first things first, that cover is absolutely gorgeous.

now getting into the story, it was okay. felt that there were almost three seperate elements at play (fantasy, adventure & murder mystery) none of which seemed to gel together well.

like i was invested in the mystery but felt letdown by the end with the revelation and the way it seemed to have been wrapped up. especially involving such a fantastical world and its politics, it was kinda lacklustre.

the world building was fascinating but i found the density of the prose to weigh it down for me. saft’s writing at time felt almost like a chore to wade through, like dense and archaic sounding and tedious.

also felt like we barely got much academic rival angst from our two main girlies and with lorelei it was literally “i admire you from afar but won’t admit it”, and never got to know sylvia as intimately which caused me to care for her and even them less.

many thanks to netgalley and the publishers for supplying me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF @ 30% - a who done it mystery in the middle of an expedition via boat.

Saddened to DNF this one as I loved the authors other book “a fragile enchantment” and this one sounded really good. I felt like it was a mix of Emily Wildes encyclopaedia of fairies combined with the murder mystery of death on the Nile. However there were three main things that I just couldn’t enjoy / get along with.

1., the info dump of information, characters and world building, seemingly in every chapter.

2., none of the characters seem likeable - they are all miserable and unfriendly. I’m not sure if this is because we have the viewpoint of Lorelei and they don’t like her or if they are just not very nice people.

3., the lack of tension / feeling. The leader of the expedition dies and no one seems to overly care or is overly bothered by the death or that one of them must be the murderer.

I found myself dreading picking the book up as it felt so slow and dragged due to the above reasons so ultimately decided to DNF.

I couldnt put this down, it was sapphic and dark with a mystery surrounding magic, politics and murder.

Lorelei was complex and in quite a precarious situation relating to her people and how they are treated within the kingdom. She is rude and guarded but it is ultimately because she must be in order to survive the prejudice she faces throughout. I loved her combative back and forth with Sylvia her academic/career rival, it makes for an interesting dynamic.

The group is hunting for a magic source in order to help their friend the king solidify unity amongst the different people and kingdoms. There is a high level of distrust amongst the group on this expedition and it starts off with a murder which only stirs further distrust and tension.

This was such a beautiful book!

The writing is my favourite part of this, it is so beautifully written yet easy to read which I love.

The story was very interesting and I could not predict what would happen in the next chapter which is the best thing ever as it makes you want to keep reading to find out what happens next. The magic system in this book was very cool and I love how all the creatures were described using the word wilduedette, it really made the reading experience all the more better.

Lorelei's and Sylvia's relationship was written spectacularly! From start to finish it is clear how their relationship develops, from snide remarks to familiar banter. I like how their developing feelings didn't change them as people and how they act which is very refreshing.

Loved this book so much, the plot was amazing, character development was on point and most importantly the ending was wrapped up very nicely which I love in standalone books. And the fact that it's sapphic just add a cherry on top!

This book was fantastic! Fantasy, murder mystery, and a sapphic love story. This novel was full to the brim with all my favourite things.

The prose is beautiful and a little whimsical without being overly flowery or unaccesible. I found the the pacing just right fast enough so you wont get bored but not so fast that it feels like youre running through the story.

Each character was well thought out had their distinct personality. Lorelei wasnt the most loveable character but I feel that worked well for her, she was complex and at times frustrating but for me that made her all the more real and I connected to her better because of it.

The romance was done well, enemies to lovers and slow burn tropes are so easy to get wrong but Saft has done a fantastic job of both. At first we view all the characters through the very biased lens of Lorelei, who sees Sylvia as nothing but a rich girl who lives for adoration and putting lorelei and her people down. Though through the course of the book we see Loreleis perception change and see Sylvia more as a real person, with her hatred withering away and blossoming into something more.

The world building for me was wonderful. You can tell Saft has taken inspiration from 1940s Europe which is a hard thing to do while staying repectful but she has done a brilliant job of it.
The magic and how it worked was a little flimsy in that how people get their powers and why was never really explained but that didnt affect my enjoyment of the story.

Overall I throughly enjoyed this book, it was a whimsical and magical experience to read, easily becoming one of my top reads of the year. By the end of this book I was wishing for a horrible cliffhanger just so there would be a sequel and I would get to see more of Lorelei and Sylvia and their exciting world.

Thank you to the publishers and net galley for this arc! It was a pleasure to read and review. Review will be added to storygraph, goodreads, instagram, amazon, and waterstones on week of release.

3.5. It's not my favorite Allison Saft, but I still think it's a decent adult debut. The book has some strong elements, but unfortunately also some flaws.

"The Dark and Drowning Tide" is a sapphic romantasy that follows two academic rivals, Lolerei and Sylvia, who join an expedition in search of the source of all magic. However, their journey takes a dark turn when their mentor is murdered during the trip, leaving the rest of the expedition as suspects.

The book is written in beautiful yet accessible language. Allison Saft has a great talent for words, which she proves again in this novel. However, the pacing seemed a bit uneven to me, with the middle part of the book a bit too slow for my liking. Since there are many elements of magical folklore in the book, I was afraid at first that it would be too similar to "Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies". However, with the scientific expedition plot enriched with a murder mystery and political games, "The Dark and Drowning Tide" proved to be much more interesting, which I appreciated.

I feel a bit lukewarm about the romance plot here. Enemies/rivals to lovers is very hard to write well, and I think it could have been done better in this case. I didn't feel any particular spark or chemistry between Lorelei and Sylvia; it felt like they just went from hating each other to suddenly loving each other. That being said, I do appreciate the characters as individuals - although Lorelei was not a particularly likeable character. The author did a good job of creating an expedition crew made up of different characters who were different enough from each other that the reader could relate to them.

The book's shortcoming lies in its worldbuilding, which unfortunately appears to be a recurring issue with Allison Saft's novels. While it's obviously not inherently flawed to base fantasy worlds on existing countries or religions, an author cannot expect every reader to be familiar with historical context. Instead of seamlessly integrating the plot into a well-developed world, Saft tends to inundate the reader with information, leaving them to piece it together mainly by associating certain historical facts. In the case of this book, I must admit that without associating the worldbuilding with political situation of the 19th century Germany, as well as the persecution of the Jews, I might have struggled to fully understand it. The magic system is also not clear at all. I had no idea why some people in this world had powers and others did not.

At the end of the day, I believe that people who enjoy cozy, whimsical fantasy can have fun reading this book. I would also recommend it to fans of Allison Saft's writing style because, despite everything, this book possesses several elements that positively distinguish her work.

This review will appear on Goodreads and the retailers' websites the month the book is released.