Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska

18 reviews

colorcrystals's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

distraughtplant's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
My favorite thing about this book is how it is unafraid to spill the characters darkest secrets - not the ones that push the plot, the ones that show just how human Lina and Eva are while simultaneously calling out our own "dark" thoughts and desires. Fantasies of power, control, attention, perfection, and revenge are never spared the light of the page. Being unafraid to display Lina and Evas vulnerabilities in this way draws me to relate to them more deeply, in a way that helped me share their thrills and twinges of delicious taboos. 
Probably the biggest weakpoint of the book is that their feelings for each other seem to develop too quickly. It feels there are things we missed during the time skips that would have helped the climaxes pack a heavier impact - one the character and world building deserved. Overall, I loved this book and would read it to another as a sort of dark bedtime story. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lindsaythelibrarian's review

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

solenekeleroux's review

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

andromeda_1998's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

All I expected from this book was a couple of hours filled with queer witches and a lot of fun and it delivered. This book helped me a lot while I was suffering from a reading slump and while I do consider this book a very good way to pass time it also wasn’t perfect. 

Couple of things that could have made this book better in my opinion: 
1. I would have loved to see a polyamory relationship and I think it would have totally fit in this story. 
2. I would have loved it if there was an actual solution. This story only has an conclusion for this year, but what happens next year? When there needs to be an other sacrifice?  This is a book with no real ending which is okay…. But this feels a bit like there will be an other book but as far as I know it’s a stand-alone… 

But if we don’t look at these 2 points I think the book is really good. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

oliverreeds's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

the characters dont act like real humans and when they do theyre garbage humans. every character either has a savior complex or a victim complex and its so unlikeable. i LOVE unlikeable characters but these characters were supposed to be likeable. the plot was not great. it didnt even get started until page 200 which ALSO isnt usually an issue for me but the characters were so horrible if became one. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

qraveline's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A wonderfully dark, witchy romance that takes you through a courageous, though scared woman's attempts to save the ones she loved and feels responsible for putting in danger. This definitely has an enemies to lovers vibe,
though they don't quite get to lovers in the end


The writing was fantastic and kept me page-turning. I finished the book in one sitting and at no point during my reading was I bored. A great read with queer characters and a plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The reduction of .75 stars is because of two reasons: a) the romance felt a bit rushed, and b) I felt the ending left a little to be desired; it left it open for future books though if the author plans on going forward in this world. Currently this is listed as a standalone book, which is what makes me disappointed at the ending. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

the_vegan_bookworm's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I felt this book to be really lacking despite the immensely cool premise. I found Lina and Eva to be both one-dimensional and truly unlikeable at the same time. They had no chemistry together outside of their animosity for each other (which felt like a really weak take on enemies-to-lovers). Side characters like Thomas and Marcin aren't really explored, so I found myself wanting more on their compelling backstories. 

Though the world was very interesting, I found there wasn't enough focus on it to really maximize the appeal of that intricate fantasy world.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gho3t's review

Go to review page

emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

imaginingly's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i loved this book but my brain was moving quite slowly with it especially with the beginning. i loved that “enemies” came together to save their shared home and i also loved the ending so much, amazing!!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings