Book Review: A Dark and Drowning Tide

               welcome to my blog •••

      hello wattpad amino! welcome back!

      recently i’ve gotten back into reading more,

      and i decided to try my hand at writing

      book reviews as a form of content, and

       to maybe get myself some arc’s :joy: .

       i am by no means a professional at this,

      and i really encourage you to check these

      books out for yourself!

               the book •••

       the book this time is A Dark and Drowning

       Tide by Allison Saft. i’m going to be honest,

        i bought this book as the illumicrate special

        edition. i was roped in by the beautiful

        book, and hooked by the sapphic romance.

               trigger warnings for this book •••

       i personally found the triggering content

       to be very minimal, however if you struggle

       with any of the following topics please

       proceed with caution:

       • death of a sibling

        • referenced injuries/mild gore

       • murder

        • religion/religious discrimination

               my review •••

       I don’t even know where to start with

       reviewing this book. What a phenomenal

       read. And the illumicrate exclusive edition?

       Absolutely stunning. Everything about the

       redesign of this book is beautiful, and it really

       encomes the story.

       But let’s talk about the book itself:

       The excitement I got reading the description

       of this book was nothing short of a child on

       Christmas morning. A dark academia fantasy

       adventure with a sapphic love story? It was

       like someone took everything I’d ever wanted

       to read and made it a book. And boy did it

       delivery.

       The main character Lorelei is sharp,

       calculating and all around a fantastic lead—

       I loved everything about her, and I felt like I

       could truly relate to her thoughts and

       emotions! She was not “nice”, she was not

       well-liked, she barely tolerated her colleagues

       but still managed to be civil with them the

       whole time. I felt like I was reading myself in

       a book.

       The love interest Sylvia was exactly the kind

       of feminine representation I wish all books

       could give their girls. She’s girly, likes ornate

       combs and pretty dresses and has long curly

       hair. But she’s also a fantastic swordsman, a

       seasoned soldier and a well respected

       diplomat. She maintained femininity and still

       came across as a well developed character.

        The story follows the two girls, along with a

       crew of other scholars on a riverboat

       adventure in search of a magical source— the

       closest comparison I can think of would be a

       fountain of youth. Along the way the leader

       mentor is murdered, and the story follows

       Lorelei as she tries to determine who among

       her colleagues is guilty of the crime.

        There’s mystery, suspense and a slow burn

       that is burning.

         The story takes a non-conventional approach

        to the queerness of some characters: not

        once is it considered that the wlw characters

        are flawed or broken or wrong in their love,

        and I think that is a beautiful approach. So

        often one of the subplots of queer storylines

        is the anti-queer beliefs of other characters,

        and there’s absolutely 0 sign of that here.

        The characters relationships are challenged

        in other ways with other conflicts, but it’s

        never a matter of “wrongness” for being a

        queer relationship.

        The magic system for this world is also

        incredibly unique, where all magic is

        stemmed from and relating to water. There’s

        no elemental magics or special gifts, just

        water and the different ways characters can

        use it. I felt it was well-developed, and an

        interesting new approach. Our main

        character is not particularly gifted with

        magic beyond any other character, and is

        actually highly outmatched by the others.

        I can’t really speak on the religious side of

        things; the main character is depicted as

        Jewish without ever actually being referred

        to that way. Her beliefs are there and a

        genuine part of the story, but it’s never

        depicted in a way that would make it

        difficult to understand with 0 knowledge

        of Jewish cultures or beliefs. I personally

        have no experience with religion but was

        able to fully relate to and understand the

        character without ever feeling like I was

        missing anything.

        The way this book ended left me wanting

         more, but I also feel like it tied things up

         nicely, and is very enjoyable as a stand

         alone. The ending was not what I was

         expecting, yet I think it’s exactly what it

         needed to be. Not every story needs to end

         in revolution.

         I gave this book 5 stars and I stand by that.

         It’s fun, adventurous, romantic and mystical.

         I was drawn in from the start and hooked

         immediately. This is the first Allison Saft

         book I’ve read but I highly doubt it’ll be the

         last. I hope to see her dive into sapphic

         romance again, it was beautifully told and I

         think even a non-queer reader could

         thoroughly enjoy this story.