I was too hyped up for this one I think and ended up feeling a bit flat about the book as a result.

It was too long and there was a lot of repetition. The characters seemed a lot younger than they were meant to be.

It did really ramp up at the end and I think an interesting book 2 has been set up in some ways, but in others I am not sure how it's going to be a cohesive or satisfying story.

I can feel the promise in the prose but this one wasn't quite there for me. Too dreamy and not enough drive to the narrative. This is a hard balance though especially for a debut.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The magic and secret societies really had me gripped. It took me awhile to get into it but it is a book I rather enjoyed. The writing was good and the world building was in a way that didn’t over do it with too much information and I really liked that. Cannot wait for book two and to read more from Pascale.

Curious Tides is, to say the least, one of the most exceptional YA books I’ve read in a long time. Everything about it, from its characters to the setting to the meticulously crafted magic system, lures you in, sinks its teeth into your heart, and does not let go. Pascale Lacelle has clearly put so much time, effort, and love into crafting this story, and it shows so vibrantly and brilliantly onto its page.

One of the first things that had me so ensnared with Curious Tides was its characters. Both Baz and Emory are fully fleshed and wonderfully realised individuals, with both talents and flaws that make them realistic to the readers. Emory, in particular, was a character that stood out to me in the book: you could so clearly see how much she wanted to be seen after being in Ronnie’s shadow for so much of her life, and that want to be more and have more struck a chord in me while I was reading. Lacelle has also spent care crafting the side characters in this book, and it’s a testament to her skill with how fully they shine in the story. Each of them feel as well crafted as Emory and Baz do, and you can clearly get a feel for their wants and ambitions even though you never spend time in their heads. Not every book gets me to love its side characters as much as I do its main characters, so I’m very happy that Curious Tides falls in the former category.


I also can’t talk about this book without mentioning its brillaint subplot involving Song of the Drowned Gods. A story within a story is one of my favourite additions to any book, so when it popped up in Curious Tides I knew i’d love it, but what made it stand out so much for me in comparison to other books which employ the same technique is how devoted the characters were to the book at the heart of the story. Their obsession with Song of the Drowned Gods reminded me of my own love to my favourite books, and brought me a little closer to the characters. The feverish, wide-eyes devotion they held to the story and their want to uncover its secrets and many layers reminded me of late nights poring of books I adore, trying to get to the heart of their stories and see what the author was truly trying to get across.

Overall, I thoroughly adored Curious Tides, and it remains a standout book for me in 2023. Is it too soon to ask for the sequel?

Wow! (Please note my review is very very late and was supposed to be posted for the release date last year). What a cover, dark academia you say? Count me in.

I love dark academia books filled with power hungry students and secret societies, add a dash of mystery and a potential forbidden romance and you have a winning combination.

Curious Tides is a beautifully written, lyrical debut. I appreciate a unique magic system, though I did find it a little complex at times and there was a bit too much info dumping for my liking. I enjoyed the dual POV, it was definitely needed for this story, I LOVED Baz , the MC and I loved how his character was developed throughout the story, Emory our FMC was typically reminiscent of most "not like other girls" but she was tormented enough that I can forgive her for that.

Curious Tides is definitely not a fast paced action packed book, with twists and turns every other page it is much more a "here for the vibes" kinda book but honestly I loved that. At just over 500 pages Curious Tides is not a short book but there's enough surprise and mystery to keep you going, I flew through it, I'm hoping there's a sequel!

Highly recommend Curious Tides for fans of dark academia, unique magic systems, lovers of secret societies and illicit power.

I actually really enjoyed this book I didn’t really know what to expect going in but I was happily surprised as I finished! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

I loved the dark academia vibes of this story! The secret societies/mystery elements had me hooked. It was quite long for a YA book but I'm glad I pushed through and got to the end.
Overall, a rich, atmospheric read with an interesting magic system and an intriguing dark academia setting.

I choose this one to be my first read of 2024 but sadly I had to DNF it at 20% as I felt like it was all dragging and struggling to get into the plot which is a shame as I was really looking forwards to this one.

An atmospheric, dark academia book with an intriguing mystery and swoony romance!

The characters are in college, and the overall themes and development of the story definitely feel young adult with a predictable plot outline. What strengthened and matured the narrative was Baz's POV chapters. His backstory, relationships, management of his magic, grief, loss, and subsequent need for emotional and magical control, were very compelling. The conversations with his mentor Jae and scenes in the institute were a fascinating part of the narrative.

An engaging fantasy with memorable characters!

It’s been four months since Romie, Emory’s best friend, died along with seven other students from their school, Aldryn College for Lunar Magics. Emory, the only one who survived the tide that night, is determined to find answers.

I was initially intrigued by the magic system, which relates to the moon’s phase when you were born. I was also keen to discover the secrets behind the secret society and learn what really happened in the caves.

“What if it messed up the ritual?”

There is a lot of love for this book and I had high hopes, but ultimately it wasn’t for me. We’re introduced to Romie by those grieving her so I didn’t feel the loss like I would if I’d known a character prior to their untimely demise. I didn’t connect with Emory and I got bogged down in the magic system. It probably didn’t help that I’m anti love triangles.

I’d recommend you read some 5 star reviews before deciding if this is the book for you. It’s clear that the readers who loved it really, really loved it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Children's Books for the opportunity to read this book.

I feel like reviewing this book does it a disservice, because I could never describe the elegance and eloquence of this book.

Curious Tides is a work of art, one that I don’t know how to describe. It pulled me in from the start, and I was immediately obsessed with the worldbuilding. It felt like something I could fall into, a world I could become obsessed with. This is truly a dark academia novel, in more than one way.

Yes, it has all of the characteristics of a dark academia novel - a secret society, characters obsessed with magic and power, murders, and more. But it’s also one of those novels where as the reader, you become obsessed with the magic and the world and the lore. I genuinely want to live inside of this book. I want to live in this world. It’s so well done, so detailed and fleshed out. It has the breadth of a certain magical world that shall remain unnamed (because we don’t support that author here), but this book gave me the same feelings.

I wish it had more readers, because we truly could get something special out of it. New magic systems, a new house system, kick-ass tattoos. This deserves the same treatment that we gave that other series.

Seriously, I want a House Eclipse tattoo, someone artsy draw them stat.

And this is just the incredible worldbuilding, we’ve not talked about the characters yet. Your honour I love each and every single one. Once again they were so well fleshed out, their motivations so clear. Also everyone was just in love with everyone and I am here for it.

Also I read the audiobook and it was fantastically narrated. Seriously, the Nightmare Weaver’s voice made me want to melt. This book was so good, please give it some love and attention.

The idea is interesting but not very well executed. Because of the jump in time, things are told rather than shown, which slows the action down. The world-building is both confusing and repetitive, and of course there's the token queer character.
But I liked the mythology of tidal magic and moon phases.

Thank you for the early copy to view.
Thank you for the early copy to view.
One of the best debuts of this year!

This was so very enjoyable.
The world is superb- dark academia with a fantastical lunar/tidal magic system. The writing too is quite engaging and I was hooked and invested in this world of secret societies, hidden portals, and dead bodies being washed on the beach.

On the downside, I found the characters and their actions quite predictable . Especially, the FMC, she really got on my nerve because of how unbelievably stupid some of her decisions were. I did like the MMC better and found him much more relatable. I truly hope that the relationship between these two is explored more in the next book as in this one it barely scratched the surface.

Excited for the sequel to see what happens next!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Simon & Schuster for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: death, depression, grief, self harm, injury

“Curious Tides” is one of the most beautifully written, dark academia-style, mystery fantasies I’ve ever read, and it’s not afraid to go darker and more raw places from the first page which I always love in YA. It takes place in a world where a person’s magic is decided by the lunar phase they are born under, the ones who are strong enough are sent to Aldryn College of Lunar Magic to learn how to control their power. Emory is returning to the college in a shadow of grief for her best friend Romie, who died under mysterious circumstances the year before alongside seven other students. Emory is haunted by the fact that she is the only survivor of what appears to be a mass drowning, and she’s determined to solve the mystery behind what drove Romie out into the darkness, even if it means returning to the place of her nightmares. However, since that night, Emory’s healing powers have turned into something entirely new. She is forced to turn to Baz, Romie’s brother and a rare magician who can stop time but risks his mind breaking like his father and his friend Kai’s, for help while also infiltrating a secret society alongside Kieran, the person who found her on the beach after the mass drowning. Emory soon plunges into a world where stories from childhood are real and the darkness hidden within the cave deepens as the victims wash up on shore.

There’s a beautiful lyricality to the writing of this book, I found the atmosphere so realistic and the representation of grief was excellent. The worldbuilding is so elaborate and original, I adored how it used the moon phases and tides, and I loved how people took religion and stories so deeply to heart. One of the highlights for me of this book, besides the characters, was the dark academia style setting; there was something incredibly isolated and tense about Aldryn College from the first page and every scene that took place in it had the same sensation. The character of Emory appealed to me instantly, she's an open book but at the same time she was never predictable while Baz had his own intense battles and moments to get through, both of them being driven by the events of the year before. Even though we hardly meet Romie, her presence is palpable throughout and as you read, you start to mourn her as well. I loved how Emory's recollection of events coloured her perception completely differently to Baz's and that his relationship with his own magic limited what he was willing to do. I also really liked the character of Kai, Baz's friend who destroyed himself shortly after Romie died and had his magic taken for it; his scenes with Baz were some of my favourites. If I had one complaint about this book it's that it's such a slow burn, and there could have been faster moments, but even then I really enjoyed reading it and can't wait to see what will happen next.

Following the death of her best friend Romie, Emory returns to Aldryn College with only one goal: uncovering the mysterious circumstances that lead to Romie and seven of their classmates drowning in a cave close to the school.

This is a novel of secret societies, forbidden magic and the dangerous tightrope between control and collapse. And at its heart is another magical story leading students to their deaths, and a missing epilogue that holds the key to great power.

Curious Tides is an exploration of the depths we will go for answers, power and friendship. With fascinating, complex characters, a clever tidal-based magic system and lyrical prose, I'm really intrigued to see where this story will go next.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I thought Lacelle did a very good job of presenting a different kind of magical system within this book, and I also really liked the way the narrative progressed. At 500+ pages it could perhaps have done with a little trimming, but I'll forgive it because I enjoyed the ride, though I could have predicted the twist with Keiran from a mile off. I'll be intrigued to see how the plot develops in future books.

4.5/5 stars

This was such a great read! One of the aspects I loved most about this was its unique magic system. I love anything to do with the lunar cycle especially when magic related, and that's exactly what this was. The Lunar/Tidal magic system was described so well throughout the book and you really got to know how it worked, it's capabilities but also its limits. It was incredibly constructed by the author.

I also really loved the academic setting and the world-building was really rich and fascinating. In true academic setting style, we got those dark academia feelings with a mystery needed to be solved. One where people have died or disappeared and no-one can say how or why. We have secret societies, mysteries and secrets needing to be unveiled and a FMC that needs to learn whom to trust in this school for the magically gifted.

It was honestly a fantastic read and I will be picking up the sequel, whenever it gets released, without a doubt! I'm really, truly hoping more people will read this because it's truly a gem in the YA fantasy genre.

This was beautifully written

Very original concept which is few and far between these days, as most things have already been done( that’s not a bad thing though)

Great characters, awesome plot, fantastic writing and decent world building. Would recommend

Absolutely loved the magical system in this book and the dark academia vibes. However, I feel the book was too long and pace very slow.

Curious Tides was a super interesting read. I would have loved to see a little bit more world building BUT there was enough to understand the book and the world. It was great and I can’t wait for more!