Curious Tides
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Two starred reviews!
“A marvel in atmosphere.” —Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights
Ninth House meets A Deadly Education in this gorgeous dark academia fantasy “that will capture readers like a rip current” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moon phases and tidal alignments dictate the magical abilities with which one is born in debut author Lacelle's alluring duology opener. The Dovermere Caves are off-limits for students of Aldryn College for Lunar Magics, so when Emory finds a note inviting her roommate and best friend, Romie, to a late-night meeting there, Emory follows out of curiosity and concern. As Romie and seven peers undergo a strange ritual, high tide floods the caverns, drowning four and washing Romie and three others out to sea. Following the event, Emory wakes on the beach with a spiral inked on her wrist and the ability to wield all forms of lunar magic, a mythical talent so heretical it could get her imprisoned. Bereft and terrified, Emory teams with Romie's brother, Baz, to control her newfound powers and uncover answers about that fateful evening—a quest that reveals her ties to secret societies, grand conspiracies, and ancient gods. By combining elements common to fantastical dark academia novels with innovative worldbuilding, multifaceted plotting, and an intersectionally diverse cast boasting nuanced character arcs, Lacelle crafts a lavishly imagined dual-narrative tale that will capture readers like a rip current. Ages 14–up.
