Title: The Dark Tide
Author: Alicia Jasinska
Series: "The Dark Tide" #1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Length: 336 pages
Publication Date: August 4, 2020
Rating: 3.25 // 5 stars
*I was sent a free digital early copy of this book by Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own*
When I first read the synopsis for this book, I immediately knew that I wanted to read it. Witches, sacrifices, a sapphic romance? Sign me up! This book was good in a lot of ways and I ended up reading it in just one sitting. However, I do think there were some things this book was lacking to make it a truly amazing read for me.
I'll start with the things that I did like. I really enjoyed the author's writing style. It was very easy for me to get sucked in from the very beginning. I ended up not only reading this book in one sitting but also reading it rather quickly because of how easy it was for me to fall into the story and follow the writing.
The magic system and world-building was enough to understand the story but I am a big sucker for learning about magic and different worlds so I will always want more. I think that the author gave us the right amount of magic and world-building for this book, but I am excited to hopefully see it all expanded upon in book 2.
The plot itself was rather interesting. I really liked the entire concept of the sea demanding a sacrifice every year and the ritual behind it. I will say that the pacing kind of threw me off a bit because, while the plot was very strong and interesting, there were a few issues pacing-wise. I think one of the biggest for me is that at least the entire first third of this book was told in the span of just a day or two. But the last two thirds spanned an entire month? I think that the first part was so strong because nothing was rushed but the last two thirds felt less developed to me. Interesting things still happened plot-wise, but I feel like I wasn't as connected to the story because of the big time jumps.
I think the pacing was also an issue for me when it came to the character relationships. Our two main characters have a developing relationship and, to me, it felt like there was very little development between them for most of the book and then it did a complete 180 in the last act. I really wish we would have seen more actual scenes between the two main characters but we didn't actually get that many.
I did really enjoy all of the characters in this story, though. The side characters really helped bring a new level to this story and I thought they were all pretty well-developed even if most of them got little page time. I really liked the strong family connections as well. I enjoyed our two main characters, though I think I connected more with Lina. I'm not sure why I connected more with Lina than Eva considering they alternate points-of-view but it just ended up that way. Maybe not connecting as well with Eva was why I struggled a bit with their developing relationship.
I think what was interesting to me was seeing the character developments outside of the relationship that formed. Obviously a big part of the development of this book was these two characters forming this relationship but I also just liked seeing them develop as people. No spoilers, of course, but I really liked these journeys they went on, both internally and externally. I'm really excited to see where all these characters end up in the next book.
Overall, I thought this was a very interesting, fun, and addicting book. I think the pacing issues really made me struggle with the story and the relationship between the two main characters but other than that I am fully on board with this series. I want to know what happens next and I am very eager to return to this world and characters when the next book comes out.
I'll start with the things that I did like. I really enjoyed the author's writing style. It was very easy for me to get sucked in from the very beginning. I ended up not only reading this book in one sitting but also reading it rather quickly because of how easy it was for me to fall into the story and follow the writing.
The magic system and world-building was enough to understand the story but I am a big sucker for learning about magic and different worlds so I will always want more. I think that the author gave us the right amount of magic and world-building for this book, but I am excited to hopefully see it all expanded upon in book 2.
The plot itself was rather interesting. I really liked the entire concept of the sea demanding a sacrifice every year and the ritual behind it. I will say that the pacing kind of threw me off a bit because, while the plot was very strong and interesting, there were a few issues pacing-wise. I think one of the biggest for me is that at least the entire first third of this book was told in the span of just a day or two. But the last two thirds spanned an entire month? I think that the first part was so strong because nothing was rushed but the last two thirds felt less developed to me. Interesting things still happened plot-wise, but I feel like I wasn't as connected to the story because of the big time jumps.
I think the pacing was also an issue for me when it came to the character relationships. Our two main characters have a developing relationship and, to me, it felt like there was very little development between them for most of the book and then it did a complete 180 in the last act. I really wish we would have seen more actual scenes between the two main characters but we didn't actually get that many.
I did really enjoy all of the characters in this story, though. The side characters really helped bring a new level to this story and I thought they were all pretty well-developed even if most of them got little page time. I really liked the strong family connections as well. I enjoyed our two main characters, though I think I connected more with Lina. I'm not sure why I connected more with Lina than Eva considering they alternate points-of-view but it just ended up that way. Maybe not connecting as well with Eva was why I struggled a bit with their developing relationship.
I think what was interesting to me was seeing the character developments outside of the relationship that formed. Obviously a big part of the development of this book was these two characters forming this relationship but I also just liked seeing them develop as people. No spoilers, of course, but I really liked these journeys they went on, both internally and externally. I'm really excited to see where all these characters end up in the next book.
Overall, I thought this was a very interesting, fun, and addicting book. I think the pacing issues really made me struggle with the story and the relationship between the two main characters but other than that I am fully on board with this series. I want to know what happens next and I am very eager to return to this world and characters when the next book comes out.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren
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