Upon a Starlit Tide is an absolute delight from start to finish! The story instantly sweeps you into a magical world that feels fresh, vibrant, and full of wonder. The writing is gorgeous and so easy to get lost in, like stepping into a dream where every page sparkles with mystery and magic.

This is not some Disney-style little mermaid story. It’s much deeper and more complex, with layers of history and emotion that really stay with you. And don’t be intimidated by the historical fiction elements—they are woven seamlessly into the story and add real richness without ever feeling heavy or confusing.

The characters really shine and feel super relatable. I loved watching their relationships grow and change naturally. The mix of heartfelt moments and exciting twists kept me hooked the whole way through. No dull moments here!

The world-building blew me away. It is rich, detailed, and never overwhelming. Themes like loyalty, courage, and finding your place are woven in perfectly, giving the story real heart. Plus, the plot keeps moving forward with energy and purpose, which is something I always appreciate.

Overall, Upon a Starlit Tide is a fantastic, fun read that I’d recommend to anyone who loves a magical adventure packed with heart and excitement.

the file was corrupted, i am unable to review this at this time as i was unable to read the book properly

Inspired by The Little Mermaid, this novel manages to infuse the fairy tale with even more magic and wonder. Set in St Malo, at a time where the ever expanding greed of men is pushing out the fae and the magic from the world. Our MC Luce opens the story when she rescues a drowning sailor, who turns out to be a handsome prince. What follows is a story of love, magic, betrayal, and discovery.
I really enjoyed the setting, both the description of the Brittany coast, and the magical world that it was part of. I found the characters likeable, if a little cliched. It took me a while to really get into the plot, but by the end of the novel I was very invested.
The narrator of this audiobook grated on me a little at first, with her very proper English accent. But it was soon forgotten as I got involved in the story. And she did a good job with a range of types of voices and characters.

This is a review of the audiobook itself and nit the book. Unfortunately it seems to be formatted wrong as at the end of each chapter the audiobook cuts short. I've checked my internet connection and my phone but it seems the audiobook itself is the issue.
The chapters cut off midway as the narrators are speaking, large chunks of the story were missing because of this to the point I had to stop as I really couldn't tell what was going on.
The narration itself was wonderful however due to poor formatting on the Netgalley app I couldn't listen to this and therefore review the book itself appropriately.

Just to note, I
unfortunately the audio wasn’t great! The arc had several chapters either cut off midway through or just missing entirely! I generally thought the actual narration was good (although had convinced myself for a little bit that Luce was around 13 and Samuel was 65 lol) and managed to fill the gaps in through spotify, so it was just for the arc! My rating for the book is not affected by the audio quality.

Yall know I adore my mermaid books, but this was something else! The writing 😩
I can’t quite get over how exquisitely beautiful and vivid all of the descriptions were. I felt like I’d been swept away by the sea and was lost in this dreamscape story, I was that immersed! I easily imagined all the different landscapes, the sea, parts of the town.

One of my favourite parts of this were the dynamics between the sisters. It really wasn’t a major focus point of the book but the little spats and how blame for different things constantly shifted between them and how it seems like you’re not that close but you’re so intrinsically bonded that you are extremely close. It’s easy to forget that technically Luce is still young and her sisters too, and it just felt so real how they acted with each other.

This wasn’t just a classic little mermaid retelling with extra twists, we had the full Cinderella effect going on here too, but with even more twists to it!

I loved how lured in I was by thinking the storyline would go one particularly way and then the twist and turns that took it in such a different direction had me binging this to find out where it would go! It was kind of fascinating to actually see how more and more of the story developed and we entered almost a whole new world from where we started. I’m genuinely still in shock over some of those big reveals!

The romance had me so damn conflicted, I did not who to root for at first and was giddy trying to rush through the book to know more. We’ve really got multiple classic tropes being worked with here, a few in reverse!

Wow, this was a beautiful, magic read. I am so happy this book exists and genuinely just grateful for another fantastic mermaid book!

I dashed to get last-minute approval when I heard the audiobook of 'Upon a Starlit Tide' was on NetGalley, not only because it was already on my To Be Read shelf, but because Esther Wane narrates it! (I loved her narration of 'Elixir' by Theresa Levitt, among others.)

So far, there's healthy discussion arising in reviews of this, Kell Woods' second novel, regarding readers' thoughts about 'retellings'. To add my two cents: I feel here that Woods fashions something far surpassing the popular trend for adapting existing sources like mythology, fairy tales, or other writings (I'm also delighted that we're seeing a wider variety of original sources being cultivated - not just Classical Greek and Roman literature).

'Upon a Starlit Tide' is principally a Historical novel that every so often reaches out and plucks a chord from Hans Christian Andersen, from the Grimms' 'Little Ash Girl', or from selkie folklore. But in all, 'Upon a Starlit Tide' adds up to more than the sum of its (source) parts.

The novel's mid-eighteenth-century setting is hostile, savage; as singularly tense as only a pre-revolutionary moment can be. On the brink of the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, the American Revolution, the Age of Revolution, the blade is poised to fall on absolutist monarchies and upon the world as it was known. Set against this, Kell Woods' world-building of Brittany at that moment is sprawling and generous, with magic written into it so naturally that it seems this world could not exist without it.

Along with a setting that cupped me in its hands so I was held in the world of the novel absolutely, 'Under a Starlit Tide' boasts characters who sidestep their literary stereotypes; I was gratified when Woods had characters make decisions that totally surprised me. At the same time, I was so invested in them that some scenes were almost too painful to listen to.

Luce herself is one of the most authentic protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Convincing, yes, but Woods imbues her with some original kind of worthwhile-ness. Luce has value; I feel that I've gained something from meeting her.

How could all this get any better? Top it off with a writing style that is just glorious - I could listen over and over and still be stupefied by Woods' writing. Paired with Esther Wane's rapturous narration, and this audiobook rockets straight to five stars.

My thanks to Bolinda Audio, Kell Woods, and NetGalley for the chance to listen to a review copy!

I really enjoyed this audiobook, the narrator had a calming voice that made it easy to listen and focus on. This story is a great twist on old fairytales with some new elements thrown in.
The slow burn in the romance did frustrate me at times but I’m always a little impatient when it comes to slow burns. The plot kept me hooked despite this

I really enjoyed this tale with inspiration from The Little Mermaid! The narrator was great and easy to listen to. The storyline had my attention from start to finish with action, romance and exciting twists! The only problem was there was something wrong with the audio where parts of the book was missing, so I had to purchase it myself on audible! I don't regret it because it was a great book!

Okay, let's get the bureaucracy out of the way: I technically received a free audiobook copy of this via NetGalley to listen to and review. I couldn't do that, however, because all the chapters are cut off at the end! It's not much, but it annoyed me so much I kept ripping the headphones out of my ears and stopped listening. I contacted NetGalley support, who told me they reached out to the publisher and I should try redownloading the audiobook in a couple of days. I waited a week - no change. I already owned a digital copy of this book, purchased with my own money (99 cent ebook deal ftw!!!!), so that is what my review will be based on. The audiobook copy I received was basically unlistenable for me. I guess the narrator was pretty good (tho the voice she chose for the father character was ... well, it was a choice?).

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I loved this.

This book has everything. Mermaids? Yes. Cinderella? Yes. Sibling rivalry? Yes. Sibling LOVE? YES. Star-crossed lovers? Yes! Fairy Godmothers who are also magical crones? YES. Betrayal? Of course! The constant threat of being taken over and pillaged and killed by the British? Girl, you already know it! Murder? For sure. Gorgeous lyrical prose? You bet. Absolutely magical setting and vibes? Yes! REVENGE??? ... Yes, of course it has revenge!

No, but really. I genuinely loved everything about this book. The prose was beautiful, and I really did feel transported to the setting (even though I still don't exactly know ... where exactly on the globe that is. It's French, I guess?) At first I was like: "Oh, this is for sure the Little Mermaid," and then I was like, "Wait, it's Cinderella?" Well, it's kinda both.

I loved that we got a main character with a disability, even if it is magically resolved ... basically. It's tough to explain, and as a disabled woman who can't really walk (TMI, TMI, I know) it felt sometimes a bit too convenient to me, and that made me feel a bit iffy, but then I figured Lucinde's ailment was probably inspired by the original little mermaid written by Hans Christian Andersen (which, full disclosure, is the version I personally grew up with. Like, I had a huge book of illustrated fairytales by the Brothers Grimm and aforementioned Hans Christian Andersen. It was my treasure when I was little and I used to be obsessed with it. In it, it had the version of the Little Mermaid complete with walking-on-knives and murder and the sisters cutting their hair off and the mermaid dissolving into seafoam at the end. I was very confused when someone showed me the Disney version.) So, that cculd be a problem for some who maybe view disability differently than I, but I just gotta say: As someone who can't really fucking walk, I sure wish *I* had some magical sea water slippers that made me able to climb stairs for one evening!

We all know enemies-to-lovers, but I don't think I've ever seen lovers-to-enemies executed quite like that. It was honestly thrilling. At the beginning, I definitely could not tell where the story was going, instead expecting the more usual love triangle. But no, it was better. I kinda feel like the pacing on the romance was a bit off, but that's a very minor problem compared to all the feet-kicking and squealing I did, taken together. I thought people on booktok were lying about doing that, but no, apparently, that's a thing you do when the romance is good.

And man, those vibes.

So, yeah: In conclusion, absolute stand-out read. Probably my favorite of the month, and definitely in the top contenders for my favorite books I've read this year.

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Shame about that audiobook, though.

The download date was unfortunately missed, I would be happy to re-review it if it became available again. I have awarded stars for the book cover and description as they both appeal to me. I would be more than happy to listen and review it if a download becomes available. If you would like me to re-review, please feel free to contact me at thesecretbookreview@gmail.com or via social media: The_secret_bookreview (Instagram) or Secret_bookblog (Twitter). Thank you.

The Little Mermaid meets Cinderella and Bluebeard in this fantastical historical fiction.
The writing was luscious. Woods creates spellbinding sentences, vivid descriptions, and a fairytale lilt that had me enchanted.

<b>A man, draped lifeless upon a wedge of broken hull, cheek pressed against the timber as tenderly as a lover's as he rose gently up, gently down with the exhausted breath of the sea.
</b>
Luce dreams of freedom, more at home in the sea and dreaming of captaining her own ship - not an appropriate desire for the daughter of one of Saint-Malo's wealthiest ship-owners.
She gets away when she can, to sail with her best friend Samuel, an English smuggler, who understands the restrictions of class and status.
When Luce rescues the youngest son of the most powerful ship-owner in Saint-Malo, from the sea, she starts to imagine a different future.

But only a fool steals a soul from the sea once the sea has claimed it.

The blend of fantasy, fairytale, historical fiction, and romance was stunningly crafted and flawlessly executed.
There are mentions of Fae, seafolk, smuggling. Ballgowns, glass slippers, illicit rendezvous. Secrets, sea caves, sea storms.

Beautifully captivating.

Physical arc gifted by Titan Books.

I think I would love it but the audiobook didn't seem to work properly. I will definitely be going to get the physical copy though. Narrator was good but almost sounded too old to be Luce.

Unfortunately audiobook file is corrupt and chapters ending abruptly making this an impossible listen.

Sadly the audiobook file was corrupted and numerous chapters finished abruptly and mid-sentence to the point I was unable to listen. I would be keen to read the full story though as from what I did get to hear, the story was well crafted and really beautifully written. I do hope I get a chance to read this eventually, but the file is broken. If there was an opportunity to review the corrected file I would jump at the bit!

Until I am able to read the story fully, I will not be sharing this review on further sites to avoid tainting the reviews given I have been unable to hear it.

'Upon a Starlit Tide' is a compelling, immersive tale of love and magic, set in an 18th century Brittainy where the faerie are an acknowledged part of real life, albeit with dwindling numbers. The central character is Luce, youngest daughter of a wealthy shipowner, who dreams of going to sea herself. Escaping her competitive, squabbling sisters to the cove near her home, one morning she rescues the sole survivor of a shipwreck, who turns out to be the son of another upper class shipping family. It's an acquaintance which offers the exciting prospects of romance and even adventure, but also danger.

Although I took a little while to get into the story, once I had I found I was swept along as though by the tides which are an important part of it. The story had more depth and complexity than I expected, and wasn't as predictable as I'd initially supposed. Whilst there are some little elements of 'Cinderella' and 'The Little Mermaid', it is not a rehashing of either tale, and the references to the former particularly are almost playful. It has a plot in its own right with a lot of twists and turns along the way.

Luce is a likeable heroine, and there are likeable and/or interesting supporting characters. I particularly liked the characters of Luce's family, Woods having captured the complex balance of jealousy and love that can exist between sisters who are close in age. The family dynamics between Luce and her sisters gave an added layer of depth that enhances the book - it's not simply a romance or an adventure. All too often central characters in adventure stories don't have the inconvenient trappings of a family, at least not nearby, but Luce's home life weaved into the fabric of the tale in a way that is true to life and was fundamental to the plot. There's also a well written villain.

The story is easy to follow as an audiobook, I found the narration a bit too squeaky and over-emotional at times, although I noticed less once I was fully engaged in the story.

I would recommend to fans of fantasy adventure and fantasy romance as a well written, absorbing book with good characters and a plot that doesn't always do what you expect.

Sadly I was unlucky when it came to my audiobook as it would cut off at the end of chapters so I tried my best to listen as much of this audiobook as I could. The narrator I liked and the story was interesting. I just wish I couldn’t have listened to it without missing parts.

Unfortunately, the audio file was corrupted and cut off after about one minute in several chapters - mid sentence. I tried to persevere with the story as I loved the concept and what I’d heard so far was very intriguing. However, due to significant amounts of the story being lost on this file I had to DNF.

This audiobook did capture my attention but unfortunately the file seems to be corrupted and many of the chapters cut off after a minute. So most of the story was missing. For this reason I cannot fairly give this a review unless the file is fixed.

Not for me. Nothing much happened. Got bored and realised 25% in I didn't really care about any of the characters so DNF'd. But the prose is well crafted. Just needed more from the plot and the characters.

In a Nutshell: A historical fantasy taking inspiration from Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. The content is distinctly adult, but the writing style leans towards YA/NA, leading to flat characters, half-baked fantastical elements, and a romance/attraction-dominated plot. The ending saved my rating to some extent. Might be better for those who like YA/NA romance because the fantasy was disappointing. Outlier opinion coming up.

Plot Preview:
1758. Brittany, France. Lucinda Leon aka Luce, the youngest daughter of a wealthy ship owner in the port city of Saint-Malo, dreams of joining a ship’s crew and navigating the oceans, unlike her two older sisters whose obsessions are more typical: fancy clothing and a suitable marriage. The only one who knows about Luce’s secret desire is her best friend, a fugitive English smuggler named Samuel, who is secretly teaching her to sail.
One morning, Luce ends up rescuing the scion of the richest shipping family from the sea. This creates many changes in her immediate plans as she plans to attend the ball his family has thrown in honour of his safe return. Around the same time as these events, the local fae are disappearing from Saint-Malo, the English threaten attack, and Luce’s past finally catches up with her.
The story comes to us in Luce’s third-person perspective.

Bookish Yays:
🧜🏻‍♀️ The description of the setting of Saint-Malo and its various locations, whether occupied by humans or fantastical creatures – quite immersive.
🧜🏻‍♀️ The ending, with some pretty good reveals. It is somewhat anticlimactic, but that probably helped me. Not sure about how other readers would feel about this, though.
🧜🏻‍♀️ Quite a few good themes that are incorporated without the book feeling overloaded - class discrimination, colonialism, war mongering and profiteering are the ones best handled. There are shades of feminism also, but this could have been better.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🚢 The idea of merging Cinderella and The Little Mermaid into a single story and making a convincing combo is brilliant. The implementation, though, is quite compartmentalised, with the Cinderella part being more dominant in the first half and the mermaid content coming more prominently in the second half. That said, the overall plot isn’t just a merger of the two stories but an independent plot with just some loose inspiration from the fairy tales. The Little Mermaid elements are still okay, but the Cinderella content is bland. Ensuring that a wealthy girl gets to a ball in a fabulous new dress because she lost her fabulous original dress isn't Cinderella – the struggle and the emotional pain is missing.
🚢 Luce as a character is fairly interesting, except for the scenes where she is romantically muddled. (More on this in the Nays.) However, her depiction is mostly one-noted, with her attraction being thumped into our face multiple times, and with no flaws shown in her personality. It gets annoying after a bit. Plus she seems to be dominated by her heart than her head, which might make sense for her age (whatever age it was – somewhere in her late teens, I guess. I don’t recollect any mention of the characters’ ages) but results in some naïve decisions.
🚢 The historical feel is somewhat mixed. There is excellent research of the time period, creating an alternate history where actual historical events have been combined with fantastical causes. However, the dialogues rarely feel historical. There is a lot of casualness to the conversations, even when it is between men and women or people of different classes. The interactions thus don’t seem believable.
🚢 Luce’s family dynamics had great potential to be memorable: a wealthy father who is openly biased towards his youngest, a mother who is determined to get her daughters titled husbands to continue her own noble legacy, and two elder sisters who are fond of Luce but also jealous of her. Unfortunately, most of the character development is so flat that any behavioural changes feel abrupt.
🚢 Some interesting kids of fae folk in the plot, but not much backstory. The fantastical content is mostly surface-level.
🚢 The pacing is terribly off. There is hardly anything happening at the start, with the initial one-third just providing a background to the main plot. Even when things are happening, it feels like the proceedings are dragged. Only the ending gets a proper tempo.

Bookish Nays:
👠 Thanks to the book cover and the mention of the Little Mermaid and some other details in the blurb, we readers get to know an important character’s fishy [pun intended] secret much before everyone else (including the character herself) does. Moreover, the mermaid content is not as extensive as I would have imagined from the cover.
👠 The book seems confused about its target audience. Most of the writing style seems very YA, especially in the shallow character development and the simplistic and predictable plotting. However, there are a couple of gruesome scenes in the final quarter that won't be suitable to younger readers at all. The spice level is also more NA/Adult, and none of the steamy scenes were crucial to the plot. There is one make-out scene right at the start (literally within the first five minutes of the audiobook) that comes out of nowhere and doesn’t make any sense given the characters involved. Can’t forget the abundant cuss words, some of which are blasphemous. Historical works cannot get away with anachronous foul language.
👠 The part that makes the book seem most YA is the abundant sprinklings of thoughts of desire and attraction and anatomical attributes even in between tense scenes. This is always the easiest way to pull me out of a narrative.
👠 The unexpected love triangle, and even worse, the lack of conflict or tension in the triangle. It is very clear from the start which ‘candidate’ Luce would swerve towards, which makes a triangle boring. Moreover, neither of the two men were appealing, both being stereotypical in their own ways. As it is, I hate the triangle trope, but when it involves such characters, it’s even more exasperating. Luce’s constant mental swerving between the two males was also an irritant.


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 14 hours 8 min, is narrated by Esther Wane. I am sorry to say that I absolutely did not like the narration. In my five years of listening to audiobooks, I have never allowed my opinion of the narrator to affect my judgement of the plot. But this is the first time when I am unsure if I disliked the book even more because of the narrator. I was not at all a fan of her character voices. The girls sounded shrill and somewhat kiddish, thereby very grating on the ears. But the male voices were even worse. Every single man sounded like a senior citizen! It took me a long while to accept that the two men in the love triangle who sounded so gruff were actually young characters. In all honesty, I cannot recommend the audiobook.


Overall, I did like the concept of this dual fairytale retelling, but the insipid character development, the boring love triangle, and the hyper-focus on physical appeal & attraction killed my enjoyment. The audio narration was a further dampener. I *might* have liked the book a tad better if I had read it, but I am pretty sure it would not have ended up as a favourite even then.
Mine is very much an outlier opinion, so please read through other reviews and take a more informed call on this novel. If I have to recommend it, it would be to NA readers who enjoy romantic triangles and fairytale-based plots.
2.5 stars, rounding down for the audio version.