This is a really unique book in the adult romantasy genre. Saft's writing style is able to transport you into this dark, bleak world. The world feels reminiscent of that of Grimm's fairy tales. With fables being central to both the plot and the characterization of our MC, Lorelei. The world feels inspired by 1800s Germany, with germanic names, stories, and themes of war, unification and nationalism. I liked this and found it unique in a genre where most European stories are based on the UK.

The plot is interesting. It follows a group of 7 adventurers who are seeking the source of magic for their king. Their leader is murdered and our main character is the second in command who must try to solve the murder and find the source of magic. While I usually appreciate a standalone book, I actually think this would have worked better as a duology. That would have better allowed Saft to explore all of the elements that she has thrown in here. I'd have liked to see the main character explore her ability to see the dead (this could have been a great opportunity for some character development for her). And politics play a big role in the story but I struggle with stories like this where the author seems to have bitten off more than they can chew and the political issues are too big to be solved in this book.

A lot of enjoyable tropes can be found here like rivals to lovers, grumpy x sunshine, found family. I've seen others say that this is dark academia but I would not classify it as such. The academia portion is all in the past.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey for providing an eARC of this book.

And just like that, Miss Allison Saft has earned her spot as an auto-buy author for me! A Dark and Drowning Tide is the third book of hers I've read, and it was beautifully written with lush magic and compelling characters. Lorelei is an incredibly flawed protagonist—a rather unreliable narrator, I daresay—and, without giving away too much, I have to say that her character arc was fantastic. The romance between Lorelei and Sylvia was the best kind of slowburn, with so much tension and yearning that I absolutely LOST it when they finally made their feelings known. These two are actually so funny yet devastating in how they match together, it's insane. I didn't realize that academic rivals-to-lovers was my drink of choice until this book smacked me across the face with this romance.

As with all of Saft's books, plenty of social commentary and politics are at play. Set against the story's European folklore and fae magic, the country's social unrest sets an uneasy atmosphere throughout the novel. Presumably, Saft took inspiration for her setting from the unification of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, and she explores how the dangers of war, nationalism, and antisemitism drive her characters to desperation. I especially loved how she took classic fables that we know in our world and rewrote them to drive home the themes of her novel.

This was a delightful read, and I'll be sure to purchase a physical copy when September rolls around.

I absolutely adored this book! I knew immediately that I would read this book when I saw sapphic academic rivals to lovers, but I was obsessed when I got into the story more seeing the folklore, murder mystery, and political intrigue come to life (if you know me or can judge by my Goodreads, I’m a sucker for political intrigue). That being said, be warned about the world building, it will throw you right into the world and politics so if you want more explanations/to not feel like you aren’t already in the middle of the world, be cautious with this book.

Also side note, can we talk about this cover???

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This may as well be considered a DNF for me, given that I just ended up skimming the entirety of the second half out of boredom. Allison Saft is always really hit or miss for me, mostly because her books always have aspects that have so much potential, from the worldbuilding to the queer storylines, or just fun tropes like academic enemies to lovers. The problem is, for me at least, there is such a pacing problem, and a lack of depth to the creation of the universe and its characters, that I find myself checking out almost immediately.

The romance in this book was one of the worst I’ve read in recent memory, in that it felt unsubstantiated and out of nowhere. The two MCs spend more time hating each other, being whiny, and pissing each other off than they do actually being interested in each other. It is not believable that they would fall in love, nor do I think Saft does a good job of building up that romantic attraction in any way.

The world itself also was relatively indistinguishable from those of her other books. She always creates these fantastical kingdoms that just feel like Europe by another name, and while she will throw around terms for ethnic groups and various places or rituals, rarely does the reader get fully immersed in the world in a way that feels special, fully fleshed out, or new. I found myself disinterested in the Jewish-coded universe, which is a let down because I would have loved to see some of the many amazing tenets of Jewish cultural practice. Instead, they were just victims of coded antisemitism, and lived in basically a ghetto. More could have been done, and I just found my eyes glazing over at the extensive exposition across the novel.

Overall, the plot didn’t hold me, the characters and their relationships were flat, and the world didn’t do its job to pull me in further. I skimmed to the end, and the plot twist wasn’t bad, but it totally would have taken me over a month to finish this book if I actually forced myself to read every word, because I just couldn’t care. For a book that I was highly anticipating, this was a total letdown. 2⭐

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

I was excited to read this book; the description sounded amazing! The story follows Lorelei, a folklorist who is brought on a journey with her mentor and a group of nobles in order to find a fabled spring that grants incredible powers. Very early into the group's quest, Lorelei's mentor is murdered, thus putting Lorelei in charge of the expedition. Nearly everyone on the ship despises her, so Lorelei is left to keep the mission on track and investigate the murder with only the help of her longtime rival, Sylvia. There are many other elements thrown in, as well - such as a sapphic romance, terrifying fantasy creatures, folklore, and more. I love sapphic romance and gothic fantasy, so I thought this would be the perfect read for me. Unfortunately, I was a bit let down.

I read a lot of fantasy; while I love a long fantasy series, sometimes I intentionally seek out standalone novels, because they're refreshing and easier to absorb. This book made me realize why sometimes one novel is not enough in this genre, though. A Dark and Drowning Tide has a variety of interesting concepts, but it never goes into enough detail to adequately build up any of its ideas. For example, there is quite a bit of political turmoil driving the plot. Each character comes from a different region and has unique motivations. We're given little snippets about everyone's background, but none of it is ever clearly described well enough for readers to fully understand everyone's perspective. As a result, it was hard for me to care about any of the characters, since I couldn't understand why they were taking certain actions. This isn't just unique to the politics, though. The magic system, setting, timeline, and other worldbuilding essentials are all far too vague. I would say this is one of my biggest issues with the novel.

Another aspect of the book that decreased my enjoyment while reading was the characters and all of their negativity. Lorelei is the worst main character I have read in awhile. She is so incredibly angry about everything. She's had a difficult life, facing prejudice from nearly everyone outside of her childhood community, so she's justified to be bitter. However, she is relentlessly nasty to every single person she encounters. No matter what happens throughout the story, she reacts callously. She frequently makes decisions she knows will go poorly and then still overreacts when whatever negative outcome she expected occurs. So, it's hard to be stuck following her perspective for hundreds of pages. All the other characters, except Sylvia, also hate Lorelei, but mostly because of their prejudice against her. So, they're also terrible to read about. I found the side characters to be mostly stereotypes, which didn't help me warm up to them. The only character I did like was Sylvia, who is curious about the world and optimistic. Lorelei's extreme hatred of her seemed illogical, though, and I could never believe their romance. While I like dark books, I usually don't enjoy when everything is miserable all the time, as it was here.

The last major complaint I have is that the pacing of this book was very odd, and it made the story drag. Some exciting things happen (they go through a forest that rearranges itself at night, encounter an underwater dragon, get followed by a shapeshifting creature, etc.), but those are all resolved pretty quickly. Instead of developing the interesting scenes, it felt like the author spent more time writing boring chapters that over-explained irrelevant details or repeated previous scenarios. I found the folklore stories to be distracting. I wished that the characters spent more time on the ship, because the claustrophobia and mystery surrounding the murder dissolved quickly as soon as they left during a big chunk of the middle. A Dark and Drowning Tide is not a terrible read (I'll go into the positives shortly), but the slow pace was challenging. I seriously considered not finishing it at a couple points.

I'm not listing this as a negative, but I also did not love the writing. I found it to be overly descriptive, to the point that it verged on purple prose. At the same time, though, there were still some good quotes every once in awhile, and the sentences frequently had a natural flow. So, I think this is more of a stylistic preference that will vary between readers. Some folks may like the lengthy descriptions.

As you can tell, I wasn't a huge fan of this novel, Nonetheless, I do believe there is an audience who will enjoy it, so I want to be sure to mention some things that were done well. Although all of the religions in the book are fictitious, Lorelei is portrayed as the fantasy equivalent of a Jewish woman. Her experiences with antisemitism are described in great detail. Prejudice is a strong theme throughout the story, and I found it to be included thoughtfully. Additionally, there are many unique fantasy creatures that are interesting. I enjoyed reading about all of the different beasts and seeing the difference in how Lorelei reacted to them versus Sylvia. I could have read a whole encyclopedia about the monsters! Finally, while I did not understand Lorelei and Sylvia as a couple, I was pleasantly surprised to see how Lorelei changed after being honest with Sylvia. She experienced a great deal of growth; it was wholesome to see both their relationship and Lorelei's relationship with herself improve.

I might recommend this to romantasy readers who have little experience reading fantasy but want a light dip into gothic fantasy while reading about a sapphic romance. Unfortunately, though, I would not recommend this novel to those who frequently read fantasy, because you will probably be disappointed with the lack of worldbuilding. I'm having difficulty discerning whether this is a book that simply doesn't work for me or whether the story is genuinely hard to get into. So, I'll be interested to see what others think after this is published. I might consider reading more from the author in the future, but I'm still on the fence.

2.5 stars out of 5 stars, rounded down because I really struggled to finish this one.

LOVE LOVE LOVE 4/5 stars

I love Allison Saft's writing style and as I've said many many times before, I will ALWAYS pick up something with sapphic academic rivals. These characters were so moody and absolutely ridiculous in the best possible way. I loved seeing the dynamics between these characters, even the ones I simply could not stand. But I'd rather dislike a character than be indifferent so thank you for these wonderful multi-dimensional characters. (I also might have a little crush on lorelei)

My only complaint (mild confusion???) was the world-building. I was sooo confused through the first few chapters but once you really get into the plot, it is a little easier to understand.

I don't even know what else to say because I'm still just in awe at the beauty of the writing. I will be picking up everything from Saft and I can't wait t get my hands on a physical copy to reread and annotate.

LOVED! READ THIS ASAP.

DNF 25% I wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t get into it. Dark academia is usually one of my favorite genres but the MC just annoyed me with the self loathing

One of the best sapphic romance books I have read in a WHILE. I love a good academic rivals-to-lovers trope and Allison Saft did not disappoint. The angst and pining *mwah* chef’s kiss. Lorelei and Sylvia’s bickering is hilarious and endearing and I was just giggling and kicking my feet, watching these two try to hate each other, and failing miserably.

The premise of this book is that Lorelei's long-time mentor is found dead in a suspicious manner and Lorelei is tasked with finding out who the killer is or risk being blamed for the murder. The only person who Lorelei is sure is not the killer is her rival, the beautiful Sylvia. They VERY reluctantly team up to search for the killer and complete the mission they were assigned to.

I have some concerns about this book. I am not entirely certain about the magic system, meaning I do not understand what kind of magic it is and who can wield it. I believe that a more fleshed-out magic system would help with the immersiveness of the book, as readers wouldn’t have to figure out what is going on.

I am also 99% sure this book is a standalone and I completely understand that fantasy standalones are rare and have a place in the book world, but man do I wish it wasn’t. I’m just not ready to say goodbye to the characters or the world, and if the author is ever asking if people are interested in this book being expanded to a series, you can consider this my pledge and support for so.

A DARK AND DROWNING TIDE follows a folklorist who reluctantly teams up with her academic rival (who is, of course, gorgeous) to discover who murdered their mentor. Both its romance and mystery threads are a slow burn, but soon enough, it had me completely enthralled and under its spell.

Read this for:
-a captivating sapphic love story
-a folklore-rich world full of creatures, monsters, and a sentient forest
-a fantasy exploration of antisemitism

Allison Saft has done it again!!! A Dark and Drowning Tide is the perfect blend of a knives out mystery, magical realism, and sapphic romance. Our main character Lorelei is a bit of an outcast amongst her 5 fellow expeditioners who have been tasks with finding the Ursprung, which will grant immense power to those worthy for King Wilhelm. When their leader is murders, Lorelei finds her self not only tasked with finding the Ursprung but also finding the murderer.

Allison Saft tells a beautiful story with lots of adventure, magical creatures, and a bit of love. I found myself the edge of my seat, rooting for the characters in one moment and yelling at them the next. I loved the character evolution of Lorelei and her "enemy" Sylvia, their characters showed a lot of emotion and how important it is to be grateful for what you have because it might be so much more then the next person.

Highly recommend!

A sapphic rivals to lovers taking place over the length of a folkloric expedition in order to find a magical spring sounds so up my alley that it was soul crushing that the best thing I can say about this book as a whole is that I’m relatively ambivalent towards it. Where I was expecting a more fleshed out expedition rich in magic and folklore I primarily got a not-so-well fleshed out whodunnit murder mystery that checked so many formulaic boxes and investigated so many people that were just random cut outs instead of fully realized characters that I just got bored. Lorelai, our main character, is also so frustrating to be in the head of that I wanted to rip my hair out. Being in the head of someone who hates other people so much and also refuses to feel her full range of emotions makes it incredibly hard to care about any of the side characters, which was disappointing as I think I would’ve liked the book a smidge more if I cared. Even the folklore, which I was most excited for, felt so crammed into the story that I was getting annoyed every single time a new, random story was brought up. The whole of this really was boring and I felt as there was no reason for me to care about anyone or anything. Maybe I’m just having a bad day, but nothing about this surprised me and almost nothing made me feel anything. It's an incredibly sad day for me when I have to say that atmosphere doesn't hold a book together.

Oh my goodness- LOVE this book. It was a slow start, but I fell in love with the characters and the world. I loved the spooky vibes and how atmospheric the story is.

i was lucky enough to receive an e-arc of a fragile enchantment, saft’s most recent young adult novel, last summer, and i fell in love with her lush writing style there. this book is just as strong as that one in every way. instead of the light and almost whimsical atmosphere that AFE has, this book is suffused with a gloomy and magical feeling not unlike that of the once and future witches by alix e. harrow. the characters were distinct and easy to keep track of, the world was intricately built, and the story’s pacing made sense. i was originally intrigued by the romance (academic rivals to lovers isn’t something i’ve previously read), but it was the tension of the mission and lorelei’s inner monologue that kept me hooked. she is a fascinating and deeply interesting protagonist with a beautiful arc, and i’m adding her to my list of fictional characters i would be too intimidated to speak to in real life. my sole complaint is that, like the once and future witches, the characters were so rooted in their own world that it made them harder to connect to, but that is extremely nitpicky of me and i am aware of that!

thank you to netgalley for this arc!

Like all of Allison Saft's books, I loved it.
Lorelai has a LOT going on and a hell of a lot of guilt. Sylvia is a manic pixie dream girl of the entire excursion, I loved how her character was so trusting of her personal relationship with nature and the creatures in nature and that's eventually what helped them in the end, I really loved how everyone on the excavation team had their specialties (in terms of subjects being studied, a part of fantasy books that I've always loved are the "mythical" jobs, and very rarely do readers get a deep dive on academic magical jobs. I do wish that we saw more flashbacks to the war that explained things in better detail because I did feel a little lost on that particular plot line. In line with Saft's other books, the scenery was described beautifully and in such a way that made me desperate to jump into the pages of the book. All of Saft's books are so easy to visualize and as a reader I can really see everything when I close my eyes.
I did feel like the ending was a bit rushed but overall was a nice completion to the story being told.

I feel like I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book.

On one hand, it is beautifully written. Allison Saft always does such a great job breathing life into the worlds she writes. I loved the blend of fantasy, folklore, and mystery and I really loved the characters. Saft put just the right amount of angst and yearning.

However, I never really connected with this book. I never felt invested in the characters. I was a little bored. Now objectively, I think this was a great book and I think this was more of a "me" problem. I really do think that most people will love it, but it just wasn't for me.

First book by Allison Saft that I’ve read, and I’m not too sure if I am a fan. Took me longer to get through the book. I can the appeal and why some may love this book, but I just don’t think it was for me.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a great combination of Emily Wilde and a murder mystery, but with less cozy vibes and more political intrigue. Alison Saft is great at creating whimsical, magical worlds featuring flawed characters and sweeping adventures. Whilst reading this, I could feel the magic in Saft’s world and that was the highlight for me. I did find the development of the relationship between Sylvia and Lorelei a bit lacking. I would’ve liked to see a more gradual set up, but it felt sudden and rarely hinted at. This may be due to the story being told in Lorelei’s perspective, and she seems oblivious when it comes to reading other people’s emotions. I enjoyed the mystery and twist at the end but the first half was too slow for my tastes. I think this was super enjoyable once the plot began truly developing and can’t wait to see more from Allison!

Synopsis:
Lorelei has been training as a folklorist for many years when she’s called upon her mentor to assist in leading an expedition to locate the origin of all magic. On the first night after the set off, her mentor is brutally murdered by one of the expedition members. Lorelei must team up with her academic, overly privileged rival, Sylvia, in an attempt to not only find the origin of magic, but the murderer or she will face the blame from the king.

Thank you to Del Rey, NetGalley, and the author for providing me an early copy!

I really enjoyed this. I thought that the characters and world building were well-done. I enjoyed the academic-enemies-to-lovers romance present, but I will say that while this book was well-written and compelling it isn't necessarily something new. So if you're looking for a unique twist or point of interest, you're probably not going to be overly intrigued by this story. It was well done, but it definitely fell in line with the enemies to lovers romance-fantasy lane. I did love that it was a Sapphic romance, though, I love the presence of more queer representation in fantasy.

I will not lie, I totally judged this by the cover...and IT DIDN'T DISAPPOINT. This sapphic fantasy is filled with political scheming, folklore, and a healthy dose of yearning. I found myself instantly invested and ate this up over a couple days.

Summary

Lorelei, a folklorist, has always been closed off from the world. As a victim of prejudice, she hardened herself and buried her nose into her career. When her hard work pays off and she is tasked with leading an expedition with six nobles to find a magical spring with untold power, she seizes the opportunity to prove herself. However, the expedition starts on rocky footing when Lorelei's beloved mentor is murdered on their ship. Forced to move forward with the expedition, Lorelei runs the course that her mentor mapped out while keeping her eyes open to the fact that a murderer is in her midst. The journey is riddled with dangers of all kinds. Creatures of folklore, enchanted lands, and worse yet, her peers. With danger on all sides, Lorelei is forced to trust the one person she has rivaled her whole life, Sylvia von Wolff. Together, they work to uncover the truth, while they hold back the yearning that is bubbling to the surface.

My thoughts

In a nutshell, I really loved this book. The whimsy and drama had me deeply invested. The writing is also beautiful. Descriptions were creative and extremely detailed, painting vivid images in my mind. While the writing is lyrical, it was balanced and didn't feel overly flowery. It sucked me in and kept me breathless. The characters were extremely dynamic and unique from one another. It was interesting having them all in close quarters.

I will say that this is definitely not a romance. While there is some in there, it is not the main subject of the book by any means. It does, however, have the most painful slow burn I have witnessed thus far, but I'm not mad at it.

There was intense world-building right from the start that continued throughout the book. There would be mentions of creatures, events, and places that aren't explained. This made for a confusing read at times.

Key Descriptors:
Dark Academia
Grumpy/Sunshine
Slow burn
Rivals to Lovers
Sapphic

A big thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Academic rivalry? Sapphic fantasy romance? Allison Saft? I’m in.

I’ve been working my way through Allison Saft’s books this year and when I saw the cover and read the summary for A Dark and Drowning Tide, I was immediately intrigued. And this one didn’t disappoint! I thoroughly enjoyed the world, magic and character building, as well as the plot and the academic rivals to romance. The tension, the intrigue and the action kept me hooked throughout the book, with Saft’s lovely writing tying it all together.

I’ll definitely be continuing to read whatever Allison Saft writes and recommend this one

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Allison Saft for the ARC!