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A review by booksy_hvn
A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley and Daphne Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A Dark and Drowning Tide was a very surprising read for me. I am not the biggest fantasy reader, thus I was kinda scared of not liking it or being so lost in the world building that I wouldn't get to enjoy the story itself. But that is not at all how it went.
I will say that if English is not your first language and you don't know much about mythologies, folklores and fantasy worlds in general, you will need some type of dictionary or wikipedia to help you with the definitions of different creatures and places. However, once you've familiarised yourself with some of the creatures who of course will be constantly appearing through the book, you get to enter such a magical and gothic world. All the places atmosphere reminded me so much of medieval times, the way they dressed, the weapons they used etc. which is of course the point as this is labeled as gothic literature. I think I would have liked to see more of the type of magic that Lorelei controlled, I feel like we got much more gothic like world building and folklore creatures than we had fantasy and magic as such. But of course, that is just personal taste.
There is also mystery in the story, as very soon in the book we find out that someone (Ziegler, the leader/mentor) was killed, and the murdered can only be one of those present in the ship they were travelling by, so a sense of fear and danger is present through a big part of the story. I have to say that, as always, I did not solve the crime and was doubting the most innocent person of them all (it made perfect sense in my mind, you actually have a lot of clues of who it really is, I'm just oblivious). So, I was quite surprised about the resolution and not only that, but everything that happens AFTER that.
This leads me to my next point: characters. We have a very unreliable (in my pov) narrator, Lorelei, who ends up being the decision maker of the group, after the death of her mentor, one of the people who had helped her grow and become the person she is now. And dear God, of course she was her mentor because it is so clear how Lorelei learnt absolutely everything from Ziegler and how much trust she had in her. Not going to develop on that subject, you'll have to discover it by yourselves.
We get to know Lorelei and hoooow much she hates a group of friends, but certainly one person more than the others: Sylvia Von Wolff. They have been rivals from very little, thing Lorelei only faintly mentions, although I would have appreciated some kind of flashback or more details about it. We are told that Sylvia is so liked and loved by everyone, she is the perfect popular and smart girl at school and out of it, while Lorelei is one of the most hated people. This is because the place where they live is separated by different somehow independent regions, and her region and culture had been heavily criticised and stereotyped by the others, creating a common hate and fear towards all people coming from there. This huge contrast between the girls, and the fact that they had to compete for the same position inside the team, made the very perfect combination for hatred in Lorelei's logic. Of course do not let this deceive you, she WILL talk about the beauty of Sylvia from the very first page, even if she is getting of every nerve of hers. Very sapphic coded, not complaining at all.
While Lorelei is all pessimism and hatred, Sylvia is quite the opposite. She is portrayed as a very extroverted person, who likes to be in the center of attention all the time and likes being looked at. However, as I said, this is how Lorelei sees her as in the beginning; as they get to know each other and Lorelei opens her heart and mind, her opinion and perception of her changes almost completely. I liked Sylvia as a character, I feel like many times she is misunderstood by not only Lorelei but also the other characters, and I would have loved to have a dual pov in order to be inside her mind and hear her thoughts and logic overall.
Talking about the rest of the characters could get spoilery, so I will only comment on the fact that I think I needed a bit more information about everyone to attach or relate to them in some way. Sometimes they feel like they are there to fulfill a role, be attached to a specific storyline from the past and act some kind of way towards Lorelei (so she keeps having a reason to hate them) and that's it. I do not need sophisticated backstories, but a little bit more than we had would have been perfect.
Overall, I enjoyed this book so much after coming to terms with my irrational fear of fantasy books. The folklore is absolutely beautiful and getting to discover new creatures was such an interesting part of this reading. Give yourself time to read about each of them and understand not only how they would look but also how they would act and what they provide to the story and world building. At the end, I did not want this book to end and I feel like that is such an important thing when reading. Completely recommend this to everyone who enjoys fantasy, folklore and sapphic enemies to lovers.
Now if you excuse me, I need to preorder a physical version of this ARC so I can mark and highligh it all.
A Dark and Drowning Tide was a very surprising read for me. I am not the biggest fantasy reader, thus I was kinda scared of not liking it or being so lost in the world building that I wouldn't get to enjoy the story itself. But that is not at all how it went.
I will say that if English is not your first language and you don't know much about mythologies, folklores and fantasy worlds in general, you will need some type of dictionary or wikipedia to help you with the definitions of different creatures and places. However, once you've familiarised yourself with some of the creatures who of course will be constantly appearing through the book, you get to enter such a magical and gothic world. All the places atmosphere reminded me so much of medieval times, the way they dressed, the weapons they used etc. which is of course the point as this is labeled as gothic literature. I think I would have liked to see more of the type of magic that Lorelei controlled, I feel like we got much more gothic like world building and folklore creatures than we had fantasy and magic as such. But of course, that is just personal taste.
There is also mystery in the story, as very soon in the book we find out that someone (Ziegler, the leader/mentor) was killed, and the murdered can only be one of those present in the ship they were travelling by, so a sense of fear and danger is present through a big part of the story. I have to say that, as always, I did not solve the crime and was doubting the most innocent person of them all (it made perfect sense in my mind, you actually have a lot of clues of who it really is, I'm just oblivious). So, I was quite surprised about the resolution and not only that, but everything that happens AFTER that.
This leads me to my next point: characters. We have a very unreliable (in my pov) narrator, Lorelei, who ends up being the decision maker of the group, after the death of her mentor, one of the people who had helped her grow and become the person she is now. And dear God, of course she was her mentor because it is so clear how Lorelei learnt absolutely everything from Ziegler and how much trust she had in her. Not going to develop on that subject, you'll have to discover it by yourselves.
We get to know Lorelei and hoooow much she hates a group of friends, but certainly one person more than the others: Sylvia Von Wolff. They have been rivals from very little, thing Lorelei only faintly mentions, although I would have appreciated some kind of flashback or more details about it. We are told that Sylvia is so liked and loved by everyone, she is the perfect popular and smart girl at school and out of it, while Lorelei is one of the most hated people. This is because the place where they live is separated by different somehow independent regions, and her region and culture had been heavily criticised and stereotyped by the others, creating a common hate and fear towards all people coming from there. This huge contrast between the girls, and the fact that they had to compete for the same position inside the team, made the very perfect combination for hatred in Lorelei's logic. Of course do not let this deceive you, she WILL talk about the beauty of Sylvia from the very first page, even if she is getting of every nerve of hers. Very sapphic coded, not complaining at all.
While Lorelei is all pessimism and hatred, Sylvia is quite the opposite. She is portrayed as a very extroverted person, who likes to be in the center of attention all the time and likes being looked at. However, as I said, this is how Lorelei sees her as in the beginning; as they get to know each other and Lorelei opens her heart and mind, her opinion and perception of her changes almost completely. I liked Sylvia as a character, I feel like many times she is misunderstood by not only Lorelei but also the other characters, and I would have loved to have a dual pov in order to be inside her mind and hear her thoughts and logic overall.
Talking about the rest of the characters could get spoilery, so I will only comment on the fact that I think I needed a bit more information about everyone to attach or relate to them in some way. Sometimes they feel like they are there to fulfill a role, be attached to a specific storyline from the past and act some kind of way towards Lorelei (so she keeps having a reason to hate them) and that's it. I do not need sophisticated backstories, but a little bit more than we had would have been perfect.
Overall, I enjoyed this book so much after coming to terms with my irrational fear of fantasy books. The folklore is absolutely beautiful and getting to discover new creatures was such an interesting part of this reading. Give yourself time to read about each of them and understand not only how they would look but also how they would act and what they provide to the story and world building. At the end, I did not want this book to end and I feel like that is such an important thing when reading. Completely recommend this to everyone who enjoys fantasy, folklore and sapphic enemies to lovers.
Now if you excuse me, I need to preorder a physical version of this ARC so I can mark and highligh it all.