a dark and delightful ride | a dark and drowning tide by allison saft review
Title: A Dark and Drowning Tide
Author: Allison Saft
Narrator(s): Saskia Maarleveld
Run Time: 12 hours, 13 minutes
Source: Spotify Premium
Trigger Warnings: Racism, murder, violence and gore (NOTE: If you notice I’ve missed any trigger warnings, please inform me and I will add them)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor’s murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.
Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she’s only ever read about.
The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader—Lorelei’s beloved mentor—is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again—and a coup begins in earnest.
But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.
As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing feelings for one another—they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.
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I’ll be honest with you: I was apprehensive going into this book. Before this, I’d only read Saft’s debut novel (the YA gothic fantasy, Down Comes The Night) and to be completely honest I really disliked it (see my full review here for the deets). But! I’m pleasantly surprised to say that I actually enjoyed A Dark and Drowning Tide! I found myself completely enraptured by this book, enough to be considering reading the rest of Saft’s backlog and whatever else she writes hereafter! So, let’s take a closer look at what made this book so incredible for me…
Characters
Although only told through a singular third person limited perspective, A Dark and Drowning Tide focuses primarily on two characters: the main character, Lorelei, and her rival/possible love interest, Sylvia. The two are definitely polar opposites, both in looks and personality, with Sylvia being the “golden retriever” to Lorelei’s “black cat.” Where Lorelei is suspicious of others and emotionally closed off, Sylvia is open, seemingly endlessly upbeat, popular, charming, and bright. Lorelei is convinced that she and Sylvia are rivals and that Sylvia is manipulative and annoying, but after a while, it is plain to see that under Lorelei’s suspicion there might be some other, deeper feelings brewing.
The relationship between the two is interesting and quite dynamic. Saft uses the narrative perspective to show how Lorelei might not be the most reliable narrator when it comes to her feelings about and relationship with Sylvia, which I found to be a brilliant choice. This choice lends the depiction of their relationship a certain level of dramatic irony, with readers coming to be more aware of Lorelei’s true feelings than Lorelei is herself. In the hands of a lesser writer, this dynamic might read as maddening to readers, but in Saft’s capable hands it is instead rendered intriguing and intense.
Plot & Pacing
Although the pacing of A Dark and Drowning Tide is a bit on the slow side, the story is saved by the intriguing plot and how well-crafted it is. The storylines of the quest for the source of magic, the murder mystery, and the simmering slow burn of the romance are woven together well, with each part receiving equal care and attention. I will say that A Dark and Drowning Tide is much more of a character-driven story instead of a plot-driven story, so although the plot is carefully crafted, it’s not always the main focus of the novel. Also, although the 2024 Goodreads Awards categorized this book as “romantasy,” I personally think it doesn’t quite fit that category, falling more into the “fantasy mystery” subgenre. It’s not that the romance isn’t a focus of the story, its more so that there’s an equal balance of attention to the fantasy elements, mystery elements, and romance elements. Thus, readers going into this book expecting the romance to be the story’s driving force might be a tad disappointed.
World Building & Atmosphere
Saft did a wonderful job with the world building in A Dark and Drowning Tide! This is a book that involves the interplay of several different ethnic and ethnonational groups, and Saft painted a vivid picture of each without overwhelming readers. The basics of this world involve a recently united empire with many ethnonational groups having different feelings about their annexation into said empire. Some of the groups want to remain in the new empire, some want to fight like hell to regain independence. In the middle of this, there’s also Lorelei’s ethnic group, which is maligned and demonized by all of the other ethnic groups. Throughout the story Saft also gave readers a good sense of the scope and cultural dynamics of the world while pacing herself so as not to just dump that information on us. She crafted a truly memorable world, and, frankly, I’d actually be intrigued to see more stories set in it!
Themes
One of the interesting themes of A Dark and Drowning Tide was that of how the myths and folklore a society spreads can trap segments of a population into playing or being perceived as playing a certain role. This theme is interacted with in a very nuanced way, with both the negative and positive ramifications of this very real phenomenon being shown. Lorelei’s ethnic group is marginalized in the world and society of A Dark and Drowning Tide, and Lorelei often notes how her people are portrayed in the folklore of this world—which is typically in a negative and/or dehumanizing light. Meanwhile, Sylvia has the positive archetype of “the hero” thrust upon her by her ethnic group, in part because her people identify her with the heroes of their traditional folklore. Readers can see how this archetypal characterization done by society through the means of storytelling has deeply affected the people who Lorelei and Sylvia have grown to be. On the one hand there is Lorelei with her dark, imposing character (both physically and in regards to her personality), who is rather distrusting of others, largely because she is so deeply aware of how she and her people are othered—and even villainized—by the broader society. On the other hand, there is Sylvia, who is characterized as bright and heroic (again, both physically and in regards to personality), and who is quite used to things going her way easily, in part because she has always been given what she wants because her people paint her as a heroic saint.
in conclusion
All in all, A Study in Drowning was a good read! It was full of intrigue and intensity and themes that really made me think, especially as a Folklore Studies student, myself. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it to folks looking for a good character-driven Adult fantasy with mystery elements and a simmering romance.
spill the beans, friends!
Have you read A Dark and Drowning Tide? If so, what are your thoughts on this book? If not, is it on your TBR?
