This audiobook swept me away! Although it's a fairytale-retelling, the storylines that are original to Woods stood out to me the most. Her writing especially shines in the second half of the story...I was on the edge of my seat! I also love that it's a standalone fantasy, a wonderful little glimpse into Luce's life. The second half cinched it for me--5 stars!

Wow.. this was amazing. When I hear dark fairytale retelling this is exactly what I want. This story is incredibly beautiful, poignant and dark. A Little Mermaid and Cinderella retelling with female rage, fae folktales, family secrets and hot smugglers. The beginning is a little bit slow, but having finished the book I found that groundwork of character development that happened in the slower bits was so important to the way the story unfolds and made the conclusion incredibly impactful. Overall, just a beautiful book and can’t wait to get the physical copy when it releases.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.

The story is enchanting. The small imagined myth of the sea "creatures" was delightful. The way it flowed with the story was easy to understand and still thought-provoking. I loved the main character's name. I loved their communication with each other. The length was just right. I was seriously wanting more towards the end. The flow was just right. I would buy this for my library and to own. I would recommend this for anyone who devours "fairytales". It's heart-pulling and uplifting.

🧜🏻‍♀️ For my friends who love a sea-loving story full of adventure and romance.

UPON A STARLIT TIDE by Kell Woods (Esther Wane, Narrator)

🎧 Thanks, @Macmillan.audio, for the audiobook review copy. #macaudio2025 (Available 18 Feb 25) 14 hours 39 minutes

My first #FiveSpongeAudiobook of 2025 (a book so enchanting you look for things to clean to keep listening)!! 🧽🧽🧽🧽🧽

Luce is the favorite daughter of a wealthy shipowner living on the coast of Brittany. While afforded every luxury, she is more at home in the sea than on land, where her misshapen feet make her clumsy and self-conscious. Her quiet life begins to slide into the unusual when she rescues a handsome sailor from drowning, after which various threads of her previously quiet, unassuming life start unraveling in exciting ways.

With hints of Cinderella and The Little Mermaid, this was a wholly original, fast-paced, and thrilling fantasy full of magic, betrayal, secrets, and seduction, and I was smitten from the very first scene. The audio narration was exceptional, with wonderful accents and characterizations that added to the story’s appeal.

This was such an interesting retelling of fairytales. I loved the combination of The Little mermaid and Cinderella and the earthier feel they had. The story felt closer to the originals and had that darker elements that kept it from feeling over the top or a forced retelling.

The narration for the audio book was well done for all except the younger male characters. They all sounded like much older men and it was hard to visualize their actions and their characters together.

Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods was such an enjoyable read. While it falls outside my usual genres of mysteries, thrillers, and historical fiction, I found myself captivated by the story and Woods' storytelling. This reimagining of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella is a wonderful blend of fantasy, adventure, romance, mystery, and thrills. There were moments when I could predict the outcome before the main character, but I still eagerly followed her journey to uncover the truth. At times, I didn’t suspect the culprit until Woods was ready to reveal the information, which added to the excitement. It’s a quick, immersive read that will keep you hooked from start to finish.

4.5 Thank you netgalley for the audio arc. Rounded up. overall I liked this except it did a few things that are just not my taste. The narrator in particular for this book I found odd on how she did the male characters because at first, I thought Samuel was a gruff old man and then when he became a love interest I was so confused. All the men in this for the most part sounded like they were in their 60s and sea worn by that so it set off the tone of the romances but once I got over that and just reminded myself they weren't then I enjoyed it much more. It has a lot of good twists and turns with combining Cinderella and Little Mermaid themes so it felt like not only an homage to those but it's own unique fairy tale.

“Anything is possible when sorrow meets sea…your tears fell into the sea.There is magic in such meetings.”

In the latest addition of “stretching my genre” reading I decided to try this new historical fantasy. The setting of 18th century Brittany, France caught my attention and the storyline held it. The reader is dropped into the wealth and opulence, the hopes and dreams of successful shipping families and those who surround them, their fight for power and their love for family.

In the opening chapters Lucinde, the adopted daughter of the Leon family, saves the son of the de Chatelaines, who has washed near the shore when his vessel capsizes. The circumstances raise red flags, and she retreats into the shadows to investigate. Lucinde’s love for literature and her thirst for a life on the sea creates an imaginative outlook for adventures beyond the walls of the city. A grand ball is thrown to celebrate Morgan de Chatelaine’s survival, but none are aware of the true rescuer. It is here that the fantasy kicks in and Cinderella themes pivot to full-on Little Mermaid. Cue the magic and secrets of the underwater faeries and their entanglements with humans on the shore.

As one might expect, greed and power enter the foray, creating a race to the finish where some survive and some do not. As secrets are revealed the questions of who might get a happy ending, rise to the surface.

Ester Wane gives a fine performance on the audiobook narration, but true fantasy aficionados may be enamored with the gorgeous detailing of the hardcover version! The stunning cover and endpaper artwork by Lindsey Carr will be included in my graphics.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio, Tor Publishing Group and Net Galley for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

This author created the most beautiful story. She had an incredible way with words. I was hooked from the very first chapter. A great blend of magic and historical fiction. We have Cinderella meets the Little Mermaid in Upon A Starlit sky.

I really enjoyed Lucinde's character. While her sisters are trying to procure marriages she longs for the sea. Throughout the book you get a sense that she is more than what she appears. Her friend Samuel was a nice companion. Plus we have a little love triangle action happening. I felt that each character was written so well along with the fantastic descriptions.

There's dark tones, secrets, betrayal, and magic. What more could you want?

Also, the narration was amazing! She brought each character to life and was a great story teller.

Thank you @macmillanaudio for the gifted audio book!

Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods is a beautifully written fantasy story with elements of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. I loved Luce our female main character. She is voiced beautifully by the narrator, Esther Wane. I love her relationship with her father, who calls her his greatest treasure, and her relationship with both her sisters. Her friendship with Sam - the only character voice I do not like in this story, is also well done. Luce saves a man from the sea, Morgan, he is the youngest son of a very wealthy man and Morgan kisses her. Luce fancies herself in love with Morgan. His parents give a ball and Luce's dress has been ruined - she fears it is because the jealousy of one of her sisters, but she is still able to attend the ball and dance with Morgan. But, as in all good stories, all is not as it seems. It is in the telling that we see the skill of Kell Woods. Characters, plot and pacing are all really well done. I just think it is a bit overlong. Still really enjoyed this read and I give it 4.25 stars. Thank you to Net Galley and MacMillan Audio for my advance listener copy in exchange for an honest review. I have this on preorder, it comes out February 18th!

4.5 🌟

Thank you netgalley for this arc!

I absolutely loved this retelling of Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Pride and Prejudice. The way Kell Woods wove the different aspects of each of those stories together felt fresh despite calling on the classics. I found myself continually pulled back to this story and read it in only 3 days. The world building was wonderful, I could feel myself immersed into the tale and feeling like I was there in those coves around the sea. The dark story and atmosphere was wrapped around hope and light from the main character that I couldn't help but root for. I want everyone to read this book!

I absolutely loved this blend of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥 + 𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢. The storytelling was so beautiful, and I had tears running down my face when I reached the end.

There’s a bit of a love triangle, which I’m not usually a huge fan of, but I thought it worked well here, what with the blending of these two well known fairytales.

There’s a ball, and sisters, and magic, and a gorgeous setting I could see, hear, and feel from the writing alone.

There are definitely some darker elements, reminiscent of the original fairytales, but not too terribly dark. There were also some changes from the original source material, but I thought those changes made the story feel more fresh and the characters a bit more “real”.

This was such an enchanting book, and it had me completely immersed and feeling all the feels.

Audiobook notes: I really enjoyed the narration, but I’ll be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of Sam’s voice? It was a bit too gravely and old sounding, but everything else was wonderful.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio for providing me a copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

What this book is giving:
✅ Historical Fantasy
✅ 1758 France
✅ The Little Mermaid meets Cinderella
✅ Ship Owner’s Daughter
✅ Sisters
✅ A Ball
✅ Love Triangle
✅ Sea-Maids and Fae

First I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my gosh, does Kel Woods know how to tell a story! She paints a tapestry with her words, and snares the reader in their beautiful and tragic embrace. Upon A Starlit Tide is a very unique Little Mermaid/Cinderella retelling, with all of the grit of original fairytale stories, and none of the shine that has been placed upon them in movies. This story was beautiful and tragic, hopeful and heart wrenching. Sometimes all within one chapter. It was really well paced, and I always found myself eager to get back to it when I wasn’t reading. Woods has also created such incredible characters. I very quickly became attached to Luce, Samuel and Bones. I was invested in their story, in their lives and their wellbeing. I cheered, I cried, I gasped, and I felt everything that Luce went through. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator was fantastic. I highly, highly recommend this book!

4.5 stars! This is a wonderfully crafted fairytale that is 85% The Little Mermaid with a sprinkle of Cinderella and a dash of originality. Absolutely gorgeous historical fantasy!
Lucinde de Leon is the youngest daughter of a wealthy ship merchant. While her sisters are busy trying to arrange advantageous matches and sleeping until noon, Lucinde is combing the shores and wishing to sail away on adventure. Only her best friend, Samuel, an English smuggler knows of her desires. One day, Lucinde rescues a sailor from a shipwreck, setting into motion unforeseen consequences and a wonderful story that will have you wishing it was 500 more pages long.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e-arc.*

Thank you so much to MacMillan Audio, Kell Woods and Netgalley for the opportunity to enjoy this ARC/ALC. I am a sucker for a good fairytale retelling and I really loved this one. I found myself intrigued and trying to guess at the connections to The Little Mermaid and Cinderella from very early on in the book. Though I will say the pacing was a little slow at first, I'm so glad I stuck with this book. I wish very much that Sam had more character development early on because I wound up absolutely adoring him later in the book but felt like his character was slow bring to life.

4.5/5. Thank you to Ms. Woods, the publisher, and Netgalley for the audiobook ARC/ALC.

I have heard of Kell Woods from her novel, After the Forest, which I haven't had the chance to read yet. But I love the seamless way she weaves on the magic of fae world right into our modern world. Or, in this novel's case, historical world. I'm now super excited to read After the Woods because this novel was fantastic.

Set in France in the 1750s, Lucinde (Luce) is the last daughter of one of the best (an wealthiest) sailing families in Saint-Malo. A family with all daughters means making good matches, but Luce has two main problems: her malformed feet and her yearning to go onto the sea herself, wanting to sail instead of wait at home. I think she is a very well-written character in that regard, both of those aspects affecting all the choices she makes. Because of this, she finds herself caught between two futures (and men) that are all together influenced by the revelations that come after she truly gets to experience the sea.

I do love the way Ms. Woods has taken the gist of Cinderella and twisted it around a bit of Little Mermaid. But don't think this is the Disney-version because there are some very dark scenes (and death). I enjoyed the way Luce grew as a character, coming to terms with her past and letting it not affect her present in such a way that her own story turns too dark.

The writing is wonderful. So many good lines that had me jotting them down. So many scenes that I could see as I heard them. And the narrator, Esther Wane, was wonderful. Her voices for each character were distinct and I didn't have any questions about who was who. Overall, a wonderful read/listen.

This audiobook was a pleasure to listen to. I enjoyed the fairytale reimaging aspect of this story with the evil but not completely evil step-mother and step-sisters, and the not absent father. Plus, the mermaid rescues the sailor, and he tries to win her heart and make her a part of his world. I enjoyed the strong female lead character and the internal and external she battles throughout the story. The forbidden romance aspect is also a trope that I enjoy.

I have grown wary of fairytale retellings, but I have to admit that this historical fantasy caught me right at the start. We know from the first page that this is a Little Mermaid retelling. However, instead of a mermaid longing to see the land of humans, we have a young girl wanting adventures on the sea. We get a bit of Cinderella and folk tales from Bretagne sprinkled in there and it feels like an entirely new story, while also feeling like this is an homage to stories we know well. Totally refreshing!

As a French speaker, I appreciate the use of grammatically correct French by the author and a narrator capable of making it sound natural. She also reads the story in a manner that makes us feel like we are truly reading a fairytale, and this added to the general experience of this audiobook.

I highly recommend this book to fans of "Half a Soul" and "Fable"

Thank you Macmillan Audio for this ARC

Public review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The description held true — a magical Little Mermaid meets Cinderella retelling. The narration is good and keeps me into the story.

((I listened to the ALC via NetGalley.))

If it weren’t for wanting to review the book, it likely would’ve been a DNF. It took me a while to warm up to the characters. The last 35% of the book was soooooo interesting. I wish the beginning matched the strong ending.



Private feedback:

I wanted more character development for Samuel.. I couldn’t tell that he was the love interest to root for because he felt like just some guy who was around often. By the end I liked him but it took a long time for me to warm to him. I also wish the info about how terrible the villainous MMC was came from another source besides Samuel. I also wanted to see more foreshadowing to the terrible MMC vs it seeming like a flip switching.

I really love all of the reveals at the end and I love the FMC at the end…. But throughout, it felt like things were happening to FMC rather than ~her~ leading the story with her choices.

Overall I enjoyed the vibe and the ending was worth getting through the slow beginning. Thank you for the opportunity to listen!

Upon a Starlit Tide is a story with hints of Little Mermaid + Cinderella woven into Kell Woods's original tale of Luce, the youngest daughter of the Leon family, renowned in her French town for being the wealthiest ship-owners. We have riffs of familiar fairytale elements with elder sisters and mother being obsessed with preening and procuring the most extravagant dresses for an upcoming ball thrown by the family of an eligible bachelor while the youngest Luce is "not like the other girls," is disabled and muses longingly about a life on the sea.
I enjoyed the author's prose, as her diction aptly matches the fairytale vibe a la 1700s France that you would imagine, without being too overly stuffy and overwrought. However, I think where Woods could improve on is the plot itself upon which her pretty words can be strung. Two-faced friends changing from affable and wonderful to be around to very starkly suddenly rakish, full-of-hubris villains felt a bit exaggerated. And the other parts of her story that did add a bit interest, weren't executed in a way that completely cinched trapping my attention:
• Luce's search for her kith and their powers came about rather conveniently
• I didn't find myself particularly rooting for any of the potential romances really. I did feel a general sense of "I just want Luce to be happy" but not the type of shipping I felt towards other book couples.
• After the ball, lots of action started to amp up, however the ultimate goal/reason/motivation behind all felt frenetic rather than cohesive and satisfying
I think a better example of romantasy with grim fairytale vibes would be One Dark Window or, if you're looking more in the realm of historical fiction with fantastical magic, then maybe The Pomegranate Gate by Kaplan or The Familiar by Bardugo are better bets for more maturely developed plots.
Overall, though, I did find Upon a Starlit Tide an enjoyable read, just rather forgettable. I'm sure once Woods gets more books under her belt, she'll probably create something I'd love in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.