the secondary characters and keeping them straight. They were the children of royalty in the world, but I feel like they weren’t introduced well to understand their past or even their ages (or maybe I just totally missed this description). They each had a different role on the trip, but two of the women I couldn’t keep straight and had no idea what they did.

I think this is a book that I would recommend to some people, but I would preface that it is very much a slow building fantasy and not a romantasy. It had elements that were well done and overall had an interesting plot, but if you’re in search of your next favorite sapphic romantasy, I don’t think this will be it.

I knew I would like this book before even reading and was not let down. I love Allison Saft and her writing style as an author. I read "A Far Wilder Magic" last fall and the way the writing played with my brain was magical, and "A Dark and Drowning Tide" was no different. Sapphic academic rivalry, sign me up. Folklore HEAVY novel, extra sign me up. I enjoyed this from start to finish. A really good choice for a fall read in my opinion! Thank you NetGalley!

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this did not work for me. I know clearly why, so I can outline it for those who may still be interested. If you are a fan of the Cruel Prince by Holly Black, this feels like a sapphic adult version of that. Which I know will get some gears going, as it should, we all have our things. It's not too similar in that it feels like a copy cat but it feels close in the storytelling style, and fantasy elements.

At the start of the book we are dumped into a rich fantasy environment. There is a lot of worldbuilding and info dumping which personally put me off. I do think I will end up being the the minority for this book. If you like the current trends in romantasy especially with the fae, you should give this one a try especially since it's sapphic and usually that is a win for me.

I also just didn't like the main characters at least for the 15 percent of the story I read, that may have changed if I continued but I felt that I read enough to know that this book isn't for me but got a clear gasp of who would like it which hopefully I've outlined in this review. I feel slightly let down but I feel hopeful for the book overall because I do think it's written in a way that current romantasy fans will eat up. Especially fans of Holly Black.

*rated 3 stars for fairness as I did not finish the book.

Allison... I fear you have written a truly beautiful novel.

Lets review the key points here - An atmospheric rivalry to lovers in an academic setting within a world that you can just let your mind go and disappear in to... A story about self discovery and of course, touching on the romance again, so well done.

Additionally, I try not to judge books on their covers but I think it's a crime not to mention how STUNNING the U.S. & the U.K. editions of this book are. So outstandingly breathtaking. I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy to annotate all of the notes that I made in my kindle.

I am being particularly vague here because I really think the synopsis is enough, PLEASE pick this up!

I enjoyed this; while I felt that there were sections that were a bit convoluted, I feel like this would make the perfect Netflix miniseries. I appreciated the frank discussions around antisemitism and how normalized queer dynamics were. Yet, I felt that I was often getting confused throughout the story and often forgot who was who in our cast. I am interested to read more from this author.