Early Review – Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Publisher:‎ Tor Books
Release Date: February 18, 2025
ASIN: B0D1PJGBSC
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley for Review from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars

“Saint-Malo, Brittany, 1758. To Lucinde Leon, the youngest daughter of a wealthy French shipowner, the high walls of Saint-Malo are more hindrance than haven.

While her sisters are busy trying to secure advantageous marriages, Luce spends her days secretly being taught to sail by Samuel, her best friend—and an English smuggler. Only he understands how the waves call to her. Then one stormy morning, Luce rescues a drowning man from the sea.

Immediately drawn in by the stranger’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost in the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise to the surface, but as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is growing brighter and brighter, shining like a sea-glass slipper.

Or the scales of a sea-maid’s tail.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got this on eGalley from NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this; it was beautifully written and was an intriguing mashup of The Little Mermaid, Cinderella and historical fiction.

Lucinde has horribly disfigured feet that cause her a lot of pain to walk on. The only relief she finds is when she is in the ocean. Once day Lucinde finds a man washed up on shore; at first she thinks he’s dead but when she approaches he kisses her. Lucinde makes sure the man is rescued but doesn’t realize he remembers her. Lucinde wants to spend her days secretly learning how to sail, but suddenly she is drawn into a world of deception and glittering balls. A world her sisters love but she despises. When a horrible danger come to Saint-Malo, Lucinde may be the only one who can save the city.

This was an intriguing blend of multiple fairy tales with some historical fiction thrown in, and it was well done. I enjoyed Lucinde (Luce) as a character. I do wish some of the other characters had been more filled out. Luce’s sisters were intriguing as well, but very much in the background.

The story is decently woven. It does feel a bit busy at the end when the threat of invasion happens. Then there are some big gaps in time right at the end that felt a bit awkward. However, I enjoyed how everything ended up wrapping up.

This is beautifully written, and I loved the setting and how faerie is subtly woven into this world.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. This is beautifully written and a wonderful blend of fairy tales and historical fiction. I enjoyed Luce as a character but wished some of the other characters were a bit more filled out. I also felt like things got a bit frantic at the end and that some of the time gaps were awkward…however, I did enjoy the way the story wrapped up. I would recommend if you enjoy beautifully written fairy tale retellings in a historical background. This was well done, and I plan to keep an eye out for future works by Woods.