Curious Tides

By: Pascale Lacelle

Narrated by: Gary Furlong, Shakira Shute, Toni Frutin

Length: 16 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's 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.

©2023 Pascale Lacelle (P)2023 Simon & Schuster Audio

first book of 2024, best book ever.

Curious Tides transported me to a world I never wanted to leave, and introduced me to characters I will never forget. Follow Emory, Baz & all of the other students at Aldryn College, as they journey through grief, love, self discovery, mystery & of course, Magic! but this isn't just any dark Academia book, it's one written in a way that that will have you quoting Lacelle's Imagery & dreaming of the world's she's created. I can not speak highly enough. This may be the first book of 2024 but it currently holds my #1 spot of all time... & that says a lot. I can't wait to see what adventures book two will bring 😍 🤗

Brilliant!

A spectacular story. Dark and edgy and original. I love that the magic system is bigger than the magic wielders, Something greater than the world itself. Reminded me a bit of the magic in the Golden Compass. Other worldly. The characters are rich and distinct, and they learn and change and grow through the book. Shakira and Gary did a masterful job of bringing the characters to life and maintaining a connection to each characters emotional journey. I was entranced from beginning to end. I cannot wait for the next book!

incredible

This book is incredible!! I loved the story so much. and I cannot wait for book 2!

4 stars

I loved the magic system. the plot was good. there was everything in making of a good story line. couple things I didn't see coming which was a cool shock value.

Slow start, but worth it.

For the first dozen chapters or so, I wasn't particularly interested. I trudged on because I had already used a credit and didn't want it to go to waste. I ended up taking a break for a couple of months before giving it another shot and wow. I was so enthralled that I finished the book in a couple of days.
The whole time I was thinking to myself that this would make an awesome movie. If you're hesitant to buy or have already started and are in the same boat I was, persevere. This is easily one of my new top favorites of all time.

Interesting concept

This book overall was good…I felt the world building was a lot. I struggled to keep myself interested in the beginning, but after you get through the world building, the story really picks up. I loved the performers of the audiobook! Definitely recommend the audio over the physical book.

There is drama, love triangle, betrayal…all things that make a book good!

Was so Hopeful

This was one of the slowest books I have ever listened to. Maybe it was just to YA. I did NOT finish the book, I only got to chapter 17.

The writing is boring at most half the time

I love Toni Frutins narrating and was so exited but and the quality of the storytelling got lost and dull quickly after what seemed to be a good start. Her work is better than this in my opinion.