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!

Emory is back at Aldryn College after 'the incident' where she lost her best friend and finds herself with more magic than she originally had.

Baz is also back with his grief of losing his sister, Romie, in the incident.

But all is not what it seems.

2 words - absolutely brilliant!

This was a dark academia read where the writing was rich and captivating. The magic system was so unique and I found myself so immersed in the storyline that I read this in 2 days (which is a feat for me!)

However I am left wondering if there is something amiss with me because, damn, I always fall for the wrong guy!!!!

'The story has only just begun.'

Couldn't find fault, so much to love about this story. Beautifully written, an original concept invoking the phases of the moon, intriguing characters and a detailed, well thought out new world. This book didn't miss a trick, it checked every box. I was completely captivated and spellbound, with no idea where the next scene would lead. A new unique magical world has been created, that felt authentic and consistent. There was even a story within a story (although unfortunately my kindle version was illegible.) And I suspect layers of symbolism if I had a chance to read this again. Excited to see if there will be a sequel.

I wasn't sure about this story, because 500 pages can often feel like a slog in young adult books if they're not paced properly, and unfortunately my instincts were right. Curious Tides delivers an interesting Dark Academia story set at a magic school, but needed to be a good 200 pages shorter.

There's two POVs in this, Emory and Baz, who are starting school after the loss of a group of students, one of which, Romie, was Emory's best friend and Baz's sister. The story is started after these events have happened, with Baz and Emory investigating if Romie is really gone, or if there's a way to bring her back.

Because we join the story late, I didn't feel the emotional connection to Romie that Baz and Emory did, and I really felt the story would have benefited from Romie's POV, bringing us back to before the events happened. I really think this would have driven the story forward and improved the pacing.

Overall, the story was really interesting, but moved at a snail's pace. I'm unsure if I'll read the sequel, because I don't wish to re-read this book, and will only pick it up if I can fully remember the plot of this once the sequel is released.

I am curious to see how things actually get resolved in the sequel.
I took a while to get into the rhythm of this novel, partly because I was not drawn in by the premise to begin with, and partly because life has a tendency to distract, but once I did I felt catapulted into this fantastical world every time I started a new chapter.
The characters feel fleshed out, decked in complex history and hopes and fears, the magic system is very well built and described, the setting of the novel is perfect for all those who feel nostalgic about HP-like boarding school.
The plot slowly built itself to become something to behold. Tragic events have taken place prior to the novel starting, and everyone who is left behind must cope in their new reality (some do so better than others, looking for answers wherever they might find them). I will say that the idea they're in school kind of falls apart as the novel unfolds, plot taking precedence over academic continuity. The adults are few and far between (although I'd class this as a late-YA novel as the characters are supposed to be almost in uni if I understood correctly?) and some characters easily fall into genre archetypes that made the "plot-twist" feel a bit predictable.