A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

Book Fort Rating: 3 Stars

Is it building the Book Fort? I will tentatively say no, as book forts are not able to hold millions of books, and there are many I'd rather keep close first.

On paper, A Dark and Drowning Tide fills quite an extensive checklist of things I've always wanted in a book, things I believe would universally appeal to me, not unlike the checklist many people have concerning future partners they'd like to date. Unfortunately, just like those who utilise checklists to seek appropriate dating candidates, my list did not take into account one of the most (arguably the most) important things: chemistry. I should have loved this book... but I didn't.

Allison Saft has created a lavish world full of lively creatures — or so readers are told. That, perhaps, is my biggest takeaway from this book. Readers are constantly told, rather than shown. We learn about the names of entities, locations, magic systems... yet we rarely see them. We hear about cultural differences, but they are rarely demonstrated. We are told characters despise one another, yet we do not see this in their monologuing. To me, this firmly lies in my belief that A Dark and Drowning Tide should have been a duology, not a standalone. To create such an expansive fantasy universe in so few pages is ambitious. To carefully and thoughtfully develop a political system fuelled by systemic racism and xenophobia in so few pages is even more ambitious.

It is rare that I ask for more pages when reading a book, but in this case, A Dark and Drowning Tide truly would have benefited. This review will remain relatively spoiler free, but I do want to note that the ending is what really cinched this belief. Early in the book, one of the main characters expressed a (remarkably sound) belief that being with another character would be impossible without sacrifice, and it was a sacrifice they were unwilling to make. Not only is this conversation glossed over, but when they do start considering being with this character, this conversation is never mentioned again. Those very real concerns lay abandoned for the sake of love, and despite being a romantic at heart, I found this difficult to swallow.

Overall, A Dark and Drowning Tide was a book I liked, but did not love. I think it is decent for a debut, but it is not a debut. My star rating reflects that.

Thank you to Netgalley, Daphne Press, and Allison Saft for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.