It takes something special to get me to pick up a novel set at a magical academy. I’ve seen far too many derivative novels in this vein that I usually skip over descriptions that mention a magic school. But a mass death with a sole survivor at a magical school in world where the magic is based on the moon and tides? That’s unique enough to get my attention. In Pascale Lacelle’s imaginative novel, Curious Tides, we follow that survivor and one of her longest friends as they try to figure what the hell happened in that sea cave.
Emory and Baz take turns narrating Curious Tides. Emory was the sole survivor of a mass drowning that took the lives of several of her classmates, including that of her oldest friend, Romie. Emory isn’t much of a magician and Romie was a big part of why Emory even wanted to go to Aldryn. Now, with Romie gone and lot of questions about how Emory managed to survive, Emory is struggling to pick up the pieces of her life. Baz is Romie’s brother. Unlike Emory’s small gift for healing, Baz has the potentially world changing power of slowing and reversing time. Baz is terrified of losing control of this power because people like him, those born during eclipses, have magics powerful enough that users are strictly policed so that they don’t accidentally harm or kill. In spite of his fear, Baz is convinced to help Emory.
I was much more interested in Baz as a narrator. A big part of this is because Emory frequently rushes ahead to do something stupid and/or potentially fatal in her quest. She never really learns to slow down or plan her next moves—which would be a very good idea considering how many people die near or because of her in this novel and the amount of chaos she inadvertently causes. She’s also a bad judge of character. (My dear, you need to start asking more questions about why the leader of a secret society has suddenly decided to be your boyfriend.) Baz is more complicated and, though him, we learn a lot about the realities of the world of Curious Tides. We also learn what can go wrong if people lose control of their magics. Consequently, I’m more impressed by Baz’s ability to break free of his fear to do incredible things to help Emory.
Curious Tides ends on a cliffhanger and Lacelle leaves a lot of threads for future novels in the series. What will the very sinister secret society based at Aldryn do to Emory? What’s up with the author of a book that hints at a way to travel to other worlds? How true are the legends Baz has heard about the old gods and their downfall? Bookish friends, if you’re similarly intrigued by this novel, you might want to grab its sequels while you’re at it.