What a wonderful book and one I enjoyed immensely. 1650: The Black Forest, Wurttemberg. This book is the story of Hans and Great, it is a fairy tale and it is dark and atmospheric. It has a bit of a slow start but persevere and once it and you get into it it is an intriguing read.

This is a story where Hansel and Gretel left off rather than a retelling and it is a very interesting read. This book has a bit of everything and kept me reading. Loved the depiction of Hans and Greta and there story moving forward. Was a bit different than I thought it would be and I have to say there were parts that weren't as good and interesting as other parts but all in all a quirky and interesting tale.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was an absolutely beautiful and incredible read.
You can quite literally feel the magic radiating from its pages.
This felt like Pride and Prejudice meets Cinderella and I can’t think of a better duo. So grateful to have been honoured with this ARC and will recommend this to any readers with similar interests in this genre.
Fantastic read.

Captivating, atmospheric and relentlessly enchanting, I couldn’t put this book down! Luce was such a refreshing fantasy female lead. Although strong and incredibly capable, she was innately kindhearted, even to those who were unkind to her. The writing itself was also deeply beautiful and whimsical, making my whole experience with this book even more darkly magical.

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

Immediately drawn in by the starter’s charm, Luce is plunged into a world of glittering balls and faerie magic, seduction and brutality. Secrets that have long been lost to the shadowy depths of the ocean begin to rise again to the surface. But as Luce wrestles with warring desires, she finds that her own power is going brighter. Shining like sea glass or the scales of a mermaid’s tail.

A wonderfully captivating novel that will have you enchanted form the very first page. Whimsical prose that builds the world, explores the characters and creating a story that moves and shifts like the rising of the tides. This is a story that will stay with you long after you read the last page: it’ll leave you dreaming of faerie balls, underwater magic and you passions can lead you anywhere.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 | 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐕𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬

I honestly love Kell Woods, I've read her other book After the forest and it had me hooked. Upon a starlit tide is no different in terms of my love for the book and how it captured my attention from start to finish!

I love the old world vibes of this book, I felt transported back in time alongside the FMC Luce in her magical fairytale 💫🏚⌛️⚓️🥿

Honestly this was always going to be right up there for me with how I rated it as for one I LOVE Kell's writing and for two I ADORE mermaid books 🧜‍♀️ I love the relationship between the main characters and it just felt like the most magical read ✨️🥰 . If you're a fan of beautifully written fantasy books then this is the book for you 💚

Thankyou to the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review and advanced copy of this book!

Thank you NetGalley & HarperCollins for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a journey that was! Kell Woods is the master storyteller! Although I must say, the first 40% is mainly world building, understanding the characters and setting the story up for that ending, not much really happens, although I found myself thinking about the book when I wasn’t reading it and wondering where the story was going. It’s one of those books you can picture vividly in your mind as you read it!

Mainly reading in the FMC Lucinde “Luce” perspective, we go on a wild journey of self discovery, found family, love & war, betrayal’s, secrets, battles and death!

This book is a little mermaid/Cinderella historical fantasy retelling. It’s very whimsical & magical. I really enjoyed reading it!

Upon A Starlit Tide was wonderfully captivating, I felt myself not wanting to put it down at all! The writing was smooth and easy to read, whilst remaining beautiful prose. I would give this book 5 stars, however, I truly felt it's lack of diversity while reading, and that was furthermore highlighted by the 2 pages that told us our heroine detests slavery. The fact that it, nor any characters of colour, never came up again, made the scene feel very token, given that this is a fantasy novel and anything can and does happen. I am, however, keen to try other books by Kell Woods!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollinsAustralia for the ARC!

This was such a great book! If you’re looking for Cinderella and the little mermaid you’ve come to the right place. It’s a perfect mixture. This book kept me so entertained and had me running back to my kindle for more.

Kell Woods also knows how to write a FMC so well! I feel like a lot of times lately people have been writing ditzy and not flushed out FMCs but it’s done wonderfully in this book!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollinsAustralia for the ARC!

I never knew that I needed a Little Mermaid and Cinderella combined retelling until I read this book. I loved Luce and her relationship with her stepsisters and her father – being the beloved and favoured child is bound to make the other siblings or stepsiblings jealous, even if the favourite child and the jealous siblings do not want to be, and this complicated relationship I like to see to authors acknowledge when retelling Cinderella. I loved the nautical atmosphere of the book, something which is carried through into the dress transformation scene. A dress literally made from the sea and embellished with pearls and shells? Slippers made of seawater? Arriving at the ball in a beautiful black ship that was actually a shipwreck raised from the depths? Incredible. The Little Mermaid elements were also handled really well, I think, with Luce rescuing a ‘prince’ from a shipwreck early on, to other parts that I can’t mention here because of spoilers. But suffice it to say, if you’ve read the original fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson, you should suspect some twists out early on. The romance and love triangle as well, between Luce, Samuel, her handsome smuggler friend, and the charming ‘prince’ I thought was really well done, with me not knowing which love interest Luce would choose until some startling revelations about two-thirds through the book.

I learnt about some Breton/French folkloric creatures, such as lutines (or lutins), hobgoblins who assist in the running of households and groac’h, a water-fairy who serves as Luce’s fairy godmother when she needs to go to a ball. I also appreciated how the author incorporated a great deal of mermaid (or seamaid as they’re called in the book) lore. For example, a mermaid’s kiss saving a sailor from drowning, how they can bring good luck as well as misfortune, their mesmerising singing voices, and how they can control the wind and tide through their voice or brushing out their hair. I love it when historical fantasy authors incorporate actual folklore and superstitions from the period in which the story is set. It makes the fantastical elements of the story feel more believable, because these are things that some people actively believed during the time. Learning more about the history of a place that I wasn’t very familiar with, Brittany, was also fascinating, and I definitely want to check more stories set in this region.

I would highly recommend this book if you enjoy historical fantasy set in not often portrayed settings, oceanic folklore and magic, and fairytales retold and combined to create an utterly spellbinding original tale that stands well on its own.

People who love historical fiction and fairytale retellings will love this book!! You get multiple in this one, Cinderella and the Little Mermaid. The uniqueness of smushing them together was something I really enjoyed from this book. For the historical fiction lovers, you will be transported to 1700's Brittany, France, at the height of it's history with piracy and privateers.
Unfortunately it was a bit hard for me to get into. The first half of the book in my opinion lacked any intrigue, partly because I felt there was no 'fantasy'. It was very heavy on the historical aspects to begin with, and I needed some magic to make me want to keep going. In the second half however, I finally got what I was looking for and I began to feel the magic, the FMC's power, and the plot also got much more intriguing.
Another complaint is that I feel the book got very brutal very suddenly, which came as quite a shock. I can't decide whether this is a good thing or not. I appreciate a surprise, but it just felt so out of nowhere that I felt a bit uncomfortable.
The final parts and the very ending pulled on my heartstrings severely. I was so terrified that the book would end without us finding out if the characters made it back to each other, so I was very very grateful for the epilogue.

A beautifully lyrical fairy tale retelling, with chiseled language, historical French setting, and a refreshed dusted look at the old tales.
This is for people who enjoy AG Slater's beautiful prose, the hypnotic feel of Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, the heart of Deerskin by Robin McKinley and generally literary fantasy.
I was attracted by the amazing cover - it's just gorgeous, had to read as soon as I learn it was a reinterpretation of the Little Mermaid (such a fertile, bitter sweet soil) and was not disappointed.
The integration of magic in the world in realistic touches is very well done and I loved that the main character struggled with her feet, but pushed in her determined way, so very strong from the get-go.

Well technically, I haven't finished it yet, but I've hit the near end of it. I'm already in love! This story has such a lyrical quality that you can't help but get pulled into the story. Reading it I imagined I was walking the shore getting sand between my toes, pulling the seaweed from my hair after a swim in the ocean in my nightgown.

Not a word is wasted. All the characters have depth and are so relateable that you could know them or meet them in real life...well maybe not a ocean witch or sea maiden.

I enjoyed the historical setting of the Napoleonic war and the blend of mythical folklore and the stories of the Little Mermaid and Cinderella.

Publishers, may I humbly request you release a hardback with some glorious stenciled edges. This story deserves such treatment. Otherwise, I'll be buying my own and attempting to paint it myself! It seems I'll be nagging my friends to read this one as well!

Thank you to HarperCollins Australia and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a great romantic fantasy/fairy tale re-telling. One of my many gripes with current romantasy is absolutely insufferable FMCs, and Kell Woods succeeded in crafting a FMC who was her own person with challenges outside of the romance plot. Also points for not following the shadow daddy formula.

Absolutely loved the historical French element, it gave this book more of a magical realism feel.