Drown the Sea

Dying Gods #1

by Elisha Kemp

Adrienne had everything. The friends, the clothes, the college acceptance letter - not to mention a healthy social calendar. Then one stupid mistake has her packing her bags to spend the summer with her estranged mom in Santorini.

Adrienne is determined to make the best out of her forced holiday until the date from hell results in her getting attacked, nearly drowning, then rescued by a bunch of seafaring cosplayers. Because what else could explain the Bronze Age-era boat full of shirtless, loincloth-wearing men?

Now, if only there was a way to explain the complete lack of technology, the insurmountable language barrier, or the fact that everyone is staring at her like she’s from another planet…

Drown the Sea is the first book in the Dying Gods series. It is a slow burn historical time-travel reverse harem romance suitable for readers 18+. Contains mm.

Genres: Fantasy, Time Travel, Romance, Why Choose, Historical, Mythology, M M Romance

494 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2022

About the author

Elisha Kemp is an author of young adult and new adult fiction who writes in a range of genres, including fantasy, paranormal, contemporary and romance.

Elisha Kemp loves creating worlds you can get lost in and characters you can fall in love with.

She lives with her partner, two human-shaped wolf pups and black cat by the beach in New Zealand.

Her ideal day would be a powder day on the slopes, then relaxing by the fire with a red wine and a good book.

Reviews

[Helen 2.0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spend a decent chunk of my time reading books in subgenres that are saturated, and I mean really flooded, with very bad writing.

The reason I do this is because:
1. I like smut
2. The books tend to be short
3. I read for escapism, which sometimes means quantity over quality
and…
4. Because every now and then an absolute GEM of a series is hidden in the pile of duds and it’s SO MUCH MORE SATISFYING when you find it.

The Dying Gods series is one of those gems. It’s thoughtful, well-researched, with fleshed-out, flawed, diverse, relatable characters and a fun unique plotline.

Also, it’s hot.

Also, will you look at those covers!!!

(Pictured here is my face while looking at the covers, soon to be your face when you look at the gorgeous covers for yourself.)

The story follows Adrienne, a dancer who has just graduated high school. She is sent to live with her archaeologist mother in Greece, but through a series of very unfortunate events, ends up transported 3,500 years back in time to Minoan Crete. She mistakes the Minoans for cosplayers, and they mistake her for the reincarnation of Astarte, the goddess of love and war.

Elisha Kemp has a great handle on how to write a Gen Z protagonist. Adrienne is young and acts young, but in a searching-for-yourself way, not an annoying and naive way.

It feels more like alien romance than time travel romance, to be honest, because the culture and world Adrienne is dropped into is so different from our modern world. The Minoans are a matrilineal culture; land and power are passed down from mothers to their first daughters. On land, women rule, while the sea is reserved as a domain where men rule. All genders work in all professions. The religion is similar to the more popularly known Ancient Greek pantheon, with a few fascinating differences.

Adrienne gets three love interests in book 1, each different and awesome in their own right.
Easily my favorite is Jadi, a former slave turned legendary warrior and oracle, feared by all except for his lover, Asterion.
Asterion is a grumpy burly guy nicknamed the Bull of Crete (for several reasons 😉).
Kit, the man who fishes Adrienne out of the sea and takes her in after she time travels, is a true himbo. He’s pretty and airheaded, but also at times vain and prideful. I love him. What an idiot 🥰🥰🥰

Tl;dr
Do you like gods? History? Fantasy? Badass women? Swoonworthy romance? Just read the damn book! You will like it!!!

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finishing this book left me wanting more, which is all you can ask from a series.

Book 1 was maybe slower than I'd preferred, I finished with the sensation that not that much had happened in 500ish pages. But I feel like I know every character's soul, and I've learned all there is to know about the world Kemp's reconstructed.
And I think this is the author's strength: she makes you completely soak in the world, you feel like you're there, you can see it.

On a fangirlish side: Book 1 favourite boy is probably Jadi, although I love all 3 men presented.
I'm all about this woman's world. I imagine these queens, or Theras I think it's the term, dancing around on the notes of "Who runs the world? G I R L S."

Just hoping for more to happen action-wise and romantically in the next one.

[Luce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Knew this was going to be a risky read for me. I’m not the biggest fan of time travel and this reads like historical fiction for me, another genre I’m not a huge fan of.

I do enjoy Elisha Kemp’s writing style but this just isn’t the book for me.

A book club read that was a no from me this time.

[Faten (Onceuponabooksta) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was SO FUN to read!

It's about a High School Dancer from LA who somehow finds herself going 3000 years back in time, landing in an era that existed in her mom's books. A place she knows nothing about and everyone thinks she's either a goddess or a creature blessed by one! The amount of research the author has done exploring the Minoan Empire and bringing it back to life was truly fascinating. I enjoyed my time reading this book.

Highly recommended to everyone who loves:

🌊Time Travel
🌊 Bronze Age Mediterranean
🌊 Powerful Queens who rules the realm
🌊 Gods & Goddesses
🌊 Sea Faring Heroes
🌊 Lgbtq rep
🌊 Slow-burn Reverse Harem Romance
🌊 Battle ships, Islands, Parties
🌊 Ride or Die Friendships & Dangerous alliances

This is the first book in the "Dying Gods" series and I can't wait for book 2 to be released soon especially after that CLIFFHANGER!

[Daisy Delfin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

br with Helen, Mabel, Rachel and CrocCrusti. Thanks ladies for reading this with me!

Lately I'm not in the mood of writing reviews and it's not fair.
This book was awesome. I'm normally not into time travel stories especially if the people keep jumping from our time to any past time imaginable. But lucky it was different here. Adrienne the FMC is dropped into the Minoan Crete and is stuck there. It took a little time to catch up that she wasn't rescued by cosplayers. Slowly she adapts to a time with other technology and no TV, Internet and mobiles. It was exciting to follow this idea.

And since I didn't do a good job with this review, I'm recommending one:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Wicked Fox ✨️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I began reading this book, I didn't expect to find that it was a time travelling reverse harem romance where it's set in Bronze Age Minoan Crete! I adore time travelling books but the Minoan part definitely won me. It was definitely a personal read :) The reimagined part of Minoan civilisation was well done, if I'm being honest, due to how little we actually know of the ancient culture and civilisation.

I enjoyed this book with the characters that are definitely flawed in some ways, for example, the FMC who was quite self-centered in the beginning and was slowly growing as a character throughout the entirety of the book. Will be looking forward to more in the series :D

[Sybrenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ WAIT THIS WAS REALLY GOOD😭 WHY CHOOSE, TIME TRAVEL, DIVERSE CHARACTERS, A TIME WHERE WOMEN RULE AND ARE CHERISHED, stop it right nowwwww! I ate this up! But, I can also see how this might be hit or miss for some people given the world is based on history and if you aren’t big on that, then you might not like it. But I didn’t mind it. I’m actually so so intrigued by the world and then THE PLOT?!! Is she actually a —- yk what? Never mind! No spoilers LMAO. But, HOW DID SHE EVEN GET THERE?! I actually like all the MMC’s and can’t wait to see how the romance continues to progress between her and the guys. I’m not going to lie my mind is reeling from trying to piece together this plot LMAO😭🤣

[Lolina ⋆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Fear is just energy. It’s your body’s way of preparing you for battle. Don’t try and hide from it. Don’t even try and stop it. Just use it."

I don't even want to say how many tries it took me to finally finish this book 😭 (it's embarrassing and I whole-heartedly blame it on my slump)- but I'm so glad that I finally did it: It was so good.

This was such a well-researched book, with an amazingly thorough plot. There was such a good build-up that it makes me nervous to read the next book in fear that it won't live up to this one 😭.

Anyways, I loved this so much, and I'm running to read the next one.

[Mamie Diemer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outlander, but make it Greek. And the time jump is about 3500 years 😍 I’ve never really read historical romance, and this honestly isn’t JUST that-there’s time travel, polyamory, matriarchal societies, gods and goddesses and so much more. I even think we’re going to eventually see some magic and maybe fantasy touches? 👀

I had a hard time relating to Adrienne at first, we don’t really have anything in common, but I grew to admire her strength and bravery as the book went on. She finds herself in a world 3500 years past, and dives in head first. I love that she’s so mindful of their culture and practices and makes it a point to learn their language.

Kit is the son of their “Queen” (I listened to the audiobook, please don’t ask me what the proper term is, I’d probably butcher the spelling) and is the one who pulled Adrienne from the sea after her time jump. He confused me a little because sometimes he seemed to forget Adrienne was around 😂 definitely giving off himbo energy.

Jadi and Asterion (god I hope that’s right) are also interesting characters and I can’t wait to see what happens with them (not gonna say anymore in an effort to avoid spoilers 😏)


The drama and the plot were so well done. I had no idea where the story was gonna go and I still don’t know where the rest of the series will go and I love it! Kit has some decisions to make and Jadi is the sweetest. And Asterion?! We’re all watching you broski 👀

It’s very clear the author did amazing research in order to make this as accurate as possible. As someone who is incredibly bored with historical novels, Kemp wrote this so beautifully and I am SO addicted. Like this is probably going to be the next thing I hyper-fixate on 😂 this is my personality now

Please omg go read this!

[blackwellknowledge · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @36%

I just couldn't get into it. The FMC was annoying and behaved too much like a bratty teenager blaming everyone else for her mistakes to for me to really like her. It made sense for her to be written like that, though, considering she just turned 18.

The MMCs introduced so far were meh. Kit seemed more interested in her as a rare looking treasure than a person, Asterion just wants to be a sailor and spend time with his lover, and Jadi could turn out to be a sweetheart but I just really cannot be bothered to stay long enough to find out.

This is all most likely a me thing. I'm not a fan of young MCs anymore, it's just weird to read steamy RHs with characters I consider children and that make all the wrong decisions.
The whole history aspect of the book was really fun though, I really enjoyed learning tidbits of the culture and the MCs trying to overcome the language barrier.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Elisa Kemp for sending me a physical copy of this book. I was not obligated to write a review or share my opinions but was so delighted to read and share my thoughts!

Adrienne just graduated high school and is sent to live with her mother in Greece. After a date gone wrong, she jumps off a boat into the water...only to be transported 3,500 years back in time to Minoan Crete. She honestly adapts so well given the circumstances. Over the next several months, she picks up the language and builds relationships with Kitanetos and his sister, Britomartis. She also catches the eye of two other men (who are also in a relationship with each other) - Jadikira and Asterion.

Heads up that this one is super slow and there are two more books in the main series and one spin-off book, but the pacing honestly didn't drag on for me because I felt so immersed in this world. The slow burn was done so well with this one! There isn't a whole lot of spice but the plot and character development was done so well! There was definitely attraction, tension, and jealousy.

Perfect for fans of:
🏛️time travel
🏛️slow burn
🏛️why choose
🏛️LGBTQ representation
🏛️gods and goddesses
🏛️Minoan/Greek history

[Tati Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't tell you how much I loved this book. The amount of work that went into writing this book really shows. Kemp does her research and it pays off!

I'm a huge fan of reverse harems, but this book is like nothing I have ever read before. If you are looking for a romance driven, smutty plot, this is not it. We don't get a lot of spice in this book, but we do get delicious tension. However, in my opinion, that is not the main focus. We are transported into an ancient world with our MC and must learn about this matriarchal society right along with Adrienne.

I love the way men are portrayed in this book. I have never read a book where the women are at the top of the political totem, and it is honestly so refreshing.

I'm dying for book 2!

[Darcy’s Good Opinion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: 4/5. Steam: 1/5. Strong Language: 2.5/5. Triggers: Sexual Assault, War, Death, Grief, Loss of Loved One, Drug & Alcohol Abuse, Accidental Overdose

This is the first book in the Dying Gods trilogy. It's an extremely slow burn, reverse harem romance, set in the Minoan era (around 1600 B.C.), in the Greek islands of Santorini and Crete.

The story begins with Adrienne, a new high school graduate, being sent to Akortiri, Santorini, to stay the summer with her Mum. While away from all electronics, friends, and civilization, Adrienne decides to go on a date with a guy she's never met. *cue ominous music* He isolates and attacks her. The result, is her ending up in the ocean, and somehow getting tossed back in time 3,000 years.

She is rescued by Kit, the Prince of Akortiri, a matriarchal society. He believes that she is a Goddess sent to him in mortal form. Kit is pledged to the Queen of Crete, who he's never met, in a political alliance. He falls hard for Adrienne and tries to find a way to keep her. He's always been charming and had luck with the ladies, he's sure he can arrange this. He just forgot to run it past his fiancée and Adrienne. Details.

Asterion, the Queen of Crete's brother, and Jadi, his navigator and lover, both know this is never going to work. Jadi, especially, feels the pull toward Adrienne. He needs to protect her.

How does a girl dependent on TikTok and Facebook survive in ancient Greece? She doesn't even speak the language. She's not Liam Neeson, she doesn't have a 'particular set of skills'.

The historical accuracy in the book was killer. The author has done her research. This was really impressive. I enjoyed the characters. Especially, Brita and Adrienne's relationship.
The story was slow at points but the writing was good. I found the FMCs sexual experience and harem less than satisfactory for my tastes. This was a slow burn. I look forward to it's development in book two.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

5 ⭐ I loved it. I’ll revisit it like an old friend. This book is moving right into my favorites category. I would recommend it to everyone, even people that don’t ask. I’ll one click this author’s work in the future.
4 ⭐ A great read. I’ll probably reread again when feeling nostalgic. It was enjoyable, not portable magic. I would recommend it.
3 ⭐ I liked it. It was a nice way to pass the time. I doubt I’ll reread it. I’d recommend it to someone asking for a specific genre. Thanks for the memories.
2 ⭐ I completed the Herculean task of finishing this book. At times, it felt like I was Prometheus and the suffering would never end. It just wasn’t for me but I applaud the author for their effort.
1 ⭐ I couldn’t finish this book or I wish I hadn't finished. How do I put this? It’s not me, it’s you.

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

So like… how do I find myself 3000 years in the past worshipped like the GODDESS I deserve to be? No, but really?!?! Girl had not one, not two, but three sexy men at her fingertips… two of which are ⚔️ and I was INTO IT!!!!! So was she obvi!

Adrienne is the daughter of a movie mogul and a scientist, I think. I know the parents are divorced and the dad is in LA making movies, but the mom is studying the Minoans in Europe. Anyway, after getting in trouble, she’s shipped off to live with her mother. She’s essentially cut off from the life she knew.

So instead of sitting around with spotty wifi, she meets some man with a boat and decides to go out on it with him… 🚩 🚩!!! That doesn’t turn out how she expects and when she turns him down, not on, she’s promptly sent swimming in the middle of nowhere. When she’s finally picked up out of the water, it’s by strange actors in really fancy ancient costumes… or that was her first thought atleast. But they just don’t stop acting. And soon she realizes, she’s somehow traveled in time.

I’m not one for looking for time travel books. I’ve only loved one other one (Discovery of Witches), but I actually really enjoyed how well this was written. Having to learn to communicate with a whole community of people who speak a language that you don’t speak has to be a trope. I feel like it falls somewhere on the range of landing on an alien planet with big blue men.

Also, any book that gives me big sexy sexually fluid men who like to ⚔️, I’m literally in! All in!!! Like jumping in head first and swimming around in it! 🤣

[evelynn kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first book from this author and the cover and blurb drew me in immediately. I think the cover is super unique and interesting and I'm excited to see what the sequel's cover will look like. While the plot was enjoyable, I found myself frustrated with our FMC, Adrienne, many times. I think this is because I am nearing 30 y/o and Adrienne is 17, turning 18 at the start of the book. In fact, she spends her 18th birthday with a random guy from a dating app in a new town in Greece where she is staying indefinitely because her father banished her to live with her mother as a consequence to something that happened *deep breath inhale*. Her mother forgets her birthday so she finds a date online and spends her birthday with him. But with age comes wisdom and as Adrienne is making these decisions (she has the guy she matched with pick her up and take her to dinner to a town 30 min away for lunch, then accepts his offer to go out on his sailboat together), I feel like I'm watching a train wreck about to happen. And sure enough, the train crashes.

Of course this is the cataclysm that throws Adrienne back in time to ~3500 years in the past. She is rescued by Kit and his crew and he takes her to live with his sister as he has to go back out to sea. Luckily, she is thrown back to a time that she was conveniently studying (lightly studying, let's remember she is 18) with her archeologist mother. There is obviously a massive language barrier and because of this and other factors, Kit and his family/town believe Adrienne to be a demi-goddess or goddess blessed. Adrienne and Kit share a drunken yet passionate kiss that night and he leaves for 3 months the next morning. Kit internally thinks how gorgeous Adrienne is and how she has the body of a woman but in the same night thinks to himself that the girl who is 16 and flirting with him was too young and a child... I'm not sure if this was intentional on the authors part but this was kinda disturbing. 18 is not much older than 16 and Adrienne JUST turned 18. Yikes.

During these 3 months, Kit's sister Brita trains and teaches Adrienne in the ways of archery, language, and other necessary survival skills. They form an unlikely friendship and develop a mutual respect for each other, especially after Adrienne saved Brita's life. The bulk of this book is Adrienne learning the ins and outs of living in the past and learning a new language. We spend little time with Kit and even though we have a few chapters in his POV, I find that I just don't like him. My initial observation of him was that he was kind and brave but this changes quickly. He is shallow, arrogant, classist, self-absorbed, egotistical, and just plain selfish. He *eventually* tells Adrienne that he is pledged to the equivalent a queen of a different island, but doesn't explain that this is a romantic/sexual pledge so she is rightfully blindsided when Brita clarifies what being pledged means.

Adrienne decides to pull back from him since she has decided that she needs to focus on finding a way back home, which entails accompanying him to Crete and his new queen to visit the Oracle. She briefly reunites with Jadi (a navigator she met on her very first night and felt an instant connection to) and is told by the queen (Kit's betrothed) that she may visit the oracle with her brother Asterion (who is also Jadi's lover), who has made it known that he does not like Adrienne. The book ends with Adrienne leaving the party to go to bed since they are leaving at dawn and she is looking at Kit just waiting for him to notice her. He doesn't. He is jovial and having a grand time and didn't notice her during the party, let alone when she was retiring for the night. Again, he is extremely self-absorbed. This is advertised as a slow burn reverse harem (which is showing to be true as the only spice in this book is a few heated kisses between Adrienne and Kit and a couple steamy scenes between Jadi and Asterion) and I can say right now that I am hoping Kit gets axed from the group. I felt more of a connection between Adrienne and Jadi than her and Kit.

While it was clear the author did a lot of research and I appreciated that the language/dialogue was written in a more contemporary manner, the constant insert of clearly modern words pulled me out of the story. Things like mattress, drunk/sober, rumors, etc... It definitely helped that the majority of the words were modern but it felt like a story that would only be maybe a hundred years in the past as opposed to 3500. Adrienne was annoying (again she's young so maybe I shouldn't expect too much) but her lack of accountability and blaming her parents for consequences to her own actions was irritating. I enjoyed the story enough but there were parts that just dragged and I feel like it could've been a little shorter. I'll still keep an eye out for book 2 as I hope it gets better.

[Kimberly Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay time travel books are not my thing, I just don't read them, but when I heard about this book, I had to read it. Not only that, but it's RH, hello my favorite. So this book sucked me in, I can tell the author has done so much research, and hasen't just put random stuff on a page, in hopes that the reader will just buy it. The characters are so authentic, and OMG I laughed so hard at the fact that they cannot communicate well, and what it sounds like to each of them.
The dynamics are just filling in, and the story is being laid out for us in this book. The book is told in multiple pov, I don't think this would work otherwise honestly. The pace is great, the world building is superb. The author really lays out the ground work for it all to unfold. The characters obviously will develop more as the story continues, but for sure don't sleep on this book.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4 stars, I was hooked even though time travel and gods are not really my jam. I liked the heroine and the story is intriguing. Its slow burn and very ironic that the only people getting any real sexy times are the MM couple. It's an interesting way to build the back story, introducing couples before they meet the main Lady.

Adrienne has delightful introspection all throughout the story:
A woman’s voice filters through the phone’s speakers, distant and muffled.
“Hello, Sylvia,” he drawls. I gape. Sylvia. My mom.
The woman with the maternal instincts of a sea turtle laying its eggs in the sand.
Who Dad hasn’t spoken to in over four years.

She meets Kit when he saves her from the water and I feel like this quote fits his personality to a "T", impulsive and a bit naïve:
“There is glory in death, but never in fear,” I retort, reciting one of Velchanos’ tenets before slipping the hemp rope across my body.

She struggles to understand where she is and what happened, but in the mean time is taken in by Brita who is a priestess of some kind. Adrienne gets brought along to the feasts but faints at the sight of blood, which introduces her to Jadi- nice segue.

She is separated from Kit, Jadi and Asterion for different reasons and time periods but eventually is brought to Crete with Kit and Brita to visit the Oracle. While Kit gets "pledged". To a psychopath apparently :)

After meeting up again, Jadi understands Asterion:
“Don’t listen to him,” I tell her, ignoring Britomartis’ glare. “He is like a sea-urchin who speaks through its asshole because it has no other mouth. We can’t blame him if there was a fault in the gods’ design.”

I don't have many highlights as this story is mostly world building but I am interested to see where it goes. What happens with Kit and Xenodice? Asterion and Adrienne on a trip alone?

And my biggest take away is her relationship with Brita- that was the most deep and meaningful part of this story IMHO.

[Gemma Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was put off of this at first because I hadn't realized the main character was so young (she turns 18 at the start of the book). It's marketed as adult but it had YA vibes, and the main character starts out pretty spoiled and bratty. I will say though that she does actually learn and mature as the book goes on, and didn't irritate me throughout like I was worried about. I liked the side characters and the ancient Minoan setting was pretty interesting. I kind of preferred the POV chapters of some of the other, older characters, especially the priestess. Overall it was a fun, quick read, but I would have liked it more if the main character wasn't so young.

[martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

time travel but in rh fr best thing ever i couldn't put it down for a week also a plus for my love for history

[Eryn Uribe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was good - just not my cup of tea in the end. The writing style is compelling however and it’s interesting enough. Just not for me

[Ava Dampier · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can truly tell that there was an immense amount of time and effort Elisha Kemp put into learning the history and culture of the Minoans who loved during the Bronze Age. I love that Kemp included a brief history lesson on the Minoans in the beginning of the book. It shows a great amount of respect to said culture to actually learn it rather than toss in general assumptions and stereotypes; however, not all facts are insanely accurate due to this being a work of fiction.

Drown the Sea, takes the miscommunication trope to a whole other level; however, Kemp somehow managed to take my most hated trope and flip it into a LOVE! The way the characters struggled with the language barriers really put emphasis on the abnormal developmental progress of Adrienne’s character. There is a lot more to her that what meets the eye and I’m looking forward to figuring out who and what the heck she is in the next installments!!

There isn’t too much spice in the first book of this reverse harem series but I appreciate a good slow burn. I love how each potential love interest has their own separate personality and flaws. Kit, the vain pretty boy prince, Asterion the eternally tortured grumpy pants, and our sweet magical protector Jadi. Adrienne is going to have her hands full handling all three of them!

I’m looking forward to reading more books by Elisha Kemp in the near future!❤️

[Werp]

Is it possible to have a RH novel without MM? Jesus, talk about wine mom female gaze.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve got a lot of mixed feelings about this book. While overall I did quite like it, there are a lot of little things that irked me. None of them really add up enough to outweigh the things I did like though.

Starting with some of the things I liked—I loved the concept and am excited to see how the whole story unfolds! Lots of mystery and scheming going on that has some good potential. The world created is complex and feels real (minus the dialogue which feels very modern). For the most part I like all the characters, mixed feelings on Kit…so far he is my least favorite of the love interests, idk how he is so oblivious to consequences and the feeling of others. I love the friendship between Brita and Adrienne, it’s a fun combo of sibling love and friendship that I’m really enjoying. Jadi is so sweet and hopeful while also having this comforting and strong sensual side. Asterion is Mr. Grumpy and I can’t wait for him and Adrienne to have more interactions in the next book. I feel like they will have some great chemistry and antagonistic banter.

Now for some of the things I didn’t like—*my negatives are all vaguely spoilery so I’ll list the basics and you can skip the explanations if you want*

Flimsy/weak set ups to create conflict in the plot

Adrienne = kinda bland, takes no active role in her situation

Poor communication and explanation

Mild spelling and grammar mistakes

******

I’m not trying to victim blame at all but for all the mention of how Adrienne has been treated by men throughout her life (all the catcalls, unwanted touches by adult men, the incident at the party in the first chapter, etc.) you’d think she would have put a little more thought into running off with some random dude in a foreign country with no cell service and no money. I think if the catalyst to her doing that was more explosive (like a fight with her mother or even just a bigger reaction to being forgotten on her birthday) instead of just boredom and a little loneliness it would have made more sense to make such a reckless decision.

One of my other main issues is that no one really explains anything to Adrienne and Adrienne never asks. It is so frustrating and would solve so many of the problems that pop up through this book. By the end of the book she’s been there for months and has a decent grasp of the language. Like communicate with these people, get some clarity into what is going on and what the customs are in this world. Drives me crazy tbh.

So far Adrienne is a pretty flat character, she isn’t taking an active role in her situation and just floats around waiting for things to happen to her. Her personality is fairly bland other than moments of being a whiney teenager. I hope she grows into a more interesting person in the next book. Also, I would have loved to see her struggle more with wanting to get back to her time. Until she told Kit about where she came from it didn’t seem like she was doing much to figure out how to get back. Like I said, she never takes an active role in her life. Even after, she didn’t really think about it too much, it isn’t something she is hyper-focused on or driven to do. After finding out there is a potential way to get back I would have like to see her really think about it, what is she trying to get back to? That little internal struggle in the end would have made the end of this book much more impactful.

A few spelling errors round out the negatives of this book but nothing too egregious (it’s dick-pic not dick-pick).

******

I will definitely be continuing this series and hope the characters grow into the story and the author’s writing and plotting develops alongside it.

[Rae, shutupandbookup · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC reviewer

This is a time-travel romance story that will be a RH. The setting is in 1600 BCE, Bronze Age Minoan time. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Adrienne to herself, "Time to channel my inner car-thief."

We lead with Adrienne and her bestie Chloe taking Adrienne's dad's car. His little mid-life crisis car. After having a fight with him and him taking away her keys she decides that taking his car is the best choice.

Being almost eighteen and soon to be Freshman in college. Adrienne's a bit spoiled, granted her up bringing was not the best. She high tails it to Santa Barbara with her friends Chloe and Maddie. Both drinking underage and taking who knows what pills.

Adrienne not taking part in either because nationals are coming up for her dance team. Something she's been dedicating herself for. Even refusing CHOCOLATE to keep in proper shape.

But when Adrienne gets to the party it's nothing of what she expected. A series of events leads to Adrienne having to call the police and paramedics. Despite Chloe's protests and everyone else's at the party.

As punishment for stealing his car and driving across the state practically. Adrienne's dad throws her on a airplane to her mother's house. It's been four years since the woman has seen or talked to her daughter. And yet mother daughter bonding time is going to happen.

But Akrotiri is not a fun place. Being a tiny town on the not fun side of the island of Santorini, Greece. And no wifi service except for in the living room. Along with no credit cards or phone plan thanks to dear dad.

Still being on one of her dating apps Adrienne finds the cure for her boredom. Caring less about her mom and her archeology or anthropology work or whatever the woman does. She decides it's her eighteenth birthday and she should celebrate it!

Though after things going south and a man trying to force himself on her. Adrienne dives into the sea only to resurface in the middle of the ocean. With no lights from the island, no boat with the man scum on it, no nothing.

Little does she know she has traveled back in time to the Bronze Age. But upon meeting Kitanetos and Britomartis she soon realizes where she is. Though getting back home to her time might be tricky. Also surving Brita's bootcamp and training to handle the sight of blood and not pass out.

This is a slow burn romance. The main female lead does experience some excitement but not fully. Since one of her love interests is a bit of a overconfident, brat. But in this civilization women are high up on the rankings and respected.

"Everyone knows men can't own women. . . . since women are the makers of men."

I very much loved this about the book. Whether it be actual history or the authors artistic flare on the era. I am fine either way.

I enjoyed watching Adrienne struggle to understand her new reality. She had to LEARN how to speak the Minoan language. She had to LEARN how to shoot a bow. Even missing her stationary target by fifteen feet when she first shoots the bow.

Because Brita has placed Adrienne in bootcamp since the threat of the Archeans are ever pressing to come in autumn.

I loved the history, the various gods and goddess, and how Adrienne has to actually learn things. Not just instantly know how to do it all and speak the language. I thought this was a great installment for the series. So yes, it does end on a cliffhanger.

There is some MM action in this book and just a very light dose of FM but nothing as full on as the MM. So if you are not comfortable with such things or don't like slow burns this may not be for you. Though I highly recommend it. Because this is going to be a crazy and fun ride. Especially with the current twists in the book! Along with little hints about Adrienne herself.

Enjoy the read and give the author some stars!

[Kaitlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I signed up for an ARC of Drown the Sea because of this gorgeous cover!! That it was a time travel RH just story made me more eager to read Drown the Sea. Time travel love stories are one of my favorite tropes, especially when the main character crosses into a culture or location about which they know nothing. I had never heard of the Minoan civilization before reading this book, so it was exciting to learn about their society, along with Adrienne. I like history but don't necessarily want a history lesson while reading fiction. Therefore I thought that Kemp did a fantastic job with her writing, weaving in historical facts about the Minoans without info-dumping on the reader. I strongly recommend reading the historical note at the beginning of the book. If your ebook version starts at chapter one, or if you tend to skip the author’s notes (which I have been guilty of), backtrack and read it! It provides a lot of background information about the Minoans, so if you have never heard of them (like me), you'll get an introduction to their history, which helped me focus on the story instead of struggling to understand the particulars of the unfamiliar Minoan culture.

Adrienne was an excellent main character, though I sometimes found her frustrating. I thought her lack of effort to learn anything about the Minoans besides their language was an odd decision, especially since she was now living among them. Instead, Adrienne picked up information as it was told to her or made assumptions about the social norms and customs from observation. Additionally, for half the book, Adrienne wanted to go home but never looked for a way to return. She drifted along, learning from Britomartis, doing what she was told to do, and hanging out. Yet, while I found Adrienne’s actions extremely frustrating, I reminded myself she was an 18-year-old with neglectful parents, and her actions and choices made more sense. Based on her age and history, Adrienne was a very well-developed character with plenty of opportunities for growth in future books. I loved that by the end of book one, Adrienne started to explore who she is, independent of others’ expectations.

Adrienne's sisterly friendship with Britomartis was one of my favorite parts of this book. I love when authors prioritize female friendships in romance books, and Britomartis and Adrienne's relationship reminded me of the grumpy sunshine trope, which was fun to see in a friendship.

The romance is a medium burn/love at first sight (but with a godly twist) for two of the love interests, and the third is a slooooooow burn/love-hate. The relationship between the men was just as entertaining as the developing relationship between Adrienne and the guys. Two are already in love, and both hate the third love interest, who also hates them. I am so excited to see these three men, who have a highly complex relationship, overcome their past as they progress with Adrienne. There is a significant plot line involving one of the men and another woman but heavily influenced by the Minoanian politics and culture and vital to the plot.

I look forward to reading the next book and seeing Adrienne share more time with all the guys! I look forward to reading the next book and seeing Adrienne share more time with all the guys! This book was a perfect balance of mystery, romance, magic, and pure entertainment, and I highly recommend it.

[Jordan Fischer | julietfoxreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I'm a little obsessed with Outlander, yet I surprisingly haven't read all that many time travel books. Drown the Sea TOTALLY drew me in with the time travel aspect... but it's seriously amazing. And OMG it's set in Bronze Age Greece? I'm completely hooked, and despite having a packed reading schedule I'm desperately trying to find a way to fit the rest of this series in because I'm DYING to know what happens!

Adrienne is a LA teenager who is "punished" for her underage partying when her dad sends her to stay with her anthropologist mom in Greece. After she is assaulted on a date, she jumps into the sea and nearly drowns before she is rescued by a strange man. She slowly realizes that she is NOT still in modern Greece and has fallen back in time to the Minoan era (her mom's area of expertise). Adrienne is totally stranded, as she doesn't know the language, culture, or how to get back home. Kit, the man who rescued her, is convinced that she is a goddess sent to Earth and convinces his sister Brita to help care for her. Adrienne is drawn to Kit, who has obvious feelings for her, but he is pledged to the Queen of Crete. He hopes to find some way to keep Adrienne with him, but his plans are shot down by the queen's brother Asterion. Asterion's lover and navigator, Jadi, also feels a strange connection to Adrienne. The story culminates in all of the characters trying to help Adrienne find her way back home in some way... but what I'm most curious about is how/when she ends up with these guys! I know this ends up being why choose/reverse harem (which, in the historical context of the book, seems to be typical of this matriarchal, polyamorous society), but the guys are so different I can't picture it yet.

I normally would be super annoyed by a character like Adrienne, who is your typical modern 18 year old at the beginning of the book. However, I ended up liking her for totally embracing the Minoan culture, going all in (eventually) on learning the language, practicing archery, and generally navigating the society. Kit is really sweet and I can see why Adrienne likes him, but Jadi is definitely my favorite. He seems to be the most mature, astute, and intelligent of the guys, and I love how protective he is of Adrienne. I also love his relationship with grumpy Asterion, how he seeks to reassure him of his feelings even as he asks permission to court Adrienne.

I LOVE history in general, but ancient history is not my time period so I can't speak to the historical accuracy of this book. Despite my lack of knowledge, this reads like historical fiction. It seriously reminded me of Outlander with its blend of historical information and fantasy time travel tropes. Gah, why did it take me so long to read this?! Anyways, I'm desperately looking for a break in my schedule so I can continue this series because I AM SO INTO IT!

[Alex Crigger · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5 stars

I received this book as an ARC from the author. Some spoilers ahead.

Drown the Sea is a historical reverse harem romance taking place in Minoan Greece. As a classicist, I was extremely excited to read this - and it certainly lived up to my expectations. The history was spot on, which I was pleasantly surprised by. So often I go into historical reads and get my hopes of accuracy dashed; Drown the Sea did no such thing. Elisha Kemp clearly knows her history and did plentiful research on the Minoans.

The way that Kemp wrote the matrifocal, matrilineal, matrilocal, and matriarchal Minoan societies was EXCELLENT. So many authors think they're doing a great thing by making their book's societies matriarchal, but then make it so that men are oppressed in that society, which is truly doing no one any favors. Drown the Sea does not have any such issues. This book presents what a matriarchal society could have and probably would have looked like in Bronze Age Greece, and in a fantastic way.

A few extremely minor things were incorrect - such as classicists adhering to Evans's theories (which we do not do and have not done for quite a while now) - but it really does not detract from the story at all.

The characters were well-written. I like the complexities that each one has, and I am so glad to see that this book doesn't suffer from flat characters like so many other RH reads do. I found myself extremely excited to see how all of the characters would interact with one another inside the harem. Unfortunately, I never did get to see that because the characters do not all end up together at the end of the book. I am happy about this, though, because I really do appreciate the fact that this book is setting up for later events. I would almost say it could be a prequel or prologue for the rest of the series, which I am *so* excited for.

I was a little disappointed in the lack of spice in this book, but I'm hoping we'll see more in the books to follow once the relationships are more flushed out. And don't get me wrong, it completely makes sense that the characters didn't have many spicy interactions in this book.

Overall, an absolutely excellent read and I cannot wait for the other books.

TWs for this book: eating disorder, SA, warfare

[Nicole Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars Rounded up to 5
It can be more than a little tough to convince me to start a new series because I'm impatient to get a complete story, but the premise of this series drew me in too strongly, so here we are. I mean, how was I going to pass up historical romance in a matriarchal society AND reverse harem including MM?! Though I'm now dying for the next book, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

The historical world building is absolutely on point, and I loved seeing so much of Minoan society brought to life. I was quickly drawn in, and enjoyed seeing Adrienne learn about her new location, make friends, and generally start to grow into her own. How Kemp dealt with Adrienne's need to learn a new language was also masterfully done, and served so well to further Adrienne's character growth and transition into Minoan society. These English-as-someone-who's-never-heard-it
phoneticizations included gems such as: "Waaht thaa fhuukh."

Though we known this is a reverse-harem series, we're still figuring out who exactly will be included in that harem, and I'm very curious to see how that plays out, and if every character given viewpoints will be included! By the end we have a very solid idea, but I don't think I could say with certainty at this point. As advertised, this is slow-burn so there's not much steam in this installment, but we do get a few quality scenes, especially of the MM variety, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of that relationship within the harem moving forward.

There are two reasons this book doesn't quite make 5 stars for me: the primary is that Adrienne's voice can be a bit juvenile at times. It makes sense, because she's 17 at the start of the book, but it still throws me, especially as she continues to have a juvenile thought or two throughout. Related, this starts out on the slow side and Adrienne seems to have more than her fair share of assholes in her life. Neither was enough to throw me off the story, and I frankly only expect the next book to get better from here.

There is a cliffhanger, but it's of the oh-this-is-a-logical-pause variety, not an over-the-top-oh-no-is-she-dead kind.

It's a no-brainer to snag this within Kindle Unlimited!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh boy, oh boy, I loved this!

🌔 Adrienne is an 18 year old teenager/young adult, and she feels like it. I mean this as both good and bad. At times she feels naive and entitled. Especially because she feels like a young white woman from an affluent family. But she's also bold and full of life. Generally I enjoyed her. As an FMC she's not overly capable in the skills/abilities department, but she just takes charges of her emotions, self, and a situations. I really enjoyed that. She's a fighter. She feels like a feral raccoon at times. Like if you back her into a corner she will claw your face off.

🌔 This is slowburn, exactly as promised in the blurb. But there is a little bit of smut in this one. Not a lot tho! That said, my horny gremlin brain was never bored. And that's depsite the FMC spending significant page time not interacting with the MMCs. The world building and her budding friendship with Brit was just so interesting. I am very much looking forward to seeing the romance build tho.

🌔 The MMCs are all distinct, delicious, and flawed. My fav is Jadi so far, but I like all of them. The fact that Jadi and Asterion are already lovers is also great. I'm pretty invested in just their romance alone. Kit is fun but you can def feel his pretty boy priviledged life as well.

🌔 This is a time-travel to a diferent time story, but I'll say it's more fantastical than say Outlander or that one with the cave man. Jadi has visions/voices from the gods, and though it's largely left up to speculation currently, I think the FMC is chosen by the goddess. I think she had been affecting the weather with her emotions. Maybe I'm just drinking the same juice that Kit is, but I'm a believer. Therefore, I have also shelved this as paranormal.

🌔 Now, I do think that the slavery of the time... is kinda handwaved a little. But at the same time may be building to more? Jadi and Asterion are both very clear in how they feel, and especially Jadi makes a point of challenging the other characters on it. So saying handwaved is perhaps wrong, it's more that some of the characters aren't as critical of it as I would like. Jadi is best boy, though.

I had to write this review immediately because I need to start the next book NOW!

[Alexis Kirkland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was incredibly nervous that this book wouldn't be up my alley at first, but by the end I was wishing that there was more of this book and more of this world.

We follow Adrienne, a recent high school graduate who has her whole life ahead of her in California, as one mistake leads her to get shipped off to Greece to live with her estranged mother and somehow ends up thousands of years in the past. I don't want to go into much of the plot besides the barebones because this book deserves to be read in full and be experienced chapter by chapter, because WOW this book is good. Kemp has a way of immersing you in this world that she's created and it grips you until the very end.

I've never been super fond of books in where history is important and that take place in the past, but Kemp wove the real life history into the plot in a very interesting manner. I have always been a fan of books that incorporate mythology into the plot (Percy Jackson has had me in a chokehold since I was in 4th grade), and this book is no different for me. I loved the mythology that was presented and I can't wait to see where things are headed in the next book/s. There are a lot of loose plot threads that are going to play a big part in the next book/s that I'm also excited to see come to life; I also can't wait to see where certain character relationships go.

I, again, don't want to say a lot regarding the plot and characters because you should read this book ASAP. The beginning will probably make you think 'will I like this?', but stick with it, I promise you that you will end up immersed in this world and will be on the edge of your seat waiting for the next book in this series. I certainly can't wait for the next installment of this series.

*I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review*