A Dark and Drowning Tide
by Allison Saft
I enjoyed the adult fantasy novel A Dark and Drowning Tide. The story takes place in a world where magic is linked to water and a group of scholars has been put together to try and find the location of a fabled spring that grants the worthy with unlimited power. The current young king of Brunnestaad believes that it would help him maintain control over the region which was once separate countries with a shared language but different cultures. The different characters on the mission all represent not only different areas of study like folklore and botany, but also the different regions excluding Lorelei, the main protagonist, who belongs to a much maligned religious group which is confined to a specific area of the city and is looked down on because they are believed to be naturally without magic. My only real disappointment with the story was that the novel felt like it could have been a third in a trilogy. Chapter 2 does a lot of character sketches and outlining of prior events and relationships that would make for interesting prequel stories. Besides the fantasy elements, the novel also has the mystery of the one of the scholars murders early on in the journey, and also has a frustrating but sweet rivals to lovers Sapphic romance. If you enjoyed Emily Wilde’s Encyclopadia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, than you will likely enjoy this novel as well. You can also check out Saft’s YA novels: A Fragile Enchantment, A Far Wilder Magic, and Down Comes the Night.
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
by TJ Klune
I had been eagerly awaiting the sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, when I heard it was being written so was excited for the opportunity to get an advanced reader copy from Netgalley of an excerpt of Somewhere Beyond the Sea which included the first four chapters of the work and immediately put it on hold so I could continue reading the story when it was available. In the first novel Linus who works for a child protection agency focused on magical youth (gnomes, shapeshifters, and other unusual kids) goes to visit a most unusual foster home on a small island and discovers a love, with the children’s foster father, he never thought he’d be worthy of finding. Time has passed; Linus and Arthur have grown closer. The children are starting to enter their teen years with all the complex feelings and emotions that brings. What I liked about Somewhere Beyond the Sea is that it gives us the perspective of Arthur and helps us understand him a bit better, but it also gives us more insight and the ability to watch the growth of all the characters. The House in the Cerulean Sea gave us a sweet closing with the Linus finally finding love and family, but there is a world beyond the sea and though it might be much grayer in nature, it is nice to see Arthur like all parents wanting his children to be able to have the experiences of exploring the larger the world for themselves. A new additional child, David, is introduced as well that added another fun character to the mix, though my favorite will always be Chauncey, a tentacled blob entity that may be the only one of his kind and who is absolutely hysterical. I enjoyed reading the rest of Linus, Arthur and the children’s stories and look forward to hopefully more in the future as well.
Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager
Hoboken Library Staff Picks 