Tell me this doesn't sound amazing: academic rivals must team up to solve their mentor's murder + sapphic rivals-to-lovers romance + fantastical expedition to locate the Ursprung, the source of all magic and power. Right? I thought so too! Unfortunately, I didn't love the execution as much as the premise.
When I read the phrase "academic rivals" I expected more of the academic aspect, but that really isn't present at all here. I love novels about academia, but this novel isn't about that; it's more a facet of the two protagonists' backgrounds. Lorelai is the edgy, sharp-tongued one, and Sylvia is the beautiful, intelligent one. They are rivals in the sense that they are both vying for their mentor Ziegler's attention, but that's really it. Then after Ziegler is murdered aboard their expedition ship, Lorelai and Silva realize that one of the other five individuals aboard the vessel must be responsible for the murder, so they grudgingly team up to solve the mystery, all while still pressing forward toward their goal of finding the Ursprung.
Each character has an elaborately developed background full of political motivations and cultural distinctions, but I struggled to keep them all straight. I really think this book needs a map, and I hope the final edition has one (I read a review copy that did not have a map).
I think this book would be good for anyone who really enjoyed Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries as A Dark and Drowning Tide has the same vibes as that book as well as lots of mythical creatures the characters come across; I couldn't help but think of Emily Wilde multiple times while reading this book. The array of mythical creatures was neat, but I think that aspect of the story needed to be further developed as I still don't know what any of them look like or what abilities they have, and they felt to me like they were just thrown into the story at the last minute.
The ending of the novel felt underwhelming to me, and I found myself rushing to get through the last 15% or so because I just really didn't want to be reading this book anymore, sadly. I don't think this story or these characters are going to stick with me, and there's nothing worse than an unmemorable book. I think certain people will love A Dark and Drowning Tide and I really wish I were one of them because I have been looking forward to this book for months. I own other books by Allison Saft, and I still want to check out those books, so I hope they will be more up my alley than this one.
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