A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft Review (GIFTED/AD)

Hello Readers,

Thank you, Stephen, Jamie, Black Crow PR for sending me an eBook copy of A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft for free in exchange for an honest review. As this is a publication day review my post will be spoiler free.  The eBook I received from NetGalley doesn't have a cover, so I am using a cover image I have found through google (Fair use under the copyright act sections 29 and 30 under use for a review).

Happy Publication Day

Title: A Dark and Drowning Tide
Author: Allison Saft
Genre: Fantasy Fiction, Romantic fantasy, Fairy tale, Dark fantasy
Pages: 384
Cover Image:

 
Synopsis:
Mourning the sudden death of her sister, Andy Emmerson knows she must come to terms with a life without Violet. But on the day of the funeral Andy is shocked to discover one thing: the person in that casket is not her sister. Violet is alive.

Convinced her sister's elite boarding school is covering up the truth, Andy enrols at Ravenswood Academy to discover what really happened and find Violet. The school is as beautiful and haunting as the students within it and Andy learns that it's not just good grades that drives these pupils. Something much darker is at play.

After discovering a cryptic note from her sister, Andy must follow a set of clues to unlock the truth. This will bring her into contact with secret societies, ancient magic, demons and monsters. And a charming senior named Jae Han who has his own reasons for finding out what happened to Violet . . .
Soon Andy realizes the price she must pay to bring her sister home is darker and more dangerous than she ever could have imagined.
 

Miniature Review

I am in love with Allison writing style, and I have added her other books to my TBR. I loved how Allison put her own twist into modern fairy tales as this book deep dives into the heart of folktales and their origin.

A Dark and Drowning Tide is a beautifully atmospheric fantasy romance. This book was exquisite and powerful. Allison has managed to stuff so much into the 384 pages. This book is a sapphic dark academia story that’s jammed with folklore, the enemies to lover’s trope, with an intriguing mystery plot, oh and I’m not quite done as we’re also go on an adventure. I mean I might be greedy but what’s not to love this book had everything I could possibly want in a fantasy book.

Reading about Lorelei and Sylvia was such an adventure, and I loved joining them on the journey. Lorelai is unemotional and sadly accustomed to racism. While Sylvia is beloved by all = and she views the world through rose tinted glasses.
 
Lorelai and Sylvia are obsessed with each other but are unable to trust each other enough to be vulnerable. It was cute watching them be so hopelessly in love and yet constantly deny it. I really enjoyed how in the book the enemies to lover’s plot was enhanced by only having a single POV from Lorelei.  It was a slow burn enemy to lovers but it was perfectly paced for Lorelai and Sylvia story. They both also had good character development.
 
This is the perfect book for the changing season.

L x

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