Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Allison Saft, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of A Dark and Drowning Tide in exchange for my honest review.

A Dark and Drowning Tide follows Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist, who is desperately trying to secure a place for herself in society. Lorelei is picked to co-lead an expedition to find a magical spring. If she can succeed, Lorelei is sure that she will be able to secure her place and gain the access necessary to travel freely throughout the lands, However, shortly after the mission starts her professor is murdered and the only individual she knows for sure is innocent is her enemy Sylvia.

Throughout the entirety of this book, I was never able to predict what happened next. I thought I knew who the killer was and then suddenly a curveball would be thrown in my path. Not only that but what ends up happening is the last thing I would have guessed which is special. I feel like it is rare these days that authors can create this mystery and write it in a way where you are not able to suspect what is the truth until the very end. Even more, this is the kind of story that even though you know what happens, readers will want to go back and read it again in search of clues that they missed the first time around. My only issue with the entire book was the romance. The romance made sense to me in many ways, however, the line between enemy and lover crossed very suddenly. It felt as though they went from hating each other to madly in love in the span of a few chapters. I just wish I was able to see that line blur a bit slower and in a way that felt more natural.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to all readers. It is a great tale that will suck you in and keep you guessing until the very end.

If I thought A Fragile Enchantment was good, this one was SPECTACULAR! Like seriously, I ate this book up in no time flat.
I went into this book expecting a Dark Academia sapphic romance, and I came out of this experience knowing I’ll never get over this pairing. I had high expectations and this book did not disappoint.
The writing was phenomenal. I love her writing style so much, because even though she covers so many topics, they’re each written beautifully while being kept enticing to me, the reader.
The romance was amazing. The glances, the banter, the slow burn, the everything!!
The characters in this were so good, but not perfection. Only because I felt like you couldn’t connect to them all the way.
Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the pleasure of reading this novel. It’s gorgeous and atmospheric. You say sapphic and folklore and I’m immediately going to love something, and I really did. The fact that it was academic rivals to love only made it that much better. Can’t wait for release day to see what the final product looks like, and if it can turn my four stars into a five stars!

Every time I read an Allison Saft novel, I think I found a new favorite, and A Dark and Drowning Tide was no exception. Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for this ARC! I loved this book. From the cover, to the title, to the story, I couldn't get enough. It's absolutely gorgeous. Allison Saft has such a talent for stand-alone fantasies. 10/10 would read again!!

I liked this book and thought it was a solid read. It is not one that I would readily recommend to people though, I wouldn't re-read this book, but I do not regret reading it.

I believe that the book moved a bit too slow for me. The pacing felt drawn out and then hurried. The book didn't draw me in until about 59% of the way through and then the main part of the novel happened in what felt like the last ten chapters.

I feel like I never really got to know the main character. Although the novel is told through her point of view, the only thing I really knew about her for a good third of the book was that she was grumpy. To a point where it was completely unreasonable and frustrating. Then when we learn more about her character she doesn't feel like she makes sense. I felt like I understood Sylvia's motivations as a character and knew more about her in general. In fact, I think I knew more about every other person on that expedition, save Adelheid who just kind of came out of nowhere. Sylvia describes the MC as self-sacrificing and never doing anything for herself, but from what I read she is the exact opposite. She is a coward that runs away from hard situations. She did not make a single choice, throughout the ENTIRE novel, that was in the best interest of anyone but herself.

I think that the relationship between Sylvia and Lorelei was rushed and not flushed out at all. The move from hate to tepid friendship to completely in love gave me whiplash. It felt forced. It felt like they both fell in love with illusions instead of the actual person. I think their relationship would be doomed in real life.

Thinking about the average consumer of this genre, the vocabulary used was unnecessarily complex and nuanced. I had to add about 20 new words to my vocabulary list during this read. Not a bad choice of diction but it made it harder to stick with the story when I kept running into words I wasn't familiar with. On top of stopping to pull out my dictionary every chapter, trying to keep all the wildeleute names and unfamiliar town names and such in order pulled me out of the story.

I liked that this is a standalone novel. I didn't feel like I knew Adelheid well enough to be truly surprised she was behind the plot, but it was a fun twist. I liked that everything got wrapped up in the end. Even if I don't think Sylvia and Lorelei will actually be happy. I liked their romance and wish I could have seen more of it than I did. I liked the banter they had once they actually started talking about their feelings.

I think this book has such an interesting theme and it felt more mystery than fantasy. I just think that it tried to do too many things that it ended up not being that great at any one thing.

This was quite the interesting book and I loved the dark academia setting. The whole book had a very eerie folklore style atmosphere which I really enjoyed. There was mystery and intrigue - would be a great book around Halloween to read. I think the romance lost me a little and I love enemies to lovers and also a sapphic romance but it just didn’t come together for me and I didn’t feel that much chemistry - I think we could have dove into the characters more and that would have helped a lot but I still overall enjoyed a lot of the book!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book!!

I'll be honest, I was about 40% in before I started getting into this. The beginning felt slow to me, but I atrribute this to the author's writing style. This is a me thing, and I'm not letting it sway my views. This world was interesting but I wish we had just a little more background on the characters and not just a bunch of world-building in the beginning. By the end I didn't feel very connected to any of them except for Lorelei. But the magic, the creatures and the politics kept me engaged and the ending suited the story well! I felt Lorelei's trauma from the deaths that surrounded her gave us more insight into her mind and I wish we have more of this from at least Sylvia. I think a multi-POV would have been great for this book. But overall, I loved it and I thought it was a unique adventure!

Some of the things the characters do in this book are very cruel. I can’t decide if it’s cruelty just for “the vibe” the author is trying very hard to curate for this book. It has a dark, smokey, unsettling vibe that I’d go so far as to call “sophisticated violence”, which is not intended as a compliment. A lot of it is described on page too.

The romance is where the book started to lose me. This is a very toxic relationship and I would not use the word romance to describe it at all. At 80% Lorelei is still being an asshole to Sylvia and everyone around them and yet Sylvia continues to excuse Lorelei’s behavior and forgive her. Sylvia is almost an over-characterization of a manic pixie dream girl. Even still, she was the only person of the core group who I enjoyed reading about.

The magic system was vague and unclear about how it actually worked but I thought it was a really interesting idea. There was a major plot line that was just dropped for the bulk of the book. I’m not even sure if it was resolved in the end or if it died with the other mystery.

Overall, this book has a good dark vibe but lacks anything of substance. It was a decent way to spend a rainy afternoon but I don't see the story sticking with me for very long.

Absolutely stunning book that matches the cover beautifully! Packed with beautiful prose, atmospheric world building, magical forests, and creatures that are both whimsical and creepy. I would recommend if you are a fan of the Raven Boys but looking for an adult world to jump into. I really enjoyed the love story, and political aspects of the story.

☁️ Dark Academia
☁️ Enemies to Lovers
☁️ Grumpy x Sunshine
☁️ LQBTQIA
☁️ Murder Mystery
☁️ Slow Burn

The writing in this is exquisite. The main narrative is sprinkled with folklore, creating a well-painted picture of the the land and the people who live there. The world building and magic system were interesting, the search for the Ursprung felt reminiscent of the search for the fountain of youth, which are stories I’ve always enjoyed. The turmoil within the kingdom felt familiar and gave the story another level of intrigue. The descriptions of the wildeleute they encounter were beautiful and each creature was fascinating. I really, really loved the nixies.

The romance was definitely secondary to the murder mystery and hunt for the Ursprung. Lorelei’s attitude was frustrating, but understandable, and I couldn’t wait for her iciness toward Sylvia to thaw. I loved the character development for all of the Ruhigburg Five, even if I didn’t necessarily love the characters. Each of their stories were interesting, I wanted to know all about all of them. I had a very hard time figuring out who the murderer was, which is always fun.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.

If you like beautiful writing, a unique fantasy realm and a good ol’ mystery — this one’s for you!

I already knew I loved Allison Saft's writing, and every cover seems to make me say, "wow! I've got to read that". I have yet to be disappointed. A Dark and Drowning Tide was everything I could have hoped for. I continue to be amazed at how much I love these stories.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Folklore? Check. Sapphic romance? Check. Murder mystery? Check. Political intrigue? Check. I could go on and on. This was such a interesting world built around these beautiful almost poetic fantasy features. I really enjoyed Lorelei, the main character, and her character depth. She felt so real and flawed but perfect at the same time. The romance in this was GORGEOUSLY written, I could picture this to poetry. Once again I’m here for academic rivals. You’ll see me every time too. I can say that I absolutely need a sequel right now and I will beg for the end of my days. The back drop for this was just immaculate.

This story is beautifully written holding in its contents a sapphic romance that will frustrate you to your core (in a good way). The murder mystery, folklore, and adventure had me wanting to not put this book down! I particularly loved the atmosphere and the differences between the cultures/places they visited.

As academic rivals the tension between the two could be cut by a knife. You felt it throughout! Lorelei is a skeptical, serious, and stubborn character while Sylvia just radiates light and brings a magic into the world that few possess. It was just a breath of fresh air seeing them become intertwined, and I would love to see more of their story since the HEA did leave me wanting for more.

I loved all the characters and their histories and while it didn’t really go in depth, you can feel how much war affected each and every one. What they would do to keep the people the love and care for safe, and sometimes a price must be paid for great power.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a fun, whimsical book. I liked the academic rivals, the magic, and the mystery. I had a harder time connecting with these characters than in the authors other works but overall I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to fantasy lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley, as always, for the Arc
I would say I'm surprised that the first book of 2024 is a 5-star read, but Allison Saft never disappoints; I've fallen head over heels for Lorelei and Sylvia alongside a world blooming with wild magic.
If you love Hozier and Evermore, I cannot recommend this book enough for you.
Happy New Year, see y'all on publication day!

This title would be great for fans of Shadow and Bone. It captures a lot of that vibe while weaving in this folklore energy.

For me, it did not feel unique enough to really draw me in. It was a perfectly decent read, and adequately written, but I wasn't racing to get back to the story. It starts really slow and while it does pick up, I feel the slow beginning sets the tone too much and is difficult to overcome.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of A dark and Drowning Tide in exchange of my honest opinion.

.Another great fantasy from Allison Saft.

Academic rivals are picked to go with a group of researchers in an expedition to find a powerful magic object that will be the key to stop a political unrest in a divided kingdom.

Lorelei has a difficult upbringing and her bitterness and feeling of not-belonging is evident on her dealings with her peers. Specially when her mentor, which she has a strong sense of gratitude, appoints her as the co-leader of the expedition. This beautifully contrast to Sylvia, her nemesis, that was born into royalty and although has proven herself academically and is perceived by Lorelei as naive and entitled.
This book almost reads as a fairy tale. The rich folklore of the places they travel - from the flora of the places they have to explore to the fauna/beings that lives there - gives another layer and some clues of how the story will develop.
I could also see the effort of the author in making the main characters of the expedition being complex, with their ambitions, hopes and weaknesses. However I felt that Heike and Ludwig could have been more explored as well. Specially because on top of it all there is a mystery that the main character has to solve and I really loved this extra plot in the story

I would say that this book has great romance but it only start for real after the 60-65% mark of the book. You could see Lorelei’s begrudgingly admiration for Sylvia but until the last third of the book there is absolutely no hint that a romance will ensue. However, when it does it has all the angst, sweetness and cuteness that we know Saft works in her books.

My main criticism in this book is that I believe the first two parts of the book had a extremely slow pace, which is “corrected” to my taste on the last two parts. It took me weeks to move through the beginning, however I finished the book in two days after reaching the 70% mark.

Overall for those who likes dreamy fantasy stories, with some romance, mystery and a lot of adventure I would totally recommend this book.

Absolutely gorgeous romance mystery fantasy with a very very queer theme which was gorgeous. Thanks for the arc

This is my second Saft ARC and I have come to the conclusion that she is not the author for me. I love the plotlines but I feel lime the books are long winded and I wish there was more dialogue.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

4.5 Rounded up.

From the cover, to the description, to the actual story this book is beautiful, enchanting...

Every character in this novel is amazingly written. They each have their motives for their behavior and as we uncover them you are more drawn in. Relatable to some extent.
I absolutely feel in love with the two main characters, Sylvia and Lorelai.
The slow burn romance, the years of bickering and being blindsided... it was written beautifully!
Enjoyed their upbringing wasn't all flowers and love but a lot of tragedy and expectations that couldn't be met. I love characters who haven't had it easy and who despite that, still find how to be good.

The twists will keep you engaged and the ending.. wow the ending! Refreshing to see something different where the happy ending does not happen right away.
A MUST READ!