🖤 sapphic
🖤 standalone fantasy
🖤 dark academia
🖤 murder mystery
🖤 absolutely spellbound

This is a tale full of desire between two women who cannot see eye to eye on the best of days, rife with political tension and absolutely dripping with folklore and deep magic.

Allison Saft's writing is beautiful without being too purple, and while the book had a pretty slow start, I loved the time taken to explore the characters and the world before the plot truly escalates. This is so incredibly important for an enemies to lovers story. Lorelei and Sylvia's attraction to each other runs so deep it will make you blush, but you will also understand why they cannot seem to stomach each other's presence; Lorelei I believe is the author's attempt at representation for the oppression of the Jewish in Germany, while Sylvia is of nobility, albeit that of a conquered nation. Lorelei, who has one of the worst instances of the martyr complex in a fictional character I've ever encountered, has built walls thick and thorny, walls that are slowly broken down as the story progresses.

Thank you Daphne Press, the author and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. I leave this review voluntarily.

This may be one of the best sapphic fantasy novels ever written !

A folklorist (!!!) and her academic rival (!!!!!!!) have to work together to solve their mentor’s murder (!!!)

The vibes of this book were immaculate. It was eerie and beautiful and haunting and utterly enthralling. The pacing was great, the plot was so wonderfully written, the characters were well developed, the setting was immersive, AND DO NOT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE SLOW BURN!!!!! SO SO SO SO GOOD ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

Dare I say…..the perfect book????

A captivating dark academia and sapphic fantasy romance that swept me away. I think a lot of you are really going to enjoy this!

Allison Saft has created magical creatures and locations that give such a sense of wonder. I loved how folktales were interwoven with these and the plot. I will definitely be picking up her previous novel A Far Wilder Magic.

I enjoyed the expedition's fascinating and complicated characters and seeing their backstories gradually revealed. Our protagonist, Lorelei, is a spikey character who has sharpened herself in order to survive. She is a perpetual outsider, not only is she a commoner among nobles, but she is Yevani (parallels with the Jewish community); she is forced to live in their section of the city, her movements are tightly controlled, and she's experienced a lifetime of prejudice and persecution (including from some on the trip). And now she has to find her mentor's murderer - or the King will make her his convenient scapegoat.

I loved the rivals to lovers romance and how their barbed dynamic remained even as the relationship improved. They could be both endlessly frustrated by and sweet to each other.

Lorelei's fellow academics may all be nobles, former royalty, and claim high ideals, but they couldn't be more different from one another, and have their own sharp sides. They may be childhood friends joined by a promise with their now King (and conqueror) to remain loyal to each other, but there's a murderer on the steamboat and it's one of them, so someone has clearly betrayed them! The mystery and suspense were excellent; I genuinely felt like they all had motives.

🌿 A Dark and Drowning Tide releases on 17th September 2024. 🌿

This is another one of those books that I picked up purely because of the cover (im a simple girl, I see a book with a pretty cover, I read the book with the pretty cover). So hats off to the designer and artist.

Did I enjoy reading this? Yes. Do I think it was an objectively good book? No. Is the premise and world building really damn interesting and amazing, partly because lesbians and hello, I love lesbians, but parts of the book were so jarring to me that it was difficult to immerse myself? yes, absolutely.

The key thing that held me back was the underlining sense that all the characters were deeply one dimensional. You've got the grumpy one, clever one, jealous one, stone hard bitch one and then doctor one. The attempts at developing these characters is done through some pretty jarring exposition dumps. which I get it, explaining characters that have relationships previous to the book is going to be touch, but boy does it feel a little bit like an essay at times. I found Lorelai difficult to relate to, she was such a martyr and so self hating, it felt like her entire character was just doomed to never feel happiness which is just a little grating to read, and falls quite flat. Not to mention she keeps doubling back on her character progression which just gets a bit boring after a while. And Sylvia as much as I loved this character, was desperately quite manic pixie dream girl.

It's like the definition of a book that is just overspilling with potential, but the characters just feel underdeveloped and I would just love a little more on that for me to really enjoy this one. Still, loved the whimsy of it all, and isn't that why we read fantasy?

A book I sadly just couldn’t get invested in. I thought the writing was very nicely done but things just didn’t settle in to place for me and I couldn’t find myself interested in the characters or the plot. I did enjoy Sylvia as a character but found it hard to relate to Lorelei and found it comedic that she believed Sylvia ever hated her. A 2.5 rounded up to 3 for good prose.

4.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in advance in exchange for my honest review!
First, I should mention that this is the second book I am reading by Allison Saft. I discovered her writing through A Fragile Enchantment, and I fell in love with her writing. When I heard of A Dark And Drowning Tide and read the blurb, I just KNEW I had to get my hands on it one way or another. I had high hopes for this book, and it DELIVERED.

I don’t know what it is, but Allison Saft’s writing grips my attention and does not let go. I don’t usually like to stop and tab/highlight my books because I feel like it takes me away from the story, but some of these quotes/moments were so good I just had to stop. The writing gave me the impression of floating between the fairytales of the book and the darker world describes. I loved it!

The worldbuilding was good. It took me a minute to figure out what was what and how it all fit together, but I think I got there in the end. Reading the ARC, I’m not sure if there’s a map associated with the story, but it definitely would have been helpful.

The characters were well written, although reflecting on the book I find myself only knowing Sylvia and Lorelei well, and then the rest of the cast is blurry. This may be because Lorelei herself doesn’t really know them, but in my opinion it makes the tension between the characters feel a little surface level. This isn’t a deal breaker for me, but could be for some.

The romance had me swooning. Being an academic myself, I am living for these rivals to romance stories. I loved Sylvia and Lorelei. This was a VERY slow burn, but the way I giggled when they brushed hands or for a split second didn’t think the worst of each other was 100% worth it. They are just so good together, whether they hate or love each other. It was very entertaining to read.

Overall, I loved this book. I definitely recommend if you fancy reading a slow-burn sapphic romance with rivals to lovers trope!

This was a fun sapphic book, full of banter, tension and fairytales. It was beautifully written and an overall enjoyable read. I liked the magic system and the rich atmosphere but wished it was more fully fleshed out. The balance between character/world development and story felt a tad off to me. The pacing was still good and it was an enjoyable read but I just wanted more. More banter, more tension, more falling in love, more magic and exploration of the magic system.

It kept me guessing though which was great and I enjoyed how the villain wasn’t immediately obvious whilst reading but thinking back on it, given how little focus was on the villain it feels deliberately misleading now.

I liked the story, it’s a great read but not really the academic rivals to lovers that it was painted at. The main FMC certainly thought they were rivals in a lot of ways but I just didn’t think it was very rivals to lovers. They’d clearly loved each other the whole time so it just seemed a little drawn out and we didn’t get much of their love story in the grand scheme of the main story focus. But the tension and banter was still fun and made me laugh at times. So i thoroughly enjoyed the book overall.

It was a fantastic story in terms of the folklore and fairytales. I loved how it wove traditional stories into the main story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'A Dark and Drowning Tide' by Allison Saft.

Words cannot explain how madly in love I am with Allison Saft. She has never written a bad book and I'm delighted to say her latest novel, 'A Dark and Drowning Tide' is consistent with that. A lush Dark Academia with sapphic academic rivals? I was hooked from the beginning. Allison's writing is just beautiful and it feels to natural to follow this story and the love inside of it.

A gothic, mystery, sapphic fantasy novel. Imagine The Atlas Six but with more magic and less physics.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the mystery aspects of it. I felt like I was trying to solve the murder alongside Lorelei (FMC). I also enjoyed the slow-burn tension and realisation of her relationship with Sylvia.

The world building was intresting, but the lack of a map in the book impacted the reading experience for me. There was a lot of talk around the location of places and borders and without a map it was difficult to visualise it.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is pure magic in book form. Sylvia and Lorelei captured my heart, with their rivalry spanned against the backdrop of a swashbuckling adventure in the name of magic, power and discovery. I was enraptured with every page and every character. I fully intend to purchase this book the minute it comes out!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC, and to Allison Saft for her storytelling gift.

**3.5 Stars**

Mixed feelings about this one, I liked the premise and I thought the execution was done fairly well.

I think my biggest struggle is that this felt like one of those fantasy books you pick up where it's a standalone set in a pre-existing world. The book relies a lot on folklore but I don't think it does a good enough job of explaining what all these creatures are. Even a section at the beginning explaining what each creature is and how they look etc would have worked well so that you could refer back to it. The lack of this meant I struggled a bit to be fully immersed in the story.

Aside from this, I think I just didn't get super invested in the story, and the ending ended up feeling a little bit rushed.

I think the romance had a lot of potential, it worked well but I think I would have liked a little bit more of it so I could get a bit more attached to them.

All in all, this was a decent stand-alone fantasy, probably not quite the book for me but I think a lot of people will really adore it.

Also the cover is STUNNING!

Thank you to Netgally and Daphne Press for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I truly had a hard time coming up with a review for this book.
While I adored the premise and usually love the grumpy/sunshine trope, it sadly did not work for me in this story. Initially I was excited to get to know Lorelai better and wanted to see her grow but while the writer has a beautiful way with words, somehow I could not connect with either Lorelai or Sylvia.

I wanted to like this story so much, I loved that one of the main characters is a folklorist and the descriptions are very lyrical, but sadly this book did not work for me.

Thank you to Daphne Press, Allison Saft & NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5

A little bit underwhelming, but still a fantastic example of this author's gorgeous writing and beautiful atmosphere. The gothic folklore vibes are wonderful and this book felt very immersive; I loved reading the various folktales of this world, which were kind of woven into the story nicely. I really liked the romance too - it's academic rivals to lovers, which I love, and worked so well in this novel. The quest was fascinating, although I wish it had felt more fleshed out in the magic side of things; I was struggling to care too much about the whole murder-mystery side of things. I also really struggled to connect to Lorelei, our main character - while I really liked Sylvia, Lorelei felt a bit closed off emotionally to be able to fully understand how she was feeling about everything going on. However, she does go through some character growth in this, I can't deny her that, I just wish we'd been able to know a bit more of her emotions. A beautiful, atmospheric novel nonetheless.

First of all, many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for granting me a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I sadly had to make the decision to dnf this at about 43% in. While I quite liked a different book by the same author ( a fragile enchantment) this one wasn’t really working for me. Which i’m very sad about cause the premise of this one sounded right up my alley ( I mean rivals to lovers sapphics?? Hell yes).

One of my main problems I feel, was the lack of anything really exciting happening. Don’t get me wrong, there was definitely some action going on in the 43% that I managed to read, but I couldn’t find it in myself to really care about it?? Stuff that was meant to make me go ‘’ah ohhh wowww wth!!’’ was instead just making me go ‘’ah ok sure’’.

And the other main problem you think?? The actual unlikeable main character. And not in the ‘’ah they’re supposed to be unlikeable but I would die for them’’ way, but no, more in a ‘’please stop talking, you’re annoying me’’ kind of way. I do love me some grumpy characters but Lorelei wasn’t a grump, she was just straight up mean.

While I really do love the author’s writing style and prose, i’m afraid this one just isn’t meant to be for me ( yes i’ll be mourning this quite anticipated read for a few days, sorry in advance).

Title: A Dark and Drowning Tide

Author: Allison Saft

Rating: ★★★★☆

Allison Saft's "A Dark and Drowning Tide" is a lush, enthralling, and delightfully sharp-tongued sapphic fantasy romance that weaves together mystery, magic, and the complex dynamics of academic rivalry. I absolutely adored this!

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a sharp tongue and an even sharper wit, embarks on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled magical spring. This spring promises untold power, which the king of the embattled country of Brunnestaad hopes to harness to secure his reign. For Lorelei, the expedition is an opportunity to prove herself and achieve her dream of becoming a naturalist, allowing her to explore lands she's only read about.

However, the journey takes a dark turn when the expedition's leader and Lorelei’s beloved mentor is found murdered aboard their ship. With five remaining expedition members, each a potential suspect, Lorelei finds herself thrust into the role of investigator. The only person she knows is innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now leading the expedition, Lorelei must navigate treacherous forests that shift at night, rivers harbouring slumbering dragons, and shapeshifting beasts, all while racing to find the spring before the murderer strikes again and a coup begins.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing attraction—they unravel secrets that make Lorelei question the worth of justice and the future of the kingdom itself.

What I Loved:

1. Compelling Protagonists: Lorelei is a fierce and relatable heroine, whose wit and determination make her an engaging narrator. Her dynamic with Sylvia, filled with tension and reluctant cooperation, adds depth and complexity to the story.
2. Intricate Plot: The murder mystery intertwined with a perilous expedition provides a gripping narrative. The twists and turns keep readers guessing, blending suspense with the enchantment of a magical quest.
3. Magical World-Building: Saft’s depiction of Brunnestaad is vivid and immersive. The magical elements, from rearranging forests to rivers with hidden dragons, create a fantastical backdrop that enhances the story’s allure.
4. Sapphic Romance: The slow-burn romance between Lorelei and Sylvia is beautifully written. Their evolving relationship, from rivals to allies to something more, is heartfelt and compelling, adding emotional depth to the adventure.
5. Themes of Trust and Justice: The novel explores themes of trust, justice, and the complexities of loyalty. Lorelei’s internal struggle with these concepts adds a thought-provoking layer to the fantasy narrative.

"A Dark and Drowning Tide" by Allison Saft is a mesmerising blend of fantasy, mystery, and romance. With its richly drawn characters, intricate plot, and enchanting world, it offers a captivating read that kept me immersed from beginning to end. Lorelei and Sylvia’s journey is as much about uncovering the truth as it is about discovering themselves and each other.

If you're looking for a book that combines magic, mystery, and a beautifully crafted sapphic romance, this one should definitely be on your TBR list.

Thank you to The Publisher Daphne Press ,The Author Allison Saft & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

It's more like 3,5 to be honest and I'll start with the reason why. This book can't seem to decide what it wants to be. It's not dark academia as it was marketed, if anything the dark academia aspects (added I suspect to fit the trends) often felt forced: not only was it hard for me to believe that all princes and princesses of the different provinces decided to become academics, but also aside from the main character, none of their "academic status" was relevant or necessary to the story. It would have been very easy to cut that part of their backstories entirely and it would not change the story in any way. Turn the expedition into a quest and focus on the political aspects from the beginning rather than pretend that any one of them care about research.

It's not a murder mystery either. Yes, a person dies mysteriously, and the main character tries to investigate for a while, but once again, it's not the main plotline - and in the end, she stumbles upon the killer on accident. It feels like the author forgot that it was supposed to be a murder mystery and what that entails.

And I wouldn't mind the genre-bending if the way that the book was marketed didn't make me wonder if the author was ashamed of calling the book what it is: a quest fantasy. Atmospheric and beautiful, with a hint of mystery, but still a quest fantasy.

And while I'm picking at it, I do have to say that the author had trouble establishing/keeping up with the character motivations. The main character's one if particular shifted from page to page, often in contradicting itself every now and then - without a clear trigger that could have caused them to change their mind. The killer's actions, once their goal was revealed, made no sense and again, contradicted them on multiple occasions. But I feel like that ties to the fact, that this book, at its core, is simply not a murder mystery.

And it's a shame because if only it was cleaned up a little more, it could have been easy 5 stars for me. The characters were engaging, the world-building, inspired by the unification of Germany and its folk legends, was top-notch. Allison Saft is the only author that I trust to write complex and realistic fantasy religions and this book is no exception. It was uncomfortably honest in all the right ways, without prejudice that I see in many other fantasy books. And I definitely plan on reading all of her other books as soon as I can.

The prose was stunning and complemented the story. Reading this book felt like reading a dark fairytale, Saft paints a vivid picture of every scene. I'm so grateful to Netgalley and the publisher, that I got to read this advanced copy.

This book took me way too long to read because I had to keep putting it down and coming back to it when I had the energy.

The characters all seem entirely undeveloped - Lorelei is just pissed off at everyone all the time even when they are nice to her. Heaven forbid you pity her! It made her such an unlikable main character who you really weren’t rooting for. I honestly do not understand why Sylvia is in any way interested in her.

Lorelei is a folklorist so that means every time a hint of good pacing comes in, the author completely throws it off with a segue into a folklore tale relevant to that exact situation. When she finds Johann standing over a bed, I could have screamed as she cut to the tale of Godfather Death.

The relationship between Lorelei and Sylvia is unbelievable and completely surface level. This is an almost infatuation-level love that Lorelei has for Sylvia. Lorelei has never been with anyone. There would be those skipped heartbeats and moments of sheer terror and trepidation. Yet Lorelei is going on about wanting to f*** her when she likely has no experience whatsoever and would be nervous. I guess I just wanted more to be made of those intimate moments. For us to truly see why we should love Lorelei, too. Maybe a chapter from Sylvia’s POV could help?

The other thing that made me super uncomfortable reading this book is how heavily the first third of the book focuses on Lorelei’s Yeva (Jewish coded) experience and all of the suffering of her people. It fully took me out of a fantasy world and was not easy to read. And the fact that the story wasn’t about the emancipation of her people then made the focus on it at the start all the weirder. I would highly recommend this book carries a content warning around Jewish trauma especially as it’s completely unexpected from the book’s synopsis.

Finally, the writing style was extraordinarily basic and simplistic. I just don’t think it’s strong enough to compete in the fantasy genre and do justice to the stories Saft is telling.

This book could have been so much more, but I think it needed a strong editor to come in and help shape that.

I really enjoyed this book, it took me a while to read because I have been in a reading slump but the wait was definitely worth it. The relationships between the characters were great and well developed, the banter was just fantastic. The plot was incredible, with each chapter being more entising then the last. By the end of the book I really felt like I knew each one of the characters. The plot twists were incredible and I didn't see them coming. I don't have much more to say, great book, no notes.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the review copy.

I really liked the premise of this book, and I was looking forward to getting into this fantasy world, with a dark academia feel to it.

The world itself clearly had a lot of depth to it, and had been well thought out. Unfortunately, I didn't feel truly drawn in to and immersed in the world, so I found it difficult to connect with the politics of the story and backgrounds of all the characters.

All the characters seemed really interesting, and at the beginning there was real potential for well-rounded characters and interesting, complex relationships between them all. Unfortunately, the development of the relationships between the characters felt rushed, so I never really felt invested in any of the relationships between the main group.

Whilst I appreciate that characters can (and should!) have flaws, I didn't connect with the characters of Lorelai or Sylvia. Lorelai, in particular, felt too entirely self-absorbed, and (due again to the pacing of the book), I didn't really understand the connection between the two characters.

Overall, the pacing of the book was too fast for me to get into the book.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a perfect book. The book has a dark academia feel to it as the characters, a group of scholars, set out on an expedition following legends to locate a magical source. The book has a mystery at the heart of it that keeps you constantly interested and questioning each of the characters loyalties and motivations.

The magical elements of this book were reminiscent of dark fairy tales, with magical mischievous creatures and creepy sentient forests. The prose was atmospheric and thoughtful, and the dialogue was beautiful to read. Alison Saft has a true talent in writing and this book was beautifully executed.

For me, the strongest element of this book is the story’s protagonist, Lorelei. Lorelei is such an interesting, flawed and well fleshed out character that I loved following. She is such a refreshing change from the fantasy female characters I am used to and I know she will stick with me for a long time to come.

If you love dark academia fantasy, a love story full of pining and an atmospheric read - I cannot recommend this enough.