Book Review | A Dark and Drowning Tide

Lorelei Kaskel is a surly folklorist who is sent as a part of an expedition team to find the fabled source of all magic. However, when her mentor is mysteriously murdered aboard their ship, Lorelei must reluctantly team up with the beautiful naturalist Sylvia von Wolff to find the killer before they strike again.

I was really looking forward to A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft. It was one of my most highly anticipated reads of the year, so I’m sad to say that this book turned out to be yet another milquetoast disappointment.

This book was pitched a story as a sapphic rivals-to-lovers dark academia, but there isn’t any rivalry to be found. What I got instead was Lorelei throwing petty, high-school grade insults at Sylvia because she doesn't approve of her hand-own research approach. There are no compelling reasons and personal history of bad blood to justify Lorelai's animosity toward Sylvia, so their initial dynamics feel juvenile and shallow to me.

There’s also a weird disconnect between what Lorelei boasts about in her internal monologue and what’s actually reflected in her actions. For instance, Lorelei repeatedly compares herself to a viper, but she doesn’t demonstrate an ounce of backstabbing, sabotaging, or ruthless cunning. In essence, she’s all bark and no bite, and I wish she actually had delivered on her promises.

Maybe someday I'll find the sapphic rivals-to-lovers book of my dreams, but this one certainly wasn't it.

Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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