Curious Tides: The Drowned Gods, Book 1

One character, Kai, is described as having tawny brown skin and another, Virgil, as having umber skin. Another minor character, Ife, is described as having rows of tight braids. Good LGBTQ+ representation with a few bisexual characters, a nonbinary character that uses they/them pronouns, and young-20s men in a gay relationship with mentions of other past gay relationships. In this prestigious college, the dean is a woman. Emory was raised by her father and abandoned by her mother. Baz's father was imprisoned when he was 15.

Deaths of university students from drownings, a stab wound to the neck, a goring by a nightmare creature, a rapid magical disintegration, and being burned on the inside with charred throat and a missing tongue. Nightmare creatures attack by drawing out fears; they steal one soul and threaten others. Multiple blood lettings to release magical powers. A fist fight and prisoners tortured with screams heard down the hallway. Initiation rites that include being held under water and forced to hallucinate. Talk of eight students lost during a rite the year before in caves when the tide came in. A repeated story of the death of three people in an explosion when someone's magic "Collapsed" and how others that experience Collapsed magic do serious harm.

A heterosexual couple, age 19 and early 20s, has sex which is described in limited poetic detail. Various couples kiss, also as part of a kissing party game. The main character briefly mentions two other sexual encounters while at another school. Students strip to their underwear and frolic in the water while imbibing magic substances that connect their feelings and desires in a mildly sensual way.

"F--k," "s--t," "bitch," and "ass," in conversations among university students with "damned" used most often.

Heavy drinking including the sharing of cheap liquor and wine bottles at bonfire beach gatherings and parties among students 18 and up, but mostly among those who are upperclassmen. Virgil tells Emory, 19, that she can drown her nerves in wine before an intimidating party. Something called synthetic magic shared among students that enhances all the senses.