Book Review: Curious Tides (Drowned Gods #1) by Pascale Lacelle

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 544 pages
Author: Pascale Lacelle
Publisher: McElderry Books
Release Date: October 3rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ninth House meets A Deadly Education in this gorgeous dark academia fantasy following a teen mage who must unravel the truth behind the secret society that may have been involved in her classmates’ deaths.

Emory might be a student at the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magics, but her healing abilities have always been mediocre at best—until a treacherous night in the Dovermere sea caves leaves a group of her classmates dead and her as the only survivor. Now Emory is plagued by strange, impossible powers that no healer should possess.

Powers that would ruin her life if the wrong person were to discover them.

To gain control of these new abilities, Emory enlists the help of the school’s most reclusive student, Baz—a boy already well-versed in the deadly nature of darker magic, whose sister happened to be one of the drowned students and Emory’s best friend. Determined to find the truth behind the drownings and the cult-like secret society she’s convinced her classmates were involved in, Emory is faced with even more questions when the supposedly drowned students start washing ashore— alive —only for them each immediately to die horrible, magical deaths.

And Emory is not the only one seeking answers. When her new magic captures the society’s attention, she finds herself drawn into their world of privilege and power, all while wondering if the truth she’s searching for might lead her right back to Dovermere…to face the fate she was never meant to escape.

Thank you Book Club Favorites for the gifted copy.

INTRIGUING.

This one took a bit for me to get into. The dark academia vibes are without a doubt there, the pacing was just a bit off. I loved the magic system. The tide magic is really cool and I’m curious about the gods aspects and how those will play into future books. There’s hidden dangers, uncontrolled magic, and secret societies.

I liked that this had two POV’s and you got to see different sides of the general plot. I enjoyed both main characters, Emory and Baz and am super interested in knowing how their story continues to play out. I feel like just enough of the world was hidden to make you want more without leaving a total sense of confusion about what’s happening.

Overall audience notes: