Actual rating: 4.5 stars
I really loved this book. Clare Harlow creates a relatable and lovable character in Ista Flit, a young girl trying to find her way without a family but finding a family along the way and solving a fantastical mystery. The way she comes into contact with the other two characters depicted on the cover, I loved, especially the fact that Ista doesn't really like one of them at first but he persists and then they become fast friends. I definitely will purchase this one and put it in my classroom library for my 8th graders.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC. All opinions are my own. Big thanks, now on to the review.

I absolutely adored this book! I devoured it! It delivered on everything it promised and I had so much fun!

Does it matter it's middle grade? Absolutely not. It has solid characters, great arcs, great voices and a fantastic mystery.

The magic system in this book was really interesting. Almost everyone is blessed with a little bit of tide magic. Something that can be as simple as changing your eye color or as incredible as Ista's magic. The ability to change into other people and use their magic!

Ista is a young kid who is working for an older man to steal things. And she always has to take the form of a specific person and be sure to be seen as that person, not herself. And the items always seem odd to her. She's even seen the person she works for just looking at them and taking them apart.

There's even a magical lane that pops up sometimes. What more could you want!?

Why does she work for this person who makes her steal? Because she came to this town looking for her father. And the first night there, tired, hungry, and alone, she is attacked by a monster called a grilk. I'm actually not solid on what they look like other than weird lizards with wings that don't propel them very well.

Ista's father was a musician and she has his clarinet. Well, this person swoops in, saves her, then takes the clarinet and says if she does 20 jobs for him, she'll get it back. When this all starts, she's almost at 20.

I tried guessing the motive for the mystery, why who would do what. As an adult who reads all kinds of mysteries, I was off a bit but it was such a good surprise!

And the story was diverse! I loved it. I will be buying this book. It's so cute, so good, and heartwarming. Not only is it diverse as far as racial dynamic but also sexualities. The adults who take care of Ista while she looks for her father are an old gay couple. They run a restaurant and are the cutest old men I've ever seen.

I loved this book. Please, please pick this book up. It's worth every second spent reading.

5 stars, absolutely.

Enjoyable book, well written middle grade book in making new friends with strange people.
The characters were likable and worthy of helping one another to get there family back home safe and sound.
Magic and family make the world

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and Clare Harlow.

Middle grade is probably one of my top favorite books to read. They are all so different. This story had very Interesting magic. I will be suggesting this book for my oldest to read as I think he will enjoy it as well!!

Harlow's rich figurative language makes this book ideal for classroom or at-home read-alouds and an excellent resource for teaching students to identify and use figurative language in their writing. The characters exhibit realistic emotions and interactions, with some surprising developments as the plot unfolds. Ista Flit, while charting her unique literary course, echoes Madeleine L'Engle's beloved Meg Murry, who embarked on a bold quest to save her father.

In an era when much of childhood is managed by adults, limiting opportunities for self-discovery, TideMagic offers not only a well-crafted adventure but also a marvelous role model in the brave and noble Ista Flit.

In Shelwich, the tides cause the magic to rise and fall as anyone with a blessing knows. Ista Flit was rescued from a Grilk one night as she’s looking for her missing father. Although Alexo rescued her, he now is having her use her face changing blessing to steal strange things for him. And after she’s completed 20 “errands”, he will return her father’s clarinet case to her. As more and more people are taken by the Grilks, Ista and her new friends Ruby and Nate decide to follow some mysterious clues about the Grilks.
This is book # 1 in a three book summer release series. Cannot wait for #2!

Loved this. Loved loved loved it. Not only are the names the best (Alexo, Ista, Betrik) but the system of magic and the cast of character personalities and their abilities was so good. I literally was gasping and pounding my hand on the table at revelations. I was really along for the journey and cannot wait for another installment.

This was a wonderful debut novel for this author, and I really hope she continues the adventures of Ista Flit and her friends. It was a quick read and I liked how Ista developed throughout the story. At the beginning we discover that she is doing random jobs for a shifty guy who saved her life, and she has to do 20 of them before he will give her back her father's clarinet. Great guy, right? But we also learn that in this world, many people have particular talents that come with the high tide. In Ista's case, she's able to change herself to look like anyone she's seen before. At the same time, we know she is looking for information about what happened to her father, who disappeared suddenly, and the rumor is that he was taken along with other missing people.

I loved this story and was easily drawn into the mystery as Ista eventually teams up with two other kids to figure out what's happening to all the missing people. I loved many of the other side characters, with a few surprises about them along the way. Ista was a character really easy to love, and the worldbuilding was wonderful. This is a wonderful read for lovers of fantasy, and would be appropriate for ages 8 and up, although younger readers would need to be read to, but this would be a great book to do so. As an adult, I really enjoyed this story myself and as I said, I would love to read more books with these characters in this world. I will be recommending this book to my younger students.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Tidemagic
Ista Flitt can become anyone else; she is a face-changer. She must use her tide-gift, magic that increases as the tide comes in, to do jobs for the sinister Alexo Rokus. Alexa is holding Ista’s father’s violin hostage until she finishes this work.
Since Ista traveled to the village of Shelwich to find her father, she has completed many jobs for Alexo. But people close to her are disappearing, and she needs to figure out why. At least she has found an ally in Nat and Ruby, two other children that have lost someone to the grilks, the monsters that are stealing Shelwich’s people.
Will she find out the answer behind the disappearances and whether her father is still alive?
#netgalley

Ista Flit has an exceptional tide blessing: she can take on the appearance and magical abilities of anyone she’s seen. In misty Shelwich, where magic rises and falls with the tides, Ista feels a particularly strong bond with the magic. However this magic may also be tied to monsters who are capturing people all across the city, including Ista’s beloved father. With the help of new friends and allies, Ista goes on an adventure to find her father and root out the monsters.
I love a story with a unique magic system, and this world where magic is bound to the tide certainly fits the bill, not to mention feisty Ista and her loyal friends. This book is excellent for fans of fantasy worlds like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Morrigan Crow, and Wilderlore.

I absolutely love fantasy mystery and this one was incredibly atmospheric. I cannot recommend enough.

I’m going to do things a little out of order for this review and give my recommendations up front. I struggled a lot with writing this review and assigning a rating, but in the end, I rated it based on what I thought of the story, world-building, and characters. However, I don’t really know that I could recommend it to anyone in the age group it’s meant for, due to the subtle inclusion of LGBT elements. The attempt to normalize these things for kids is a major issue for me, and I am certain that there are others who will want to be aware of this in advance. At the very least, if have the same concerns at all, I would recommend reading the book before allowing your child to read it, to evaluate for yourself whether you feel it’s okay for them to read.

That being said, I do think that Clare Harlow is a talented author and world builder. The fantasy elements are interesting, and the mystery surrounding the monsters and disappearances is engaging. It ends with a cliffhanger and a clear opening for future books, though it takes such a turn from the rest of the book that I am not sure it did it’s job, for me, in making me want to come back and read more, especially when coupled with what I mentioned above.

This fantasy mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat. You will wonder if you can trust your own judgement as you cheer for Ista but be prepared to be surprised as you meet more characters and the world invites you in.

Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit

A fantastic middle grade read! I’m so glad I decided to read more middle grade this year because I’m finding some truly fantastic stories like this one.

The world building is easy to get into and the plot is written to perfection. The imaginative magic system and intriguing mystery make for such a fun read.

I’m excited to read it again in the fall with my daughter!

I loved everything and I mean everything about this book. It was the best middle grade I’ve read in a long time. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants an adventure.
10/10 for sure.

Tidemagic by Clare Harlow is a middle grade fantasy about Ista Flit and her journey to find her father who has gone missing. While doing so, she discovers much about herself and with the help of two new friends solves a mystery in the town of Shelwich.

I enjoyed the fantasy of this book, but think it would be too complicated for many of my upper elementary readers. There is a large cast of characters and many have names which my students would find unusual and therefore possibly difficult to remember. I think it would be a good fit for middle schoolers who enjoy the fantasy genre.

4.5 stars

This book was so much fun! It was full of lots of great elements that all kids' books need to have: loyal friends, a compelling adventure, fun twists and turns that were completely unpredictable, and a great quest. I loved Ista, and the magic of the story world was innovative.

I didn't give this five full stars only because I felt like the magic need a little more explaining. I got most of it, but I still had some questions. Also, the end made me feel like I'd been dropped over a cliff. Clearly this book as a sequel coming out, otherwise it wouldn't have ended the way it did, but I think it was way too abrupt. For kids who may or may not want to read the next one (or who may, possibly, forget about it,) I feel like the ending needed to be handled with a little more neatness in how it left Ista in relation to the readers.

Still, the descriptions were fabulous. A thousand marks to Clare Harlow for the unique way she set the scene and her comparisons. And I loved, more than anything, that the story surprised me multiple times and yet felt inevitable when I looked back at the series of events. That's truly the mark of a talented author.

Lovely all the way around. I'd love to find out what happens next to Ista and her dad!

A well-written middle-grade mystery and adventure with a great magic system related to the tides. I loved the plot twists and revelations at the end. It was energetic and well done. Usually, the aftermath isn't exciting in books, but in this one, it was and plunged us into more revelations, and the start of the next adventure. It took me a moment to get into the story and characters when I started reading, but around the middle, I was very invested and understood well who was who and who was missing, so it was hard to stop turning the pages. The way the author writes it's like I can hear their voices speaking to me. Loved Ista, Ruby, and Nat, they make a great team. I liked Alexo as well.
Although it looks like a series, this volume has a resolution and can be read as a standalone, but not all problems are fixed just yet.
Loved the artwork of the chapters a lot and the cover too.
Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this e-arc. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

This is a delightful "found-family" fantasy aimed at the middle grade audience. Ista is determined to find her father. She decides to move to Shelwich alone, but she makes friends and allies on the way. The pace is a bit slow for an older reader, but this appears to be the start of a series, and the author is careful to set up how the magic works. The magic and the characters are a delight, promising more fun to come.

Ista Flit has magic. Magic that others would love to use to their advantage. Sadly, due to someone taking her father’s clarinet she is being forced to do 20 count them 20 errands to get it back. These errands seem odd to say the least, but getting something back from her father who has gone missing is worth it. When more and more attacks happen around town and kids that she knows are going missing, Ista feels like she needs to do something. With the help of some friends and Ista using her magic they open an investigation.
This is a fun magical book. I loved that magic itself ebbs and flows with the moon. Ista is a fun character, whose magic in other books would be used for darker purposes yet tries to use it honorably. I think that middle readers will enjoy the magic and mystery in this book. It will be fun to recommend.
Thank you to Random House Children, Knopf Books for Young Readers, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.