Hail the Rising Tides by Kat Kraehen - Review

About the book

Information taken from GoodReads:

Paperback

First published April 7, 2026

Genres: Romantasy, Fantasy, Queer

Blurb:

Prim and prideful Ione possesses the Moon Goddess’s spirit and a harrowing fate: overpower the wrathful Sun God and sweep His murderous pyromancers into the sea. But attaining divine ascension is easier said than done, and the longer Ione takes to save her people, the more impatient her conniving archpriest becomes.

Quiet, distrusting Lina has had more than enough of bloodshed. After escaping immolation by Sun-worshipers, she gains a new lease on life as a nameless acolyte of the Moon Goddess. That is until she catches the eye of Lady Ione, whose captivation with Lina has caused the Goddess to stir within her for the first time.

As temples burn and Ione’s archpriest launches treacherous gambits of his own, Ione and Lina’s alliance deepens into something neither of them anticipated. If Ione’s enemies reach her before she can awaken the Moon Goddess, everyone she loves will go up in flames.

But if she succeeds, the Sun cult will be annihilated - including Lina, whose past as a Sun priestess cannot remain hidden forever.

ARC REVIEW

Thank you to the author for this ARC!

It took me a while to write this review because there is so much to process but I think I can finally do it.

The first 30% of the book feels quite slow, but this is key in fantasy and important for the story because while not much happens, this is where worldbuilding takes place and we get to know the characters and why we care for them. The author does an exceptional job at creating characters we care for with all their flaws, qualities and unique characteristics. I must confess my favourite character was Kai and his Arc. He became someone better even with all the layers and emotional baggage he carried. His relationship with River was one I was rooting for all along and them hating each other in the beginning created more tension than Ione and Lina's, in my opinion.

Moreover, the plot had many pieces and every part of the story had some purpose to its overall climax and ending. I did wonder, however, why did no one ask if war was something the gods wanted? I didn't pay much attention to this because I assumed it was something rooted in the people's minds that they would not question. I could also predict the twist, but it was satisfactory and made complete sense.

On an unrelated note, the descriptions and story telling were just beautiful, and this does not look like a debut novel.

Lastly, I wished Ione had acquired fire powers because she could never really control her water ones. Although her strength at the ending suggests she merely wasn't using them for the right thing.

I loved it!

Read: 6 March 2026 - 29 March 2026