Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Absolutely stunning. Breathtakingly original. So much fun, full of wonderful characters and a lot of tension. Brilliant from start to finish.

I loved this so much. That twist blew me away. Everything about this book is brilliant, and I cannot wait for the sequel.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

When a mysterious boy turns up in the body of a washed up whale, inventor Ellie ends up embroiled in The City's murky past. It's a past scattered with stories about murdered Gods, a lost civilization and the return of a vengeful Enemy who takes a vessel to give him power.

This was a delight to read. Fast paced, action filled, and with a wonderfully unique setting that sees our hero living in the last remaining city in an ocean filled world. It managed to invoke vivid descriptions of sealife, gruff sailors and salty sea air, which helped bring the whole story to life. It's atmospheric and evocative.

I also really liked Ellie and her relationships with Anna and Seth. She exudes warmth and kindness, while still managing to be fearless and brave. She's a true lionheart, rushing in to rescue a dying whale from a roof without a second thought, while also going through her own personal grief. She's an orphan, and her found family is Anna, Seth and to a lesser extent Finn. Anna is equally as enjoyable, often providing a lot of the comedic comments and pickpocketing her way around the city. She's a great accomplice. Seth by comparison is a quiet old soul, deeply observant, and the speaker of many annoying questions. Together they make a highly loveable group, and one I could easily root for.

In terms of plot, I did find this interesting and unique - but I wish there had been more world building and explanation behind some of the mythology we're exposed too. It was really intriguing, but a bit lacking in places. I wanted answers to how the world became so flooded, and the personalities of these mysterious old Gods. It was a missed opportunity.

Wonderful, highly immersive children's book that I really enjoyed. I hope we get more from this world, given the very open ended conclusion. There's so much more to discover and see from these characters.

I was initially provided an Arc from the publisher via Netgalley however ended up reading my physical copy along with the audiobook.

This story really caught me off guard. It is the best middle grade book I have read in awhile. I would recommend both the physical and audiobook.

The main characters Ellie, Anna and Seth are well fleshed out and very believable. I really felt connected to them on there journey. The world building was also great and I could picture the sights and sounds that Ellie described. The diary chapters added depth and really helped the story progress. I actually really hope there will be more from Struan Murray in this world as I think there are certainly more stories to tell.

Loved it! Highly recommend!

Wow, what a book!! It literally had me hooked from the first chapter. It’s hard to write a review without giving spoilers but it centres around Ellie Lancaster an Orphan who has tried to take on her mother’s work of inventing and repairing things for The City. Ellie rescues a boy, Seth, from inside a washed up whales stomach but this is when all her troubles start. The city was drowned by a God who is known as The enemy. The enemy invades a Vessel for the pure purpose of gaining strength before assuming a human form again and wreaking havoc on The City. It is the Inquisitors jobs to find the vessel and kill them before the enemy can take over.
The Inquisitor Hargrath decides that Seth is the vessel and he is taken to be interrogated and executed if found to be.
Ellie decides that she must save him again but this time she enlists the help of Finn.
As the story develops, you learn more about Ellie, Seth and Finn and their interwoven lives make for an excellent book.
At points I felt sad, angry and even had a few OMG moments. It is hard to believe this is Struan’s debut novel, I hope they write another one as there is definitely legs for a second.
5⭐️

Loved, loved loved this. Superb storytelling, superb imagery, and a great premise cleverly told. Thrilled to be selling it.

I devoured this book! It was constantly surprising, genuinely exciting and I loved the three main characters from the start. It's an unusual blend of sci fi/fantasy and horror which is perfect for Yr 6 upwards. I will be heavily promoting this book to Yr 7 & 8 readers in my Library in particular as it's exactly the kind of book to engage and excite them. I can't wait for the sequel!

What an amazing debut. This is a story of a strong female, her friends and their attempts to do what is right. A whole new world is opened up to the reader and a dark and dramatic adventure unfolds. Yes I had “guessed” that there was more to Ellie and Finn than we were first told, but that was through reading and using the clues the author provided, He carefully leads the reader to this understanding before revealing the secret. The second half of the book is a dramatic and fast paced adventure, battling against time and the Inquisition. With the end fast approaching and Ellie, Anna, Seth and Finn race to save lives and as a reader you are willing them on but fearing the worst. A great read.

A beautifully crafted story, filled with warm, and loveable characters, amazing friendships and a pacy, clever plot that keeps you hooked from the first page to the last. A triumph.

Orphans of the Tide is a wonderful adventure story full of twists and turns. It gripped me from the opening chapter, where a whale is stranded at The City's sea wall and a boy emerges from its carcass, and the excitement continued to build throughout.

I LOVED the characters. Ellie, Anna and Seth were all so well defined. I adored Anna's sass and funny quips. She burst from the page and made me laugh out loud repeatedly. Ellie is a superb protagonist and young children will delight in her inventiveness, and hopefully feel inspired to embark on some creating of their own. This is also a story with a lot of heart. It talks about loss, identity and guilt in a way that makes you feel deeply for the characters.

The interaction between Ellie and Finn was also fantastic. There was lots of mystery, intrigue, and funny dialogue in their early interactions and I was excited every time he appeared on the page.

The world Murray creates is amazing, different and immersive, with beautiful descriptions of submerged cities and dangerous gods. Manuel Samberac's illustrations are a brilliant addition and I can't wait to see them properly in the printed version. Vocabulary stretches but is always well explained, introducing complicated terms like parasites in a way that is clear to understand.

I adored this story and can't wait to see what Murray writes next.

This was a difficult book to give a star rating to, but I shall do my best to justify the 4 stars I settled on.

Orphans of the Tide is set in a city battling the ever-encroaching waves, and whose inhabitants are terrified of 'The Enemy', and the 'Vessel' - a human from whom The Enemy invisibly draws its strength. When a boy arrives in the city in an unusual manner, it is up to our protagonist, Ellie, to protect him and prove that he is not the Vessel of which the citizens are so afraid.

I adored the premise of this story with its impactful world-building and almost dystopian fantasy themes. The details about the world are cleverly revealed at just the right moments, and the author has struck a good balance between the micro-level narrative and the macro-scale world descriptions. I sped through the book and, for me, it was close to being a 5-star title. The only thing that held it back was that it felt a little too much like it was simply setting the scene for a longer series. I have enjoyed several series where the first one is my least favourite, and this may end up being the same despite its many qualities. It would have been near-perfect if the book's ending had felt less like it was inevitably leading to a sequel.

I cannot wait to see Struan Murray develop the world he has imagined and can see this being near the top of many if my fellow teachers' 'books of the year' lists.

Orphans of the Tide is a fantastic tale about history, loss, friendship and love. It takes place in a bleak land almost devoid of joy, where the inhabitants are focused only on survival, a place mired in mystery: this is The City. Where strange things happen because they always have and only a few remember or know the truth of the matter.


The plot centres on three orphans, Ellie is following with mixed success in the footsteps of her late mother, an inventor. Anna, Ellie's closet friend who lives in the local orphanage, is also her assistant and the ringleader for the other orphans in the town. The story start when they meet Seth, the boy who arrives in the body of a dying whale. Seth is deemed the Enemy a being that destroys, the Enemy is always hunted to death or destruction.

The City is a very strange place, which reflects its inhabitants, isolated and insular. The people here live in a curious state of low lying terror of the Enemy. A most unsettling place where people are fearful and suspicious of each other. There is little trust and few instances of love, the watchful search for the Enemy is paramount and all consuming. The strain of worry, suspicion and fear adds to the blanket atmosphere of imminent death as seen in the ebb and flow of the tide.

What follows is a tale, filled with half truths, sorrow and desperation. The children are forced to confront and defy the authorities, in their efforts to find out more about the Enemy and the truth of Seth's origins. Friendship and loyalty is tested. Struan Murray conveys all these themes and emotions so very well.
I was enthralled by this book and the journey that it took me on. Though the children remain in The City, it is about a voyage of self discovery, hope and truth. The story is atmospheric, the characters disarming and dialogue witty in places.
'N-now listen, I have many p-powerful friends, 'he stuttered furiously.
'Are any of them Inquisitors?' said Hargrath.
'No, but-'
'Then you have no powerful friends.'

This exchange sums up the power of the hierarchy in the City and is just one indication of the very good writing. There are dark themes in this novel, but they are not overwhelming and do not distract from a book which at the heart is about friends working together. I would recommended for children 10+.

It was paced perfectly with action scenes, followed by discovery and insight. And though I was sad when it ended I wasn't disappointed, there was a sense of contentment. Because ultimately the conclusion felt right - it was true to the characters and the plot. What a lovely book. I hope to read more about these orphans and this world soon.

My thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK Children’s and Puffin for an advance review copy in exchange for a candid review.
There were a few minor issues with this edition which I would hope are rectified before publication so as not to distract from this great story. They were a few missing words, missing letters 'ff', the map at the start of the book was skewed, showing partially over a number of pages. The illustration of The City used as chapter headers were blurry and indistinct.

4 Stars - Really Liked It

The buzz surrounding Struan Murray’s debut made it one of the most anticipated book releases for me in early 2020, a bold claim when considering the other well-hyped releases that are due out the same time. The buzz appeared genuine too, and now I’ve read it, it was completely deserved. I was hooked (no pun intended) from the opening scene - a whale found of the rooftop of a chapel in a mountainous city half-submerged by the sea - and I devoured the pages in the same greedy way the waves attacked the city. The story remains as unique, strange and gripping throughout, but the world Murray has created and the characters inhabiting it are so realistic that it’s like reading a historical retelling of an usual, but very real, past. There were moments where I audibly gasped as the stories unfurled, the weaving of two tales, one being from the diary entries of a former city resident, working seamlessly to create intrigue, suspense and sadness. This book raised so many questions to me about the devastation guilt and fear can cause, whether those emotions are genuine or not, and I am looking forward to reading it again (and I really don’t often feel that way about many books so soon after reading). The journey of the characters was one I didn’t want to come to an end, I was so involved and attached to them and their struggles. The illustrations by Manuel Samberac (not unlike those found in The Mysteries Of Harris Burdick by Chris van Allsberg) are glorious too, adding an extra depth and element of mystery to the book. A highly recommended read for UKS2 and above.